PREPARATION BUILD
PREPARATION BUILD (known as 21/8/22)
The very basic concept of this build is exactly the same as the seal fate build, which is maximum burst damage through backstab. However, while seal fate relies on the combo point generation of the talent to make stun locks and additional eviscerate damage easier, preparation works to give the Rogue a little more versatility in his cooldown usage. I’m going to use the start of the Seal Fate build as a template and say that the talents are roughly the same in assassination up until cold blood, and that is the last talent you will take from assassination, spending only 21 points. Combat is exactly the same as in seal fate, although without improved kidney shot you may feel inclined to take lightning reflexes instead, although improved gouge is still useful in most situations. Going into subtlety, you have a lot of options once you’ve put points into opportunity. Elusiveness (reduced cooldown on evasion, vanish, and blind by 1.3 minutes) is useful but considering the goal is the talent preparation (ability that finishes cooldowns on all Rogue abilities when used) the talent points are better spent elsewhere. It is recommended that you base your template after opportunity around initiative (75% chance to add an extra combo point using ambush, garrote, or cheap shot.) As without seal fate you have to be a lot more sparing with your combo points. After initiative you have several options. The recommended one is improved ambush, as ambush is a significant source of burst damage against most classes, and a critical opener can be the difference between win or lose for some. Some alternative are ghostly strike (instant attack that deals 125% weapon damage and increases chance to dodge by 15% for 7 seconds) and improved vanish (movement speed during vanish increased by 30%). Ghostly strike uses a lot of energy but the damage output isn’t that high. This talent is really only suggestible if you’ve put points into lightning reflexes or have an otherwise high dodge rate. Improved vanish can be called a leveling talent, because while it may help you escape an enemy that tries to gank you it has no direct effect on your damage output or defense. Improved garrote (increase duration of garrote by 6 seconds but decreases the damage done by 10%) is often considered a “joke†talent, as this talent would seem to be seldom used. It would seem to have a practical application fighting a Rogue that’s sure to try and run away, but beyond that garrote’s use is altogether limited, and the fact that this talent reduces the damage done doesn’t work in its favor. The next talents to look at are improved rupture (increases rupture damage by 30%) and improved sap (gives 90% chance to return to stealth after using sap). Improved sap has a lot of PVE and PVP utility, though in both it is often outweighed by polymorph when it is readily available. Rupture is an extremely useful ability when coupled with deadly poison and the vile poisons talent, as damage over time effects ignore armor. As long as the Rogue can outlast his own DOTs they can deal significant damage to the enemy. The goal in this tree is simply to reach preparation, and after having put 5 points into opportunity it’s mostly preference as to which talents you take. The strength of the preparation build is the ability to bring all your cooldowns to bear on your opponent, including cold blood, and do it again in the same fight. It is one of the most powerful specs for one on one fighting simply because of that reliance. But at the same time it can be said that a prep Rogue is relatively weak whenever preparation itself isn’t up.
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