Post by Fechak on Jan 26, 2006 1:20:19 GMT -5
For a long time Windy's been droppin subtle hints here and there like, "You should write a rogue's guide in The Academy." Or my personal favorite, "When are you going to write a rogue's guide in The Academy?" Well, he's about to find out, that when you stop asking me to do something, it's right about the time I feel like actually doing it. So here it is, Fechak's guide to Pilferin' and Assassinin' (which I believe I'll make into a proper word).
Let's begin with the basics: What makes a rogue a rogue? Other than his good looks? Not too much. Just the ability to turn invisible through stealth, the ability to lay down an insane amount of one on one damage in melee and several abilities to get out of trouble as you catch the inevitable attention of the things you're wailing on.
A rogue on the prowl is something feared by mobs and players alike. Trust me, those little AI bots freakin *hate* hearing that Wowhshswoo of a rogue nearby. So if you thought you were alone: You're not! Let me clarify something right quick - we rogues love that you hate it. It's our bread and butter that fear, it's where we live. That might be a bit dramatic - but it's true! Our fights always begin from the sneak.
Tangent. I am a firm believer of specializing the talents of a class in their purpose. Hence my priest being holy and... that other one that's not shadow (I'll remember in about 10 minutes) and my 'lock being almost purely affliction. These are the meat and potatoes of those classes. Some others are a little more blurry and open for debate. The two pure DPSers are basically: which way do you want to completely annihilate your opponent? I prefered an ice/arcane combo with my mage - it's just safe that way and I like safe. The rogue is similar, with the exception (imo) of 10 points that simply *must* be spent right away. Those would be Master of Deception and Camoflage. These add bonuses to the effect of your stealth and the speed at which you can move while stealthed. I made each of these my first 10 points spent, and I would highly encourage you to do the same. It's what we do... hell it's the Pilferin' part for crissakes! It makes us do the assassinin well!! Get with the program people!
Now... where was I? Right, our fights beginning from the sneak. So you sneak in (much better after those 10 points I might add) and begin with an opening move. Me personally? I'm a backstabber - massive damage and at my level and current equipment 25% criticals (without an Elixer of Mongoose). I'm all about catching opponents completely by surprise (from behind no less) and using various tricks during the fight. A backstabber will go something like this:
1) Sneak in (with the good sneak, not the cheap crap).
2) Ambush (uber backstab)
3) Build up combo points.
Holy crap, I haven't talked about combo points! As you all probably know, each of our special moves adds a combo point to the target up to a maximum of five. We do this for our finishing moves! Our finishing moves vary just as much as our opening moves - eviscerate probably being the most popular right behind the stun one. Each of the finishing moves gets more powerful the more combo points you have built up. Simple, right? Good.
Still 3) I build up combo points (remember, I'm a backstabber) by doing several things.
Crap, I need to talk about energy too. Instead of rage, rogues get this biotchen thing called energy. It keeps you on your toes and the strategy at light speed. Like rage, if you're not spending it - something is wrong, oh so very wrong. It will regenerate at 20 points (100 total) per tick (second give/take) during combat. Each move costs a certain amount of energy, which is how you spend it. Even if you miss a move, it will take some energy, however if you miss or hit a finishing move, it will take pretty much a huge chunk - so don't miss!
Good lord, we're still building combo points? 3) At around level 30 or so, you can do many of the tricks I'm going to talk about, this is not super uber stuff here in the talent build. I have improved sinister strike and improved gouge. Both of these are five points I think every rogue should spend. Sinister strike (improved) costs me 40 energy, so even at zero energy I only have to wait 2 ticks to whip it out. This is by far the move you will be doing the most regardless of your build. Unimproved it will take three ticks to be able to perform - this adds up very fast in a rogue fight. I will normally let my energy build up just a little right after my opening move - then perform gouge (improved). An improved gouge will let you put on a full band aid (almost), so it does help. Not to mention as I gouge (aka disorient) the mob, I nonchalantly (if it's not improved, you can't do it nonchalantly, it should be rushed at the least) move around to the back of the opponent and backstab (improved as well) them. With improved backstab I crit almost as much as I crit with improved ambush. Nice, right? After I do that one backstab, I normally won't have time for another gouge/backstab setup, so I do two more sinister strikes, then...
4) Peform a full finishing move. If you're fighting and are killing too fast to do a full finishing move, you're not fighting the right stuff. After a full eviscerate (unless I crit the eviscerate) I'll normally have a couple more sinister strikes in me before the mob is finished.
5) Loot and dance over the body.
This is the basic outline of a backstabbing rogue. I tried combat, and although they are extremely mean toe to toe, I found the fighting a tad boring since you just used cheap shot (2 combo points, count 'em!), sinister strike and the stunning finishing move. Stunning is quite funny, but for me personally, wasn't roguely enough. I needed to be evil and dirty - backstabbing it was.
Let's talk about several of our tricks.
Distract is a cool ability. Using it while stealthed (again, the good stealth) an AoE green ring will pop up. Everything within the ring, will look toward the center of your target area. This is how you can get things to either look away while you sneak by, or sneak up behind them to sap or backstab them. I don't see many rogues use this in groups, I find it a stand by.
Sap is our crowd control. I highly recomend improved sap for the grouping rogue - this requires 21 points to be spent in subtlety which means you can't get a 31 talent in any other tree. That's really ok, I don't like any of the 31 talents actually, just not worth loosing out on all the great things at the 'bottom' of the rogue tree. Improved sap will give you a 90% chance to return to stealth - this makes things interesting because you'll be so used to always going back to stealth that when you fail one the heart skips a beat since you're so lax in your fatty ways.
Sprint is your first life saver. Problem? The boat about to leave? Three gnomes in a row you want to jump? Want to try clearing the pits in Ironforge again? Try sprint! I have no idea how many times this ability saved my cute buttocks.
Vanish - thank the gods for this. In any situation, this will make you puff into a cloud of theatrical smoke back into the safety of stealth. This will however end combat (much like a hunter's feign death) so if you want your mob to try looking around the area while you cackle and backstab them again, it just won't work man - stop trying it! This does take a reagent, I hate when I hit it on accident... Also if there is any kind of AoE spell or DoT on you, stealth will be broken so don't waste a vanish while you have spells on you.
Kick, our spell interrupt ability. Same as shield bash or others. My build is pretty much non-combat so I can't get improved kick and this makes me very, very sad.
Disarm trap!!!!!!!
Blind, using this ability on humanoids only means a rogue can have something sapped, blinded and gouged at the same time. I love doing this just to say I can. A blind target is still somewhat volitile though. A sap will last some time (especially at the higher ranks), but blind I've found is somewhat random. Like a sap of course, any damage will interrupt the effect. Also, you get this ability at about level 34, so you can't use it your whole career.
Safe fall... cute, but I'll tell you the first time you land safely from a fall barely surviving and the rest of your group follows you thinking it's ok then dies saying wtf? It's classic man...
Slice and dice is a finishing move, but it's basically like a speed boost for your attacks. I'll speak more on this in the grouping section.
Expose armor is another finishing move, however I rarely use it. I've found myself just laying down damage rather than decimating someone's AC - this is a great pvp move though.
Feint - essential during combat. It costs a mere 20 points of energy and basically lowers you down on the aggro list, much like fade for priests. I use this constantly in groups, of course it's useless solo.
Picking locks isn't entirely useless, although I would like to see more locks in the game. It's great to unlock a friends chest and such, but the real money is in the upper levels when you can unlock things that people have to go on huge quests to get keys for! Brilliant!
There are several others that I simply don't use because they are anti-build. There are things that are useful in some situations, but they are far too specific for me to remember during a raid or something like that.
Now, before we get to grouping... poisons...
There are poisons that will do damage over time, poisons that will wrack the mind and spellcasting of your opponent, poisons that will cause healing done to said opponent to be less effective, even poisons that make you see really funny colors. In my opinion though, the real meat and potatoes is in Instant Poison and Crippling Poison. Instant poison just procs all the time doing extra damage (at my level an uncritted normal attack is anywhere from 100-150, each proc the poison does about the same) and it adds up quickly. Crippling poison decreases the movement of your opponent by A LOT. Crippling poison 2 decreases the movement A FREAKLOAD. Wanna run away from me? WELL YOU CAN'T!!
It's late right now, so I will continue the grouping section sometime soon...
edit: Oh yeah, discipline!
Let's begin with the basics: What makes a rogue a rogue? Other than his good looks? Not too much. Just the ability to turn invisible through stealth, the ability to lay down an insane amount of one on one damage in melee and several abilities to get out of trouble as you catch the inevitable attention of the things you're wailing on.
A rogue on the prowl is something feared by mobs and players alike. Trust me, those little AI bots freakin *hate* hearing that Wowhshswoo of a rogue nearby. So if you thought you were alone: You're not! Let me clarify something right quick - we rogues love that you hate it. It's our bread and butter that fear, it's where we live. That might be a bit dramatic - but it's true! Our fights always begin from the sneak.
Tangent. I am a firm believer of specializing the talents of a class in their purpose. Hence my priest being holy and... that other one that's not shadow (I'll remember in about 10 minutes) and my 'lock being almost purely affliction. These are the meat and potatoes of those classes. Some others are a little more blurry and open for debate. The two pure DPSers are basically: which way do you want to completely annihilate your opponent? I prefered an ice/arcane combo with my mage - it's just safe that way and I like safe. The rogue is similar, with the exception (imo) of 10 points that simply *must* be spent right away. Those would be Master of Deception and Camoflage. These add bonuses to the effect of your stealth and the speed at which you can move while stealthed. I made each of these my first 10 points spent, and I would highly encourage you to do the same. It's what we do... hell it's the Pilferin' part for crissakes! It makes us do the assassinin well!! Get with the program people!
Now... where was I? Right, our fights beginning from the sneak. So you sneak in (much better after those 10 points I might add) and begin with an opening move. Me personally? I'm a backstabber - massive damage and at my level and current equipment 25% criticals (without an Elixer of Mongoose). I'm all about catching opponents completely by surprise (from behind no less) and using various tricks during the fight. A backstabber will go something like this:
1) Sneak in (with the good sneak, not the cheap crap).
2) Ambush (uber backstab)
3) Build up combo points.
Holy crap, I haven't talked about combo points! As you all probably know, each of our special moves adds a combo point to the target up to a maximum of five. We do this for our finishing moves! Our finishing moves vary just as much as our opening moves - eviscerate probably being the most popular right behind the stun one. Each of the finishing moves gets more powerful the more combo points you have built up. Simple, right? Good.
Still 3) I build up combo points (remember, I'm a backstabber) by doing several things.
Crap, I need to talk about energy too. Instead of rage, rogues get this biotchen thing called energy. It keeps you on your toes and the strategy at light speed. Like rage, if you're not spending it - something is wrong, oh so very wrong. It will regenerate at 20 points (100 total) per tick (second give/take) during combat. Each move costs a certain amount of energy, which is how you spend it. Even if you miss a move, it will take some energy, however if you miss or hit a finishing move, it will take pretty much a huge chunk - so don't miss!
Good lord, we're still building combo points? 3) At around level 30 or so, you can do many of the tricks I'm going to talk about, this is not super uber stuff here in the talent build. I have improved sinister strike and improved gouge. Both of these are five points I think every rogue should spend. Sinister strike (improved) costs me 40 energy, so even at zero energy I only have to wait 2 ticks to whip it out. This is by far the move you will be doing the most regardless of your build. Unimproved it will take three ticks to be able to perform - this adds up very fast in a rogue fight. I will normally let my energy build up just a little right after my opening move - then perform gouge (improved). An improved gouge will let you put on a full band aid (almost), so it does help. Not to mention as I gouge (aka disorient) the mob, I nonchalantly (if it's not improved, you can't do it nonchalantly, it should be rushed at the least) move around to the back of the opponent and backstab (improved as well) them. With improved backstab I crit almost as much as I crit with improved ambush. Nice, right? After I do that one backstab, I normally won't have time for another gouge/backstab setup, so I do two more sinister strikes, then...
4) Peform a full finishing move. If you're fighting and are killing too fast to do a full finishing move, you're not fighting the right stuff. After a full eviscerate (unless I crit the eviscerate) I'll normally have a couple more sinister strikes in me before the mob is finished.
5) Loot and dance over the body.
This is the basic outline of a backstabbing rogue. I tried combat, and although they are extremely mean toe to toe, I found the fighting a tad boring since you just used cheap shot (2 combo points, count 'em!), sinister strike and the stunning finishing move. Stunning is quite funny, but for me personally, wasn't roguely enough. I needed to be evil and dirty - backstabbing it was.
Let's talk about several of our tricks.
Distract is a cool ability. Using it while stealthed (again, the good stealth) an AoE green ring will pop up. Everything within the ring, will look toward the center of your target area. This is how you can get things to either look away while you sneak by, or sneak up behind them to sap or backstab them. I don't see many rogues use this in groups, I find it a stand by.
Sap is our crowd control. I highly recomend improved sap for the grouping rogue - this requires 21 points to be spent in subtlety which means you can't get a 31 talent in any other tree. That's really ok, I don't like any of the 31 talents actually, just not worth loosing out on all the great things at the 'bottom' of the rogue tree. Improved sap will give you a 90% chance to return to stealth - this makes things interesting because you'll be so used to always going back to stealth that when you fail one the heart skips a beat since you're so lax in your fatty ways.
Sprint is your first life saver. Problem? The boat about to leave? Three gnomes in a row you want to jump? Want to try clearing the pits in Ironforge again? Try sprint! I have no idea how many times this ability saved my cute buttocks.
Vanish - thank the gods for this. In any situation, this will make you puff into a cloud of theatrical smoke back into the safety of stealth. This will however end combat (much like a hunter's feign death) so if you want your mob to try looking around the area while you cackle and backstab them again, it just won't work man - stop trying it! This does take a reagent, I hate when I hit it on accident... Also if there is any kind of AoE spell or DoT on you, stealth will be broken so don't waste a vanish while you have spells on you.
Kick, our spell interrupt ability. Same as shield bash or others. My build is pretty much non-combat so I can't get improved kick and this makes me very, very sad.
Disarm trap!!!!!!!
Blind, using this ability on humanoids only means a rogue can have something sapped, blinded and gouged at the same time. I love doing this just to say I can. A blind target is still somewhat volitile though. A sap will last some time (especially at the higher ranks), but blind I've found is somewhat random. Like a sap of course, any damage will interrupt the effect. Also, you get this ability at about level 34, so you can't use it your whole career.
Safe fall... cute, but I'll tell you the first time you land safely from a fall barely surviving and the rest of your group follows you thinking it's ok then dies saying wtf? It's classic man...
Slice and dice is a finishing move, but it's basically like a speed boost for your attacks. I'll speak more on this in the grouping section.
Expose armor is another finishing move, however I rarely use it. I've found myself just laying down damage rather than decimating someone's AC - this is a great pvp move though.
Feint - essential during combat. It costs a mere 20 points of energy and basically lowers you down on the aggro list, much like fade for priests. I use this constantly in groups, of course it's useless solo.
Picking locks isn't entirely useless, although I would like to see more locks in the game. It's great to unlock a friends chest and such, but the real money is in the upper levels when you can unlock things that people have to go on huge quests to get keys for! Brilliant!
There are several others that I simply don't use because they are anti-build. There are things that are useful in some situations, but they are far too specific for me to remember during a raid or something like that.
Now, before we get to grouping... poisons...
There are poisons that will do damage over time, poisons that will wrack the mind and spellcasting of your opponent, poisons that will cause healing done to said opponent to be less effective, even poisons that make you see really funny colors. In my opinion though, the real meat and potatoes is in Instant Poison and Crippling Poison. Instant poison just procs all the time doing extra damage (at my level an uncritted normal attack is anywhere from 100-150, each proc the poison does about the same) and it adds up quickly. Crippling poison decreases the movement of your opponent by A LOT. Crippling poison 2 decreases the movement A FREAKLOAD. Wanna run away from me? WELL YOU CAN'T!!
It's late right now, so I will continue the grouping section sometime soon...
edit: Oh yeah, discipline!
