[Guide] Rogue PvP Guide by dea

[dea]

Rogue PvP Guide by dea
About the author: I've played rogue since season 2 back in TBC. I've gotten +2,3k in Tbc, mostly as mage/rogue and rmp. In Wotlk, I've reached over 2,5k ratings. I've been always pvp'ing.

Ok. Let's get to the point.
First of all, you might want to know the basic facts of stats in PvP, so let's talk about them first.


Stats in PvP:
Gear:
PvP gear pays off the best. You can get some really good pve items on offsets (neck, cloak, thrown, ring), but as for set gear, don't bother using pve gear. It will only make you a glasscannon and you'll die in seconds. Granted, you also get 10 energy more from 4/5 set bonus so I don't see a reason taking anything over the set.


Hit Rating:
You need 164 hit rating to get the 5% special cap. That, of course, does not include mages with Arctic wind talent or if you have any debuff which decreases hit rating.
(32.77 Rating = 1% Chance to hit.)

Gemming/Enchants:
You should always gem Attack power, poisons scale with attack power plus it's the best stat to increase your damage! Same applies for Enchants, try to use mostly attack power on enchants.
There are things where you can't get pure ap (shoulders, head, leg enchants for example) just get ap/crit then.

Let's continue with talent specs and glyphs.

Speccing and glyphing:
Mutilate
The best spec atm is Envenom Mutilate variant. Envenom allows for good burst on plate targets, and Deadly poison will tick nicely on plate aswell. You have lots of utility, and access two double cooldowns (Preparation).
Link Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

(You can also try 41/5/25 Mutilate, without Master Poisoner and using Eviscerate in place of Envenom, but at the moment, Envenom Mutilate feels so strong I don't see the point in gimping your damage.)

You can switch Heightened Senses to 2 more points on Dual Wield Specialation, if you're a human, probably you should, you'll still have advantage on stealth against any other classes except night elf. They are on par with you. (Nonetheless I've found Heightened senses really useful as a human rogue, you're able to catch more people in stealth, rarely any human picks this talent. Handy in 2v2)

You can also switch Find Weakness to Deadened Nerves or Focused Attacks, this depends a lot about your playstyle. Find the best talents for you!

Glyphs for the 44/2/25 spec:
Mutilate:
Imo you should always pick this one. Good since less energy requiring Mutilate.

Sprint:
I've found this useful, to get a sap on someone while stealthed or simply get away faster.

Vigor:
Extra 10 energy allows more burst, I have this one.

Tricks of the Trade:
You should only consider this one if you're playing with a mage and find your mage's burst lacking a bit.

Preparation:
Extra dismantle is cool, although a bit bummer since Dismantle has diminishing returns too. On top of that, I don't like planning my cd usage around Dismantle reset.

Cloak of Shadows:
Good if you find yourself focused on almost every game. You should also only consider this one if you have serious troubles staying alive.

Poisons:
You should use Deadly poison(DP) on main hand and Wound poison(WP) on offhand, if you have 1.80/1.80 speed daggers.
However, you can use also Wound poison on main hand and Deadly poison on off hand, should you have 1.80/1.40 speed daggers.

Summing up:

1.80/1.80 DP/WP
+More damage on Mutilate
+Faster stacking of DP when you switch target
+Able to shiv Wound poison, thus Cripping aswell
-Wound poison can fall from the target
-DP can proc from focus Kicks!

1.80/1.40 WP/DP
+Higher sustained damage (about 15-20% with 5 DP stacks)
+Able to shiv DP if stacks are about to fall
+Wound poison will refresh more likely
-Not able to shiv Wound/Crippling

Myself I've found 1.80/1.80 more useful tbh. Although deadly poison can proc from kick, thus removing the ability to Blind focus target for ~10seconds it's more useful, and ability to shiv crippling is sometimes really needed.

Shadow Dance

Shadow dance is more tricky of a spec to play, anyway it is really good spec when gotten used to. Adds more burst than mutilate spec but sustained is far worse. Also, there is a reduced chance to keep wound poison (MS) on the target if there is a dispeller on the opposite team.

Spec I use for ShD
I like this spec since there is waylay for backstab, and you'll be using backstab always when the target is impossible to get back of (if you are crippled or rooted etc). When impossible to use backstab, you'll be using hemo (also sometimes it is good to use hemo if you are starting a stunlock with other physical dps team mate.

Some people use Hemo-only spec, but I've found it a bit lackluster. Backstab is just way too good.

I'll add more content here later =)



Basics:
Key Bindings:
You should always use key bindings. You can start off with little, only by binding from 1 to 6, R, T, F, etc.

I myself use 1-6, R, T, Y, F, G, Q, E, §, F1-F4, <, V, B. I also have shift+all of these keys binded. I have Ctrl+1,2,3,4 and binded also.
You should find the most handy keys for yourself. Try them out!

Why to use binds? Because you will have more quicker time pressing the buttons than clicking buttons. Also, this gives you an ability to turn with mouse rather than "keyboard turning".

Pooling energy, landing abilities, etc:
You should always start with a Cheap shot, unless it's a mage or another caster, you can also start with garrote. Cheap shot is recommended for every other class. Follow the opener with a mutilate, followed by a Kidney shot. After that, use Mutilate and Envenom if you have 4+ combo points. Well, that's in theory. Basically, you want to keep the enemy locked down as much as possible to avoid damage and make more damage to the target.

By pooling energy I mean you should save energy that you have almost full energy to burst and to get the enemy to use their cooldowns. For example, if you do mutilate, wait 5 sec, mutilate again, wait 3 sec for Envenom, mutilate again in 4 sec, etc, this won't pressure the enemy enough.
You have to save like 100+ energy, to be able to do deadly combos like 2x mutilate, Kidney shot, 1 mutilate, Envenom, in 3 globals only! This will make the enemy to use cooldowns, and with a caster on your side, even better. You should co-ordinate the burst. If you're playing arena, you should ask your partner in ventrilo/skype/etc when he's ready. When he is ready, pop tricks and burst with the energy you have saved.

Landing Kidney shot to another target might be tricky. You should try to save a sprint for these situations if needed (if you are snared, fighting another rogue in evasion, etc). Sprint, jump through the target, turn with mouse and KS. That should be enough, making KS from behind so the target can't dodge or parry.
Also, you should consider using gouge, then kidney shot instantly after, to avoid the target dodging the KS.
Same applies to Dismantle!

Macros:
I've found these macros useful for PvP.

Tricks without targetting your friend:
/cast [target=partymember] Tricks of the Trade

Sap macro:
#showtooltip Sap
/cleartarget
/targetenemy
/cast Sap

Focus Kick:
/cast [target=focus] Kick

Focus Blind:
/cast [target=focus] Blind
(to focus a target, simply /focus )

If you want, this will set the target on focus if you don't have one by first press. Second press Blinds the target:
/clearfocus [modifier][target=focus,dead][target=focus,help][target=focus,noexists]
/cast [target=focus,exists] Blind
/focus [target=focus,noexists]

This is handy, starts to autoattack the target when you mash the Mutilate button, incase you don't have energy for mutilate:
/startattack
/cast Mutilate(Rank 6)

Decrease your chance of vanish bugging:
#show Vanish
/stopattack
/cast vanish

Cold Blood Envenom:
/cast Cold Blood
/cast Envenom

If you want to mash stealth button, this is good so you don't accidentally return out of stealth:
/cast [stance:0] stealth


Professions for PvP:
Engineering: This is a really nice profession, since you get Glove rocket for more burst (1,3k normal hitand 2,6k crits). Hits through Hand of Protection.
For outside arenas, you get grenades and rocket boots. Grenade belt can be attached to any belt, and has 6 min cooldown. Comes handy in interupting a heal or spell from another target than your own.
Rocket boots are useful for escape from a bad situation.

Jewelcrafting: Useful to get more attack power from gems, ability to make gems by yourself and to profit a bit with the gems : )

You can also consider Blacksmithing and Alchemy, but in my opinion, these suit the best.



I may add more info into this guide if I see many people interested in this guide!
I put a lot of effort into this, and also revealing some of the tricks I've found after competitively playing WoW as a rogue from season 2.

Thanks for reading my guide!

[Reflection]

Very nice guide, but don't ask for rep.

[joonas suomesta]

nice guide, ´+rep im not so good in pvp, this will help. thanks!

[dea]

Very nice guide, but don't ask for rep.

Thanks. What do you mean by that? I'm just trying to share information and contribute!

[rdr1994]

I may add more info into this guide if I see many people interested in this guide!
Don't forget to +Rep if you found any of this useful. I put a lot of effort into this, and also revealing some of the tricks I've found after competitively playing WoW as a rogue from season 2. Repping would be greatly appreciated

he means that part because you ask for rep that's against the rules
but you still get my +3 as it seems very good guide for rogues

[dea]

Oh, sorry. I'll remove that then!

[Reflection]

he means that part because you ask for rep that's against the rules
but you still get my +3 as it seems very good guide for rogues

Exactly. I gave you 4 rep as well though

[Zantas]

100% Active Man gives you +Rep too

[dea]

Wow, 100% activity is pretty impressive

[Zantas]

Well, you see I lost interest in my other online communities ^^

[buddhistgrandma]

Very well written guide. You do know what you are talking about. I would however remove Glyph of CLoS from the glyphs section. In arenas, you really should be using CLoS to get a restealth, or facing a spellcaster team and about to die. If you glyph CLoS, and you use it to mitigate physical damage(say from Skillstorm), you've just gimped yourself.

Edit: One thing I do is I attach my rocketgloves to the CB/Envenom macro, which creates that much more burst.

Arenajunkies has a full list of macros, and you might want to provide a link over there as well.

[jazerix]

Awesome guide <3

[dea]

Very well written guide. You do know what you are talking about. I would however remove Glyph of CLoS from the glyphs section. In arenas, you really should be using CLoS to get a restealth, or facing a spellcaster team and about to die. If you glyph CLoS, and you use it to mitigate physical damage(say from Skillstorm), you've just gimped yourself.

I am aware of this. But for some comps Clos is fine aswell, I've played with it, but feel it's a bit inferior. Wanted to list it anyway, since it's viable.

Edit: One thing I do is I attach my rocketgloves to the CB/Envenom macro, which creates that much more burst.

Yeah I had this once, but felt it's good to be in control of it yourself. Env can be dodged etc. And sometimes you want to use the rocket to get someone in combat, or ranged a low hp target.

I did not provide a link to AJ because I think everyone knows that site Plus some of the macros there are not so good and I wouldn't want to use them by myself.

Thanks for the feedback tho =)

[Zantas]

Well you can post a list of what macro you would use, when and how. ^^

[dea]

Hehe, well, those are pretty much everything I use, but I'll add that along more things into this guide later =) Busy irl now. Thanks for info though!