Ensidia Rogue PVE Guide

[itakeflagkk]

NOTE: TAKEN FROM ENSIDIA.COM Edited to remove useless stuff and clunkyness



By Uhohuhoh, Undead Rogue

US – Bleeding Hollow

To better organize this, I will be dividing it into two major sections, Combat and Mutilate, and each of these sections will have their own respective sub-sections. If someone would like to write a PvP section for this, I would be happy to put it up.

Raiding as a rogue, you really only have one goal and purpose for the raid: To do as much damage as possible. Rogues have no buffs and a weak debuff (compared to other classes). While this is not always the case based on the fight and how Blizzard changes WoW at any given time, rogues, on a static fight, should be the top damage doers in the raid. Please note, I am making a clear difference here between DPS (damage per second), and damage (overall damage done). Rogues generally will not be on top of the DPS meters even if they are on top of the damage meters, because casters (such as arcane mages) generally have much higher DPS. However, since they are limited by mana, they cannot dps during the entire fight, and need to take breaks to regenerate their mana. This is part of what allows rogues to be highest on damage and yet not highest on DPS.

Deciding Between Combat and Mutilate for PvE

This is much easier than a lot of people make it into. While it is true that at any given time the actual talents within the Combat or Mutilate trees will put one slightly (if Blizzard is doing their job correctly) ahead of another*, rarely is this difference so great that you have to chose one or the other. Usually, Blizzard tries to keep specs within 0%-5% damage differences, with rogue specs usually sitting at a 2% damage difference. Simply put, chose the spec that you have the best weapons for. Weapons are they key limiting factor in rogue dps, and you should spec around what you have. *Usually, Mutilate on a static fight will be slightly ahead of Combat, due to Combat’s increased versatility.

PvE as Combat

The goal of the combat spec is to maximize white damage while at the same time giving you several options for burst/aoe damage. While combat may not be theoretically better than mutilate (though with recent changes they are very close), it does have its advantages for certain fights when burst is important. Adrenaline Rush and Killing Spree mixed with Blade Furry can be a very deadly combination. Ideally right now, a combat rogue will aim to either hit the Arp soft cap* (with stats on gear + gems) while using an Arp trinket (most common) or, at high levels of gear and with the Death Bringer’s Will (dbw) trinket, get close to the hard cap. If you have the weapons for it, combat can be a very viable and powerful spec that can shine on certain fights.

*This number changes as there are several versions of this trinket, but getting between 700-750 Arp will put you on track.

Two viable (as of 2/8/2010) Combat PvE specs (Sword/Axe version):

The World of Warcraft Armory 20/51 <-- Most versatile spec. Gem Agility or Attack Power/Haste (AP/Haste is better for most).

The World of Warcraft Armory 20/51 <-- Use when you are at/neat the Arp soft cap AND have an Arp trinket OR dbw. Gem Arp. If you find that you are at the soft cap and still have unused sockets, gem AP/Haste.

Please note. It is more than acceptable to use the standard spec when using Arp. The Arp spec is just a different way to spend 1 talent point, that you may or may not find useful.

PvE as Mutilate

The goal of the Mutilate spec is to maximize single target damage by maximizing your poison damage. Ideally right now, a Mutilate rogue will gem AP and AP/Haste to maximize poison damage via attack power and weapon swings. Mutilate rogues want to stay away from Arp as much as possible – it does not benefit poison damage at all, everything else does – and often run into problem with what is called the “crit cap”. More detail on this will be provided further on in the guide. There has been talk recently of Mutilate rogues using two fast daggers. With the recent nerf to the poison AP multiplier, using two fast daggers will be a dps loss. Also, Vigor is NOT a talent you should ever spec into for PvE. It gives you no more energy regen, and as Mut you do not worry about capping energy (or at least, you shouldn’t if you are playing correctly.) The only thing Vigor gives you is maybe one extra special attack at the beginning of the fight.

The only viable (as of 2/8/10) Mutilate spec:

The World of Warcraft Armory 51/18/2 <-- Gem Attack Power and AP/Haste.

Rogues Tips/Pointers

One of the most important things that many rogues tout is strict adherence to a specific rotation. People ask many times on forums “what cycle/rotation should I use for spec X Y Z and gear A B C...?”

People ask this question hoping that they will receive the magic answer and all their dps problems will be solved. They are wrong. THERE IS NONE.

You read that correct. There is NO SINGLE CYCLE/ROTATION THAT ALWAYS WORKS. You can say as much as you want about it, but it doesn't matter, and any of you who ask for it or listen to it are probably not maximizing your dps.

Here's why: [cp = Combo Point]

1. Every rogue is different. Everyone has different gear, and even a single piece of gear can completely separate one rogue from another.

Examples:

- My energy regeneration might be better, because I hit more often with my offhand than you do because of Haste differences.

- My crit might be better than yours, which for both specs (see talent: Focuses Attacks and glyph: Glyph of Sinister Strike - and really, don't even get me started on how glyphs change dynamics and factors) will give me different energy or combo point generation.

2. Every fight is different (try Mimiron hard mode if you don't believe me :P). Every fight has a different set of dynamics that require certain things at certain times that everyone reacts to in their own way.

Examples:

- Different guilds have different uses for their rogues. For example, you might be keeping a healer locked down on faction champs or the water spirit in the Freya encounter, while another rogue might be spamming FoK on Faction Champs, pwning the shaman healer, or making sure the tank dies to the Snaplasher. Just because you do it one way does not mean that everyone else (even the people in your own guild! - talk about bitchy 10 mans) does it that way. This alone effectively kills any rotation/cycle that involves a fight where you get off the boss to attack something else.

- The only fight in the game (lvl 80 content) where you do not move at all (XT you might move, general you might move, Fester you might move) is Patch.

Since I have clearly shown that cycle/rotation X/Y/Z does not work unless every rogue plays the same and is in the same gear (down to the last gem), I will now talk about the actual ways to maximize your dps.

Rogue DPS Rules - What you actually need to know!

- Don't wipe the raid

- Don't die. A dead rogue is a useless rogue. (If this violates the first principle, it is acceptable to die.)

1. Maximize SnD uptime

2. Highest dps for Combat will usually be attained by maximizing the number of Eviscerates without dropping SnD. For Mutilate, it will usually be attained my maximizing the number of Envenoms without dropping SnD and Hunger for Blood (HfB).

3. Don't energy cap(EVER). Capped energy is wasted energy.

4. Slow MH** (high weapon DAMAGE), fast OH (speed, see talent: Combat Potency, or, look at the damage multipliers on your abilities such as SS and Mutilate, and you will see they do more damage with a higher damage weapon).

**Please note: For Mutilate rogues, it has been shown that fast-dagger main hand is viable. Use the highest DPS daggers possible. If given the choice between a fast dagger and a slow dagger of the same DPS for your main hand, use the slow one.

5. Instant poison on your main hand, Deadly poison on your offhand.

Following these rules will give you maximum dps on any fight; regardless of your gear or what you are assigned to do (this is assuming you are attacking a single target). You might even call this a play style.

Thought I might include some additional useful hints/numbers for anyone who cares.

- We don't care what your dps on a dummy is, unless you tested it at least three times, from full health to 0, with a full 25 man raid, including all debuffs to the target and all your buffs.

- Haste DOES stack. >> Using AR and/or BF and/or a haste pot together or with bloodlust/heroism WILL give you extra dps. Do not do this if you are in danger of energy capping, or close to the Haste soft cap (internal gcd).

- Speaking of cool downs. [*]For a fight that does NOT require burst damage at certain points, you should use your CDs as soon as possible and continue to use them when they become available
. (Please do not pull aggro at the beginning of a fight because of this, and attempting to time CDs with trinket procs is useful, as long as you don’t wait so long that you limit the number of times you can use said CD.)

- If you are using the two set bonus from tier 7, gem Attack power.

- If you are using the four set bonus from tier 8, gem Agility.

- If you are in full (4/5 or 5/5) tier 8.5, you should not replace it with any gear under ilvl 245, and you should not break the four set until you can replace at least four of the five pieces with ilvl 245+ gear.

- If you have over 700 Arp and an Arp trinket, feel safe to gem it. Arp has increasing returns to scale. If you don't have a trinket, you will lose out by gemming it. However, it has been shown that at very high levels (usually requiring the DBW trinket), Arp reaches a high enough value that it is worth gemming it and not using a trinket. Please consult your local spreadsheet

The Expertise cap is 26. Anything above this is mostly useless (see Crit Cap).

The Special Ability (Yellow) Hit cap is 263. The Poison Hit cap while unbuffed for a raid is 315. This is the minimum number you should be looking for. The White Hit cap is around 722. These numbers change as buffs/debuffs are added in (hate Alliance: P). All these numbers assume 5/5 Precision.

The Crit Cap is the number at which point you no longer benefit from getting more crit. In a simple example, if my Crit Cap is 60%, and I have 65% crit in my raid, I am getting no benefit from the last 5%. The Crit Cap is derived from a combination of your Expertise and Hit. I will not go into detail on it in this guide. I have posted two links below that will answer any and all questions regarding the Crit Cap. Crit Cap becomes a big issue starting around ilvl 245+ gear.

(Thanks to Necrorised for this section) ENCHANTS:

Head: Arcanum of Torment (Order of the Ebon Hand - Exalted).

Shoulders: Master's Inscription of the Axe (if you are inscriber), Greater Inscription of the Axe (if you are not; Sons of Hodir - Exalted).

Cloak: Swordguard Embroidery (if you are tailor), Flexweave Underlay (if you are engineer), Greater Speed or Major Agility (both are acceptable).

Chest: Powerful Stats

Bracers: Fur Lining: Attack Power (if you are leatherworker), Greater Assault (if you are not).

Gloves: Hyperspeed Accelerators (if you are engineer), Crusher (if you are not).

Belt: Eternal Belt Buckle.

Legs: Icescale Leg Armor.

Boots: Nitro Boosts (if you are engineer), Cat's Swiftness or Icewalker (both are acceptable). Tuskkarr's Vitality is also more than acceptable as Combat spec only.)

Rings: Assault (if you are enchanter).

Weapon: Berserking

Please feel free to contact me if you have any question/remarks about anything that I have said. I am looking to add a PvP section to this guide, but know nothing about PvP. If someone would be interested in writing something along the same format as what you see above, I would be happy to look it over, edit it with you, and then add it in. Thank you.

Uhohuhoh – US Bleeding Hollow, 80 Undead Rogue.

Produced for Ensidia at Ensidia Much thanks to Krematoria for his support.

Outside Links:

Hit/Expertise

Rogue 80: Rogue 80 Hit Caps

Crit Cap

Crit Cap Guide At MMO - http://www.************.com/class-ro...trike-cap-faq/

Crit Cap Calculator - World of Warcraft Rogue Crit Cap Calculator

Rogue Spreadsheets (All links have Combat and Mut options)

Aldriana's - Combat and Mutilate Spreadsheets (Updated for 3.3) - Elitist Jerks

Mavanas’s - Rogue DPS Simulation Spreadsheet - Elitist Jerks

Chack’s Java App - Java Rogue App: Modelling Mutilate & Combat - Elitist Jerks

[Aldun]

*Tries to fix eyes after bright colors on weirdo places*

[itakeflagkk]

Keep constructive please And the colors are in the Important info places IMO if you disagree please point out areas that i can edit for others

[wac]

I kinda feel sad that you C/P guides just for rep :/. If you are a new player to your class your first impulse shouldn't be to go check on Mmowned.

If you know how to play your class, you' will just go to EJ or whatever.

And for people who don't know, they would probably just google it. And by that they will get the original guide, or a site dedicated for their class.


Just my 1.3 cents (after tax.)

[markons]

It would be much easier to make a link to Ensidia forum and tell ppl they have guides for all classes and specs

[itakeflagkk]

I kinda feel sad that you C/P guides just for rep :/. If you are a new player to your class your first impulse shouldn't be to go check on Mmowned.

If you know how to play your class, you' will just go to EJ or whatever.

And for people who don't know, they would probably just google it. And by that they will get the original guide, or a site dedicated for their class.


Just my 1.3 cents (after tax.)

Big tax. I didnt make this for rep I even /w unholy(S)haman if copy paste was ok to get more people in the community. I asked him will i say dont rep me coz i didnt make the guide. so dont judge me so quickly. @ The other fellow im not gonna just give a link as the point in making a guide is for people to go to MMOWNED to see the guide. (Also edited and removed some off the filler from the guide) (Not everyone knows about EJs)

Why shouldnt you go to MMOWNED first more people=More donators

[itakeflagkk]

It would be much easier to make a link to Ensidia forum and tell ppl they have guides for all classes and specs

But that would be a lie coz they dont :O

[kentril]

Whats the mutilate rotation, ive been trying to find it for forever :P

[itakeflagkk]

Whats the mutilate rotation, ive been trying to find it for forever :P

Check teh Purplezors

[Unholyshaman]

I kinda feel sad that you C/P guides just for rep :/. If you are a new player to your class your first impulse shouldn't be to go check on Mmowned.

If you know how to play your class, you' will just go to EJ or whatever.

And for people who don't know, they would probably just google it. And by that they will get the original guide, or a site dedicated for their class.


Just my 1.3 cents (after tax.)

There is nothing wrong with reposting guides from other websites on MMOwned. KuRIoS has said it himself. If you want to play mini-moderator go to some pokemon forum or something.

Don't tell others what to do unless you actually know what the **** you are talking about.

Players who flame and try tell people what to do simply get reported and given infractions for being jackasses.

[wac]

Did I at any point say It isn't allowed to repost guides? Didn't think so, so now what are YOU whining at?
Where did I tell him what to do ...? You should read what I write instead :/.

I was just giving my opinion.


PS.

Pokémon is the greatest of all time.
ALL TIME.

[Flarian]

love the guide +rep cuz i would have never checked a different site... too lazy, besides i <3 mmowned

[Unholyshaman]

Did I at any point say It isn't allowed to repost guides? Didn't think so, so now what are YOU whining at?
Where did I tell him what to do ...? You should read what I write instead :/.

I was just giving my opinion.


PS.

Pokémon is the greatest of all time.
ALL TIME.

I agree, I was very harsh there I'm sorry. It was 2am for me and I was pissed off at someone in the Shout Box at the time.
I am sorry and I take it back.

[l31sh0p]

Whats the mutilate rotation, ive been trying to find it for forever :P

If you have someone else in your Party / Raid applying Bleeds:

Garrote/Ambush-> HfB-> SnD-> Envenom. Mutilate to 3-5 CP-> Envenom.
Vanish and re-open as soon as Overkill wears off. The optimal rotation will have minimal downtime between Envenom buffs. It is VERY counter-productive to clip Envenom buffs; don't do it. If you don't have someone in your party applying bleeds and find yourself with 1-2 CP and HfB is ~10 seconds from dropping, apply a Rupture to keep 100% HfB uptime.

Pick up an addon called EventHorizon. It tracks all your crucial buffs/debuffs in a small, easy to read frame that has literally increased my dps by 4-500.

[Hanss]

Good Job on this guide very detailed hope this will bring more rogues to MMOWNED P.S. Thanks for the colors made important bits helpful