World of Warcraft™

Chapter I:

A Tale of Three Rogues: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blade

As a rogue you have a choice of three talent trees: Assassination, Combat, and Subtlety. With the release of 4.3 The Dragon Soul, Combat and Subtlety are showing to be our leading raid specs. While Assassination isn't performing poorly, none of the encounters are playing into its strengths. Below are the best talent choices for all three specs as well as notes on what and where their filler points are, if any, that you can move around to suit your taste.

Assassination:
31/2/8 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fcIf0sRdoGo0bZbhc:qzVrobVMc

Assassination has 1 free talent point. The two best places to put it are Deadly Brew and Deadened Nerves. Depending on group make-up you may not even be called to provide a slow. As a melee it should fall to you last in most cases. Couple this with the understanding bosses are immune to snare effects by and large and there are no adds in any DS encounter that require a slow. This makes Deadened Nerves flat damage reduction a very attractive choice unless you're specifically choosing your spec for a niche situation.

It comes down a lot to preference, when in doubt talk to your Raid Leader and see what they'd prefer you to bring to the group.

For your final Major Glyph the best available options are Sprint and Fan of Knives depending on the circumstance. If you're still working on T12 Kick can be used to solo interrupt adds on Alysrazor, but they are now stunnable which reduces the power of this choice. Minor Glyphs offer no DPS increase and are choice by preference.

Combat:
7/31/3 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fMGZfGccocbRGo0h:0kozor
-Rotation including Rupture-

7/31/3 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fcrZfGccocbRGo0h:0kozor
-Rotation excluding Rupture-

Combat has 4 filler talent points, in the link above they are resting in Improved Recuperate & Blade Twisting, these can be moved around to suit your needs, again when in doubt talk with your Raid Leader and see what best suits your composition.

If you do not have access to the 30% bleed debuff and Rupture is actually a DPS loss or you have otherwise opted to not include it in your rotation, moving 1 point from Lethality to fill out Coup de Grace will be a DPS increase in the case of such a Rupture-less rotation.

Minor Glyphs offer no DPS increase and are choice by preference.

Subtlety:
8/2/31 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fMhcZ0bZcGcsdu0RGo:zkMro
-General Purpose Spec-

8/2/31 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fMhcZ0bZcGccdhhMGo:zkMro
-For use on Heroic Morchok-

9/1/31 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fchcZ0oZcGcfduoRho:zako
-For use on Heroic Spine of Deathwing-

8/2/31 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fbhdZbZMGccduIoho:zkMro
-For use on Heroic Valiona & Theralion-

Subtlety has no filler talent points as everything is being utilized in an attempt to push as much performance out as possible. To add Enveloping Shadows for Morchok which allows you to ignore the Black Blood of the Earth mechanic, you may move up to 1 point from Initiative, 1 point from Preparation, and 1 point from Premeditation. Ranked from least DPS-affecting to most DPS-affecting. You may not require all 3 points in Enveloping Shadows and may then keep Premeditation and even Preparation. Or even all three depending how well Recuperate + Feint/Cloak/Feint cover you.

Final Major and all Minor Glyphs offer no DPS increase and are choice by preference.

Note: While Glyph of Eviscerate is the third Prime Glyph used here, Glyph of Shadowdance can be of equal or better DPS depending on your gear. If you are weaving Hemorrhage in your rotation (for the 24sec DoT and/or to maintain your own bleed debuff) glyphing for it is better than either Eviscerate or Shadowdance.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter II:

The Best Defence Is a Good Offense: Or, When Life Gives You Lemons, Squirt the Juice In Your Enemies Eyes

Hit Rating, one of the simplest concepts tends to be also one of the hardest to put into practice. The more you hit your target, the better. But with so many different types of attacks that rogues use, how much Hit and where is it all coming from? Rogues are not only concerned with melee hit, but our poisons are considered spells, which means we must also be mindful of our spell hit to be successful. Each type of hit has it's own cap, the point at which abilities associated to it no longer have a chance to miss. The Hit Caps come in three varieties Special Hit Cap (the point where your melee special abilities no longer miss), Spell Hit Cap (the point where your poisons no longer miss), and White Hit Cap (The point where your dual wield auto-attacks no longer miss).

The Hit Caps are 6% Special & Spell, and 24% White Hit for Heroics, and 8% Special, 17% Spell, and 27% White Hit for Raids.

Your Hit Chance is measured in percentages to hit, to achieve that you add Hit Rating which is found on gear. gems, and enchants and then used to determine what your Hit % is.

The Hit Caps at level 85 then are:

Heroic: Special: 721 (6%) Spell: 615 (6%) White: 2884 (24%)
Raid: Special: 962 (8%) Spell: 1742 (17%) White: 3244 (27%)

This is then modified by how many talent points you invest in the Combat tree first tier talent Precision at a rate of 2% Melee/Spell Hit per point. The optimal amount is currently 2/3 Precision for an Assassination rogue, 3/3 Precision for a Combat rogue, and 2/3 Precision for a Subtlety rogue which lowers those numbers and means you only need to make up the following hit from gear:

Assassination:
Heroic: Special: 241 (2%) Spell: 205 (2%) White: 2403 (20%) Target Cap: 241
Raid: Special: 481 (4%) Spell: 1332 (13%) White: 2763 (23%) Target Cap: 1332

Combat:
Heroic: Special: 0 (0%)* Spell: 0 (0%)* White: 2163 (18%) Target Cap: 0*
Raid: Special: 241 (2%) Spell: 1127 (11%) White: 2523 (21%) Target Cap: 241 *Completely covered by Precision

Subtlety:
Heroic: Special: 241 (2%) Spell: 205 (2%) White: 2403 (20%) Target Cap: 241
Raid: Special: 481 (4%) Spell: 1332 (13%) White: 2763 (23%) Target Cap: 481

0-----------------------8----------------------------17--------------------27
[------yellow hit-------]
[-------------------spell hit-------------------------]
[------------------------------------white hit------------------------------]
------------------------[ Ideal range for Combat ]
----------------------------------------------------[](Assassination Hit Cap)
------------------------[](Subtlety Hit Cap)

As you can see the Hit Rating needed to reach the White Hit Cap for dual wield auto-attacks is prohibitively high and is not to be aimed for, if it's even possible to obtain. Therefore usually, when someone references the Hit Cap and whether or not they/you are at/above/below it they mean the Spell Hit Cap (for assassination) and the Special Hit Cap (for subtlety and combat), because hit beyond this point is worth much less, and in the case of assassination the lowest valued stat.

Since Hit % (both melee and spell) is derived from the same Hit Rating on gear, even though they use different coefficients, they move along the same line, just at different rates. So to reach Spell Hit Cap for assassination you will far surpass the Special Hit Cap. The coefficients used are approximately:


Hit Rating: 120.135 = 1% Melee Hit Chance

Hit Rating: 102.44 = 1% Spell Hit Chance

Only an assassination rogue needs to get to Spell Hit Cap, all rogues want to be Special Hit Capped. This is due to assassination's high value on poisons as it's primary source of damage. Subtlety and combat on the other hand primarily deal in physical damage, which means that while more poison strikes will mean more damage, it will still be to a lesser degree of your overall damage. This is why Expertise Capping, Heroic: 721 (24/24) & Raid: 781 (26/26) is so highly valued by combat, and not so by assassination.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter III:

Math Is Delicious: Or, What All Those Crazy Numbers Mean.

With all those different numbers on gear and all those crazy percentages you see all over your character sheet, it can be confusing to know exactly where to put your focus, and hard to know when to say when. Below are the various stats that will affect your DPS broken down and prioritized by spec.

Stat Priorities:

Assassination:
Agi > Spell Hit > Mastery > Haste > Expertise > Crit > White Hit
Combat:
Agi > Special Hit > Expertise > Haste > Spell Hit > Mastery > Crit > White Hit
Subtlety:
Agi > Special Hit > Haste > Expertise > Crit > Spell Hit > Mastery > White Hit

The following chart lists the EP value, by spec, of all DPS affecting stats. (This chart assumes a BiS T12 gear setup, individual mileage may vary)

Stat Weights:
Assassination: Combat: Subtlety:
Agi: 2.7 Agi: 2.8 Agi: 3.82
Special Hit: 2.0 Special Hit: 2.15 Special Hit: 1.58
Spell Hit: 1.6 Spell Hit: 1.5 Spell Hit: 1.09
White Hit: 0.82 White Hit: 1.2 White Hit: 0.84
Mastery: 1.4 Mastery: 1.5 Mastery: 0.86
Haste: 1.3 Haste: 1.7 Haste: 1.55
Expertise: 1.2 Expertise: 1.85 Expertise: 1.33
Crit: 1.2 Crit: 1.25 Crit: 1.44
Please note the T13 BiS stat weights are still being calculated.

The EP (Equivalence Point) system is based around AP (Attack Power) as your constant value and every other stat expressed as a value as it equates to AP.

So therefore agility having an EP value of 2.7 as assassination, for example, means that 1 point of agility is equivalent to 2.7 points of AP.

By using a system like EP to convert the relative value of all damage increasing stats on gear to Attack Power you can quickly and accurately evaluate the overall value of different pieces of gear with widely different arrays of stat allocations. Do note however, that while these numbers are terrific guidelines for choosing pieces of gear and evaluating upgrades, the EP values are dynamic and will be subject to change depending on your gear/stat allocations as a whole and not just each piece of gear separately, not to mention your group composition (i.e. which buffs are present). Due to it's nature the 4pc T12 set bonus also has an affect on Mastery, Haste, and Crit.

So We've Got Hit Covered, What About the Other Stats?

Once you satisfy your Hit Rating requirements you begin reforging to your next best stat. Mastery for Assassination, Expertise for Combat (to cap), then Haste , and Haste for Subtlety.

Expertise Cap
W/ Racial 691
No Racial 781

If you have a racial bonus to one (or more) weapon type(s) you're using than it is only beneficial to achieve the racially modified Expertise Cap. Even if this means leaving the other hand below the Expertise Cap.

Basically you want to start with your lowest priority stat reforge it everywhere you can to your best stat for whichever is your spec as I've mentioned above, once you run out of reforges for that stat, you go to the next least valuable, and so forth up. If anywhere you come to a situation where you are hit capped (and exp capped for combat), Mastery (or Haste, again combat and subtlety) is already on an item, and you need to reforge it's stats to those of higher priority, reforge to your next best stat. Haste (for assassination), Spell Hit (for combat), Expertise (for subtlety).

So what that system gives you is no solid 'number' or 'percentage' to achieve as your target but a general want to get as much of your best secondary stats as you can out of your lower rated stats. So always find gear that's best itemized to your spec, and then use reforging to make it even more so. For example as an assassination rogue, compare an item with Hit/Crit. Hit is great (EP of 1.6, up to Spell Cap), Crit (EP of 1.2) not so much. Then an item with Mastery/Haste. Mastery (EP of 1.4) is only second to Hit so that's good, and Haste (EP of 1.3) is the next best and far better than Crit. So unless the numbers were heavily inflated on the Hit/Crit piece, the Mastery/Haste piece is better, then you can reforge Haste to Hit and make it an even better piece of gear.

General Combat Mechanics

Glancing blows happen when white attacking equal or higher level NPC's dealing 25% less damage. The chance for a Glancing Blow on a boss is set at 24%.

When attacking a NPC target from behind it cannot parry but can still dodge.

Melee classes have a 4.8% Crit suppression vs. boss mobs on all melee attacks.

Spell attacks (poisons) have a 2.1% Crit suppression vs. boss mobs.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter IV:

All That Glitters: Or, It's the Accessories That Make the Outfit

There are a lot of different types and qualities of gems, of course some are going to be better for you than others, but which?. Regardless of spec choice, always use +agi in Red sockets. For Yellow or Blue sockets, if the socket bonus on an item is anything other than at least +20agi (for ever non-red socket on that item) or +10agi on a single yellow or blue sockets (for higher ilevels only), then use a Red +agi gem and ignore the socket bonus, otherwise use the spec appropriate Yellow or Blue gem from the lists below. When in doubt you can verify any or all gemming conflicts with Shadowcraft.

Assassination:
Meta: Agile Shadowspirit Diamond

Red: Delicate Inferno Ruby //or// Delicate Queen's Garnet //or//
Delicate Chimera's Eye

Yellow: Adept Ember Topaz //or// Adept Lava Coral

Blue: Glinting Demonseye //or// Glinting Shadow Spinel

Combat:
Meta: Agile Shadowspirit Diamond

Red: Delicate Inferno Ruby //or// Delicate Queen's Garnet //or//
Delicate Chimera's Eye

Yellow: Deft Ember Topaz //or// Deft Lava Coral

Blue: Glinting Demonseye //or// Glinting Shadow Spinel

Subtlety:
Meta: Agile Shadowspirit Diamond

Red: Delicate Inferno Ruby //or// Delicate Queen's Garnet //or//
Delicate Chimera's Eye

Yellow: Deft Ember Topaz //or// Deft Lava Coral

Blue: Glinting Demonseye //or// Glinting Shadow Spinel

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter V:

It Make You Strong, Like Bear: Or, How to Enhance Your Fashion

Much like gems there are many enchants and sometimes there's even more than one for each gear slot that looks really nice to a rogue. The below tables list the best enchants for your gear by spec, alternates are listed where maelstrom crystals may be too expensive.

Assassination:

Helm: Arcanum of the Ramkahen

Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal

Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical Strike //or// Enchant Cloak - Major Agility*

Chest: Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats

Bracer: Enchant Bracer - Agility

Gloves: Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery

Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle

Legs: Dragonscale Leg Armor

Boots: Enchant Boots - Major Agility

Combat:

Helm: Arcanum of the Ramkahen

Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal

Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical Strike //or// Enchant Cloak - Major Agility*

Chest: Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats

Bracer: Enchant Bracer - Agility

Gloves: Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery

Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle

Legs: Dragonscale Leg Armor

Boots: Enchant Boots - Assassin's Step

Subtlety:

Helm: Arcanum of the Ramkahen

Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal

Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical Strike //or// Enchant Cloak - Major Agility*

Chest: Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats

Bracer: Enchant Bracer - Agility

Gloves: Enchant Gloves - Major Agility

Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle

Legs: Dragonscale Leg Armor

Boots: Enchant Boots - Assassin's Step

*Major Agility can be used as a cheap alternative to Greater Critical Strike at an average cost of ~5-25DPS (spec dependent).

All specs have the same priority, as follows, for weapon enchants

Weapon Enchants (MH/OH):

1) Enchant Weapon - Landslide // Enchant Weapon - Landslide
2) Enchant Weapon - Landslide // Enchant Weapon - Hurricane
3) Enchant Weapon - Hurricane // Enchant Weapon - Hurricane
4) Enchant Weapon - Hurricane // Enchant Weapon - Avalanche
5) Enchant Weapon - Avalanche // Enchant Weapon - Avalanche

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter VI:

It's All In the Wrist: Or, Pointy End Toward Target

All the gear, gems, and enchants in the world aren't going to slay those internet dragons. At some point you're going to have to wade into that dungeon and show that digitized fire-breather a good what for. If you want to take his shinies and come back home to tell the tale, you're going to want to have the skill set to do it. Here are optimal rotations, broken down for each spec. As well as some tips for squeezing that little extra out what you can do.

Assassination:
Finisher Priority to follow at the start of fight:
Rupture > Slice and Dice > Envenom
Opening Sequence:
From Stealth: Garrote (otherwise Mutilate) > Rupture > Mutilate
(No Ruthlessness only) > SnD > Mutilate to 4+CP > Envenom
(unless due to bad procs SnD is going to fall off then Envenom early) >
Mutilate to 4+CP > Envenom or Rupture (Duration is ending) > Mutilate to 4+CP
Finisher Priority to follow during fight:
Slice and Dice > Rupture > Envenom
Priorites List:

Always refresh SnD with Envenom

Always Envenom at 4+CP, only do so early if you're about to lose SnD

Pool to no more than 70-80 energy before Envenom (Haste dependant) to avoid Envenom clipping and to maximise Mutilate use during buff while not capping energy due to procs or dodges

Do not clip Envenom buff; wait until it wears off to re-apply Envenom

Do not energy cap, this rule supersedes the previous rule

High CP Ruptures are better than low CP Ruptures, but not at the cost of gaps in uptime, always Rupture with whatever CP is available as it is aboutto fall off

Sub 35% Execute Phase:
Replace Mutilate with Backstab, and always Envenom at 5CP, continuing to use
1+CP Ruptures
For added DPS boost:

Pre-Pot (Use a Potion of the Tol'vir) before the boss is engaged, when able, re-stealth for the open

Cast Tricks of the Trade as the tank makes the pull, and again whenever the CD is finished and you have a GCD open (Do not TotT and delay a more important action, use it while waiting for energy regen or energy pooling)

Cold Blood at the first opportunity of a 5CP Envenom, if fights are long
enough do this again on CD

Vanish to restart Garrotte/Overkill, co-ordinating if possible with Vendetta and group buffs for maximum potency

Vendetta around the start of the sub 35% execute phase using Vanish/Potionof the Tol'Vir/DPS trinkets/other CDs you may have here as well, again
co-ordinating with group buffs for best DPS increase (i.e. Bloodlust), for
extended fights, Vendetta at the first available GCD once your rotation is
stabilized and along with Vanish to re-apply Overkill, if you know you will
have the CD available again for the Execute Phase and/or burst phases as
dictated by individual fight mechanics

Combat:
Finisher Priority to follow at the start of fight:
Slice and Dice > Rupture > Eviscerate
While not providing an actual combat bonus, opening from stealth allows you to be closer to the boss and therefore start attacking quicker than not, so it's usually to your benefit to stealth into position before the tank makes the pull.

Opening Sequence:
Sinister Strike > SnD > Sinister Strike to 4+CP > Revealing
Strike (Only at 4CP) > Rupture > Sinister Strike to 4+CP > Revealing Strike
(Only at 4CP) > Eviscerate
Finisher Priority to follow during fight:
Slice and Dice > Rupture > Eviscerate
Priorites List:

Always put SnD up immediately after you open

Always use 5CP Rupture/Eviscerate,

SnD does not need to be 5CP, immediately refresh as it falls off

Revealing Strike only at 4CP, if Glyph of Sinister Strike procs you to 5CP, skip RvS and use your highest priority finisher

Bandit's Guile:
Has a four stage cycle(0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%). To move from one stage to the
next requires any combination of four SS and/or RvS until you reach 30% which
will last for 15 seconds regardless of how many SS and RvS you do. At anytime
you SS or RvS a different target the BG buff will be wiped clean and the cycle starts over, unless you use Redirect which transfers your current BG level to
the new target along with any unused combo points. All of your DoTs will update
as your BG state changes.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

For added DPS boost:

Pre-Pot (Use a Potion of the Tol'vir) before the boss is engaged

Cast Tricks of the Trade as the tank makes the pull, and again whenever the CD is finished and you have a GCD open (Do not TotT and delay a more important action, use it while waiting for energy regen or energy pooling)

Killing Spree as close to on cooldown as fight mechanics allow, ideally after you have expended your energy so as not to cap during KS

Adrenaline Rush using Potion of the Tol'Vir/DPS trinkets/other CDs you may
have here as well, co-ordinating with group buffs for best DPS increase (exception being major Haste buffs like Bloodlust which will guarantee energy capping), again ideally use after you have expended your energy and be mindful of other haste buffs, so as not to risk capping out energy if possible. The exception being if delaying Adrenaline Rush would cost you ause during the encounter, in which case use regardless of Haste buffs

Using RvS when you are about to SnD and have 4 combo points such that the RvS debuff is present on your target for your next Rupture or Eviscerate will ensure you enhance your next offensive finisher. Do not RvS again or it will be a DPS loss

When target swapping always use Redirect if at all possible to transfer your current BG level, else you must start your cycle again

In times of high energy (i.e. AR risking an energy cap) the better DPE of Rupture will not be beneficial and will actually be a DPS loss if it contributes to energy capping

While cleaving through Blade Flurry, use Eviscerate only as the damage from Rupture is not mirrored to another target via BF.

If your target does not have the 30% increased bleed damage debuff (Hemorrhage, Mangle, Blood Frenzy) it is in actuality a DPS loss to use Rupture. Depending on your group composition if this debuff is not presentomit Rupture from the rotation entirely.

Subtlety:
Finisher Priority to follow at start of fight:
Slice and Dice > Rupture > Recuperate > Eviscerate
Opening Sequence:
From Stealth: Premeditation > 2-5CP SnD (Healer Crit dependent) > Shadowstep > Ambush > Rupture > Backstab to 3+CP > Recuperate > Backstab to 3+CP >
Eviscerate
Finisher Priority to follow during fight:
Slice and Dice > Rupture > Recuperate > Eviscerate
Combo Point Generator Priority:
Hemorrhage (Glyph) > Backstab > Hemorrhage
Priorites List:

If you glyph Hemo, use a 'Hemo-weaving' rotation whereby you use Hemo once every 24sec (when you would have otherwise used Backstab) to maintain as high up-time on the glyphed bleed as possibe. As the direct damage + bleed over time damage of a Hemo is greater than the single direct damage of one Backstab, but this requires the full duration of the DoT

Below 60 energy build to 3CP allowing HAT to fill in 4-5CP

Above 60 energy use Backstab to fill in CP and avoid capping energy

Always use 5CP Ruptures as Serrated Blades refreshes to the original duration

Always use 5CP Eviscerates as Serrated Blades has a 20%/CP chance to refresh Rupture, therefore requiring a 5CP Eviscerate for 100% chance to refresh

Refresh Recuperate at < 3sec (1 tick) left so that the last tick is rolledinto the next Recup

Any time you cannot be behind your target use Hemorrhage in lieu of Backstab

For added DPS boost:

Cast Tricks of the Trade as the tank makes the pull, and again whenever the CD is finished and you have a GCD open (Do not TotT and delay a more important action, use it while waiting for energy regen or energy pooling)

Macroing Premeditation to Ambush can help ensure it's always used on CD

Always couple Shadow Step with ShD/Vanish when not using it for mobility

Shadow Dance, ShS when first Find Weakness is down

Vanish, ShS, Ambush when the second Find Weakness is down

Prep, Vanish, ShS, Ambush when the third Find Weakness is down

Use Potion of the Tol'Vir/DPS trinkets/other CDs co-ordinated with Master of Subtlety, Find Weakness, and any group buffs (i.e. Bloodlust)

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter VII:

The Goggles, They Do Nothing!: Or, How to Have an Infectiously Good Time

Even though our poisons have changed, and some disappeared for ever (Bon voyage and enjoy your early retirement Anesthetic Poison), we still have many poisons left and they all have there uses in certain situations. Here are the poisons that each spec will want to have on their blades.

Assassination:

Main Hand: Instant Poison

Off Hand: Deadly Poison

Thrown: Deadly Poison

Combat:

Main Hand: Instant Poison

Off Hand: Deadly Poison

Thrown: Wound Poison

Subtlety:

Main Hand: Instant Poison

Off Hand: Deadly Poison

Thrown: Wound Poison

Although doing more damage per strike, outside of the talents of the Assassination tree boosting it's proc chance Instant Poison does less average damage than Wound Poison. However, since all PVE specs want to utilize Deadly Poison on their off hand weapon, once Deadly applications stack to 5 they begin applying the other weapon's (Instant) poison. So given the length of boss encounters this will pull Instant far ahead of Wound for both Combat and Subtlety. Although on quick to die trash packs, using double Wound Poison as Combat or Subtlety could see a DPS increase. However you would have to remember to switch your poisons back before the next long encounter.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter VIII:

What a Dirk: Or, A Dagger a Day, Keeps the Raid Boss Away

Rogues, as the true masters of martial combat, can wield an impressive array of weaponry. But not all specs are equally proficient with every weapon and some have more success with certain types than others.

Assassination:

Main Hand: Slow Dagger - 1.8

Off Hand: Fast Dagger - 1.4

Combat:

Main Hand: Slow Sword/Axe/Mace/Fist - 2.6

Off Hand: Fast Dagger - 1.4

Subtlety:

Main Hand: Slow Dagger - 1.8

Off Hand: Fast Dagger - 1.4

All specs want to use the slowest possible (while taking weapon restrictions into account) main-hand for the higher weapon damage and for greater poison proc chance from the slower speed. Currently that means a 2.6s weapon of whatever type you have a racial bonus for, or whatever is your preference, or whatever you have access to for Combat. And a 1.8s dagger for Assassination and Subtlety. Since rogues are the only class that can make use of fast agility off-hand weapons, Blizzard made all fast agility off-hand weapons daggers so that they would be compatible with all three talent trees for rogues. So you are going to look for a 1.4s dagger with the best mix of stats for your spec. The reason you need a fast weapon in your off-hand is that dual wielding comes at a 50% penalty to off-hand damage (mitigated by speccing combat), so regardless of weapon your damage will be significantly reduced and the vast majority of rogue abilities use the main-hand or main-hand only to calculate damage values and so your off-hands weapon damage has little to no impact on our special abilities. This means that the rapid application of poisons that act on a chance-per-hit system (i.e. Deadly Poison) and the stats on the weapon are more valuable to you than raw damage potential. Combat also relies on the speed of its off-hand weapon for its energy regeneration through it's 4th tier talent Combat Potency giving each successful off-hand strike a 20% chance of generating 15 energy.

Extra Special Editor's Note:

Due to the 45% Damage buff to both Sinister Strike and Revealing Strike on all three stages of the Fangs of the Father legendary daggers:
Fear & Vengeance // The Sleeper & The Dreamer // Golad, Twilight of Aspects &Tiriosh, Nightmare of Ages
The usual rules on using a slow non-dagger main-hand may be broken, making all stages of the legendary compatible with Combat mechanics.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter IX:

Serious Skills: Or, The Secret of My Success

From a DPS stand point the 'crafting' professions offer better bonuses to you than the 'gathering' professions do. They also cost much more time and gold to level. It can be of value, if you don't already have a max level character or gold is tight, to have two crafting professions while levelling and use the mats/gold made from those to help off-set the cost of levelling the higher bonus crafting professions. Or maybe you'll just be happy to stick with making gold from selling all those mats you routinely gather. Someone's got to profit from them, why not you?

With the exception of Jewelcrafting all crafting professions will offer you a bonus of, or approximate to, 80 points to your primary stat which for a rogue, that's agility. Jewelcrafting gives you access to the JC only Delicate Chimera's Eye gems, which each give +67 agility over the +40 received from Delicate Inferno Ruby. So, 67-40=27 and since you can have a maximum of 3 Chimera's Eyes on your equipped gear that means 27x3=81 agility. So really, the 'extra' benefit is, in fact, 1 agility. That will neither make, nor break you. In the end pick two professions which you yourself are likely to find useful having access to, and save time (and gold) on outsourcing all that work. Or why not co-ordinate with your friends and guildmates and never have to rely on the mercy of trade chat for profession work again.

With the introduction of epic quality gems in 4.3, once in full epic gems, Jewelcrafting's bonus drops to a 51 agility bonus, while Blacksmithing jumps up to a 100 agility bonus.

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter X:

I Think, Therefore I Rogue: Or, The Face Behind the Mask

The substitution of any given set of racials is going to show a negligible at best, nigh non-existent at worst change in performance, and in all truth you're likely not to notice at all unless you full-on min/max every aspect of your rogue. Therefore, play whichever you like best. My advice, roll a lowbie of your top choices and play around with the animations if you can't already decide, go with what feels best. That being said some racials do pan out to being worth a bit more or a bit less DPS than others.

Assassination:
Troll > Goblin > Orc > Blood Elf > Forsaken

Worgen > Gnome > Night Elf > Human/Dwarf
Combat:
Goblin > Troll > Orc > Blood Elf > Forsaken

Worgen > Gnome > Human > Dwarf > Night Elf
Subtlety:
Troll > Goblin > Orc > Blood Elf > Forsaken

Worgen > Gnome > Night Elf > Human/Dwarf

Return to Contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#1

Chapter XI:

To Start, Press Any Key: Or, Ghost in the (Nut)Shell

The Complete Rogue Reforge Tool, found on EJ, here: http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t115053-complete_rogue_reforger_tool/ is my go to favourite among the plethora of reforge helpers that exist. There's a couple reasons for this. Not last among them is the fact that it was designed as a downloaded and locally run application intentionally so that it could make use of your PCs entire processing power to run as many permutations of your reforge scenarios as possible, rather than be limited by server based apps bandwidth restrictions. This allows it to be, what I've found, the most accurate reforge tool available. While it isn't 100% (and none I've seen are) it is the most consistent and usually when there is a conflict between various sources, it actually offers the better choice. Since I use Shadowcraft (http://shadowcraft.mmo-mumble.com/) for other purposes anyway I often run it's reforge app as a secondary check to ensure I'm getting the best possible reforge, and when I find a discrepancy I at least have a very good starting point to find where 'optimal' truly lies.

So before I get to the nuts and bolts of it, the take-away here is that no amount of auto-reforge, auto-gem, and misc gear simcrafting sites & apps are going to fully eliminate the human factor in intelligently choosing your best gear setup. Always use these programs with a critical eye, if something seems wrong to you, question it, work some math and prove that the day of the machines has still yet not arrived and mankind is still king of the intellectual hill, even if we lose the occasional chess match.

The first thing you're going to have to do once you download the .zip file is extract the files to a folder somewhere on your PC, just remember where you did this. Once that's done, make your way to your reforgers new home on your system, now you're going to want to jump right in and start reforging your gear for, "moar deeps." But wait! You aren't quite done yet. Your new reforger is a bit shy, and before he'll give all the goods, you're going to have to break the ice a little. Introduce yourself.

In the folder you extracted the reforge tool to, you will find a file titled reforger.cfg open this file, if your PC gives you a dialog box warning you this is an unknown file type asking how to proceed, simply choose to pick which program to open it with manually and choose Notepad as a simple text editor is all you'll require. Once it's open you will see this as the second line of text:

url = http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/Realm/Name/advanced

You'll need to change this dummy url to your actual armory link, which can be easily obtained by going to your armory profile and just copy & pasting the contents of the address bar of your web browser into the file. Using my armory as an example, here's what you'll get:

url = http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/gorefiend/caera/advanced

If you're playing assassination, congratulations, your work here is done. Hooray for you! Now you can shuffle off while the combat rogues and I get down to work.

For combat, and subtlety (I haven't forgotten you guys), you'll be needing to make some further edits to this .cfg file for Reforge Priorities, EP Values, Stat Caps (where applicable), and EP Values past Caps (again, where applicable). The default values are all for assassination, and I have included them here, for those of you who dual spec and/or just like to play around with different specs in case you make an edit and ever need to find your way back.


Return to contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517#1

These are the reforge priorities for each spec. The reforger will attempt to reforge the stats on the left to the stats to the right.

Assassination:
<want_reforge>
hit = mst,hst
mst = hit
hst = hit,mst
exp = hit,mst,hst
cri = hit,mst,hst
</want_reforge>

Combat:
<want_reforge>
hit = exp,hst
mst = hst,exp,hit
hst = exp,hit
exp = hst,hit,mst
cri = exp,hst,hit
</want_reforge>
Subtlety:
<want_reforge>
hit = exp,hst
cri = hit,exp,hst
hst = hit
exp = hit,hst
mst = hit,hst,exp
</want_reforge>

These are the EP Values of the stats for each spec, they were taken from a T11 BiS gearing set, use SimulationCraft, Shadowcraft or some other program to determine up-to-date or individual stat weights if you need/want something more specific to your situation.

Assassination:
<ep_values>
cri = 0.9
exp = 1.1
hit = 1.4 # spell hit
hst = 1.2
mst = 1.3
</ep_values>

Combat:
<ep_values>
cri = 0.9
exp = 1.65
hit = 1.9 # yellow hit
hst = 1.5
mst = 1.2
</ep_values>
Subtlety:
<ep_values>
cri = 1.1
exp = 1.15
hit = 1.4 # yellow hit
hst = 1.35
mst = 0.9
</ep_values>

These are the Stat Caps (for those stats where caps are applicable), they are the same as outlined earlier in Chapter II.

Assassination:
<caps>
exp = 781
hit = 1332
</caps>

Combat:
<caps>
exp = 781
hit = 241
</caps>
Subtlety:
<caps>
exp = 781
hit = 481
</caps>

These are the EP Values of Stats past each specs primary Caps (where applicable), they are the same as outlined earlier in Chapter III.

Assassination:
<ep_values_post>
exp = 0
hit = 0.62 # white hit
</ep_values_post>
Combat:
<ep_values_post>
exp = 0
hit = 1.4 # spell hit
</ep_values_post>
Subtlety:
<ep_values_post>
exp = 0
hit = 1.05 # spell hit
</ep_values_post>
Note: These values are all for raid level content, if you aren't planning on raiding and/or you wish to optimize your gear for heroics use these Caps instead:

Assassination:
<caps>
exp = 721
hit = 241
</caps>

Combat:
<caps>
exp = 721
hit = 0
</caps>
Subtlety:
<caps>
exp = 721
hit = 241
</caps>

Once you've placed the correct Stat Priorities, EP Values, Caps, and EP Post Caps into the reforger.cfg file the .exe application is ready to go for your armory and given spec. This could take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, it has millions of reforges to run, so be patient with him, he will surely be your new best friend.

On a final note, if it doesn't seem to be importing the correct numbers or gear, or it's reforge suggestions aren't lining up right with what you think it should be, look in the folder where you placed the reforge tool for a file titled item cache.cfg and delete it. This is a quick cache of information from Wowhead that the program keeps for later use to speed up subsequent reforges by not having to pull all the information every time. You can also edit individual item stat values here, much as you've just edited the reforge priorities. This is handy in the case of random enchant gear (which should be supported, but nothing's perfect) or any other gear which might not be importing correctly. This file will be recreated the next time you run the program.


Return to contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517#1

Chapter XII:

A Rogue by Any Other Name: Or, Verb the Adjective, Noun

The Lexicon of the rogue is a complex tongue here are some of the more commonly used terms. Cleaner formatting and expansion to follow.

Adrush or AR - Adrenaline Rush

Agi - Agility

AoE - Area of Effect

AP - Attack Power

BF - Blade Flurry

BG - Bandit's Guile

BS - Backstab

CB - Cold Blood

CC - Crowd Control

CD - Cooldown, the length of time after an ability is used before it can be used again. Varies by ability.

CloS or CoS - Cloak of Shadows

CP - Combo Point

Crit - Critical Strike (Rating or %)

CS - Cheap Shot, our stun opener from stealth, this now shares diminishing returns with kidney shot

DoT - Damage over Time (ex. Deadly Poison)

DPS - Damage per Second, the amount, average or actual, damage you do every second of combat. Can also refer to one of the three main roles in the game which rogues fall into. (DPS, Healer, Tank)

DR - Diminishing Returns, each school of crowd control share reduced effect on player targets for each successive crowd control ability used from the same school beyond the first with increasing penalty (50%, 75%, immune). Diminishing returns last for 15 seconds after the end of the last effect from any particular school and will effect any other crowd control from within that same school. Crowd control effects from different schools are only affected with diminishing returns from other effects from the same school (Disorient, Silence, Stun, Disarm, Fear, etc)

EP - Equivalence Point (see, http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517?page=1#4 for detailed explaination)

Evis - Eviscerate

Exp - Expertise

GCD - Global Cooldown, most rogue abilities will trigger a 1 second cooldown on all abilities that are on the GCD (ex. Mutilate, Sinister Strike, Hemorrhage) to limit the volume of abilities that can be used assuming things like energy are not limiting factors while other abilities (ex. Cold Blood, Kick) are not on the Global Cooldown and therefore are not affected by and do not affect those that are

Hemo - Hemorrhage, this can both be in reference to the Subtlety talent spec and the ability within the Subtlety talent tree that can be specced into

HoT - Heal over Time (ex. Recuperate)

ICD - Internal Cooldown, some talents/abilities/etc which have proc mechanics have an Internal Cooldown that is triggered when the ability procs which dictates a set interval before there is a chance for it to proc again (ex. 3/3 Honor Among Thieves has a 2sec ICD, once a combo point is generated by a critical strike within your party no critical strike may generate another combo point for at least 2sec)

KS - Killing Spree, Combat's 31pt. talent. Not to be confused with

KS - Kidney Shot, our finishing move that stuns opponents. Remember this now shares diminishing returns with cheap shop

MG - Main Gauche

Mut - Mutilate, this can both be in reference to the Assassination talent spec and the unique ability granted by speccing into it

Premed - Premeditation

Prep - Preparation

Pre-pot - Using a DPS increasing potion (Potion of the Tol'vir) before combat in engaged, and thus starting the cooldown before combat since only one potion (DPS or HP) can be used during combat and therefore allowing you to use another in conjunction with DPS cooldowns/group buffs for heavy DPS/burn phases

RB - Restless Blades

Recup - Recuperate

RvS - Revealing Strike

ShD - Shadowdance

ShS - Shadow Step

SnD - Slice and Dice

SS - Sinister Strike

Sub - Subtlety talent spec


Return to contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517#1

Chapter XIII:

The Wisdom of Statler & Waldorf: Or, From the Best Seats In the House

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2112091868
- A Guide to Guide's, by Rfeann

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369742267
-An emerging FAQ to roguely wisdom, by Rfeann

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1083749119
-A rogue levelling guide, by Aeriwen

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1658707015
-A guide to assassination PVE, by Verelyse

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2089279145
-A guide to subtlety PVE, by Haileaus

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3711312735?
-A guide to combat PVE, by Backstabi

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2140264314
-A communal spot to share UI/Add-on tips, tricks, and information, by Caera

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2267588004
-A guide to rogue-centric macros, by Burial

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1104340952
-A guide to poisons, by Hebisa

http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t110134-assassination_guide_cata_03_24_2011_a/
-EJ's guide to raiding assassination

http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t111329-combat_guide_cata_04_04_2011_a/
-EJ's guide to raiding combat

http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t119013-cataclysm_subtlety_compendium/
-EJ's guide to raiding subtlety

http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t115053-complete_rogue_reforger_tool/
-A thoroughly comprehensive reforging tool

http://shadowcraft.mmo-mumble.com/
-A sim site for your gear/spec/enchants/gems

Return to contents:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369743517#1

-Reserved for Expansion-

-Reserved for Expansion-

Already requested for a Sticky