Rogue Videos: Total Annihilation by Grim – A True Classic!

And here we go… Another Rogue video for you!

For those of you who are wondering “who the hell is Grim?” Shame on you! He is practically a celebrity in the Rogue World of Warcraft and THE rogue of his time during Vanilla WoW.

This is the most watched Rogue video on the internet ever with well over 1 million views.

Say no more!… And if you’re like me and cannot get enough of Rogue videos go check out some of the other Rogue videos featured here.

Grim was THE rogue during

A true classic…

Rogue Videos: Vespira III by Neoviper Productions

I hope you enjoyed last week’s Rogue Video post where we featured Akrios’s latest release of his Eviscerate series.

It’s a tough act to follow. This week we have another treat for you… Ok, it is 9 months old now but Vespira III by Neoviper Productions is still a great video and a fine example of the true Rogue in PvP action.

I cannot help wanting to log right away and do some PvP after watching it.

A great intro with some fantastic animations in between fights too. Check it out!

… And after this if you want more go check out all the Rogue videos featured on Recked here.

A Rogue, Warrior and Hunter, having a drink in a Pub in Dalaran…

I read a great post by Wrthofnino over at A Rogue’s Diary and I have to say I can definitely relate to it; I think it summarises the current feelings in the rogue community perfectly… Ok it’s a bit “over-the-top” but then it wouldn’t be much of a read otherwise would it?

Despite the “hotfixes” to Rogue DPS I still hear “NERF MUTILATE ROGUES!!!” everywhere (and I’m not talking about guildies winding me up here either – you know who you are!).

I do wonder why I’m still hearing all the QQs? Maybe it’s just because I’m a Rogue? Perhaps other classes remain blissfuly unaware the issue (or part of it) has been addressed? Or maybe… Just maybe they think by continuously whining about it Blizzard will nerf us some more?… And more… And more… Maybe when Rogues go back to the state we were in at the release of WoTLK in Naxxaramas (urrrrgh!) they’ll shut up?

Anyway, as I said earlier, Wrthofnino illustrates some very good points which, whilst not new, are still valid all the same:

We are a PURE DPS class

This is what we do and it is all we do. So, we should be very good at it; we are a single-target DPS specialist. Plain and simple. This is one of the major reasons I chose to play the class and why I enjoy playing it. For you non-rogues out there it’s not an easy class to play well either.

Can we heal?

No.

Can we tank?

No.

So what do you want us to do?

Party Buffs

We have been screaming out for this and I DO mean SCREEEEEEAMING!

Every single class provides some form of raid utility or buff except Rogue.

It’s nice to see Blizzard have put a foot in the right direction with the introduction of traps in the Icecrown Citadel and I’m hoping to see a little more interesting things for Rogues to do.

I have a feeling Blizzard will be addressing the buff side of things and my guess is we’ll see it in Cataclysm. I’m really looking forward to see what they do with this.

On the bench?…

Now, I’m not complaining (not really) since I do think we were way too far ahead in terms of damage and a nerf was inevitable. YES… I have to admit I did enjoy the massive boost we got (who wouldn’t) even if it was for just a short while. BUT… I don’t think Rogues across Azeroth are being benched for other classes… Well, not the decent ones anyway.

Let’s not go down the old “the sky is falling on our heads” road with this nerf. Overall, and let’s be honest here, we are still THE best class… Errr… I mean… THE best single-target DPS class in game.

If you haven’t already read it, go check out Nerfing Assassination Rogues – An Overheard Conversation on A Rogue’s Diary. I highly recommend it – it’s well worth the read!

What do you think?

Rogue Rookie: 51/18/2 Assassination Spec for Patch 3.3

It’s been a while since patch 3.3 dropped and I often get asked in-game what talents Assassination Rogues should put their points in. My guildies have also been asking this question as some have moved away from Combat and want to give Mutilate a go (I was the only Assassination Rogue in guild over the last 6 months!).

Following the introduction of Tier-10 Rogue Armor sets (with very nice bonuses) and various buffs (overall) to Assassination Rogues we are moving away from using Rupture. Now it’s all about poisons and getting as many poison procs as possible during a fight.

The standard raiding spec for Mutilate Rogues is now 51/18/2; we’ve dropped the Rupture-related talents like Blood Spatter and Serrated Blades and picked up +10% melee haste from Lightening Reflexes for more poison procs. Of course, if you are still wearing Tier-8 gear then you should proabably stick with 51/13/7 and continue to use Rupture until you’ve got ToC and Icecrown Gear.

If you’re not sure whether it’s worth changing then go try it out on a target dummy. I noticed a substantial increase in switching to 51/18/2 in full iLevel 245 Tier-9 gear (unfortunately I cannot say for sure with Tier-8 gear).

Admittedly I do still stick a Rupture on now and then but it’s no longer a major source of damage; if I need to get a bleed on for Hunger for Blood or if there’s a lot of movement involved in the fight I might get a Rupture off before I run away.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the 51/18/2 Assassination spec for you:

Rogue Videos: Eviscerate X by Akrios, RogueRogue.com

Firstly I have to say I love watching Rogue videos and I intend on linking more here as and when I come across them. What better way to kick-off this new section to the blog by starting with this one?

Akrios, over on RogueRogue.com, has recently released the long-awaited latest video in his Eviscerate series; Eviscerate X.

This sets the bench-mark for all Rogue videos pretty damn high to be honest and if you really want to know what being a rogue is all about WATCH IT.

Nothing more to be said other than… Enjoy!

Heartpierce Dagger and Invigoration Buff

Blizzard have buffed the proc on the Heartpierce dagger which up to now granted a +2 energy gain every 2 seconds for 10 seconds to +4 energy.

Quoting Bornakk’s official Blizzard post:

The Invigoration buff from melee attacks using the Heartpierce dagger will now grant twice as much resources as before. It now grants 2 rage, 4 energy, or 120 mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.

Recked’s New Dagger

The dagger dropped from Lady Deathwhisper during a 25-man run end of last week and to be honest I wasn’t sure whether to take it or not. I did have my mind set on the Rib Spreader. However, after learning about the recent buff I took it anyway.

Just how good is it?

Unfortunately I cannot find it on any of the Rogue DPS spreadsheets currently in use in the Rogue community; its still being tested by the theorycrafters so I cannot really say. However, I certainly do notice the additional energy from Invigoration and it does proc often.

It looks pretty damn cool and it is a very nice DPS increase from Gouge of the Frigid Heart which I was using before.

Rogue News: Another Hunger for Blood Nerf… Meh!

We all know it was going to happen didn’t we?

Rogue DPS hit the roof following patch 3.3 and now we’re hearing the cries for nerfs. It’s no surprise and Blizzard have been hinting at this for a little while now:

As per Ghostcrawler’s official Blizzard post:

As many of you have suspected, we think rogue damage is too high. We will be making hotfixes to lower the maximum damage output of Assassination and Combat rogues. The Combat nerf will be slight. Both specs should still do just fine on damage meters (assuming skill, gear etc.) but shouldn’t be beating out other specs to such a large degree.

… So what have they actually done to address this issue?

Quoted from Bornakk’s official Blizzard post:

• The base damage bonus from Hunger for Blood has been reduced from 10% to 5%.
• The bonus damage rogues gain from attack power for poisons has been decreased. This applies to Instant Poison, Deadly Poison, and Wound Poison.

Hang on! This rings a bell… Didn’t they already nerf Hunger for Blood from 15% to 10%?

Yup… And now they’re nerfing it again from 10% to 5%.

From what’s been said around the Rogue community this translates into something like a 7% nerf to Assassination Rogues and a somewhere around 2% to Combat Rogues.

Sam over at Slice and Dice, Dinear over at Forever A Noob and ZeroInitiate have all written more about the subject and their take on it.

I have to agree with the general gist of what they say and think Hunger for Blood was the easy way out and I suppose I cannot balme Blizzard for choosing to do it this way… It is a quick and easy fix. I also have to agree with Sam when he says “I agree I was doing too much damage, but really, if Blizz is going to take 10% off of the pre 3.3 HfB, shouldn’t they redesign it?  It was mediocre before, but now it’s just getting sad“.

What do you think?