Rogue Videos: Curse 3 by gforce

I hope you’ve been enjoying the Rogue videos so far as much as I have. This is now the 4th one featured on Recked and there will be more coming.

Curse 3 definitely belongs up there with the others featured so far with one of the best animated intros I’ve seen. If you love duelling or want to perfect your PvP skills it’s well worth a look…

… And if you like what you see here why not check out all the Rogue videos featured on Recked?

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.

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!

The Recked Report: Call of the Grand Crusade

Our guild has been slacking somewhat in terms of progression with a number of regular raiders no longer raiding as often as they used to. This of course poses us with a problem in terms of attendance so we’ve been busy gearing up some of the newcomers through ToC 10-man and 25-man normal mode.

Unfortunately, this has meant as a guild we haven’t been able to progress as much as we’d like to. A lot of regulars that do show up for raids, myself included, were beginning to lose interest. One-shotting the 10-man and 25-man normal modes every week is just too easy and doesn’t present us with any real challenges.

The fights in 10-man ToC heroic are much more interesting and demanding. Some of the fights are a little messy but we got through them week in week out. Up to now we just haven’t been able to get Anub’arak down.

That’s all changed! We took the best group available and finally managed to get him down and it felt great. It was a great evening with all of us working hard as a team. The noise on vent as we conquered the battle was electric!

It took us a number of attempts; getting closer and closer each time. At one stage we wiped with just 400k health points left, then 200k, followed by another 20ok. For the next attempt we decided to switch the Instand Poison on my main hand to Wound Poison.

My DPS dropped from 1st/2nd to 5th but this time, with the 50% reduction to his healing from Leeching Swarm, Anub’arak dropped faster than a sack of potatoes.

What a nab!!? To be honest I’m kicking myself for not being “on the ball”; I should’ve known using Wound would be more beneficial in this fight before we even set foot in there. I just didn’t think about it. Of course my DPS wasn’t as high using Wound Poison but still good enough to do serious damage and the utility it brought to the fight gave us that little extra edge we needed to get the kill.

This is the point with raiding… Fights aren’t just about scoring high on the damage meters. It’s about progression; damage meters count for nothing; it’s the kill that matters.

Raiding Lesson #1: Think before you fight

• Sometimes it can be a small thing that makes all the difference between getting that kill and spending the entire evening scraping your dead body off the floor.

Unfortunately, nothing noteworthy dropped for a Rogue but I was just ecstactic the guild made some progress.

Now, I’m hoping to get stuck in to 10-man heroic every week in the run up to Icecrown Citadel and improving on our performance.

What’s the next challenge? Beasts of Northrend on 25-man heroic… Watch out!

The Recked Report: Howdy Pilgrim…

Before you ask.. Yes, that is me in the picture. No, it’s not the first time I’ve been turned into a turkey over the course of this event. Thanks funny ol’ Blizzard for slipping some anti-Rogue antics into the new Pilgrim achievement…

How was it?

I enjoyed this one much more than Hallowed Be Thy Name. Don’t get me wrong; Hallows End was the first World Event I decided to make it my mission to complete and I did have fun doing it. Ok, the last piece needed in the puzzle was that damned elusive Hallowed Helm. And yes… By the end of the achievement I couldn’t help but feel if I ever saw that Headless Horseman again it’d be too soon. But it was fun… Overall.

With Pilgrim’s Bounty it was just as enjoyable but with much less of a grind;  no need to find unsaved group members and no repetitive boss killing 5 times a day.

Turkey Lurkey

Why did Blizzard make it part of the achievement to turn us Rogues into Turkeys? I have no idea! Still… it’s only a bit of fun and, when you think about it, it’s not a bad price to pay for being the best class in-game really is it?

In short the achievements are all pretty easy and just take up a bit of time travelling from here to there. It’s wasn’t all easy though. I’m sure those of you who have completed the achievement (or still attempting to finish it) will agree the hardest part by far was (or is);

1. Finding a Dwarf Rogue for Turkey Lurkey (especially for Horde) and;
2. The Turkinator

The “Dreaded” Turkinator

In order to get this achievement you need to kill 40 Wild Turkeys in row. Is that it? Don’t be stupid… That would be too easy. You have a time limit of a maximum of 30 seconds between each Turkey kill. If you take longer than 30 seconds between one Turkey and the next… BANG!… You go back to zero and have to start all over again.

There’s a lot of people screaming and shouting about this one and I have to admit it can be frustrating. However, it’s not really that hard once you know what you’re doing.

Peak time is definitely not the best time to be doing this. My first attempt was around midnight and I managed to get to 37 before a Druid came along and stole the 2 Wild Turkeys next to me before I could reach them. Aaaaaaaaaargh! If only that cat was within arms reach of me I could have rung it’s neck!

The second attempt went well; I got up to 33 Turkeys before running out… And the third attempt? Meh! Just got worse.

Then a guildie introduced me to… Tracker Snacks!

Having already attempted this achievement a few times already, this time I set about it in a slightly different way armed with my newly acquired beast-tracking skill.

How did I do it?

Recked’s Turkinator Technique

• Do this either early in the morning (any day) or late at night (during the week).
• Pick a spot far away from the main area. What I mean here is don’t go and do this right in the middle of the map. Go round to one of the far-away corners or around the edge. There’s less chance you’ll come across other players hunting on your turf. Check out the map (Elwynn Forest or Trisfal Glades) and pick a spot out of the way.
• Eat your Tracker Snack (for 10 seconds).
• Check your mini-map for the Wild Turkeys. All beasts will show up as a yellow dot and if you run your mouse cursor over them you’ll see what they are.
• When you find a Turkey and make your way towards it others should appear on the mini-map. The trick here is to keep checking your mini-map and plan your next 2 or 3 kills as you’re running to your current target. When I did this I didn’t even have to use my mount; the occassional Sprint was all that was required… Just run to the Turkey and use Fan of Knives and make your way to the next one without even stopping.

… Simple eh?

First time I used this technique I completed it well within the time required.

Now I’ve got my title and I’m already looking forward to taking part in the next World Event.

Have you got your title? What did you think of it?

Rogue Rookie: Rogue Power Bars – An Essential Add-On

Rogue Power Bars is an essential add-on for raiding in my opinion and it has its uses in PvP too. What does it do? It displays all your self-buffs and target-debuffs in colour-coded bar form which you can place anywhere on screen.

How useful is it?

Rogue Power Bars helps you maximise your DPS in terms of keeping your rotation up as much as possible and enables you to blow your cooldowns at the opportune moment.

For example; if I see the Greatness buff from my Darkmoon Card: Greatness or Beserking from my weapon enchants I know it’s a good time to pop my Mark of Supremacy trinket or drink a Potion of Speed.

It’s also useful for showing you when you’ve gained temporary buffs from other classes such as Bloodlust or Battle Shout. These are also good times to pop your trinket, drink a potion or swap Tricks of The Trade with a fellow Rogue.

For you Combat Rogues out there these are opportune moments for your Adrenaline Rush and Killing Spree moves too.

If you’ve already blown your trinkets and drank your potion you can always pop Vanish for the Overkill buff (and you might as well stick a cheeky Garrote in there too while you’re at it).

In PvP Rogue Power Bars is very handy when it comes to timing all your stuns, dismantle and blind abilities.

Where do I put the bars?

Well, it’s up to you really. You can stick them wherever you want. As you can see above I’ve placed the Rogue Power Bars above my character’s health/energy bar and just below his feet. Why? For 3 reasons:

1) Positioning & Reactions

As a melee class, Rogues fight up close and personal and need to be in close proximity to the target. This means it’s very important for us to be aware of our positioning at all times (i.e. not standing in the fire!). By keeping the Rogue Power Bars within what I call my “core viewing space” I can react quicker as I don’t have to keep looking all over the place to keep my eye on everything.

2) Survivability & Energy

Obviously, it goes without saying, in order to keep my rotation up I need to constantly monitor and pool my energy. Also being relatively “squishy” I like to keep an eye on my health so I know when to use my Healthstone, Feint or pop Cloak of Shadows. This is why I like to have the Power Bars right next to my health/energy bar.

Yes, its the healers’ job to keep the raid up throughout the fight. However, tanks take priority (and so they should!). If it comes down to a choice between a tank and a melee going down, as a healer, I’d heal the tank every time. You also have a responsibility for your own survivability (and if you sit there in the fire without any intention of moving, as a healer, I’d let you burn just to teach you a lesson).

3) Visibility

Fights can be messy, especially on 25-man, with a lot of stuff going on; you’ve got the Boss, lots of adds all over the place, fire everywhere as well as area-of-effect spells. I want to be able to see as much as possible on-screen without too much clutter.

Are there any other similar add-ons?

I’m sure there are but I’ve always used Rogue Power Bars and see no reason to change. It does everything I want and it can be customized to prioritise or ignore certain buffs/debuffs if you so wish.

Do you use a similar add-on for watching your self-buffs and target-debuffs? Why not share it and your experiences with your fellow Rogues by leaving a comment?

You can download Rogue Power Bars from Curse.com for free.

If you don’t already have this mod (or a similar one) go get it NOW!

Rogue Rookie: Horde Racial Abilities for Rogues

As most of you are probably aware by now; Blizzard launched the World of Warcraft Race Change Service this week so we thought we’d take a look at the different racial abilities. We’ve already checked out the Alliance so now it’s the Horde’s turn…

Blood Elves

The pretty people on Horde side. They do look good, not as good as Undead in my opinion, but then I would say that wouldn’t I?

Arcane Torrent is a useful interrupt which silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. Woah I hear you say… Is that it? No… This ability also restores 15 energy. Ok, it’s on a 2 minute cooldown but every little helps right?

Arcane Affinity gives you a +10 skill boost to Enchanting. This helps with levelling the profession but once the skill is maxed out it’s not really of any use (well, not until the next expansion anyway). Still, if you want to learn enchanting it is handy.

Magic Resistance reduces the chance you’re hit by spells by 2%. Similar to other racial resistances but this one applies for ALL spells. 

Orcs

They look a bit too… Errr… Wide to be Rogues in my opinion. Orcs look a bit more chunky than the sleek and agile silouette you’d expect for a Rogue. Having said this though they do have very nice racial abilities… Especially for Combat Rogues.

Axe Specialization gives Orcs +5 expertise when using Axes and Fist Weapons.

Blood Fury is a nice racial ability for Rogues. This one increases your attack power for 15 seconds every 2 minutes… And it scales with your level too! How much attack power? Take your level and multiply this by 4 then add 2… Thats an extra 322 attack power at level 80!

Hardiness reduces the duration of stun effects on you by 15%. A nice PvP ability this one and also of some use in certain PvE fights too.

Trolls

These are my second favourite in terms of looks. As well as looking pretty damn cool they sound cool too and have perfect racials for a Rogue.

Beast Slaying is a 5% damage bonus on beasts. Granted… It’s not fantastic but as a Rogue it’s your job to maximise your damage so don’t complain.

Beserking increases your attack speed by 20% for 10 seconds every 3 minutes. Again… A very nice damage bonus indeed. Pop it at the same time as your DPS trinket (or when your trinket procs) and watch the numbers! One of the best racials in game for the Rogue.

Da Voodoo Shuffle reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%. This one might just give you that edge you need in PvP. Also nice to be just that little bit more mobile in some PvE situations too.

Regeneration can make all the difference between life and death. This increases your health regeneration by 10%. That’s not all… You will continue to regenerate health right up until you hit 10% of your total health… Even during combat!

Throwing Specialization is just a 1% extra chance to critically hit with your thrown weapon. It’s not brilliant but hey, did I mention the other FOUR Troll racial abilities?

Undead

My favourite… The Forsaken look the best by far and the animations are great to boot. I won’t say any more on the matter. Let’s just take a look at those racial abilities shall we?

Cannibalize can be very handy in PvP. This ability regenerates 7% of your total health every 2 sec for 10 sec when activated. It only works on Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds and any movement, action, or damage taken while cannibalizing will cancel the effect… It’s nice to be able to eat your enemies after you’ve slaughtered them… Just to rub it in… Just a little… Especially Gnomes! Mmmmmmmmm.

Will  of The Forsaken is the best racial in game for PvP. It does have some use in a few PvE fights too but PvP is where this ability owns and it’s on a 2 minute cooldown. What does it do? This ability simply removes any charm, fear and sleep effect… BUT… unlike the Humans’ Every Man for Himself ability it does not share a cooldown with your PvP trinket (e.g. Medallion of the Horde or Titan-Forged Rune of Determination)…

HOWEVER…

Unfortunately, it looks like Blizzard are changing Will of The Forsaken in patch 3.3 so it will share a 45-second cooldown with PvP trinkets .

Meh! Meh! MEH!

… So there you have it; Alliance and Horde racial abilities for Rogues.

In addition to the racial abilities listed here, there are others; however some racials are just useless for Rogues. Take a look at Wowhead’s Racial Traits Database if you want to see a more comprehensive list of racial abilities.

So are you going to do the race change? What race are you and which one are you going to pick?

The Recked Report: Hallowed Be My Name Now!

As Hallow’s End comes to an end the pressure is on for those who are still chasing that title.

I must admit I never really bothered too much with World Achievements. Having been inspired by Sam’s Hallowed post over on Slice and Dice I thought I’d give it a go too.

Like Dinear over at Forever a Noob, I thought it would just be a grind but there were parts I enjoyed… Flying all over the old world was nice and brought back some of the old areas long forgotten. It was nice just chilling one evening and flying from here to there.

Having said that the most frustrating part of the entire event for me was killing the Headless Horseman until the Hallowed Helm dropped.

The Sinister Squashling dropped on the first kill which was lucky but it took me another gruelling 24 times before the helmet dropped. Now I’m just glad it’s over with.

After all that it turns out the title is now bugged so I can’t even join Sam and show it off. I suppose this will just have to do until Blizzard sorts it out:

Overall, I enjoyed taking time to do something a little bit different and perhaps I’ll get involved in the next World Event.

Did you take part in Hallow’s End? What was your experience?