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 News: Wooah! DPS after patch 3.3 and Hunger for Blood

Everyone: “Check out the DPS!”

Assassination Rogue flexes his muscles, oooh so strong!

Combat Rogue sulks

What can I say? It’s great to be up there at the top of the damage charts. It’s especially satisfying since Combat Rogues have being outdoing Assassination Rogues for far too long. I really enjoy playing as an Assassination Rogue and, despite all the top Rogues using Combat spec, I’ve stuck with it. My DPS has always been competitive with Combat Rogues with them usually beating me but only by a reasonable margin so why change?

As I’ve said before in previous posts; REAL Rogues use daggers!

You simply cannot NOT notice the whopping difference in damage done following changes to Deadly Poison, Improved Poisons and the update to Murder. I’m sure Combat Rogues are feeling a little bruised at the moment having “ruled the roost” for too long…. Good!

 I wonder how many Combat Rogues are now going to be switching over?

Both Sam (Slice and Dice) and Dinear (Forever a Noob) have written great articles covering the DPS increase from before and after patch 3.3 for Assassination Rogues. According to their numbers their DPS has increased between 20% and 25% (on a stationary target dummy).

Of course we’re already hearing “NERF ASS ROUGES” and I have to hold my hands up and just admit it; I am loving it! (I’m not going to deny it).

Unfortunately, I do have to agree this sort of DPS increase does seem a little overboard, we’ve been expecting an “adjustment” and sure enough…

Ghostcrawler has come forth and revealed Hunger for Blood will now increases damage by 10% instead of 15%:

“We wanted to increase Assassination rogue damage, and we were succesful, but we overshot the mark. We buffed Hunger for Blood back when Assassination needed a damage boost, so we’re more than happy that this talent won’t account for such a huge dps increase. Because of the nature of hotfixes, it is unlikely the tooltip will change to 10% right away”

It was only to be expected really wasn’t it?

As Dinear says; “mutilate still has a significant buff overall from the patch” and in all fairness we are still looking at a buff of between 15% – 20% after this nerf (on a stationary target dummy).

Are you a Combat Rogue? Will you be changing to Assasination spec?