02-17-2005, 07:37 PM
As I'm finally approaching my Seal Fate talent (I took the long way to it), I keep debating with myself over a very simple problem.
I am a dagger rogue, and have been since the beginning. I enjoy my build, and have considered it a good overall build. However, I have one key problem as a dagger Rogue; I skipped Improved Backstab. Yes, that's right, the 30% bonus to backstab's critical hit rate. The reason for this? Blizzard made dagger Rogues face an unreasonable choice. A dagger rogue by definition wants as much damage as possible, but has problems generating combo points. Two talents that improve criticals (Improved Backstab and Improved Ambush) combined with Seal Fate help generate many more combo points. That's 30 in Assassination, 8 in Combat, and 13 in Subtletly. What's the problem with this? There is no chance for Improved Sap.
Improved Sap is probably the best utility talent a Rogue can have. Later on, when they're complete paper tanks for 4 minute and 45 seconds out of every 5 minutes (The other 15 seconds is when Evasion is active), Improved Sap is invaluable to making sure a Rogue doesn't get aggro in the beginning of the battle. But because Improved Backstab is in the Combat tree, Any true dagger build is removed from the possibility of any of the highest level talents, any Improved Sap, and even the niceties of talents like Preperation.
I rarely use Gouge since I'm almost always grouped (except as a Counterspell), so that makes going for Improved Backstab even worse since I don't care about 3 talent points I'd spend anyway.
Of course, all this leads to my current build. An Ambush and combination Backstab/SS user who is now getting Seal Fate. But since I don't see myself getting rid of Improved Sap, it seems that Seal Fate will only be reliable with Ambush. I'd have to play with SS and Backstab with full Seal Fate to see which one works out better, but clearly with the talent Backstab would be better. Am I shooting myself in the foot by using a dagger build that's not full daggers?
The only other observation I have for this is that I simply don't understand why Backstab, a tool used by assassins everywhere, is in a Combat tree instead of the Assassination. The other mismatch is Improved Slice and Dice ... sitting in the Assassination tree when it seems like a Combat oriented skill. Of course, switching those two would solve my dilemma ... I could get Improved Backstab and Improved Sap at the same time. But is this a reasonable solution to propose? Would it cause unforseen problems? And would Blizzard ever listen to such a request in the first place?
I am a dagger rogue, and have been since the beginning. I enjoy my build, and have considered it a good overall build. However, I have one key problem as a dagger Rogue; I skipped Improved Backstab. Yes, that's right, the 30% bonus to backstab's critical hit rate. The reason for this? Blizzard made dagger Rogues face an unreasonable choice. A dagger rogue by definition wants as much damage as possible, but has problems generating combo points. Two talents that improve criticals (Improved Backstab and Improved Ambush) combined with Seal Fate help generate many more combo points. That's 30 in Assassination, 8 in Combat, and 13 in Subtletly. What's the problem with this? There is no chance for Improved Sap.
Improved Sap is probably the best utility talent a Rogue can have. Later on, when they're complete paper tanks for 4 minute and 45 seconds out of every 5 minutes (The other 15 seconds is when Evasion is active), Improved Sap is invaluable to making sure a Rogue doesn't get aggro in the beginning of the battle. But because Improved Backstab is in the Combat tree, Any true dagger build is removed from the possibility of any of the highest level talents, any Improved Sap, and even the niceties of talents like Preperation.
I rarely use Gouge since I'm almost always grouped (except as a Counterspell), so that makes going for Improved Backstab even worse since I don't care about 3 talent points I'd spend anyway.
Of course, all this leads to my current build. An Ambush and combination Backstab/SS user who is now getting Seal Fate. But since I don't see myself getting rid of Improved Sap, it seems that Seal Fate will only be reliable with Ambush. I'd have to play with SS and Backstab with full Seal Fate to see which one works out better, but clearly with the talent Backstab would be better. Am I shooting myself in the foot by using a dagger build that's not full daggers?
The only other observation I have for this is that I simply don't understand why Backstab, a tool used by assassins everywhere, is in a Combat tree instead of the Assassination. The other mismatch is Improved Slice and Dice ... sitting in the Assassination tree when it seems like a Combat oriented skill. Of course, switching those two would solve my dilemma ... I could get Improved Backstab and Improved Sap at the same time. But is this a reasonable solution to propose? Would it cause unforseen problems? And would Blizzard ever listen to such a request in the first place?
Trade yourself in for the perfect one. No one needs to know that you feel you've been ruined!