The Rogue's Gallery

[Roland]

Not sure how many folks want to play a rogue, however, one of the things that slowly went south on the Lounge in D II was the hosting of quality guides.  Of course, plenty of good guides got linked to and were proofed there.

So, in the interest of returning to form, I will be posting from time to time little things I learn about the rogue in this thread.  Anyone else who plays a rogue is welcome to do the same.  When I get home today, I'll do some cut and paste from an older Beta discussion of skills, once I get permission from the author.

Rogues:  We really are the finest adventurers in the World of Warcraft.    :D

Full Disclosure:  This project is aimed at getting me mo betta skilled at the various site tools by having to apply them, and at getting a quality Rogue's guide posted here at the Lounge.  That means . . . I sure don't have, and won't have, the corner on the market of good ideas, far from it, with the sparse game time I have seen in the past week.

Occhi
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Here's my current Rogue build, after MUCH trial and tribulation:

Combat:
Lightning Reflexes - 5
Deflection - 5
Precision - 5
Dagger Specializtion - 5
Blade Fury - 1

Assassination:
Malice - 5
Murder - 2
Improved Slice and Dice - 3
Lethality - 5
Vile Poisons - 5
Improved Instant Poison - 5

Subtlety:
Master of Deception - 5

What this gives me is a huge bonus to Critical Strikes, Instant Poisons (and any poison, for that matter), strong Stealth and incredible speed for attacks. In case you were wondering, I dual-wield Daggers. There's just something so nice about shredding a mob in seconds with a pair of steak knives. ;)

There's room for some play. I would love to put 5 points into Camouflage, bringing my Stealthed movement speed up to 85%, but it would be hard to remove points from elsewhere. Ghostly Strike was another skill I was looking to try and get, but the Subtlety tree is not my strongest focus (despite the IDEA of it being the most appealing). If I took out Dagger Specialization and Blade Fury, though, that would free up 6 points without losing too much, points that I could devote elsewhere (such as Camouflage and Ghostly Strike).

I am only up to level 24 right now (just turned; finished off Lightning Reflexes :)), but so far I'm finding the build to be VERY strong. I can generally solo any mob around my level, up to 2 if they're a few levels below me, and God help anything more than 4 levels below me - me and my twin daggers chew them to shreds. My Instant Poisons generally go off fairly often, but not so much that I'm running out of charges very much at Rank 1 (40 Charges, 30 minutes). I imagine at higher ranks I'll run out of time before I run out of charges, but that's ok. :) The damage dealt by them is very good, at least doubling my normal damage output. Combine that with a heavy Critical Strike rating, and good Dodging skills (24% now, although not quite 5% Parry :/), and I can survive most encounters.

As far as tactics goes, my usual strategy is quite simple:
- Start off Stealthed to scout the area.
- Toss a Distraction to take viewing away from me so I won't unstealth at the wrong moment. Also sets them up for an attack from behind.
- If Multiple enemies, I Sap the stronger / more threatening of them, and try to pull the others away. Otherwise, I Garrote my target, and then move in with multiple Sinister Strikes.
- Usually by the 2nd Sinister Strike my target is at about 50% health, so I nail 'em with a Rupture to bleed them out, and take care of them if they run.
- Spam a couple more Sinister Strikes and, if need be, another Rupture or Eviscerate (damage on this is not high, due to my weapons, so usually it's another Rupture, if they don't die beforehand).
- Toss a throwing knife or two if they run and watch them bleed to death from Rupture.

Most battles are very shortlived, so Rupture doesn't play as much of a role as I'd like, but it does help, especially when they run. Unfortunately, my miss rate is fairly high, but I make up for that with very speedy attacks that deal lots of Poison damage and Critical Strikes. Well, I shouldn't say "fairly high", but it's higher than I'd like. Whiffing a third or a quarter of the time is not my cup of tea. :P

I can't tank nearly as well as a Paladin or a Warrior, but for now I can usually hold my own enough not to worry about it. And if things get too tight, a quick Vanish and I'm gone, off to heal or strike again from a distance, or even to remaneuver for a fresh Garrote.

So far it's been a blast to play. I chew through most mobs quite efficiently, and I'll be glad to see how I do with more +Agility gear, and higher armor (armor needs a good upgrade right about now). I'll never be a Tank, and I may not quite be the "perfect" Rogue, but it sure is fun to Poison someone to death. :)

I'll keep you posted on my progress.