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Rogue

Revision as of 21:17, 5 July 2008 by Armagon3654@legacy41525056 (talk | contribs) (Reverted edit(s) by Gaedex (talk) to last version by Gourra)
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Classes Deathknight Demon hunter Druid Evoker Hunter Mage Monk Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior
Class races DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Quests DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Abilities DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Trainers DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Armor sets DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Useful macros DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Class Halls DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
For related articles, see Category:Rogues.

Rogues are World of Warcraft's premiere melee damage dealer. They have access to a wide range of special abilities, which depend on their constantly refilling pool of energy. Unlike other classes, such as the Hunter, who have the ability to deal physical damage from a distance, Rogues must be in close. This often subjects them to tank-like damage reception due to their dangerous threat level if left alone.

The primary Rogue class distinguisher is their ability to Ability stealth [Stealth], preventing other players from seeing them unless the Rogue is very close and in a 180 degree arc in front of them.

The primary Rogue attribute is agility. At later levels, most Rogue-oriented gear will also include a lot of Attack Power.

Rogues can only wear leather or cloth armor, are unable to use shields, and can only wield 1-handed weapons (daggers, swords, maces and fist weapons) and ranged weapons. At level 10 they can train dual wield, letting them equip two one-handed weapons. At level 20, they gain access to Poisons through a quest.

Rogues are best suited for players who like to sneak up on enemies and dish out large amounts of burst damage.

Background

Rogues are Azeroth’s jacks-of-all-trades. They possess a wide range of skills that allow them to accomplish feats from disarming traps to finding secret doors to smacking a magic item until it works. They are decent in a fight, and if they can strike quickly or unseen — or are flanking an enemy with the help of a thoughtful ally — they can be truly deadly. Of course, they also excel at stealth.Template:Cite

The rogues of Azeroth are the masters of subterfuge, skilled and cunning adversaries of those who dare not look into the shadows to see what lurks there. Roguery is a profession for those who seek the adventures of stalking and silent forests, dimly lit halls and heavily guarded strongholds. Using trickery in combat and able to vanish at the slightest distraction, the rogue is a welcome addition to any group of adventurers. Ideal spies, deadly to those they can catch unaware, rogues have no problem finding a place in the world. Deadly masters of stealth, rogues are the whispers in shadowy corners and the hooded figures crossing dark fields. Skilled with daggers and the art of silent death, these vagabonds and bandits skulk about Azeroth seeking targets and profit. A member of almost any race can learn the tricks necessary to become a skilled rogue. Still, for the tauren and draenei, such a profession is an alien concept and therefore rare (if not non-existent) among those peoples.Template:Cite Rogues can be found among all races on Azeroth. Whether they are diplomats, spies, thieves, scoundrels, entertainers, or simply adventurers, you can find them plying just about any trade from Mount Hyjal to Ratchet.Template:Cite

For as long as there were dark alleys and needs for dark services, there have been rogues, and thus they are one of the oldest professions in Azeroth. Rogues are a diverse class, and they are typically made up from the dredges of society -- cutthroats, pirates, robbers and low-lifes. The only code rogues live by is the contract, and their word is only as good as the money their services are bought for. The diverse aspects of their trade requires rogues to be well versed in lockpicking, toxicology, rudimentary alchemy and brawling. In combat, rogues rely on the element of surprise, and tactics which are regarded by most as vile and cowardly. They are rarely seen entering a fight without weapons laced in poisons and ample supplies of blinding powder. Their attacks concentrate on weak points in the body in an attempt to finish fights brutally and quickly. Rogues play prominent roles in every aspect of society -- albeit, they will rarely be written in history books because their involvements will be largely unknown to the common person, but they are always there, greatly affecting the flow of events from the shadows.

From the high-contract assassin hired in secret by respected noblemen to the lowly street mugger, rogues are the ones called upon when maintaining the status quo requires a questionable solution -- and by fulfilling it, are branded as outcasts by the very society that calls upon their service.

In Azeroth several rogues are free agents, though most prefer to join a guild for safety and ease of employment. Ravenholdt and the Syndicate are examples of said guilds. Other recognized rogue organizations include the Shattered Hand, the Deathstalkers and SI:7.

Races

The Rogue class can be played by the following races: (See more Rogue races)

Alliance Crest Alliance

Horde Crest Horde


All races can play the rogue with equal efficiency, but like any class in World of Warcraft, one should take a deeper look into the Racial Traits and how they affect the gameplay of a Rogue.

  • The Undead have the racials Spell shadow raisedead [Will of the Forsaken] and Ability racial cannibalize [Cannibalize]. Will of the Forsaken allows an Undead rogue to get rid of fear, sleep and charm spells, and is a huge benefit in PvP when fighting priests, warriors or warlocks. Cannibalize can be used on humanoid or undead corpses to regain health, which helps to minimize downtime without wasting food, bandages or potions. The Undead can also stay under water four times as long as other races, thus undead rogues have an extra dimension in stealth and escape in PvP.
  • Night Elves have increased dodge (an extra +1%), increased Ability stealth [Stealth] (equal to a +1,67 with 5/5 Spell shadow charm [Master of Deception]) and have the highest base agility in the game. Furthermore, Night Elves possess Ability ambush [Shadowmeld], an ability which functions like a weaker, stationary stealth. Shadowmeld adds a new dimension in tactics for night elf rogues.
  • Gnomes have the racial Escape Artist, which allows a gnome to escape from a root/snare once every 1 minute 45 seconds without the use of Ability vanish [Vanish]. Gnomes' small stature also can make them difficult to hit when combined with the jumping and spinning seen in PvP.
  • Dwarves have the racials Find Treasure and Inv gauntlets 03 [Stoneform]. Find Treasure puts chests, clams, footlockers, etc. on the minimap when active. Since Find Treasure reveals footlockers, it makes the Rogue's Spell nature moonkey [Pick Lock] skill much easier to level. Find Treasure does not stack with other tracking abilities such as find minerals, and other forms of tracking provided by gathering professions. Find Treasure offers no significant advantage in PvP or PvE. Stoneform, an activated ability, clears poison, disease, and bleed effects (also makes you immune to those effects while Stoneform is active) while also slightly increasing armor for 5 seconds. Stoneform can be situationally useful against any class that uses poisons or bleed effects, such as hunters, rogues, and warriors. Dwarves also have a +1% critical strike bonus to gun skill.
  • Humans have a 5% increase in spirit, as well as a 10% bonus to faction reputation gain. Humans also receive a +5 expertise bonus to their swords and maces. Finally, Humans have Perception, an activated racial that greatly increases their stealth detection for 20 seconds, giving them a great advantage in Rogue v Rogue PvP.
  • Trolls have the racials Regeneration and Racial troll berserk [Berserking]. Regeneration allows a Troll to maintain 10% of their health regeneration while in combat, increasing survivability and minimizing downtime. Berserking is an activated racial ability that increases attack speed relative to the amount of health remaining. Berserking, combined with Ability rogue slicedice [Slice and Dice], can increase a rogue's attack speed by 45% to 55% (depending on rank). This greatly increases a Troll Rogue's DPS and poison applications. Berserking requires 10 Energy to activate. Trolls also have a +1% critical strike bonus to thrown and bow skills.
  • Orcs have the racial abilities Blood Fury and Hardiness. Blood Fury increases an orc rogue's DPS while reducing their healing received by 50%. Hardiness increases the rogue's stun resistance by 15%.
  • Blood Elves have the complementary racial abilities Spell arcane manatap [Mana Tap] and Spell shadow teleport [Arcane Torrent]. Mana Tap is used to burn an enemy's mana. Arcane Torrent, on the other hand, is a dual use racial. It provides a 2 second, area of effect silence as well as refilling up to 30 energy. These two abilities allow a Blood Elf to be more effective against enemy casters. It also allows them to recover from energy-expensive finishes very quickly. Blood Elves also have a passive +5 to arcane, nature, fire, frost, and shadow resistance.

Starting Attributes

UndeadRogue

A male Undead Rogue.

Race Strength Agility Stamina Intellect Spirit
Human 21 23 21 20 21
Gnome 16 26 20 24 20
Dwarf 23 19 24 19 19
Night Elf 18 28 20 20 20
Orc 24 20 23 17 23
Troll 22 25 22 16 21
Undead 20 21 22 18 25
Blood Elf Bc icon 18 25 19 24 19

Tauren and draenei race are the only races that do not have rogues because they believe that the methods of the rogues are "dishonorable", and that it is difficult to be stealthy when you have hooves.

Weapons

Although rogues excel at melee combat, they may only learn to use four types of melee weapons: daggers, fist weapons, one-handed maces and one-handed swords. For ranged weapons, rogues may learn to use bows, crossbows, guns and throwing weapons.

A rogue's choice of weapon depends upon a number of factors, such as style of play and desired role within a raiding group. Rogues who wish to serve as front-line fighters alongside tanks typically wield swords or maces, which afford higher sustained DPS during raids and instances. Rogues who prefer hit-and-run tactics often rely on daggers, which permit use of various burst damage abilities and are therefore usually favored in battlegrounds and for PvP.

As with warriors, a rogue's choice of weapon typically affects distribution of talent points, and vice versa. For example: since rogues may specialize in any of the four melee weapons available to them, a rogue who primarily or exclusively uses daggers is likely to spend talent points in Inv weapon shortblade 05 [Dagger Specialization]. Similarly, a rogue who relies on one-handed maces or swords will probably not spend points on Ability rogue ambush [Improved Ambush], since the Ability rogue ambush [Ambush] ability requires use of a dagger in the rogue's main hand.

A rogue's most fundamental abilities, such as Spell shadow ritualofsacrifice [Sinister Strike], Ability rogue eviscerate [Eviscerate] and Ability backstab [Backstab], are instant attacks which inflict damage based on the weapon damage of the rogue's main-hand weapon. Many rogues therefore find it desirable to use a slow main-hand weapon to maximize their DPS, since slow weapons typically offer higher damage ranges than fast weapons.

Weapon speed does not affect the damage bonus provided by a rogue's attack power. Instead, damage is calculated according to the following formula:

Normalized Damage = Base Weapon Damage + (Base Multiplier × Attack Power ÷ 14)

The "base multiplier" depends on weapon type: 1.7 for daggers, and 2.4 for fist weapons, swords and maces. Although weapon speed for normalized attacks does not contribute to the bonus damage from attack power, slower weapons generally have higher base damage and thus cause more damage overall. The exception to this rule involves Spell shadow lifedrain [Hemorrhage] and Ability creature cursed 02 [Ghostly Strike]. Neither ability is normalized, meaning that slow weapons with high damage ranges will inflict greater overall damage than fast weapons with low damage ranges.

Weapons held in the off hand have only two instant attacks: Inv throwingknife 04 [Shiv] and the off-hand component of Mutilate. Otherwise their damage contribution is reasonably straightforward. Off-hand attacks suffer a standard damage penalty. Fast off-hand weapons increase the application rate of poisons, since they will hit more frequently than a slow weapon and therefore increase the chances of applying poison to a target. Most players choose to use the same type of off-hand as the main hand in order to benefit from weapon specialization, but some prefer to use the fastest weapon available in order to quickly apply poisons and interrupt spellcasters. Faster weapons are also sometimes favored for by those rogues who rely heavily on Inv weapon shortblade 38 [Combat Potency], since that talent affords the opportunity to regain up to 15 energy on a successful off-hand hit.

Notable weapons

See Rogue equipment

Abilities

This section provides a brief overview of the abilities of the rogue. For more a detailed assessment of rogue abilities, see the "Detailed Rogue Abilities" article.

Stealth

Main article: Stealth
File:ArtGnomeRogue.jpg

A gnome Rogue in art.

Rogues have the ability to stealth and become essentially invisible, while moving at slower speed. Stealthed rogues are detectable at close range, though will remain stealthed and appear translucent. Many rogue abilities require stealth, and others require being behind the target, which is often achievable (while solo) only in stealth. Other rogue abilities, notably Ability rogue sprint [Sprint] and Ability rogue distract [Distract], interact well with stealth, although some actions, like lockpicking, will break stealth.

Stealth opens up a range of tactics and roles for rogues. Groups often rely on a rogue's stealth ability to scout dungeons, and to use Ability sap [Sap] for added crowd control. In PvP, stealth combined with burst damage gives an element of surprise that can be especially effective against cloth-wearers.

Stealth can be improved through talents, items, and enchantments, both to decrease the chance of being detected, and to increase movement speed.

Poisons

Main article: Poisons

The Poisons skill is a secondary skill, similar to Cooking or First Aid, that is available only to Rogues.
The Alliance's poison quest can be obtained at level 20 in Westfall from Agent Kearnen called A [24] Klaven's Tower; if you drop by S1:7 in Stormwind, Master Mathias will send you to Kearnen when the time is right by giving you the A [20] Mathias and the Defias quest.
The Horde's version is in Orgrimmar from Shenthul called H [20] Deep Cover; which sends you to The Barrens to talk to Taskmaster Fizzule for a quest called H [24] Mission: Possible But Not Probable.

The Poisons skill allows the Rogue to brew poisons, which can then be applied to their weapons. Poisons generally either cause damage to the target (either instantly or as damage over time) or cause other effects (slowing the target, removing the effectiveness of healing on the target, etc.). Different weapons can have different poisons applied, and faster weapons cause the poison to proc more often.

Poisons are a temporary weapon buff, and as such do not stack with other enhancements such as sharpening stones or buffs from shaman totems.

All poisons have a timer, which formerly lasted 30 minutes but as of patch 2.3 was raised to 60 minutes. As of patch 2.1.0 a Rogue's poisons no longer have charges. The poison timer is displayed on the weapons properties when you mouse over the weapon. As of patch 1.10 applying poison will not break Ability stealth [Stealth] or Ability ambush [Shadowmeld]; previously to this, applying poisons would break these states. As of Patch 2.0.1, poisons remain on weapons through zoning between continents or into instances.

A variety of talents in the Assassination skill tree enhance the use of poisons. Wearing 3 or more pieces of the Bloodfang Armor set increases the chance to apply poisons by 5%.

Lockpicking

Main article: Lockpicking

Rogues have the ability to obtain the important skill Lockpicking. This ability allows them to open locked chests, lockboxes, and doors, depending on the Rogue's skill in lockpicking and the level of the locked object (note that blacksmiths can create keys to open locked chests and engineers can manufacture explosive charges that can open locked doors, in the case that a skilled Rogue is unavailable.) Lockboxes can be pickpocketed from mobs or found as loot and are essential to Rogues trying to level their lockpicking skill -- their color (grey - red) represents the skill necessary to open them (red means the Rogue's lockpicking skill is too low to open the object and must increase his/her skill level before attempting again.) Your lockpicking increases at the same rate as weapon skills (5 * Level) to a maximum skill of 350 at level 70.

Early training in lockpicking for Alliance rogues can be obtained at level 16 by completing the Alther's Mill quest, obtained from Lucius, who skulks around the docks of Lakeshore in the Redridge Mountains; Keryn Silvius in the Goldshire Inn will send you to see Renzik at SI:7 in Stormwind who will send you to see Lucius (however, you can probably go direct to Lucius...)

Some high-level dungeons (like the Arcatraz in Tempest Keep or the Shattered Halls in Hellfire Citadel) can be opened by a Rogue with a skill level of 350 in lockpicking. This can be a real time-saver for a group since the alternative to picking the locks to these dungeons is to complete several long quest chains resulting in a key reward.

Stuns, Incapacitates and/or Disorients

Goblinrogue

Goblin rogue.

Stuns a target for 4 seconds and awards 2 combo points for use on a finishing move. This is a very useful opener that requires Ability stealth [Stealth] and usually allows the Rogue to get 1 or 2 instant attacks off in addition to auto-attacks before an opponent can recover.

Kidney shot is an excellent finishing move which stuns for up to 6 seconds depending on skill rank and number of combo points. It can keep a PvP opponent stunned long enough for you to kill them (especially if you master stun-locking). But in PvE it's also a great ability to help keep your group mates alive or to interrupt a spell being cast.

Gouge is not a stun, but is a very important skill that incapacitates your target. This is used frequently to stall an opponent allowing you time to regenerate energy and get behind your opponent to allow a Ability backstab [Backstab]. Since it is considered an incapacitating effect, any damage caused afterwards breaks the gouge. This ability turns off auto-attack when used.

Allows you to stop an opponent for 10 seconds. More than enough time to bandage and restealth in pvp.

Placing talent points in mace specialization under the combat tree gives your maces a chance on hit to stun your opponent for 3 seconds. With one point in this talent you have a 1% chance of stunning your target and with 5 points you have a 6% chance.


Please note that diminishing returns apply to all effects that cause players to lose control of their character (stun, incapacitate, fear, etc.). Stuns are split into 2 categories, controlled and uncontrolled. Cheap Shot is an example of a controlled stun and other stuns of this class, such as a Warrior's Charge and Intercept or Paladin's Hammer of Justice, will diminish each other's stun duration on a target. Mace specialization is an example of an uncontrolled stun and other stuns of this class, such as a Mage's Impact or a Priest's Blackout, will diminish each other's stun duration on a target. Gouge is not a stun, but is in a class of its own, called incapacitate, which also includes a Paladin's Repentance, Goblin Rocket Helm, and Horned Viking Helmet.

Passive Threat Reduction

All Rogues generate reduced threat, compared to most classes. While attacks from most classes generate 1.0x threat per damage, Rogues generate 0.71x threat per damage.

Prior to v1.12, Rogue's threat reduction was 0.8x, but was additive with other threat modifiers. The reduction was increased because threat modifiers are now multiplicative.

Talents

Rogue Talents are split into 3 categories:

Some builds to consider are :
Mutilate with DW specialization
Mutilate with some subtlety
Combat Swords
Combat Daggers
Cold Blood/Prep/Seal Fate (AKA CB/Prep)
ShadowStep with Assassination

These are just general outlines. Please see the Rogue Builds section for a little more in depth explanation.


Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, ThottBot and Wowhead.

See the Rogue talents page for further details.

Suggested Professions

Leatherworking and Skinning

Leatherworking and Skinning are always a good choice. The items crafted tend to be better than other items you can loot at the same level. A couple of great green sets are Nightscape Leather and Wicked Leather.

This is a very balanced profession choice for performance and money.


Blacksmithing and Mining

Another alternative is Blacksmithing and Mining. While not the most beneficial profession choice for a rogue, you will have the ability to craft some weapons throughout your grinding.

  • At level 40 and a skill of 200 you can choose weapon-smithing.
  • If you chose weapon-smithing, then at 50 with a skill of 250 you can choose sword-smithing or mace-smithing.

Herbalism and Alchemy

Herbalism and Alchemy are a pretty viable option. The Alchemy profession allows the Rogue to manufacture powerful potions, elixirs, and flasks. Healing potions are the first things that come to mind, but other beneficial consumables include Inv potion 127 [Elixir of Major Agility], Inv potion 108 [Haste Potion], and Inv potion 117 [Flask of Relentless Assault].

  • Alchemy also opens up the ability to craft an Spell nature healingway [Assassin's Alchemist Stone], which adds a decent amount of attack power in addition to the 40% bonus to healing potions.
  • Note that this profession is not only beneficial to the rogue in performance, it can be an excellent money maker.
  • Herbalism is also a very good way to obtain Swiftthistle, which is needed to make Thistle Tea.

Engineering and Mining

Engineering is arguably the best (and most fun) profession for a rogue (with Mining being the most beneficial complementary profession). It allows for a very distinct edge in combat. It can, however, be expensive, for while you usually only have to craft items once in engineering, the items tend to be a bit expensive at times. There are a few engineering items that require components crafted by other professions, from blacksmiths to tailors to alchemists.

Some very notable items would be:


Summary

In short, each profession has different benefits. You have to decide what you want. Do you want access to some very awesome armor or weapons that you can craft and not bother questing or PvPing for? Maybe a profession that helps you and your raid with powerful consumables while making you some decent bank on the side? Or perhaps you just want one hell of an edge over the competition in PvP.

While some people personally like engineering, be prepared to drop a lot of money on the profession, as it's not a strong money-making profession.

None of this makes any one profession the "right answer." Experiment with the different professions to find the one you enjoy, that you'll use, and that will meet your character's money requirements (whether it will be making money or being able to afford the profession).

Useful Add-ons

This section lists some of the more helpful mods specifically for the Rogue class.

EnergyWatch v2
Displays a progress bar that fills, empties, and refills in time with your energy recharge tick. This can be extremely useful for timing that Cheapshot or Ambush so you tick immediately and have extra energy for a Gouge etc.
RogueFocusClassic
An all in one addon that keeps track of energy ticks, combo points, AND total energy. As much as I loved EnergyWatch, this is a much better addon.
Poisoner
This mod allows for extremely easy application of poisons. It creates a small minimap icon that can be hovered over to display all the poisons you currently have. Just left click the desired poison to apply to the main hand weapon, or right click to apply to the offhand.
Buy Poisons
Allows for easy buying of rogue poisons.
Natur Enemy Cast Bars (NECB)
Notifies the player when someone begins to cast a spell. This is great since it lets you know when to kick, blind or stun the opponent; quite handy if you prefer not to be polymorphed.
RaidRogue
Provides a handy screen which keeps track of reagents, poisons, etc.

Addons can be found at Curse Gaming, WoW UI, and WoW Interface
For rogue specific addons, check out Curse-Rogue Addons and WoWUI-Rogue Addons

End-Game Expectations

Your main priority in raiding is maximizing melee DPS, while staying alive. You will need to use your aggro reducing abilities (such as Ability rogue feint [Feint] and Ability vanish [Vanish]) effectively. As with all melee DPS classes, rogues are expected to come to raids with ample supplies of potions and bandages. Depending on the difficulty of the encounter and the skill/gear of the healers, rogues may not get many heals. In these situations, rogues are expected to use potions or run to a safe area to bandage.

Since the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, most raid instances were built to accommodate rogue poisons and the immunity to them has all but been removed. There are exceptions such as Void Reaver is immune to poisons.

Wrath of the Lich King Changes Wrath-Logo-Small

Talents

Rogues will get a talent called "Fan of Knives", an AoE ability allowing them to attack all enemies within a short range. It will be some kind of "emergency" ability and you won't be able to spam it.[1]

Sap

Sap will now work on more targets, humanoids, beasts, dragonkins, demons. "Anything with a skull and a brain inside of it".[2]

Dagger Spec

Dagger spec will receive improvements in the expansion to make it alot more viable.

See also

  • Lockpicking - Guide to getting that lockpicking skill up.
  • Rogue Sets - Discussion of set items for Rogues.
  • Rogue Gear Guide - Information about choice of Rogue equipment.
  • Stealth Run - Solo or Duo-able dungeons.
  • Stealth Chests - Soloable chests in instances.
  • List of rogues - List of important NPC rogues and rogues from lore.

External links

Wikipedia Wikipedia 
WowInsider WowInsider Encrypted Text — Rogue weekly feature at WoW Insider
WowInsider WowInsider Rogue guides at WoW Insider
Playable classes
Classes
About rogues
  1. ^ http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=9454.0
  2. ^ http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=9454.0
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