Encrypted Text: Most valuable procs
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Sep 21st 2007 at 11:00AM
Most raiding rogues I know tend to look for pure, solid stats on their weaponry. Agility, stamina, AP, crit and hit -- these are the backbone of the rogue arsenal. Procs can be less than ideal, given their unreliable nature and spiky DPS increase.
But there are some procced abilities that stand out above the others. Procs that are frequent enough or major enough to turn the tide in boss fights, destroy your enemies in PVP, or just look really cool and flashy on your weapons. Read on to discover which Burning Crusade procs to use and which procs to lose.
Weapon: The Night Blade
Weapon type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Your attacks ignore 435 of your enemies' armor for 10 sec. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Proc rate: Approximately 6.5%.
Analysis: This proc used to be ridiculously overpowered. With a proc rate of 21 percent, rogues could have this up constantly, adding an extra 11-14 percent more damage in raids. Blizzard nerfed the proc down to a more managable 5-8%, but it still seems to proc in "stacks", making it a worthwhile investment -- though probably not worth several thousand gold.
Weapon: Riftmaker
Weapon Type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Encloses enemy in a temporal rift, increasing the time between their attacks by 10% for 10 sec.
Proc rate: "Once every three to four mobs", so probably around 2-4%.
Analysis: This proc sounds nice, like a BC version of Thunderfury. It even procs on bosses! However, it doesn't stack with Thunderclap -- and since Thunderclap is now a mainstay of any tank, this isn't as awesome as it seems. I'd pick Night Blade over this, although the proc can be neat for PVP.
Weapon: Revenger, Blade of Unquenched Thirst
Weapon Type: Rare 1.5 speed sword, Rare 1.3 speed dagger
Proc: Steals 105 to 125 life from target enemy, steals 48 to 54 life from target enemy.
Proc rate: 4.75%
Analysis: Meh. Since these are 1.5 and 1.3 speed weapons, they'll be used in the offhand, which means it'll proc less due to the higher miss penalty equal miss penalty, but the smaller number of hits due to not having any specials besides Shiv. And lifestealing is sort of a iffy proc anyway, which is why few people use it on their weapons. I like the suggestions on the Wowhead forum that these be used by prot paladins, since the lifestealing proc benefits from spell damage. Let these go unless the DPS is a big upgrade.
Weapon: Dragonmaw, Dragonstrike, Drakefist Hammer
Weapon Type: Epic crafted 2.7 speed maces
Proc: Increases your haste rating by 212 for 10 seconds
Proc rate: 1.4 procs per minute
Analysis: This proc increases weapon speed by about 20% at level 70 -- at least for now, although haste is getting nerfed in the near future. For right now, this is one of the best procs out there, substantially increasing your DPS with its high proc rate. The AEP charts have the proc as worth about 35 agility after the 2.2 nerf, compared to 53 before, so spend your mats at your own risk.
Weapon: Blackout Truncheon
Weapon Type: Rare 1.5 speed mace
Proc: Increases your haste rating by 132 for 10 seconds.
Proc rate: 1.9 procs per minute, or about 4.75%
Analysis: People used to offhand this with the Dragonsomething maces for a hemo haste spec. They also used Shiv to get an additional chance to proc off of this. This would be excellent except that hemo is still a sort of mediocre raiding spec, and haste is getting nerfed back to pre-BC levels in 2.2. Good times while they lasted.
Weapon: The Bladefist
This is yet another haste proc, this one for 180, but since I'm getting tired of describing haste procs, I'll refer you to the two previous posts.
Weapon: Blinkstrike
Weapon Type: Epic 2.6 speed sword
Proc: Grants an extra attack on your next swing.
Proc rate: 5-6%
Analysis: Man, sword rogues just go nuts for extra swings. This item, Hand of Justice, Windfury, sword spec ... Anyway, this item is the equivalent of your 5 points in Sword Spec if you're combat swords. But it's possible to put too much value on the proc. I recall one guild, pretty far into TK, that had all their rogues using Blinkstrikes. Shadowpanther's AEP chart puts the proc as worth about 30 agility, which seems a bit low, but it's still not worth passing up much higher base DPS swords for a chance at a proc.
Weapon: Heartrazor
Weapon Type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Increases attack power by 270 for 10 seconds.
Proc rate: 5-6%
Analysis: The first real dagger upgrade from Malch has some good base stats and a nice, Crusaderish proc. Not particularly exciting or showy, but if it procs a couple of times a minute, it can really ramp up your damage on long boss fights. After the 2.2 haste nerf, this will probably be the best rogue proc in the game, so pick it up now! (Just remember to vanish often.)
Weapon: Rod of the Sun King
Weapon Type: Epic 2.7 speed mace
Proc: Chance on melee attack to gain 10 energy or 5 rage.
Proc rate: 4-5%
Analysis: This is an excellent proc for PVP, where hemo can devastate your opponents (and requires some extra energy.) However, if you're using maces and can kill Kael'thas, it's going to be a tough call between this proc and Dragonstrike's. The proc rate also seems rather low for an item of this caliber, particularly considering the power of Combat Potency.
Weapon: Syphon of the Nathrezim
Weapon Type: Epic 2.8 speed mace
Proc: Fills you with fel energy, allowing all melee attacks to drain life from opponents.
Proc rate: No confirmed data, but proc lasts for 6 seconds.
Analysis: Finally, an interesting lifestealing proc! This fills YOU with the fel energy, making ALL your attacks for those six seconds heal you and do an extra 20 shadow damage (enhanced by raid buffs.) So altogether, you can heal about 200-250 damage over 6 seconds, while doing the same amount of damage to your opponent, unmitigated by armor. It's not wonderful for PVP, and the enhancement shamans are going to hate you, but the speed and top-end damage on this weapon would make it an excellent choice for a combat mace rogue. The proc is just a bonus.
Weapon: Shard of Azzinoth
Weapon Type: Epic 1.9 speed dagger
Proc: Calls forth an Ember of Azzinoth to protect you in battle for a short time.
Proc rate: 0.5 procs per minute, lasting 15 seconds each.
Analysis: The best dagger in the game, and it does what? Okay, you're probably going to be picking up this item for its high damage, slower speed, and 64 AP, but your little green guardian comes along with it. This guy does 135 DPS every second for 15 seconds, and won't break crowd control in PVE. Yeah, it sounds like Perdition's Blade v. 2.0. However, step back from the theorycrafting and think of the intangibles. Every time this guy pops out in PVP or when you're grinding, you're telling the world, "I killed Illidan." That alone makes it worth it. The Vanquished Tentacle of C'thun is still cooler, though.
Filed under: Rogue, Items, Analysis / Opinion, (Rogue) Encrypted Text
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AndyF Sep 21st 2007 11:04AM
You have an error with your Ravager analysis: "Since these are 1.5 and 1.3 speed weapons, they'll be used in the offhand, which means it'll proc less due to the higher miss penalty"
The dual wield miss penalty applies to BOTH HANDS. The Offhand does NOT miss more than the Main hand.
AndyF Sep 21st 2007 11:06AM
Damnit I meant Revenger, not Ravager.
Also the Blade of Unquenched Thirst has a very low attack speed so even with the proc not being excellent, it's still worth considering for Combat Potency ticks.
Domaci Sep 21st 2007 11:14AM
I'm totally not trolling, just giving my opinion here, but, this has got to be one of the dumbest articles to date. If you rely on something proccing once or twice a minute vs the steady DPS from pure agi/AP you need to go back to playing Sims 2.
Wulfhere Sep 21st 2007 11:16AM
Sadly, pallies cannot use daggers.
Angus Sep 21st 2007 11:24AM
@3:
" Agility, stamina, AP, crit and hit -- these are the backbone of the rogue arsenal. Procs can be less than ideal, given their unreliable nature and spiky DPS increase."
Did you even bother reading that first paragraph?!?!?
The whole point of the article is : "Stats are better, but here are some decent procs if you want to play around."
Geez. Reading comprehension sucks nowadays.
Dcruize Sep 21st 2007 11:31AM
@3 I rely on Mongoose proccing to give me 10-16dps higher than what I'd get from a +15ag enchant. Check the rogue dps calculators (especially the ElitestJerks one). There's nothing wrong with procs...
Dave Sep 21st 2007 11:33AM
Personally, I find it baffling when people pick a proc on a weapon that only has a proc and NO stats and assume that the proc is going to equal having more stats on their gear.
Lots of people don't bother to figure out how the weapon with no stats but a shiny proc actually gives them less damage output, or less survivability, or whatever else.
Unless a proc is a very frequent one that can literally turn the tide in an encounter, it's VERY difficult to argue against base stats that can be enhanced by everyone else's abilities much more often. If you've got a weapon that adds 35 agility, you're getting that agility every hit, not just whenever it procs. If someone's boosting your output with a totem, aura or otherwise, you're boosting it the entire time, wheras with a proc your damage spikes will be bigger, but your overall damage output may or may not be larger.
The shadowpanther site should clue you in on this, as almost all of the top weapons don't have fancy procs without having any stats.
I don't think I'd take anything from that list over a weapon with stats if I had a choice. For the most part, Arena weapons are superior to almost all of that list anyway, and so are the GM/HWL weapons as well. The last few are obviously good enough without the stats, but since those aren't obtainable for anything but the top tier raiders who should already know this stuff...
Nate Sep 21st 2007 11:51AM
Miss rate is the same for both main hand and off hand.
However, despite the logic being wrong, the conclusion is kind of correct: some procs are more likely on the mainhand. However this is only for procs with a PPM (built-in weapon procs don't use PPM since the speed is known). With a PPM it can proc off yellow attacks which are usually done with the mainhand (sinster strike, backstab - mutilate rogues need not worry as much).
Also, the article only talks about weapons with built-in procs. That alone is a big mistake: it's an article for rogues about procs that does not include the game's best procs: Mongoose, Abacus of Violent Odds, Hourglass of the Unraveller, Dragonspine Trophy (!!!), Warpspring Coil, Windfury, Sword Specialization, Mace Specialization. These are all procs *critical* to rogues. There's even more, such as Fiery which is crucial to low-level and twink rogues.
I found this article very disappointing due to these oversights.
jaxson_bateman Sep 21st 2007 11:58AM
@4 - True, daggers can't. But the description in question is for a lifestealing proc dagger AND sword (Revenger is the sword). And obviously, we can use swords.
But, I believe the people on WoWHead have probably got it wrong if they're suggesting tankadins use this as the lifestealing proc benefits from spell damage. They would be correct in that it does benefit, but I myself have a Glaive of the Pit, and from my calculations it only gets about 5% of your spell damage, which really is nothing at all (it procs barely ever, and does about 30 extra damage... hooray...).
jaxson_bateman Sep 21st 2007 12:01PM
@8 - Definately a good point about the trinkets and talent spec choices... BUT, I wouldn't lump the Abacus of Violent Odds in there. Why? As far as I could tell just from looking, most of the other things you have listed are 'chance on hit' procs - that is, random procs. The Abacus is a use effect, so you know you're going to get that benefit once every cooldown. The others are fluctuating damage boosters; the Abacus is much more constant.
Angus Sep 21st 2007 12:02PM
@8:
Again, reading comprehension comes to play.
She's talking about WEAPON PROCS.
She never touched any weapon enchantments or anything like that.
NOT ONCE.
It's almost as if the article was made solely to discuss the various procs some weapons have and whether they are any good and how they compare to standard Stat boosting weapons.
You know what, if you folks aren't going to actually read the damn article and understand what it is focusing on, you aren't allowed to bitch. Seriously. Please folks, bitching about the article not being exactly what you wanted or not being about maximizing DPS is a stupid thing. Go play in the WoW forums.
Weapon ENCHANTS are a completely different thing than weapon procs and as such merit their own article. (hint hint) Heck, the interaction with stats and weapon procs would make a good article by itself. (hint hint some more)
Instead of saying it is dumb or it lacks what you wanted, make suggestions for follow up topics.
aerosaucer Sep 21st 2007 1:03PM
There is no "higher miss penalty" on the offhand. Dual-wielding makes BOTH hands miss more equally.
Are you talking about how an offhand proc won't activate on most special attacks that a mainhand proc can go off?
Nate Sep 21st 2007 2:25PM
@11:
The article is titled "Most valuable procs" and the thesis statement is "Read on to discover which Burning Crusade procs to use and which procs to lose". Care to point out where it states the article is only about weapon procs?
Given the glaring error with how miss works I'm more inclined to believe the author is unaware of the game's other procs.
@10:
My bad, abacus is not a proc. I probably meant to say Tsunami Talisman. Good thing it was just a comment and not an article on a popular web site.
bluebottleblues Sep 21st 2007 3:40PM
Omen of Clarity is my favorate proc.
Being a druid, I don't experiance any procs, so with that in mind, my favorate proc has to be omen of clarity because there isn't any other good ones I can use.
It's nice if it procs with shred so a free 2.5k crit if lucky. When grinding it can give a free regrowth cast. It's sort of nice when tanking but in most encounters you get more than enough rage anyway.
Steve Sep 21st 2007 5:21PM
@13:
The author goes on in some depth about numerous high end weapons and the relative value of their procs. But because there is one error, you are "inclined to believe the author is unaware of the game's other procs" as if she knows all the weapons but has never heard of anything else. That's an absurd position to take, and I'm sure you realize that.
Between weps, enchants, trinkets, etc... there are far too many procs to include in a single article of reasonable length. The author chose to focus on weapons. Fine with me. And a fairly nice job, too. I've been trying to get my hands on the Night Blade for a while, but its 2000g+ on my server.
Chris Deke Sep 21st 2007 10:22PM
"and since Thunderclap is now a mainstay of any tank"
Ahem...druid and pally tanks might find this somewhat offensive. I spend far too much time staring at giant bear buttocks and I sure do.