Encrypted Text: Tools of the rogue's trade
by Chase Christian 
Jan 12th 2011 at 9:00AM
If you've been plugged into the rogue community for any length of time, you're familiar with some of the common thoughts that we share as a class. We're all very thankful that Cloak of Shadows is now a 100% immunity to spells, that aggressive min-maxing is part of our culture, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that our most pressing concern is getting Swirly Ball back. I would mention our years of torment waiting for a functional Vanish, but it's working now, and I don't want to jinx it.
We don't always see eye to eye on every detail, though. While I imagine the rogue as a brutal killer, some prefer to think of our class as a group of honorable assassins. One of the most common ideas that I've seen but not understood is the obsession with daggers. I've heard the old standby of "a rogue not wielding a dagger isn't a rogue" a million times, but I just don't get it. Maybe it's combat talking. I even lobbied at BlizzCon for the devs to implement quick off-hand axes and swords, but the request fell on deaf ears. Like it or not, rogue weaponry has evolved.
The quintessential quick dagger
Rogues love quick weapons in their off hand for a variety of reasons, many of which have changed from expansion to expansion. Currently, Deadly Poison's insane potency and percentage-based proc mechanics make every rogue spec value a quick weapon to apply it with. Combat rogues are enjoying Combat Potency procs, while assassination rogues' poison application chance literally demands tons of Deadly Poison procs to function. Subtlety rogues can't do any better than Deadly Poison either, and so they're looking out for quick off-hand weapons too.
The catch is that Blizzard's team has yet to implement any quick off-hand weapons that aren't daggers. There are no quick maces, swords, axes, or fists; they can't be crafted, and they can't be found. If you're a rogue, you want a quick dagger in your off hand, laden with Deadly Poison. There's no spec dependency or variation -- you need a quick dagger. Luckily, there's one available from the justice points vendor for a song and a dance, but the fact remains that it's required. It's not even a matter of a not-quite-so-fast axe or sword versus a very quick dagger; the non-daggers are so slow that they simply cannot work. You can't play a rogue effectively without a quick dagger gracing your weaker hand.
The heavy-hitting main hand
Mutilate rogues used to be hand-agnostic, not really caring about the speed of their second dagger or its location. Obviously, they needed one quick dagger, but the other was a toss-up. Here's where the combat tree gets its revenge on assassination for being forced into wielding a dagger. Mutilate rogues now depend on Backstab for the crucial 35% execution phase of each encounter, and Backstab is decidedly not speed-agnostic. Assassination rogues now want a slow main-hand weapon capable of huge Backstab crits, aligning them with combat's preferences.
Combat rogues still obviously want a slow MH weapon to deal more damage with Sinister Strike and Killing Spree. The speed of the MH will actually be even more important in 4.0.6, as Blizzard's devs are fixing combat's (awful) mastery bonus. When Main Gauche starts using our MH weapon to calculate its damage, having the slowest MH possible will become even more key than it is today. Don't worry, it's easy to get a slow axe/sword/mace/fist; there's not a single quick one in the game to clog up your loot tables.
Hunters win this round
I'm sorry, I really am. We're going to have to stop rolling on guns and bows, no matter how much we enjoy making hunters pay for stealing our gear. Deadly Throw has never been very great outside of PvP, and even then, it's been really weak since the DT interrupt bonus was removed from our PvP gloves. Redirect would've been so sweet to use with an interrupting DT and could've really showcased some of the amazing skill that the top-end arena rogues display. Deadly Throw is still only mediocre, and it was the only item tying us to a thrown weapon.
The new Fan of Knives changes all that. Now, in order to use our most potent (well, only) AoE ability, we have to have a throwing weapon equipped. With the importance of Fan of Knives on so many encounters, there's really no reason for us to use a gun or bow if we can help it. I know that the item developers didn't include a lot of thrown weapons, and as such, they're pretty sparse. I know a lot of rogues who have been picking up the PvP throwing weapons because they simply haven't found anything else. With so few thrown weapons in the game, you don't really have to bother choosing between speeds or stats; your job is to be happy with what you have.
Parity amongst the specs
If you're a rogue, you want a slow main-hand weapon of your preferred weapon type, a quick off-hand dagger, and whatever throwing weapon you can get your hands on. The universalization of the quick off-hand dagger makes it incredibly easy for rogues to switch between specs on the fly. With these speedy daggers readily available, you can half the most important part of your arsenal set in no time.
While I lament the extinction of combat off-hand weapons, I have to agree that it's pretty nice to be able to switch to combat any time I score a slow main-hand. All of you rogues who said that we weren't really rogues without daggers have had your wish granted. Well, half of it, anyway.
Check back every Wednesday for the latest rogue strategies in Encrypted Text! We'll show you how to navigate Cataclysm rogue basics, dig into new rogue mechanics, and gear up for heroics.
Filed under: Rogue, (Rogue) Encrypted Text
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hail Jan 12th 2011 9:26AM
I havn't raided outside of BH, but it seems as though we could still roll on hunter weps for encounters that don't require AoE. Or just weapon swap for AoE phases...or do I just not want to lose the one hunter item I can roll on? (everything else is rogue for all the times hunters stole my weps)
Rai Jan 12th 2011 9:40AM
I am more than happy to stick with a thrown weapon and not roll on hunter guns or bows.
In return, I expect hunters NOT to roll on daggers.
Fair?
Hail Jan 12th 2011 9:50AM
Hunters? Not roll on rogue weps? Please, that would be, as you say, fair!
Venar Jan 12th 2011 10:11AM
Actually, hunters would be to be stupid to roll on Rogue Weapons now. Their best enchant is the 2H Agility enchant. There aren't any good enchants for melee weapons that work well for hunters that they could put on 1H weapons.
dpoyesac Jan 12th 2011 11:00AM
Also, in 4.06 Deterrence will be usable while disarmed, so the PvP reasons for hunters wanting 2 one-handers (the ability to deterrence during warrior & SP disarms) goes away too.
JA Jan 12th 2011 2:03PM
Courtesy of EJ:
FoK requires a throwing weapon to be equipped however rogues are still able to use other ranged weapons and may have a ranged weapon that is better for single target DPS then their throwing weapon. In this case, it may be convenient to make a macro to swap weapons depending on if you need to AoE or deal single-target DPS. Just as a warning, these macros invoke a GCD and can cause you to cap out and they reset your swing timer (delayed/lost auto attacks). FYI, you can Shift + Right Click on items in your bag to automatically enter the name of your weapon when making these macros.
#showtooltip Fan of Knives
/startattack
/equip
/cast Fan of Knives
#showtooltip Mutilate
/startattack
/equip
/cast Mutilate
GardenOfRage Jan 12th 2011 9:31AM
Although I claim assassination as my main spec I do miss my lumberjack secondary spec. I thought we rouges looked rather bad-ass wielding two axes, ready to go hack off some faces.
My philosophy was that a rogue doesn't care what his/her weapons are; they are all just a means to and end.
wwfmike Jan 12th 2011 9:31AM
So a slow 1.8 lvl 333 beats a fast 1.4 heroic 346 in MH?
Hail Jan 12th 2011 9:52AM
Probably, look at the straight up wep damage. If they are close, take the faster one for greater dps. However, if the straight up damage is much higher on the slow, use it. Also, you could just do target dummy tests. Or wait for someone else to reply with a better answer.
str8key2 Jan 12th 2011 10:29AM
Depends on the weapon damage (Not DPS, the xxx-xxxx part)
you want the one (typically the slow one) with the highest swing damage in your MH
MBlade Jan 12th 2011 11:06AM
Aldriana in EJ (unfortunately I don't remember the post's thread) discussed this topic and his recommendation is replacing the MH by a fast dagger only is the fast dagger is TWO tiers above a slow MH. Obviously a fast dagger of that caliber will not be available until possibly next patch. Therefore a 1.8 iLvL 333 and a 1.4 iLvL 346 is still better than two 1.4 iLvL 346.
Hail Jan 12th 2011 11:24AM
Raiding daggers would count as 2 tiers above ilvl 333 daggers, but yeah.
WGSXFrank Jan 12th 2011 9:37AM
I spent most of BC and WotLK as a sword-spec combat rogue. I switched to dual-dagger assassination (Mutilate spec) a few months before Cata was released. I've never looked back.
Sure, I still have combat set up as my off-spec... but I honestly never see any reason to use it. I'm usually top (or near top) DPS in PvE, and I put out sufficient damage (and heal myself enough to almost always stay alive) in PvP...
Hail Jan 12th 2011 9:54AM
You might consider making your offspec assassination pvp. the talents are pretty different, and you would die even less if you had imp recup for pvp.
Telwar Jan 12th 2011 10:00AM
I was combat back in TBC, but went mute for Wrath and also never looked back.
I now have my main spec for dungeon running and an offspec, also mute, for soloing and questing, and it's great. My ret paladin had far more trouble in Tol Barad than the rogue ever did.
WGSXFrank Jan 12th 2011 10:25AM
@Hail: Assassination is my main spec. I do an equal amount of PvP and PvE, and I use the same spec for both, but different armor sets. I often use recuperate (with improved recuperate of course) in both settings. In PvP to stay alive, and in PvE to stay alive and put a little less pressure on the healer.
There have even been multiple times, while running heroics, where our tank would die and I'd end up "tanking" (Popping Evasion and/or CloS and/or Combat Readiness) while healing myself with imp Recuperate and having a healer on me(if they're not already dead). I can think of 6 or 7 times now where I've downed a heroic boss doing so... Granted they are typically under %10 at this point.
adrian Jan 12th 2011 9:59AM
They really should rename Deadly Throw, since it is not very deadly. Perhaps Sort-of Annoying Toss?
WGSXFrank Jan 12th 2011 10:29AM
I approve!
Topher Jan 12th 2011 10:39AM
"Sort-of Annoying Toss" ROFL, I love it!!!
Rufio Jan 12th 2011 5:16PM
Haha, gold, I love it. 'Irritating fling"