3

1

My rogue is likely hitting level 80 tonight or tomorrow and I am now faced with getting her ready for grouping. I know the top builds are either Assassination or Combat specializing in either Swords or Daggers, but from what I've heard your gear can play a huge factor in which build to go for.

Thanks to Wintergrasp marks this character has 99,000 honor available, which I'll be using to buy some starter epics. I'll also be running the ToC and ICC normal 5mans for at least a few days to build up some ilvl 200/219 gear before diving into heroics.

  1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the build. Does it rock in PvE, yet fall on its face in PvP? Does it have strengths in heroics more than raids?
  2. Does the build perform well with poor gear? If not what gear level/requirements will make it beneficial to switch to the this build?
  3. What abilities/poisons should I be focusing on? (rotation)
  4. What weapons work best with the build?
  5. What glyphs, gems and enchants should be focused on?

I'm getting ready for grouping, but haven't ruled out a PvP as a dual-spec option, so please include possible PvP specs as well.

Community Note: This question has been marked as a Community Wiki. I feel that we should be able to rank the top talent builds for any fresh level 80 rogues by their own merit. Therefore, please try to limit it to one build per answer. Please try to include a link to wowhead for the talent spec, and answer as many of the points listed for that particular spec, this way other people can vote / comment / edit the post later if they want add something. Feel free to post more than one answer.

flag
@community - I'm interested in seeing if we can collect some great "starter guides" for other classes as well, but lets see if the Rogue one works first... Please feel free to add links to other sites with good explanations, but try to at least quote some of the relevant points from the list. – gnarf♦ Mar 13 at 4:27
Suprised no one has answered this one yet! – Jesta♦ Mar 15 at 14:38
I wish you could edit comments, so like, I could fix spelling mistakes! – Jesta♦ Mar 15 at 14:39

2 Answers

2

My Pref. on my rogue is 20/51/0 CBT Axes/Swords for PVE (Ruptureless)

  1. Strenghts:

    • Great for movement/interruption fights (as stated by earlier poster)

    • Great for AOE fights (Between Fan of Knives, Killing Spree, and Blade Flurry you have quite a bit of multi-target dps)

  2. Gear:

    • The Thing about combat is that it requires a bit of Armor Penetration (Arp) to become effective.

    • Focus stats: Attack Power (AP), Agility (AGI), Armor Pen. (ARP), Haste

  3. Rotation:

    • Is Simple. Dont let Slice and Dice(SnD) fall off and if you find yourself with 4 or 5 combo pts on a target and you still have SnD up use Eviscerate

  4. Weapons:

  5. Glyphs:

  6. Gems:

    -Meta- Relentless Earthsiege Diamond

    -Red- Bright Cardinal Ruby, Fractured Cardinal Ruby, Delicate Cardinal Ruby

    -Yellow- Quick King's Amber, Smooth King's Amber, Rigid King's Amber

    -Blue- Solid Majestic Zircon (Maybe?...Probably better off using a Green or Purple gem)

    -Green- Forceful Eye of Zul, Jagged Eye of Zul

    -Purple- Puissant Dreadstone, Balanced Dreadstone, Shifting Dreadstone

    -Orange- Stark Ametrine, Deft Ametrine

  7. Enchants:

    Weapons- Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Berserking

Some Great reference sites are:

  1. shadowpanther.net
  2. Elitistjerks.com/f78/
  3. Roguespot.com
link|flag
Fixed the links for you. – Wridel Apr 3 at 6:10
Could you add a wowhead link for the talent build? Put it in comments if you need to. – Wridel Apr 3 at 7:05
Tyvm for fixing links...it was quite annoying. as far as the build goes ill be able to get the one I favor up in the coming hours once I get off work – DankDarko Apr 4 at 1:49
wowhead.com/?talent#fhg00xxZMgVo0cxqru0xRt This is the Build I use...although I've thought about taking the 5pts out of Imp Poisons and putting them into 5/5 Relentless strikes – DankDarko Apr 4 at 6:29
2

51/18/2 with Envenom finisher.

(The popular 51/13/7 is alright too but it lags a little in overall damage output tests. It got a boost in 3.3.3 with a change allowing Rupture damage over time ticks to critically strike. More thorough testing is pending but it is possibly slightly higher than this build now.)

  1. Strengths --

    • Highest damage output.

    • (Arguably) best for PvE.

    Weaknesses --

    • Weak against multiple target or interruption fights. Less flexibility. The Combat tree excels here.

    • Weak in PvP. PvP builds are heavier on the Subtlety tree.

  2. Gear Requirements --

    • Attack Power and Haste are your go-to stats. Spell hit cap and expertise cap are also advisable. Armor penetration is probably your weakest stat for this build.

    • Specific gear recommendations are difficult because adding a piece with more of one stat in one slot could change the best-in-slot for several other pieces. Aside from stacking the above stats, check out the program Rawr to calculate the most efficient gear choices to maximize your stats or check out the spreadsheets on Elitist Jerks. For more discussion on slot specific gear, check out Shadow Panther.

  3. Abilities/Poisons/Rotation --

  4. Weapons --

    • Main Hand: High DPS Dagger with Instant Poison IX. Can be fast or slow. Weapon damage matters more than speed.

    • Off Hand: Fast Dagger with Deadly Poison IX. Used with Envenom finisher.

      Speed aside, the higher DPS weapon goes in the main hand. If they are the same DPS, it is better to move the faster one to the main hand. I know that sounds crazy but the higher poison proc coupled with Envenom will yield slightly higher overall DPS than the loss in Mutilate damage.

  5. Glyphs/Gems/Enchants --

P.S. -- On a side note, My personal preference is 20/51/0 ruptureless combat for PvE and 44/4/23 for PvP. I think it would give you the best mix if output and utility for PvE rep grinds and random daily dungeon runs, then a decent off-spec for the battlegrounds. It seems like a raid should have a couple mutilate rogues and the rest combat to give the group as a whole the best adaptability for different fights. (Of course, everyone wants to be the one topping the DPS charts and ego can often cloud what is best for the raid.)

link|flag
Finally somebody answers this question! Could you do a similar writeup for the 20/51/0 build you mentioned? – Wridel Apr 2 at 20:11
Sure, I'll try to make some time soon. I'm hoping I kicked off a trend though and others will jump in. ;) – TrogdorHunter Apr 2 at 20:45

Your Answer

Get an OpenID
or

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.