Jessesgf
Grandfathered
Introduction:
Erm, Hi… As most of you may know by now, I’m JessesGF. Often as i sit in Org or enter a game i get asked many questions, the most common being “Why assassination?” Or “What should i do when...?”. I’ve written this guide, along with the help of some of my friends from the twink community, to try and clear up a few things and answer some questions. It’s aimed mainly at people who are either completely new to rogue or just finding their feet and expanding away from just ambushing people at 40% hp. Remember that this guide isn't gospel and though everything is helpful it’s only here as a starting point. You need to find your own style and work out what’s good for you.
So we bring to you our little (not really) but still very cute rogue guide.
Basics:
“Let’s get back to basics…”
-The Shapeshifters
“Let’s get back to basics…”
-The Shapeshifters
Races
"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others"
-George Orwell, Animal Farm
-George Orwell, Animal Farm
Alliance
Human:
A strong race for almost every class at lvl 19 and nothing has changed in the case of rogue. Not needing a PvP trinket allows you to use either double Arena Grand Master or Touch of the Void, two very powerful trinket options which make you more tanky or give you some aoe utility and mass burst damage.
Night Elf: Arguably the strongest alliance race in the Gulch. Shadowmeld, when combined with Arena Grand Master allows for quick and easy restealths along with increased stealth speed letting you catch up to enemy players or beat them to their destinations.
Gnome: A strong arena race but not all that good in Warsong. The root breaker serves some use when chasing targets, especially with the recent rise in mage twinks.
Dwarf: Another decent arena race, Stoneform allows the rogue to remove bleeds and poisons to get clean restealths easier. It is also one of the rest races for rogue vs rogue because of the poison removal and damage taken reduction from Stoneform.
Worgen: Darkflight is a strong utility racial but Night Elf is overall stronger in terms of increasing speed. It’s also worth noting that worgen is the strongest race when you, for whatever reason, have the flag.
Horde
Goblin: Rocket jump is an incredibly powerful racial for catching up to or escaping from enemy players. It also has free access to the best in slot leather agility bracers Thrall’s gift along with some unique transmog.
Blood Elf: One of the strongest Horde races: Blood elf has an instant cast aoe silence which restores 15 energy. The overall value and utility that this spell provides as an aoe, CC and dps cooldown is unmatched. Also you look cute. xo
Undead: There are very few fears in the 19 bracket and while warlocks see play in midfield, their fears are of little concern to you when attacking an FC. The extra damage from their life drain can be helpful along with health regen from cannibalise. It is worth noting that in legion this race will be much stronger as all priests will have access to an aoe fear at lvl 12.
Orc: There are very few stuns at lvl 19. Nowhere near enough to need stun reduction, especially as something as squishy as a rogue. The increased attack power is strong but mostly unneeded.
Troll: Much the same as Orc, offensive cooldowns which offer no utility are not impactful enough to see use at lvl 19.
Neutral
Pandaren: An ok race for both factions, Quaking Palm serves as an additional CC which can be strong in some very niche cases. Gaining increased effect from food buffs is also strong. Also they’re adorable.
Human:
A strong race for almost every class at lvl 19 and nothing has changed in the case of rogue. Not needing a PvP trinket allows you to use either double Arena Grand Master or Touch of the Void, two very powerful trinket options which make you more tanky or give you some aoe utility and mass burst damage.
Night Elf: Arguably the strongest alliance race in the Gulch. Shadowmeld, when combined with Arena Grand Master allows for quick and easy restealths along with increased stealth speed letting you catch up to enemy players or beat them to their destinations.
Gnome: A strong arena race but not all that good in Warsong. The root breaker serves some use when chasing targets, especially with the recent rise in mage twinks.
Dwarf: Another decent arena race, Stoneform allows the rogue to remove bleeds and poisons to get clean restealths easier. It is also one of the rest races for rogue vs rogue because of the poison removal and damage taken reduction from Stoneform.
Worgen: Darkflight is a strong utility racial but Night Elf is overall stronger in terms of increasing speed. It’s also worth noting that worgen is the strongest race when you, for whatever reason, have the flag.
Horde
Goblin: Rocket jump is an incredibly powerful racial for catching up to or escaping from enemy players. It also has free access to the best in slot leather agility bracers Thrall’s gift along with some unique transmog.
Blood Elf: One of the strongest Horde races: Blood elf has an instant cast aoe silence which restores 15 energy. The overall value and utility that this spell provides as an aoe, CC and dps cooldown is unmatched. Also you look cute. xo
Undead: There are very few fears in the 19 bracket and while warlocks see play in midfield, their fears are of little concern to you when attacking an FC. The extra damage from their life drain can be helpful along with health regen from cannibalise. It is worth noting that in legion this race will be much stronger as all priests will have access to an aoe fear at lvl 12.
Orc: There are very few stuns at lvl 19. Nowhere near enough to need stun reduction, especially as something as squishy as a rogue. The increased attack power is strong but mostly unneeded.
Troll: Much the same as Orc, offensive cooldowns which offer no utility are not impactful enough to see use at lvl 19.
Neutral
Pandaren: An ok race for both factions, Quaking Palm serves as an additional CC which can be strong in some very niche cases. Gaining increased effect from food buffs is also strong. Also they’re adorable.
Spec
"Choose your weapon..."
-Raven, CBBC's The Raven
-Raven, CBBC's The Raven
Combat: Currently, Combat is the favoured spec among lvl 19 rogues. The main reason for this is access to dual wield Shadowfang, this is the strongest one handed weapon at lvl 19 for dps due to its proc and whopping 5 agility. This gives combat access to the strongest ambush of all rogue specs and therefore the most initial opener damage. The weakness of combat comes in how reliant it is on this opener due to poor sustain and rogue’s general weakness of low energy regeneration.
Assassination: What Assassination doesn’t have in initial punch it makes up for very quickly with high damage Mutilates, giving the spec much more sustained damage than Combat. The popularity of this spec has been rising in recent months as more and more players are recognising the power of consistency and Assassination’s ability to demolish an FC because of it. As the spec deals more damage out of stealth than combat it is arguably the harder one to play, target uptime is important as well as not overstaying your welcome on the enemy backlines. Assassination also has a higher poison proc chance due to higher auto attack speed and mutilate.
Subtlety: Though Subtlety is the most powerful and difficult rogue spec to play at max lvl, it is a very poor choice at lvl 19. Reliance on spells and abilities unavailable at low lvl leaves it outmatched and outgunned by the other two rogue specs. It is not recommended that you play Subtlety at 19.
Assassination: What Assassination doesn’t have in initial punch it makes up for very quickly with high damage Mutilates, giving the spec much more sustained damage than Combat. The popularity of this spec has been rising in recent months as more and more players are recognising the power of consistency and Assassination’s ability to demolish an FC because of it. As the spec deals more damage out of stealth than combat it is arguably the harder one to play, target uptime is important as well as not overstaying your welcome on the enemy backlines. Assassination also has a higher poison proc chance due to higher auto attack speed and mutilate.
Subtlety: Though Subtlety is the most powerful and difficult rogue spec to play at max lvl, it is a very poor choice at lvl 19. Reliance on spells and abilities unavailable at low lvl leaves it outmatched and outgunned by the other two rogue specs. It is not recommended that you play Subtlety at 19.
Gear:
"You got a suit? Then suit up."
-Captain America, The Avengers assemble
Gear... we twinks go crazy for the absolute best of the best. Rogue has always top of the charts in terms of gear prices and now is no exception. There are some budget alternatives and the prices of top dollar items have come down a lot due to level and loot table changes. -Captain America, The Avengers assemble
The usual gear philosophy with rogue is whatever gives you the most burst damage you use. This makes crit a far stronger stat than haste, regardless of what dps testing tells you. Health is also mostly a none issue for rogues as you aim to do all of your damage in the first few seconds after opening. You only need stamina in a premade situation where people will coordinate to swap and kill you faster, making it hard to get back to the safety of your team without that extra bit of health.
With all of this in mind. These are the items I suggest you get your hands on when gearing a rogue.
Note: Items marked with an asterisk* are 'Grandfathered', this
means that they are no longer obtainable in game and
will either be incredibly expensive or impossible to obtain.
means that they are no longer obtainable in game and
will either be incredibly expensive or impossible to obtain.
Head: Stained Shadowcraft Cap / Lucky Fishing Hat
Neck: Sentinel's Medallion (A) / Scout's Medallion (H) / Eternal Will of the Martyr | Gift of Versatility
Shoulders: Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders | Greater Tiger Claw Inscription
Back: Glowing Lizard Scale Cloak / Wolfmaster Cape / Cookie's Table Cloth / Inherited Cape of the Black Baron | Gift of Versatility
Chest: [Blackened Defias Armor* / Tunic of Westfall* / [Gloomshroud Armor / Armor of the Fang / Stained Shadowcraft Tunic | Peerless Stats
Wrists: Thrall's Gift / Forest Leather Bracers / Black Wolf Bracers / Chitonous Bracers | Greater Agility / Major Stamina
Hands: Blackened Defias Gloves* / Metalworking Gloves* / Gloves of the Fang | Crusher / Glove Reinforcements
Waist: Blackened Defias Belt* / Vigorous Belt of the Bandit
Legs: Blackened Defias Leggings* / Stained Shadowcraft Pants | Shadowleather Leg Armor / Primal Leg Reinforcements(Lvl400)
Feet: Blackened Defias Boots* / Feet of the Lynx / Silver Embossed Boots (A) | Minor Speed
Rings: 2x Seal of Argas / Admiral Taylor's Loyalty Ring / Ello's Band (A) | Gift of Versatility
Trinkets: Arena Grand Master / Defending Champion / Inherited Insignia of the Horde (H) / Inherited Insignia of the Alliance (A) / Touch of the Void
Main Hand: Talon of Vultros (7) (Assassination) / Shadowfang (Combat) / Venerable Mass of McGowan | Elemental Force
Off Hand: Talon of Vultros (11) (Assassination) / Shadowfang (Combat) / Goblin Screwdriver (Assassination) / Sharpened Scarlet Kris (Assassination) / Venerable Mass of McGowan (Combat) | Elemental Force
Toolkit:
"I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills..."
-Bryan, Taken
Kicking:"I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills..."
-Bryan, Taken
"Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick."
-Bruce Lee
-Bruce Lee
Rogue’s box o’ tricks has dwindled a lot in recent years but they still have their most formidable and infuriating ability, Kick. To keep it simple, Kick is a melee ability which can be used on a target to interrupt their current cast and prevent them from casting any spells from that school for 5 seconds. In a bracket which has as little CC as 19s, this is vital for killing FCs, winning mid fights and generally being a rogue. Rightyo then! That’s kick, now how should you use it?
Beginner:
Get Acquainted:
What do you do when a girl way out of your league gives you her phone number? That’s right! You write it down and never forget it, even when she’s decided it was a mistake and you've stalked her for weeks but let’s not get into that… point is you remember it and you keep it close to hand. This is what you should do with your kick.
Keybind your kick somewhere quick and easy to reach, a key near your strafing keys or a mouse bind if you have one. You should always be able to kick at less than a moment’s notice. Penance? Bam not anymore! Going for a cheeky healing sur.. NOPE! Easy access is the key to success when it comes to kicking.
Focus!: Not you, your kick… Make sure you have an equally easy to reach focus macro for your kick so you can stop the casts of players you aren’t targeting. It’s like being at the club with your girl, always got your eyes on her… but you’re still checking out what’s on offer at the same time. See, who said men can’t multitask?
Intermediate:
So, you got the keys? You feel that power, that ability to punish your opponent and make him a useless waddling lump for what feels like eternity. (I play healer, it feels like %!$&ing eternity, trust me.) But what if it all goes wrong? Just like with a powerful sports car, you need to learn to control yourself or you’re going to crash and burn… figuratively, of course.
Control:
For this, I'm going to take some advice from none other than Swiss Toni and say that kicking a cast is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. First you must feel comfortable, understand your situation, your surroundings and your intended purpose. Second you must get a feel for your subject, understand their habits and how they might react once you move in close. Test the waters, let them do their own thing and decide if it is time to act. Third you should always be decisive, make sure you know what you’re doing and don’t go in half arsed. And finally, perhaps most important of all, do not end it too soon. If you do then you’ll be left rather embarrassed and your target will be standing (Or lying on their back) laughing at you
‘Valued words of wisdom’ aside, he makes a good point. Good players will be looking to catch you out, last longer than you and leave you a quivering effeminate shadow of your former glory. They will stop their casts around the 30-60% mark in the hopes of letting you waste your kick on thin air. ‘Fake’ casting or ‘Juking’ as it is more commonly known now is the caster’s weapon against you and you must be ready to counter it. Control yourself, don’t kick too early and wait until your opponent’s cast is somewhere in the 75-80% range before making your move. (This depends on your latency, if you have higher ms then lower the point at which you aim to kick. You need to remember to account for the game’s lag as well as your own.) At this point your opponent will think they are home free with that crucial fear or heal, well guess what? Denied.
Focus!: On you this time, watching for kicks and landing them is important, but you know what’s more important? (Most of the time) Pressing buttons! Keep up your rotation, movement and general activities at all times when preparing a kick. You can’t just sit there and stare at their rack without getting a slap for it. Practice kicking along with your rotation so you can do one without severely crippling the other.
Expert:
Patterns: Despite what many other PvPers tell you (Mostly those keen on US RBGs), your opponents are human beings. Human beings are creatures of habit. They go to work or go to school, watch tv, watch porn, cry themselves to sleep at night and wake up in the morning to do it all again. The same can be said for healing. People get stuck in patterns, they get used to healing their way and you, as the keen eyed rogue player you are, understand that. This is a small community, you can get to know the majority of players and their healing styles rather well. They think you’re their friend when you challenge them to duels for ‘fun’ or to ‘test’? No. You’re gathering valuable intel to use against them in combat. You learn how they fake, when they fake, if they fake? (Really hoping the answer is yes to this one...) and any other gaps in their armor. Reading people isn’t easy, but if you master it you can become the next Bruce Lee.
Pick and choose: You’re in control, you have your finger on the trigger. They think they’re in control but they aren’t. You choose what to kick, choose wisely. Understand what spells are worth kicking in what situations. Kick has a reasonably long cooldown and you always want it to be there when you need it, so don’t waste it on some meaningless selfheal at 90%. Hit ‘em where it hurts, when they’re gasping at their last chance of survival, landing that important fear or starsurging for the kill.
Be spontaneous!: Remember when I said people have patterns? So do you! Don’t get predictable, especially in longer drawn out battles or with players who know you. They did their homework too, they know when you kick and they’re going to fake like they’ve never faked before to catch you with your proverbial pants down. So what do you do? You step it up, you walk the road less traveled and however many other ‘your own way’ clichés you care to think of. Kick them early, kick them late, kick them from stealth, kick them like a normal predictable person or just don’t kick them at all? Play those mind games, be confident and be fabulous. You are spontaneously fabulous.
Pre kick: Kicking someone when they aren’t casting? At first this goes against all logic but there’s some method in the madness. Healers heal, correct? So a healer who is standing still but isn’t casting is certainly thinking about casting, maybe he’s about to cast right there and then? Bam! Kicked before he even knew what hit him. When people stop moving it’s often because they are going to cast, be ready for this and catch them just as they start by kicking when their feet stop moving. You’ll be amazed how many skilled healers get caught this way.
Once you get a grip on all of this you’ll be better at interrupting than a phone call from your mother-in-law and certainly a force to be reckoned with in the Gulch.
Sapping:
"Who knew knocking someone over the back of the head could be so complicated?"
-Defias Thug, Yes I made this one up
Sap, rogues have had access to this nifty ability at lvl 19 since the dawn of time. This is an ability, useable only in stealth, which incapacitates an enemy player for up to 8 seconds as long as they are not in combat. Another powerful CC tool that all good rogues must make the most of if they are to succeed.-Defias Thug, Yes I made this one up
Everyone has tried to be sneaky at one time in their life, I myself used to steal supplies from work. It was just little things to start with, reams of paper and other miscellaneous stationery… maybe the odd “work mobile” before they put all the stupid corporate software on it. One… no, two cars. Just small things, you know? I finally got caught trying to steal my boss's wife, oh how I wish I had ability the hit him over the back of the head and disappear like rogues do. Needless to say I don’t work there any more, and I have a court appearance on Tuesday.
Beginner:
When to Sap and when not to Sap: Sap may be your most powerful CC tool but it does give the opposing team a lot of information. It gives them your position, it puts that person on sap dr and it will almost certainly cause their FC to act differently with the knowledge that a rogue is nearby or that he is far away. Knowledge is power. You should use sap when the CC it provides will be immediately useful or when you feel that the element of surprise is worth less than that CC.
Note: When you sap, continue to mash the sap button
in case they trinket. A full sap will not be overridden
until 4 seconds of the current one remain
in case they trinket. A full sap will not be overridden
until 4 seconds of the current one remain
Intermediate:
Slowing the enemy engagement with Sap: Getting an early sap on a key part of the opposing team’s mid will really help your team. Ask for Tiger’s Lust from one of your team’s monks at the start to get across the map before the enemy team can engage you in combat. Due to the hunter combat bug it can be very hard to get a sap on a healer early on as they usually get into combat from the pet. It is fine to sap a dps such as monk, warrior or boomkin. This will put less pressure on your team and help them to push mid.
Slowing an FC with Sap: Try and get a triple sap on the enemy FC as early as possible once the game has started. This means he will be back off sap dr earlier and you will gain more time for your team to position themselves. Do not try to solo an FC before stacks, he will always kite you and escape. It wastes your time and you could be elsewhere doing something useful.
Expert:
Sapping off combat: When you are in and around mid you should keep an eye out for players appear to be dropping combat to either peel off or drink. Sapping these people either delays them from whatever important task they are off to carry out or puts them out of the fight for 8 seconds. Catching healers and other dps just as they drop combat in mid can be the difference between a win and a loss for your team.
Guise Sapping: There are abilities, such as spectral guise, which cause the user to drop combat. These are very effective for peeling out of fights quickly, escaping enemy melee or increasing the chances of an important cast going off. You as a rogue can punish this by sapping as they re appear. Disc priests are especially known for using spectral guise to get important heals off, now you can use their weapon against them.
FC pathing and sapping FCs from stealth:
Roles:
“A lamp cannot play the role of the Sun and the Sun cannot play the role of a lamp”
-Amit Kalantri
Mid:“A lamp cannot play the role of the Sun and the Sun cannot play the role of a lamp”
-Amit Kalantri
"I think you oughta get yourself an M-16"
-Lt. Colonel Hal Moore, We Were Soldiers
I’ll keep this simple, mid is scary. It’s full of Warriors with great big axes and Monks smashing kegs of beer into your face. There’s bolts of pure unbridled chaos being flung left right and centre while some maniacal chicken shoots literal stars out of his ass. Very scary. It’s no place for a rogue such as yourself unless it is absolutely necessary. That being said, there are still a few things you can do to help your team gain control of this vital area of the map. -Lt. Colonel Hal Moore, We Were Soldiers
When I was a kid I used to be a fighter. Not the big and brawny kind, Martial Arts. I was OK, maybe better than OK, but I was a scrawny kid and didn't have much power behind me. I remember one day sparring against another black belt, whose name for the life of me I cannot recall, things started off OK but then WHAM! I was on the floor feeling slightly woozy and he was being cautioned by our Sensei for use of excessive force. Regardless of this, it was still my fault I lost. I learned that day that if the scrawny kid is ever going to go toe to toe and win he’s got to be agile, he’s got to stay alert and he’s got to make his strikes count.
Beginner:
When should you be in mid?: As a simple rule, you should be playing mid when your FC is in mid and you cannot get a return on the enemy FC alone. Most FCs have rogues with them now which makes it hard to get anything done when it’s just you. As you get more experienced you can start feeling for yourself when you should be in mid and when you should be defending flag or stalking the enemy FC.
When should you leave mid?: Simple, you should leave mid when you can get to the enemy FC to slow him with saps or when your team has control of mid. If you are winning mid when the FC starts to leave your base you should try and get someone to come with you to secure a kill, this isn’t necessary and you shouldn’t do it if you lose mid because of it.
Surviving in mid: Three rather simple rules for this one. Don’t outstay your welcome, always aim to get to safety as soon as you have done your damage and go for restealths often to keep applying pressure with openers. Never outrange your disc priest by too much, power word shield is your lifeline in mid as it saves you from swaps and helps you get restealths.
Note: Predict incoming physical damage and avoid it using evasion.
There’s no use pressing it and dying because the
damage has already been done.
Intermediate:There’s no use pressing it and dying because the
damage has already been done.
Choosing your target: Aim for squishy targets and always keep an eye out for targets with small Power Word: Shields or Weakened Soul. This means the opposing disc priest cannot immediately bubble them to prevent them from dying. If you see a player is low health or is about take damage (Usually indicated by the projectile heading straight for them.) you should open with that damage to secure the kill.
Expert:
Synchronising with your team: Communicate with your team mates where possible in mid, especially other rogues. Having two rogues open on the same target makes them almost guaranteed to die along with a little incoming damage. Watching and predicting incoming damage is one thing, calling for the swap yourself to guarantee that damage is another.
Defence:
“Protecting yourself is self-defence. Protecting others is warriorship.”
-Bohdi Sanders
-Bohdi Sanders
Playing defence is something rogue can be effective at, being able to stealth allows you to escort your Flag Carrier unseen by the opponent and ambush any unsuspecting attackers. Sometimes the enemy team will put you in a position where you have to help your FC even get out of the enemy room.
Every rogue has a pet cat, or bear... Mine’s called Andreas and I’m sure a lot of you have met him before. He might even be your pet too, we as rogues are the sworn protectors of all things furry when we are in the Gulch. (Regardless of if we actually hate their guts, save that for offence.) It’s quite common for us to have to look out for our little fluffball while he’s trying to do his job. Think of yourself as P.E.T.A, but with pointy daggers and a cool mask.
Beginner:
When to escort: Usually this isn't your call. Your team’s FC will tell you if he wants an escort. If you anticipate heavy defence before the game starts you should ask your FC if he wants an escort, he may not have been thinking about it or be new to FCing and not understand he will need help to get out of room.
When to defend FC: This is entirely up to you, make the call based on how well your team will perform in mid and how many stealth classes the opposing team has. Assassination is very effective at killing off rogues / ferals quickly, due to high mutilate damage after their opener, making it better at defending FCs than Combat.
Peeling for your FC: Sap is your only real peel, use it on targets before they can get in combat with your FC and always be using your sap macro to try and prevent enemy rogues or druids from opening. You should not aim to sap hunters and should instead open on them to pressure and force them to fall back. Hunters die quickly to Assassination rogues, especially with help from your FC.
Intermediate:
Clearing the area: When you arrive in the enemy base you should do a quick sweep of both room entrances, the flag spot and second floor to check for rogues. After this you sap in anything and open the hunter to create time for your FC to pick flag and leave.
Defensive positioning: Once your FC is back in your base, it’s your job on defence to patrol the ramp leading up to roof looking for enemy rogues and druids. Always be ready to kite with your FC and move ahead of him to make sure he isn't walking into the path of an enemy rogue.
Guessing enemy positioning: You don't want to be called out of mid to escort. You want to spot the signs early (Lack of hunter / rogue in mid.) and anticipate your FC’s call for help. Always call if you suspect an attack to be coming as your FC may have missed the signs. You can’t protect your FC alone usually and you should aim to be his eyes and ears at all times.
Expert:
Emergency Flag Carrying: Sometimes, even with everything you do, your FC dies. Don’t worry! You’re an expert rogue you prepared for this. Always be ready to repick and have an FC set at hand for such a situation. Your goal now is to get back to your FC as quickly and safely as possible to hand the flag back. This is advanced because it’s out of your comfort zone. You didn’t sign up to carry the flag around and yeah it can be really scary. Make sure you have some knowledge of FCing if you want to be a top rogue on defence.
Offence:
“They say of a sniper’s bullet that if you hear it, then you are safe, because it will already have passed safely by. It is the ones that you don’t hear that do for you”
-Sohni
-Sohni
Offense is the position a rogue should feel most at home. They are the snipers of the Gulch, stealthy, patient and clinically precise when dealing with their target. Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to get to the Enemy Flag Carrier, wait for the opportune moment and strike him down for the kill. This is a lot to ask of one man, but you can do it.
Now I'm not a trained killer. I have no tales from yesteryear so I'll just paraphrase the plot of Mission Impossible and hope nobody notices. Wait did I say that out loud? Errrr... Just stay calm, remember your mission and don’t get caught.
Beginner:
Getting to your target: As a rogue you should be predicting the movement of the enemy FC and getting to his next location before he does. This means you can avoid having to get around the hunters and rogues which are defending him and strike for a kill. If you are in a position where you need get past a defending hunter then decide your path before you move and always try to be as far away from the hunter and his pet as possible at all times.
Not getting caught: Hurray you've made it to the FC! but you can’t kill him alone, at least not for a while anyway. You need to make sure you don’t get found and killed now that you are deep behind enemy lines. Keep moving and lining the enemy hunter as much as possible. Do not sap anyone or do anything to tell the enemy team that you are there and keep biding your time until you’re ready to kill.
Cutting their escape: Sometimes it can be smarter to not go directly for the enemy FC and instead to be waiting for him as he tries to kite away. This is known commonly in twinking as ‘cutting’ and is something you will screamed at for not doing in BGs if you are new to rogue. You should pick an area to stay which allows easy access to any of the druid’s escape routes so that you can intercept him for the kill.
This an example of where you can stand to cut the enemy FC when he is inside his own base. It has clear line of sight of both room exits along with not being too far from the entrance of tunnel. Your team should coordinate if he is kiting tunnel so that you can move to intercept.
Defending your flag / Striking early: Defending your flag is aggressive, sounds weird but it is. You are hitting the enemy FC the first possible chance you get and trying to get a kill early. That is aggressive. You should consider defending when your team has a weak mid composition and won’t be able to control it for much of the game. You should also never defend on your own. A rogue can’t get anything done on his own in that situation.
The more common way to defend your flag is to cut their FC as he commits for a cross. Though this isn’t strictly defending the flag it is aiming to get it returned to your base as quickly as possible without committing people to defend room.
Defending your flag / Striking early: Defending your flag is aggressive, sounds weird but it is. You are hitting the enemy FC the first possible chance you get and trying to get a kill early. That is aggressive. You should consider defending when your team has a weak mid composition and won’t be able to control it for much of the game. You should also never defend on your own. A rogue can’t get anything done on his own in that situation.
The more common way to defend your flag is to cut their FC as he commits for a cross. Though this isn’t strictly defending the flag it is aiming to get it returned to your base as quickly as possible without committing people to defend room.
This is an example of positioning to cut the enemy FC as he leaves your base. His escape routes are indicated in orange and you as a rogue should aim to position yourself mid towards your team’s base to get saps and open with the help of your team.
Intermediate:
Choosing your moment: If you’re going for the kill then everything has to be perfect. You should aim to have as many of the defender’s cooldowns used as possible. Displacer (If he will use it without you opening), healer’s trinket if possible and FC’s warstomp if he is Tauren. If you can get the majority of these out of the way you should be clear to go. If the FC ever drops out of bear form and you’re in a position to kill you should take it. The difference in damage reduction is huge.
Expert:
Coordinating an attack: You’re the expert rogue, you can tell other people what to do! From your advantageous position, of… already where your team want to be, you can call out the situation and communicate an attack with your team.
Repicks: When you’re in a situation where both team’s FCs are taking heat, you might need to go and pick the flag while on offence to prevent a cap. This not only prevents a cap but it also might split the enemy team’s defence. At higher stacks it is usually better to just make sure the enemy FC is dead before attempting any sort of flag pick.
Awareness:
"Most men's awareness doesn't extend past their dinner plates."
-Scott Westerfield
Awareness and how you use it is something which incorporates everything a rogue has in his arsenal and all his skills as a twink. That is why the rest of this section will be written in Super Cyan! (Yes this pun was terrible). This is what turns you from just being a skilled rogue to being a team player and maybe even carry a game every now and again. "Most men's awareness doesn't extend past their dinner plates."
-Scott Westerfield
Knowing where your team is: General awareness of your team mates, their locations and their gameplan will help make your own decisions easier. Understanding where a hunter or rogue wants to go in order to get a kill on FC, if they want to cut or if they want to push will help you fit into their own game plan better. If you know what’s happening you can read the players, the game and the patterns within them to decide your next move.
Predicting the plays: This is mostly expanding on understanding your team’s gameplan to predicting your opponent’s. Being able to look at their movements and actions (Missing in mid, people going ramp to cut etc…) tell you a lot about how everything is going to play out in the next few minutes. You can prepare for it but you also need to make sure other people on your team are aware as you, that they know what’s up and what to do about it. Staying alert to the movements and intentions of all players in the game is something that comes with time and practice, not just reading a guide.
Extras:
"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."
-Jimmy Johnson
"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."
-Jimmy Johnson
Macros:
These are some examples of macros that I find useful or necessary when playing rogue at lvl 19. This is just a starting point and by no means should you stop using current macros you are used to. This is all preference but I will say one thing, macros really help streamline your gameplay and will, in time, make you a better player.
Bandaid: Self/MouseOver:
#showtooltip Runecloth Bandage
/use [@mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][@player] Runecloth Bandage
Mutilate Mouseover:
#showtooltip Mutilate
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][@target] Mutilate
Focus Kick:
#showtooltip Kick
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead] Kick
Focus Sap:
#showtooltip Sap
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead] Sap
SapMacro:
#showtooltip sap
/cleartarget
/targetenemy
/cast sap
Stealth:
#showtooltip Stealth
/Cancelaura Alliance Flag
/cast Shadowmeld
/cast !Stealth
Addons:
These are some of the key addons that I use on my 19 rogue. Again they aren't mandatory and if you have something which already fills the same role then keep using what you're used to. I would however say that battleground targets and something to show information above nameplates is vital for any lvl of WoW PvP.
Nameplate Cooldowns:
http://mods.curse.com/addons/wow/nameplatecooldowns
BattleGround Targets:
http://mods.curse.com/addons/wow/battlegroundtargets
SaySapped:
http://mods.curse.com/addons/wow/saysapped
BigDebuffs:
http://mods.curse.com/addons/wow/bigdebuffs
Special Thanks:
Ellipsis: For turning my nonsensical ramblings into a clear, organised and coherent guide. Also adding his own flavour and making it enjoyable to read, despite being so incredibly long. Big props to you mate, I owe you one… or two, or three or a lot.
Sannchez: For offering some ideas for guide content and giving it a few once overs during the initial writing stages.
Sami: Pretty much the same as Sannchez, thanks for the help buddy!
Blueprint: The guide master himself, thanks for reading over the guide and giving an official Blueprint guide seal of approval.
Thanks to everyone for reading this guide. Stay cute, xo
Ellipsis: For turning my nonsensical ramblings into a clear, organised and coherent guide. Also adding his own flavour and making it enjoyable to read, despite being so incredibly long. Big props to you mate, I owe you one… or two, or three or a lot.
Sannchez: For offering some ideas for guide content and giving it a few once overs during the initial writing stages.
Sami: Pretty much the same as Sannchez, thanks for the help buddy!
Blueprint: The guide master himself, thanks for reading over the guide and giving an official Blueprint guide seal of approval.
Thanks to everyone for reading this guide. Stay cute, xo
Last edited:
Might want to add in a little tips & tricks section aswell.
