Neebler
Veteran
In this Rogue Academy post, we'll cover a cool trick that rogues can do if they find themselves getting caught out of stealth by certain abilities. Furthermore, this technique can also be used proactively to create advantages for you team, which we'll cover a bit later on.
First of all, what the hell am I referring to?
If you envision a rogue using an actual Vanish, they immediately disappear in the middle of combat and get a restealth. While rogues can't actually get stealth in the middle of combat, there are a couple odd scenarios in which a rogue can sneak in an instant restealth and catch their opponent off guard.
The level 19 "Vanish" is really more of a mind game than anything else. When someone is hit with a CC ability, we assume they've somehow entered combat. But if the character isn't hit by anything during the CC, the combat timer will apply normally, and combat will still drop despite being CCd.
This is important to internalize as a rogue player, because often times, a player may choose to cast a spell, or do some other sort of delayed action after landing a cc. However, if they wait even a fraction of a second too long to hit you with anything else, the rogue can...
You guessed it - INSTANTLY TRINKET into RESTEALTH!
That's right, absolutely 0 delay, the same speed as using an actual vanish. This is one of the tricks that gives certain rogue players a reputation for being extremely slippery and unpredictable. However, while getting restealth is an obvious advantage, it has some practical applications that can lead into further advantages that we will discuss next. There are also some risks involved, which we'll cover afterwards.
Practical Applications for the level 19 "Vanish":
1. Clearing Hunter Traps
As a rogue player, especially in competitive games, you'll more than likely be asked to escort your FC to pick flag. Some of those times, a hunter will be on defense, and depending on what point you are in the game, a trap may be placed on the enemy flag circle, or somewhere nearby, waiting to trigger on your FC and put him in a lot of trouble.
So how can you, the rogue, help them out? Is there some sort of trick that could potentially neutralize the trap with zero consequence?
Yep. It's vanishing time!
The trick is simple. Sneak around the hunter (be respectful of that ridiculous Track Hidden radius...) and move your character over where you think or potentially know the trap as been placed. Since triggering a trap does not put you in combat, simply trinket it immediately and restealth. The reason this is so good is not only because you've cleared the way for your FC to pick without eating a trap, but you now can open on the hunter out of stealth with a valuable Cheap Shot, or even a Sap if they still haven't entered combat! This relieves a ton of pressure off of your FC.
2. Counter-Sapping a Rogue
It's embarrassing, but it happens to every rogue sooner or later - getting sapped out by another rogue. However, some rogues are dumber about this than others. They may go for the triple sap to stall for a teammate and try to kill you, and while doing that, they may stand right next to you, feeling as though it's in the bag.
But don't panic - you still haven't entered combat yet. Pop your trinket and get a restealth, and then IMMEDIATELY spam your proximity sap macro (if you don't have this macro, get it. It's a must - a macro that will auto sap the first sappable thing that appears in range of you.) If the rogue foolishly remains too close, they'll get sapped out instead. Don't make the same mistake as them. Either get the eff outta there, or if you see a chance to follow up, quickly open with a Cheap Shot before they can disappear themselves!
This can be really impactful, getting rid of the enemy rogue is a huge objective advantage. And, it's a really nasty outplay you can do against other rogue players to rub their mistake in their face.
Vanishing Risks:
However, as mentioned earlier, there are some risks involved. If the rogue is quick, they can sap your trinket before you get restealth, then you're in a ton of trouble.
You can potentially risk this anyway in hopes that they have poor reaction time (most good rogues don't,) OR if you know they'll go for a resap (i.e. one of their teammates has peeled off to kill you and is running towards you very blatantly,) you can react the instant that you're resapped and go for the vanish trick during their sap GCD. This is still pretty risky due to latency differences and really tight timing.
---
I'm sure there are a lot more applications for this, as well as more risks that could be covered, but I wanted to present this as the start of a discussion, as is the point for all of my Rogue Academy posts. Share your knowledge, feedback, anything you want to make a valuable contribution!
What's a time that this "Vanish" trick came in clutch for you?
- Neebs
First of all, what the hell am I referring to?
If you envision a rogue using an actual Vanish, they immediately disappear in the middle of combat and get a restealth. While rogues can't actually get stealth in the middle of combat, there are a couple odd scenarios in which a rogue can sneak in an instant restealth and catch their opponent off guard.
The level 19 "Vanish" is really more of a mind game than anything else. When someone is hit with a CC ability, we assume they've somehow entered combat. But if the character isn't hit by anything during the CC, the combat timer will apply normally, and combat will still drop despite being CCd.
This is important to internalize as a rogue player, because often times, a player may choose to cast a spell, or do some other sort of delayed action after landing a cc. However, if they wait even a fraction of a second too long to hit you with anything else, the rogue can...
You guessed it - INSTANTLY TRINKET into RESTEALTH!
That's right, absolutely 0 delay, the same speed as using an actual vanish. This is one of the tricks that gives certain rogue players a reputation for being extremely slippery and unpredictable. However, while getting restealth is an obvious advantage, it has some practical applications that can lead into further advantages that we will discuss next. There are also some risks involved, which we'll cover afterwards.
Practical Applications for the level 19 "Vanish":
1. Clearing Hunter Traps
As a rogue player, especially in competitive games, you'll more than likely be asked to escort your FC to pick flag. Some of those times, a hunter will be on defense, and depending on what point you are in the game, a trap may be placed on the enemy flag circle, or somewhere nearby, waiting to trigger on your FC and put him in a lot of trouble.
So how can you, the rogue, help them out? Is there some sort of trick that could potentially neutralize the trap with zero consequence?
Yep. It's vanishing time!
The trick is simple. Sneak around the hunter (be respectful of that ridiculous Track Hidden radius...) and move your character over where you think or potentially know the trap as been placed. Since triggering a trap does not put you in combat, simply trinket it immediately and restealth. The reason this is so good is not only because you've cleared the way for your FC to pick without eating a trap, but you now can open on the hunter out of stealth with a valuable Cheap Shot, or even a Sap if they still haven't entered combat! This relieves a ton of pressure off of your FC.
2. Counter-Sapping a Rogue
It's embarrassing, but it happens to every rogue sooner or later - getting sapped out by another rogue. However, some rogues are dumber about this than others. They may go for the triple sap to stall for a teammate and try to kill you, and while doing that, they may stand right next to you, feeling as though it's in the bag.
But don't panic - you still haven't entered combat yet. Pop your trinket and get a restealth, and then IMMEDIATELY spam your proximity sap macro (if you don't have this macro, get it. It's a must - a macro that will auto sap the first sappable thing that appears in range of you.) If the rogue foolishly remains too close, they'll get sapped out instead. Don't make the same mistake as them. Either get the eff outta there, or if you see a chance to follow up, quickly open with a Cheap Shot before they can disappear themselves!
This can be really impactful, getting rid of the enemy rogue is a huge objective advantage. And, it's a really nasty outplay you can do against other rogue players to rub their mistake in their face.
Vanishing Risks:
However, as mentioned earlier, there are some risks involved. If the rogue is quick, they can sap your trinket before you get restealth, then you're in a ton of trouble.
You can potentially risk this anyway in hopes that they have poor reaction time (most good rogues don't,) OR if you know they'll go for a resap (i.e. one of their teammates has peeled off to kill you and is running towards you very blatantly,) you can react the instant that you're resapped and go for the vanish trick during their sap GCD. This is still pretty risky due to latency differences and really tight timing.
---
I'm sure there are a lot more applications for this, as well as more risks that could be covered, but I wanted to present this as the start of a discussion, as is the point for all of my Rogue Academy posts. Share your knowledge, feedback, anything you want to make a valuable contribution!
What's a time that this "Vanish" trick came in clutch for you?
- Neebs
