Llamaforu's guide to the new rogue!

The rogue is a very unique class. In my opinion, the main idea behind rogues is to be a sort of assassination class. If you read the forums, I'm sure you have heard about all the controversy with rogues/warlocks etc.

In an instance, a rogue is a must, They have the best single target DPS (Damage per second) in the game! This also makes them very different, because they are right up in front with the warrior, unlike most classes.
____________________________________________________
Stealth and stealthed openers

Stealth, is what defines a rogue. A rogue without stealth, is like a mage without frost nova. Or a warlock without fear. A warrior without plate. There are a number of moves that can be used only in stealthed, such as Ambush, Cheapshot, Garrote, and Sap.

All these are used for different situations.

Ambush, is usually used for low armored targets, as it does very high melee damage. Such as priests, mages, and warlocks.

Ambush should never be used during an instance, because ambush doesn't hit hard on high armored targets like those in instances and elites. Ambush though is one of the best PvP skills. It does make a unique sound so you should know when it happens.

Requires being behind the target.

Cheapshot, is used for stunlocking, or just building up combo points. It's a good way to stop someone on a mount who's running torwards you. This skill is the core to all stunlocks.

Has no requirements

Garrote, is a bleed, so it is very good for high armored targets. Warriors and paladins alike, cannot stop bleed (unless they use a skill e.g. stoneform for dwarfs)and it goes through armor so there is no need to worry about how much armor they have. This is also good for feral druids.--They HAVE added a silence to it, at higher level 58+ (not sure which one), you will recieve a 3-second silence effect, which also stops mages from blinking.

Requires being behind the target.

Sap-Good for AB with the Sap'n'Cap, it's also good for taking somebody out of the game. In an arena, you can sap someone before they get into combat, to stun them for 12 seconds (10 in a future patch =( ).

Requires enemy to not be in combat

-------------------------------------------------
I thought this would be a good place to explain rupture kiting, since it has to do with using garrote.

--Rupture kiting is referring to kiting, and the finisher called "Rupture". It's where you put as many bleeds on the enemy as possible and get out of range of them AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, so they can't hurt you, while slowly dying. This is a technique used for warriors, since they are a high armored class, and can't heal themselves through the bleeds. This is also known as the "5-8" kite. That means you have to stay exactly between 5-8 yards of the warrior so they cannot charge, or intercept you to get back into range, while they bleed, until you can re-stealth and re-start bleeding, or just go all-out since you have the health advantage. MAKE SURE they don't eat. Stay near and always watch,

This is never good to use on low-armored, (locks/mages/priests) or classes with any type of heals (Druids/shamans/paladins/priests again). This is designed for the warrior, keep it that way. This also may sound good for a rogue, and you ALWAYS want to keep a bleed on the rogue so they can't re-stealth. But they do have deadly throw, and they can also sprint to catch up, and if they were smart they had crippling poison to keep you slowed down.

_____________________________________________________

Next, You've decided you like the whole stealth/assassination side of rogues. You've started him up, but he can't even dual weild! What's going on?

Rogues sadly, are in a very bad state until at least 20.

Gear is what defines a rogue, and until your rogue gets some great gear, he won't be all that good. He also doesn't have many talent points, and doesn't seem to have many stealthed moves.

Next-Where should I put my talent points? HELP!

Combat swords is the best spec for any leveling rogue! Since leveling is your main priority, you'll want to be doing as much sustained DPS as possible. What really makes Combat Swords so great, is that there is no requirement for positioning. Backstab/dagger rogues need to be behind the target, which is impossible unless the mob is stunned or focused on someone else. So for the sake of solo'ing and leveling, you'll want to be combat swords.

Here is an ideal leveling spec.

Gratz on 70! Now you should respec to something better for raids/pvp or something else, I suggest you check the forums for this!

A good way of fighting mobs after you get cheap shot goes like this!

CS->SS->SS->Gouge->KS->Spam sinister strike until you can eviscerate him to death.

CS=Cheap shot
SS=Sinister STrike
KS=Kidney shot.
_____________________________________________________
Instances

Instances are a good way to level as well other then quests. It is also the best way to gear up since bosses like to drop that awesome phat purple lewt Laughing out loud . What many do NOT know, and what many don't think, is that rogues (said this before) have the best single-target DPS in the game. This means that rogues, if fighting only one target, should always come out on top, unless somebody Out-gears them, or the stats aren't synced correctly.

Just remember to always keep up slice n' dice, always rupture, and NEVER kidney shot. It stops the tank from getting rage!
__________________________________________________

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1)How come whenever I sap a monster it does it for 45 seconds, and I can do it over and over, but when I sap a player, they only are sapped for 12 seconds, and if I keep doing it, it goes shorter until they become immune???! What's wrong?

--In PvP, there is something called Diminishing Returns. That means that to be fair, if you do something multiple times, it gets worse and worse, so that they aren't trapped forever! Also, to make it fair so that someone isn't sapped for a minute, and goes gets something to drink, they make it shorter, about 5x shorter.

2)How come people are breaking sap/blind and cheapshot and all my other stuns early?!?! This isn't fair!11one!

--There is a PvP trinket you can buy, which helps you break things your class has problems with. It differs from each class, and it's used to give you a better chance against that nemesis class.

3)Okeydokes, that sounds fair, but how come blind had a longer cooldown then the trinket! It's only two minutes long?!

--Blind is being looked into at the moment, and the 2 minute trinket does cost a hefty fee of honor points, so don't worry, it's getting looked into, and it's doing it's job.

3)Why do people call me noob for using stuns! It's part of my class isn't it?

--Lots of controversy over stuns in PvP. If you are fighting someone or even a friend who calls you a nub for using stuns, then you need a new friend.

4)How come (class) always beats me, what can I do to fix it?

--PvP isn't based off 1v1, even though blizzard nerfs/buffs classes based on it. They try and base things off of Rock, Paper, Scissors. That game you used to play in pre-school. You know, like rock can easily kill scissors, scissors can easily kill paper, and paper can cover up rocks.

WoW, isn't exactly like RPS (rock paper scissors), Gear is involved, and so is skill. A skilled holy priest could destroy a rogue who just hits his keyboard. But a good rogue can destroy any warrior he sees. When playing rock paper scissors, you don't start suddenly yelling out "garrote", ahhahaha you're getting rupture kited stupid rock, go lose some weight fatty). And since gear can mean the difference between 3000 damage shadow bolts or 1000, you could easily see how it affects somebody.

Gear though, affects melee the most, seeing as ALL our damage comes from melee, without our stats, we are nothing.

A mage can deal damage without much intellect, it will lose it's giant mana pool and lots of spell damage, but still be able to deal something at least.

5)AWESOMEEEE!!!! That was... really detailed, whew. Oh yeah, what's a nerf?

--Nerf refers to those little footballs and balls that are really soft so little kids don't get hurt. When you "nerf" a class, you make it soft and squishy basically.

6)What's kiting, like flying those big paper squares?

--Kiting refers to those "big paper squares", yes. It means you don't let the enemy get near you to deal damage.

6) What's the reagent for blind? I can't find it!

--Blind's reagent was recently removed (thank god!) to help rogues out with their only dependable out of stealth CC!

7)[i]You are a really awesome person, what server do you play on?

Terenas-EU!

Llamaforu, an almost 70 druid. He's level 54 ATM! Woot!

My rogue, is on Demon Soul now sadly, and he's pretty much retired.