After many trials,
you’ve become a master rogue - a bad-ass dealer of pain and
death to all those who foolishly oppose you. You’ve got
incredible href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/rogue/gear"
target="_blank">gear,
got the best href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/rogue/enhancements"
target="_blank">enchantments that
money (or the threat of
violence) could buy, and you’ve completely mastered your
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/rogue/talents"
target="_blank">abilities
that allow you to thrive in the swirling chaos of combat.
However, despite all this, you feel that something is lagging. Some
tiny thing that keeps holding you back, keeping you a mere mortal when
you should be elevated to near-godhood status. The answer to your
dilemma is addons.

Addons? What are they, you ask?
Well, my friend and fellow shadow dweller, addons are helpful programs
that can be added to your World of Warcraft game. These addons can
range from minor things, such as an auction house helper, to incredibly
vital, such as an addon that monitors your threat level in combat. You
can gather various addons from various sites throughout the web, and
you save those addons in your ‘addons’ directory
(no surprise
there!) for World of Warcraft. When you log into the game,
you can select which addons you you use by clicking on the
‘addons’ box on the lower left of the character
screen.

Now, we’ll examine a
number of useful addons that any self-respecting rogue would have up.
Please remember that this is not an all-inclusive list. There are many,
many addons out there, and each person has their own personal
favorites. If you don’t see your favorite, there’s
no need to lie in wait for me in a dark alley.

Omen
Threat Meter

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67390" alt=""
style="width: 200px; height: 129px;">

In a raid, you never want your threat rating to hit this level!

href="http://www.wowace.com/projects/omen-threat-meter/"
target="_blank">This addon
is a must-have. I cannot make this clearer. If
you’re part of a group and you don’t have this
addon up and running, then you deserve the death that will be coming
your way. Basically, this addon monitors your threat level during
combat. This number is expressed as a percentage. The more damage you
do, the higher your percentage goes up. Why is this addon so important?
Well, our job as a rogue is to dish out damage. However, we do not want
to draw aggro from the main tank. You want the bad guys to keep
hammering the idiot tank while you keep stabbing them from behind. If a
boss turns to fight you, you’ll be turned into jelly in a few
hits. Our leather armor doesn’t protect us like plate, my
friend. As you’re fighting, keep an eye on your percentage.
If it starts getting too high, then use your Feint ability. If using
Feint doesn’t keep the bosses from looking your way (which
means you’re probably working with a crappy tank), then slow
down your special attacks.

Deadly
Boss Mods

target="_blank">This addon
is essential for raiding. What this addon provides is a
timer and notices of a boss’ special attacks. Want to avoid
that locust swarm that keeps getting spewed onto you and causing you to
die? Well, this addon is here to help. By knowing when a boss will use
his special attacks, you’ll know how to react. This reaction
could be moving to keep behind him, or just plain running away to get
out of range of his special attack. Also, you’ll be able to
plan your attacks more efficiently by knowing how much time you have
before the boss’ next big attack. All in all, a vital addon
if you plan on doing any raiding at all.

style="width: 500px; height: 322px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67389">

Recount

href="http://www.wowace.com/projects/recount/" target="_blank">This
addon is great for several
reasons. First, the purpose of this
addon is to keep track of various abilities throughout a raid (or even
solo). For us rogues, the main use is to keep track of our DPS. You can
see how your DPS compares to other members of your raid, and also keep
track of damage done. The secondary reason of why this addon is great
for us is that you can click on your DPS and a pie chart pops up. This
pie chart shows what exactly made up our DPS. It will show normal
autoattacks, the various special attacks we have (sinister strike,
mutilate, etc), and the various poisons. This breakdown of our damage
can really help you identify problem areas in your attacks. An ability
that you use a lot is only contributing 5% or so to your overall DPS?
Well, now you know that you need to change something up. In addition,
we want to keep an eye out on how we compare to others. If a lowly tank
beats you in DPS, then hang your head in shame! Use this addon to
identify your problem areas.

SliceCommander

target="_blank">This addon
is pretty simple. It keeps track of your Slice and Dice
ability. When your Slice and Dice begins to wind down, it will give you
an audible warning, and will continue to do so as your Slice and Dice
counts down to zero. The reason why this addon is helpful is that,
during a raid, you’ll have a ton of buffs showing up on your
screen. You’ve already got one eye on your threat rating
(Omen), another on the position you are in relation to your foes, and a
third (what, you don’t have 3 eyes?) on the countdowns on
various abilities (Hunger for Blood, Slice and Dice). Well, this addon
helps free up one of your eyes (at least, the eye you were using for
Slice and Dice). Remember, Slice and Dice greatly enhances your DPS and
you do not want it to drop. Never!

There you are, my fellow
rogues. A small sampling of the multitude of addons that you can use to
enhance your gameplay in WoW. There’s an addon for every
aspect of the game, and probably some that we couldn’t
possibly imagine! The addons that we’ve highlighted above are
incredibly useful for one simple reason. They help keep you alive, and
that’s what you’re looking for, right? A dead rogue
is an unhappy rogue, unless the dead rogue is a rival and
you’ve finally settled that score and are now happily
searching through his pockets. A good addon should make your life
easier and make your gameplay experience more rewarding.