Extended Rogue Guide - Combos and Poisons

by: Twikster

This is an extension to our Rogue Guide. It goes into detail about Rogues as of WoW patch 2.3. It's a must read for any Rogue. This page goes into detail about various tactics for the Rogue. Click here to return to the previous page.

Use of Poisons

There are 6 Poisons in the game as of Patch 2.3.

Instant Poison
Crippling Poison
Mind-Numbing Poison
Deadly Poison
Wound Poison
Anesthetic Poison

Four poisons are useful in PvE, while three are useful in PvP.

PvE: Instant, Crippling, Deadly, Anesthetic
PvP: Crippling, Mind-Numbing, Wound

If you don’t PvP, don’t bother brewing Wound Poison.  It’s a waste of money in PvE.  Most PvE caster mobs are easily defeated without them. (I’ve never used Wound Poison.)

Usually, for normal PvE, I equip two Instants.  They significantly increase DPS and I find that if I don’t have them up, my fights take MUCH longer (which is bad). 

If I find myself fighting runners, I’ll put Crippling on my offhand, which is usually the faster of my two daggers.  If you are using swords or maces, equip crippling to your faster weapon.  You want Crippling to proc soon and often, so that when the runner tries to flee, they move at a slow walk.

Deadly Poison is another option if you like DoT’s.  If you are having problem hitting enemies (because they are higher level than you, for example), then try using Deadly, Rupture and Garrote to make up for your misses.  Poisons are a physical attack, but the damage is “Nature” damage, so I’m not sure if armor is figured in the damage total for them.  If so, DoT’s normally ignore armor, so you can use Deadly on high armor targets.  Again, equip it on your faster weapon.  Deadly stacks, and you want it to stack as much as possible.

Anesthetic Poison is used in groups.  You don’t get it until high level, and I have yet to use it, but based on  my grouping experience, you shouldn’t need it unless you are constantly pulling aggro from the tank.

Only change poisons if the majority of your targets in that area are special as described above.  Using two Instants will greatly increase your DPS and make fights much shorter.

Combo Points and Combinations

Now to the fun part.  There are so many ways to do damage, and so many things can change in the middle of combat.  It’s hard to figure out what combination of attacks is most effective. 

In this section, I’ll try to steer you in the right direction.

When considering the best attack combination for a Rogue, you must take combo points into account.  CP, and properly managing it is the key to maxing out your DPS.  The key is this:

Don’t stress out on maxing out your CP meter before using a finishing move.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked or have seen in forums, new rogues complain because their CP meter fills up slowly.  They complain that their enemy dies before their meter gets to 5!  I fear that these rogues will lose faith in CP and ignore it when they get to a level where CP is vital.

I will go through some tips by level to give guidelines for the management of CP and some ideas of good attack combinations.  But remember, “Every plan, no matter how well thought out, does not last through the start of combat.”  This means that you must be on your toes and ready to improvise when necessary.  Don’t just memorize a series of keystrokes and use that to the exclusion of all else.

From levels 1-18, CP is not a vital component of the Rogue’s attack.  This is the training period for ALL classes and the mobs are, generally, weak and easily defeated. 

Build your CP up to a maximum of three on normal mobs.  Only go higher for Rares, Elites, Bosses or enemies 2 or more levels higher than you.
Start with an opening move if at all possible.  At very early levels, your only opening move is Backstab.  At 14, you’ll get Garrote, but remember my guidelines on using DoT’s.  At 18, you will finally get Ambush.  When you get Ambush, take Backstab out of your stealth menu.  Backstab will never outdamage Ambush.  From that point on, only use Backstab with Gouge and in groups.
Standard combination for level 1-18: Stealth, Backstab, Sinister Strike x2, Eviscerate.  Of course, if one of your attacks misses, compensate by attacking again.  Get CP to 3 then use the Finisher.

By level 20, you have most of your standard attack abilities.  The enemies start to get more difficult.  You should still be able to fight one or two enemies equal to or 1 level higher than you.  Now, you are getting into the meatier talents in your trees and you can start looking at talents that help build CP.

If you pick a talent to build CP, make sure you get the talents to make the condition for building that CP more likely.  (Example: Setup builds 1CP for dodging attacks.  Get Lightning Reflexes and/or Ghostly Strike to make the most of that.)  The only CP building abilities are in the Assassination and Subtlety trees.  To make the most out of CP, pick talents from those trees.  (See the Talent section for a build focusing on CP generation)
At this point in the game, you should be learning how to manage energy.  Know how much energy it takes to use an ability and how fast your energy bar regenerates.  This will help you better time your attacks. 

At 26, you finally get Cheap Shot.  This will allow you to Stunlock.  The key to a stunlock’s success is knowing how long your stuns last.  Get a mod that puts a stun meter on your screen.  Then you can time your stuns for just before the previous one wears off.
Stunlock is most useful against PvP casters.  You can practice on caster mobs, but they won’t usually be as hardy as Players and you may not get through the whole sequence.   WSG or duels are the best practice ground for Stunlock.  Maybe you can find a friend to play practice dummy for you.  Make no mistake, Stunlock takes practice and good reflexes.  If there is even an instant between stuns, a Priest or Paladin spamming Bubble will break the whole sequence. 

Stunlock: Stealth, Cheap Shot (2CP), (Run in front)Sinister Strike (1CP), (upon release from Cheap Shot) Gouge (1CP), (Run behind) Backstab (1CP), Kidney Shot, Sinister Strike or other quick attacks until dead or Kidney Shot wears off, then Vanish and repeat if
necessary.
DO NOT RELY ON STUNLOCK!  One miss or parry/dodge and the jig is up.  Be prepared to revert to normal tactics.  Keep Kick in reserve for casters.

From level 30 on, the tactics remain the same, changing only with the addition of talent-based abilities.  I will discuss some of these abilities and their uses.

Subtlety Abilities

Ghostly Strike: A very usefull ability for mitigating damage.  For 15 seconds, your dodge rate shoots up.  The cooldown on this is about 30 seconds, so you can’t just spam it and bob and weave your way to victory.  But if you are going up the Subtlety tree, get this one and use it every time it’s up.  It will also help build CP if you get the Setup talent.
Hemorrhage: With Patch 2.3, Hemo has become a cheap (energy-wise) version of Sinister Strike with slightly less instant damage, but with the added bonus of added damage to all other attacks.  However, Sinister Strike should still have priority as it deals more damage.
Premeditation: With this talent, you get twice the use out of some of your most useful abilities; Evasion, Vanish and Sprint.  Good to have in a pinch if you’ve just used Vanish and get yourself in a tight spot again.
Preparation: Don’t get this confused with Premeditation.  This one gives you 2 free CP.  Imagine this: Stealth, Preparation, Cheap Shot, Sinister Strike = 5 point Eviscerate before the mob even gets a shot in. Even with Ambush instead of Cheap Shot, you’d start the fight with a 4 point Eviscerate, if both Ambush and Eviscerate crit, the fight could be over.
Shadowstep: A warrior’s charge mixed with a mage’s Blink with a Rogue attitude.  This will teleport you behind and facing your target, no matter where they are (within range).  I have used this to attack players on flying mounts.  Remember that what goes up, must come down.

Combat Abilities

Riposte: Damage and Disarm.  Good for damage mitigation, with a good agility and the improved Parry that is required to get the talent, this one procs a lot.
Blade Flurry: Nice for handling adds.  Not much good otherwise.  I went Combat spec once and I really liked this ability for tearing into that other mob while I was killing the first one.  Gives you a nice head start on what could otherwise be a troublesome add.
Adrenaline Rush: Doubles your energy regeneration for 15 seconds, effectively doubling your special attack speed.
Surprise Attacks: A passive skill where your finishing moves can no longer be dodged.  Be wary of the Parry or Miss, though.  Dodge is the highest percentage, though, so this is a good skill.

Assassination Abilities

Cold Blood: Guaranteed crit when maxed out.  Combined with the Seal Fate ability, this can give you another free CP. 
Seal Fate: not an ability, but deserves special mention.  If you glance at the trees, you will see a number of talents that improve crit chance with varying abilities.  If you max out Seal Fate, you get a free CP every time you crit.  See the potential??
Mutilate: Poison up your target then hit with mutilate for a butt-load of damage.  This is a backstab, though, so you’ll have to gouge and get behind if you’re solo.  Another reason to have dual daggers.

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