Welcome to the second in the series Interview in the Underbelly. We’re going to be talking with Alaizabel. I previously raided with Alaizabel in Hellfire Citadel in eXample, and he’s re-rolled to Rogue this expansion so I thought it would be great to hear from him.

Tell everyone about yourself

My name is Alaizabel and I’m playing Rogue in eXample on EU-Kazzak. Previously, I played Death Knight in Warlords of Draenor. I’ve been playing in eXample for two years, and I enjoy our semi-hardcore atmosphere a ton. I used to spend a lot of time and resources on Death Knight, and Death Knight gameplay, and I was very visible in #Acherus (back when it was an IRC-channel). I no longer have a lot of extra time besides university to delve deep into theorycrafting, unfortunately.

When and how did you start playing World of Warcraft?

I started playing the game back in the beginning of The Burning Crusade when I was 11 or 12 years old. I remember spending a copious amount of time convincing my parents that paying monthly fees for a game wasn’t completely insane. I played through TBC and WOTLK with no breaks, and then quit when MoP came out, because of IRL commitments.

How did you choose the name for your Rogue?

It is originally the name of my Death Knight on EU-Ravencrest, when I played there through Warlords of Draenor. I decided to rename the Rogue from Alaizqt to Alaizabel, since it would be my new main, after we came to EU-Kazzak. It’s origin is from the book “A Haunting of Alaizabel Cray” by Chris Wooding. A brilliant book, by the way.

What do you enjoy most about playing Rogue?

I enjoy being able to do a lot of jobs on a fight: always being useful, basically. Secondly, I enjoy doing a lot of damage, and Rogues do a lot of damage in this expansion.

What do you dislike most about playing a Rogue?

My main dislike is not about Rogue specifically, but playing Rogue in this specific expansion. The fact that you “have to” farm legendaries and AP for 3 specializations is a lot of work. I dislike that a lot about playing Rogue in legion.

Tell everyone an interesting situation that has happened while playing a Rogue

Hmm… Well, playing Outlaw Rogue on Cenarius, and re-rolling for TB to clear brambles, while ranged players are screaming soak at the top of their lungs, was pretty interesting. And then there is obviously all the Death from Above situations, where it either takes you to another galaxy, casually displaces you 1284 degrees and puts you on a mechanic, or puts you through the floor. All of them interesting and hysterical first time they happen. It’s like all the memes with driving vehicles in PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) but in WoW.

What would you play instead of the Rogue, and why?

I would probably play Mage if Rogue somehow was unavailable. It has similar cheese capabilities with Invis and Ice Block to the Rogue. My second and third option would probably be DH (pretty close to mage), and Shadow Priest (because I just like the play style).

Which expansion has been your favourite?

Even with all it’s flaws, I must say that it’s a toss-up between Legion and WotLK, Legion for the gameplay, WotLK for the nostalgia.

Which expansion has been your least favourite?

Probably Warlords of Draenor, of the ones I’ve played, even though I liked just raid-logging. There was simply absolutely nothing to do outside raids. The last tier of the raid (HFC) was also 13 months long, which was super unbearable.

You previously played Death Knight, why the change to Rogue for Legion?

Death Knight simply seemed super legendary-dependent with Unholy Bracers being like the only crutch carrying Death Knight DPS to any meaningful level. Rogue was my main alt, and I swapped to it as main 6 or 7 days into the expansion because of anticipated soaking jobs, better DPS etc.

What has been your favourite boss in Tomb of Sargeras for Subtlety Rogue?

Even though this boss has been completely and utterly destroying raid morale, Kil’jaeden is a super high-skill boss for subtlety Rogue. You have a butt-load of mechanics to do, while keeping your priority target DPS high.

What changes would you like to see for Assassination or Outlaw Rogue?

Assassination needs to have better AOE, or at least comparable single-target damage to the other specializations. I think Assassination was in a really good spot, tuning-wise in Nighthold. It would have been interesting debating what specialization to play if Shuriken Combo was a thing at that point.

Do you think it’s possible to remain loyal to a spec and still succeed in Mythic raiding?

Yes, definitely. The Mythic raiding spectrum is super wide, and you can easily play whatever spec you prefer in a Mythic environment that is relatively casual at the same time.

Thank you Alaizabel!

Thank you Alaizabel for taking the time to answer our questions. If you would like to follow Alaizabel on Twitter or follow his stream on Twitch, I’m sure he would appreciate it.

Next interview, we’re going to look at having an interview with a member of the Rogue theorycrafting community.

Our very first post in the series Interview in the Underbelly. We’re going to be hearing from the one and only Paryah. As one of the founders of Ravenholdt, I thought Paryah would be a great guest to start the series.

The goal of the series is to interview a member of the Rogue community maybe every 1-2 weeks. Hopefully we’ll have a range of people from all walks of life within World of Warcraft. We’ll grow this series over time and hopefully everyone enjoys the content!

Tell everyone about yourself

I am Paryah. I currently double main Rogue and Vengeance DH. I am an officer in a guild that I started about six(ish) years ago. We raid Heroic and dabble in Mythic. I am not hardcore but I do love the Rogue class. I have been interested in the Rogue community and in providing the best possible resources for all Rogues since before Ravenholdt existed. Currently Ravenholdt is divided into three primary sections: the main site, the Discord, and the theorycrafting site. I run the main Ravenholdt site.

When and how did you start playing World of Warcraft?

When WoW came out I was immersed in Neverwinter Nights (I think… Wow that was a long time ago). A friend wanted me to play WoW and had me come over and check it out. But he played a Gnome mage! Seriously! That did not sell me on the game and it was a few years later that I got a real look at the real not-Gnome WoW at another friends house. I went home and immediately created an account. That was either late BC or early Wrath. I consider myself to be a Wrath-baby. My first character was an Orc Warrior and my second was my undead Rogue. The Rogue was so much fun that I have actually never gone back and finished leveling my poor Warrior.

How did you choose the name for your Rogue?

This is probably the same story as half the players in WoW, lol. I had an old D&D Dark Elf Rogue called Pariah. The name seemed fitting for a Forsaken but was taken. So I messed with the spelling and Paryah was born.

What do you enjoy most about playing a Rogue?

OMG everything! I love stealth. I love doing quests while killing as few NPCs as possible, just because I can. I love being able to explore without having to worry about fighting a bunch of mobs along the way. I love the pickpocketing content – I think that’s a lovely little thing that no one else has. Rogues are special.

What do you dislike most about playing a Rogue?

Visual clutter in melee. Nuff said.

Tell everyone an interesting situation that has happened while playing a Rogue

So there we were, fighting Ultraxion. I swore I would not hit Shadowstep… But it was there and it called to my finger and the next thing I knew I was perched on a ledge with that accursed dragon way above me. And I was stuck there til we killed him or wiped. So here I am, enjoying the view of a devastated Dragonblight, watching my DPS on Recount plummet, and suddenly there is this tiger sitting next to me. I could not for the life of me figure out where he had come from or why he was there. The Hunter’s pet wasn’t a tiger. After a little bit he faded out. You guys, I thought I’d discovered some hidden content! Seriously, there are invisible tigers living in Wyrmrest Temple! OMG! What could it mean? It wasn’t until years later that I figured out that the Hunter had Stampede or some such Hunter ability and one of his little fellows must have done just what I did and got stuck on the ledge too. Yeah, I felt like an idiot.

Of course there was that other time on Thok when I thought I was talented into Burst of Speed (I miss Burst of Speed) but I’d forgotten to switch talents. Thok targeted me and I hit Burst of Speed…and Shadowstepped right to the jailer… Good times…

What would you play instead of a Rogue, and why?

If Rogues did not exist, I would probably be a druid. Before this expansion my second main was my bear. Love the versatility. Love bear, love kitty.

Which expansion has been your favourite?

Mists of Pandaria. OMG that expansion was so gorgeous. I loved the zones. I loved the story. I was so ashamed to be Horde. The raids were fun. And to top it off, my guild was flourishing. We started in Cataclysm, but in Mists we really came into our own. It was a lot of fun.

Which expansion has been your least favourite?

I hate to say this, but probably Legion. Don’t get me wrong, least is relative, I still love WoW. But Legion feels so big that I can’t quite get a handle on it. I’m a completionist and it really feels like I can’t do everything. Professions feel obstructed. AP feels infinite. There are thing I love, like the class mounts and the zones and Suramar (which was so made for Rogues) and Demon Hunters (Vengeance is so much fun!), but I feel like I am constantly playing catch-up. Maintaining two raiding mains along with a stable of alts is a losing battle.

How did Ravenholdt come about?

Once upon a time Rfeann was the Rogue columnist at WoW Insider, a news site that is now gone (it is the reason that Blizzard Watch now exists – but that’s another story). At that time WoW Insider had to downsize and laid off a bunch of writers, including the class columnists. In his personal blog, Rfeann mentioned that he had some ideas for a Rogue community website. I did too. I currently had a site called One Rogues Resources which pulled together Rogue news and listed useful Rogue sites but I was interested in more. I shot him an email saying you, me, awesome? He replied with the idea that the four active (at the time) Rogue bloggers should talk about creating Ravenholdt. He and I, along with Fierydemise and Haileaus got talking… And the rest is history.

Tell everyone a fun fact about Fierydemise

A fun fact. Hmm. Well FD is about the most perfect person: cute, smart, great taste in class and entertainment, and about the sweetest kindest person you will ever meet. But beyond that, he has to be the world’s best ranter. I don’t know how fun a fact this is, but it’s super fun to listen to. Get him started on a topic and he’s off. I don’t think he even takes breaths. Also, he lives on Soylent.

What is the best transmogrification for the Trial of Style?

The one I’m wearing because I always win! No really, I did ToS (Trial of Style) twice, got Freestyle, and won both times in my everyday transmog. I think that means my moggery is awesome and I should quit while I’m ahead.

What is your shoe size?

7 but being undead my sharp little toes just destroy footwear – so it doesn’t really matter. If I like it, I can make it fit.

Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay?

This is a complicated question. There is a pizza place near me that does a Hawaiian pizza with pineapple, ham, and cream cheese. It is to die for. You cannot judge until you have tried this pizza.

Thank you Paryah!

We would like to extend our thanks to Paryah for answering our (and some from Patreons) questions. You can find Paryah on Twitter, or managing Ravenholdt.