POST CATEGORY : Blogs

Rogues in the Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch: What’s Changing

It’s finally here: the most awkward month in WoW.
 
With the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch, a.k.a. Patch 8.0.1, landing on July 17, a four-week period begins in which we’re caught in an eerie limbo between the outgoing expansion (Legion) and the incoming one (BfA). All of our rogue class changes will take effect — RIP, beloved artifact weapons! — but we won’t be able to level from 110 to 120, claim our new Azerite traits or experience the full power (and spellbook) of our max-level rogues. We’ll have to wait for Aug. 14 and the official launch of the BfA expansion for that to happen.
 
In the meantime, the next few weird and wild weeks offer a pretty excellent opportunity to get caught up on exactly what’s changing for each rogue spec as we shift into the new expansion. Here’s a brief rundown of resources we recommend if you’re looking for clear and helpful summaries of everything that’s changing in the world of rogue. I’ll keep this list updated with the bestest, most up-to-datest resources I come across; feel free to ping me on Twitter (or hit up the Ravenholdt Twitter account) with recommendations!

Written Guides

Video Guides

(By Infexious of Infexious Gaming)

Expert Analysis

(These are Wowhead articles featuring a Ravenholdt expert panel)

Official Patch Notes

Below is a copypasta of Blizzard’s official pre-patch notes on the rogue changes taking effect July 17:
  • Assassination
    • Many Talents and PvP Talents have been adjusted.
    • New Talents include:
      • Hidden Blades – Every 2 seconds, gain increased damage for your next Fan of Knives, stacking up to 20 times.
      • Poison Bomb – Envenom and Rupture have a chance per combo point spent to smash a vial of poison at the target’s location, creating a pool of acidic death that deals Nature damage over time to all enemies within it.
  • Outlaw
    • Saber Slash is now Sinister Strike.
    • Run Through is now Dispatch.
    • Many Talents and PvP Talents have been adjusted.
    • New Talents include:
      • Blade Rush – Charge to your target with your blades out, dealing great damage to the target and all other nearby enemies. While Blade Flurry is active, damage to nearby enemies is increased. Generates Energy.
      • Loaded Dice – Activating Adrenaline Rush causes your next Roll the Bones to grant at least two matches.
  • Subtlety
    • Many Talents and PvP Talents have been adjusted.
    • New Talents include:
      • Secret Technique – Finishing move that creates shadow clones of yourself. You and your shadow clones deal damage to both the primary target and nearby enemies.
      • Shuriken Tornado – Focus intently, and then release a Shuriken Storm every second for the next 4 seconds.
Finally, for more general information regarding the changes in store for the pre-patch and beyond, it’s hard to beat Wowhead’s comprehensive survival guide.
Read More...

Battle for Azeroth Patch 8.0.1 Rogue Quickstart Guides

These bare-bones guides, written by Fuu, provide basic recommendations on optimal talents and DPS rotations to use in end-game raiding during the Battle for Azeroth. We’ll post more comprehensive spec guides for Level 120 end-game as we get closer to the official BfA launch on Aug. 14.

Also take a look at our BfA/8.0.1 “What’s Changing” post, which includes a bunch of links to additional guides and other resources.

Talents

Single Target:

3210021
2210021 – Pre patch. T1 Talents are close so best is to sim all 3.

Multi Target:

2210023 – standard AoE
2230023 – with resets

Gameplay

Combo Builder (filler):

Fan of Knives (2+ targets OR at full stacks of Hidden Blades) > Mutilate

Finisher (single target):

Rupture* > Envenom

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Finisher (multi target):

Crimson Tempest* > Rupture* > Envenom

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Opener (single target):

pre-pull:
Marked for Death (if talented), Potion

pull:
Garrote – Mutilate – Mutilate – Rupture – Vendetta – Toxic Blade -…- Vanish – Garrote with ~6 sec remaining on Garrote

*replace the first Builder after Vendetta with Fan of Knives if you use Hidden Blades.

Opener (multi target):

pre-pull:
Marked for Death (if talented), Potion

pull:
Garrote (up to 3 targets) – Build to 4+- Crimson Tempest – Build to 4+- Rupture – Vendetta – Toxic Blade -…- Vanish – Garrote with ~6 sec remaining on Garrote

Rotation:

Use Marked for Death on low Combo Points.
Use Vendetta on cooldown.
Use Vanish if Garrote has ~6 seconds left .
Use Toxic Blade on cooldown.
Use Blindside if you have a proc and not on full cp, always below 30%.

Use Garrote if it has ~6 secs left (and is not empowered) and you are not on full cp.
Use Garrote if it has ~1 secs left.

Use Finisher According to Finisher priority with 4+ Combo Points.
Use Builder According to Builder priority with less then full Combo Points.

Notes:

Crimson Tempest – refresh with 2 or less seconds remaining.
Rupture – refresh with less then ~5-7 seconds remaining.
Rupture – on all Targets.
Garrote – on all Targets.

Talents

Single Target:

2010022
2010023 – for pre patch ONLY under the condition that you use Mantle of the master Assassin and T21 4p (likely without T20).

Multi Target:

2010022 – default choice
2010021 – alternative

Gameplay

Combo Builder (filler): 

Pistol Shot* > Sinister Strike

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Finisher (single target + multi target):

Roll the Bones* > Between the Eyes* > Dispatch

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Reroll logic

Grand Melee or Ruthless Precision or any 2+ buffs.

Opener (single target + multi target):

pre-pull:
Marked for Death (if talented), Potion, Adrenalin Rush
Note: Adrenalin Rush will put you out of stealth, you can enter stealth or open with Sinister Strike.

pull:
Ambush – build to 5+ – Roll the Bones
*use Blade Rush after Ambush on 2+ targets

Rotation:

Use Adrenaline Rush on cooldown.
Use Marked for Death on low Combo Points.
Use Blade Flurry on 2+ targets.
Use Blade Rush on cooldown in single target
Use Blade Rush during Blade Flurry on 2+ targets.

Use Finisher according to Finisher priority if you have 5 Points. Reduce the Amount by 1 if Broadside or Opportunity is up(by 2 if both are up).
Use Builder according to the Builder priority with less then full Combo Points.

Notes:

Pistol Shot – only if it procs and you have 4 or less cp.(3 when Broadside or Opportunity is up, 2 if both are up)
Roll the Bones – refresh if less then 3 seconds remaining or you have the wrong buffs (see reroll logic)
Between the Eyes – only if Ruthless Precision is up
Vanish – utility cooldown without Mantle of the master Assassin
Vanish – Use it before KS/BR if you use Mantle of the master Assassin

Talents

Single Target:

2330031

Multi Target:

2320012

Gameplay

Combo Builder:

Shuriken Storm (3+ targets) > Shadowstrike > Shuriken Storm (2 targets) > Backstab

Finisher (single target):

Nightblade* (Not during Shadow Dance) > Secret Technique* (during Symbols of Death) > Eviscerate

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Finisher (multi target):

Nightblade* (Not during Shadow Dance) > Secret Technique* > Eviscerate

*additional requirements in the Notes section

Opener (single target):

pre pull:
Marked for Death (if talented), Potion, Shadow Blades

pull:
Shadowstrike – Nightblade – Symbols of Death – Shadow Dance – Shadowstrike – Shadowstrike – Eviscerate – Shadowstrike – Shadowstrike – Eviscerate – Shadow Dance…
*use Secret Technique instead of the first Evi if you have it talented

Opener (multi target):

pre pull:
Marked for Death (if talented), Potion, Shadow Blades

pull:
Shadowstrike – Nightblade – Symbols of Death – Shadow Dance
Shadowstrike/Shuriken Storm depending on target count.
Finish with 5+. Use Secret Technique as first Finisher in dance, Eviscerate for the following.

Rotation:

Use Symbols of Death on CD.
Use Marked for Death on low Combo Points.
Use Shadow Blades on CD.
Use Vanish with 1 or less secounds of Find Weakness remaining.

Use Shadow Dance with 2 or less Combo Points when Symbols of Death is up.
Use Shadow Dance with 2 or less Combo Points when you are about to cap on charges.

Use Finisher according to Finisher priority if you have 4+ Combo Points(MfD) or 5+ with (DS).
Use Builder according to the Builder priority with less then full Combo Points.

Notes:

Nightblade – refresh it with less then 4,2 sec remaining (Mfd) or less then 4,8 sec remaining (DS).
Nightblade (exception) – refresh it shortly before symbols comes up if the duration is to low(less then remaining cooldown + 10).
Nightblade – on all targets if they survive for 12+ secounds.
Secret Technique – Preferably use during Shadow Dance, use on CD with more targets due to cdr.

Disclaimer:

Rotation and Talent choice can be slightly different in the pre-patch.

Talent Notation:

Talents are distinguished by talent number in row order. 0 signifies free choice.

NOTE: The shown talent is an Example, the talent for your specification can be found in the Talent section of each spec.

Therefore if the talents are listed as:

  • 2010032

that means that you need to pick:

  • In row 1, take talent number 2
  • In row 2, take any talent
  • In row 3, take talent number 1
  • In row 4, take any talent
  • In row 5, take any talent
  • In row 6, take talent number 3
  • In row 7, take talent number 2
Read More...

Don Jose’s Rogue Leveling Advice

Ahoy! I am Don Jose#9643, one of the moderators of the Ravenholdt Discord community. With the release of allied races and the revamp of the level-up experience (increased mob hp, zone scaling, higher xp requirements to level, etc.) we’ve been fielding a lot of questions about the level-up experience for rogues. This document is a TL;DR “guide” of 1-90. Bear in mind this content is purely my opinion.

During the level-up experience rogues lack real AoE tools until level 63 and are strongest in 1v1 situations. You want to use Sap, Blind, Cheap Shot, and Gouge to try and even the odds if you find yourself facing a 2 or 3 pull. Even at level 63, your energy regeneration might not be enough to solidly sustain AoE. Begin combat from Stealth whenever possible, and remember that you won’t get Vanish until level 48. Bummer.

My pick for a leveling spec:

  1. #1: Subtlety
  2. #2: Outlaw (at level 22 w/Ambush)
  3. I would not level as Assassination.

 

Talents
15: Gloomblade or Master of Subtlety (see Advice below)
30: Nightstalker
45: Vigor
60: Soothing Darkness
75: Strike from the Shadows
90: Dark Shadow (burst) usually, or Enveloping Shadows (tough mobs)

Pluses
Fantastic burst
Great passive self-heals and healing between pulls
Superior mobility
Fast play
Against 2+ mobs, Shadow Dance gives you another burst/stealth phase.
At level 42 Shadowstrike ports you to your target – great mobility!

Minuses
Against mighty mobs, might fall behind Assassination or Outlaw
Backstab is often weak while soloing unless you waste time stunning/controlling mobs

Advice
In my opinion, Subtlety is the most versatile and fun leveling spec. It has great burst and mobility. If mobs survive your initial burst, Gloomblade will be the best option, as you likely won’t be able to Backstab them without juggling CCs-all of which is a waste of time if you could just kill them with a Gloomblade.

Talents
15: Quick Draw
30: Hit and Run. Grappling Hook has a lot of pathing issues, but if you’re in flat areas it’s probably more useful.
45: Vigor
60: Iron Stomach
75: Any, but I preferred Dirty Tricks
90: Killing Spree for solo, Cannonball Barrage for dungeons

Pluses
Great at slowing runners (Pistol Shot, Between the Eyes)
Ranged stun with Between the Eyes
Sustained damage
Superior ranged if necessary (Pistol Shot/Between the Eyes)
Grappling Hook is solid mobility if pathing issues don’t occur (flat terrain)
Bribe is awesome if it works

Minuses
Overall inferior mobility – Outlaw rogues have to talent Grappling Hook – Assassination and Subtlety get Shadowstep baseline
Crimson Vial is a reliable on-demand heal, but costs energy. All three specs have Crimson Vial, but the other two have additional healing options (Leeching Poison/Soothing Darkness)
Inferior burst to Subtlety
Generally “slow” play until Roll the Bones at level 40, and then play becomes RNG-based

Advice
You want to be sure to Ambush from stealth and use Saber Slash to get to a 5 combo point Run Through. Only use Pistol Shot for its slow or on Opportunity procs (free use). Use Between the Eyes as a stun or a ranged hit. Use/abuse Bribe at level 54; this can actually be a mighty tool! Once you unlock Roll the Bones, maintain a buff as much as possible, but don’t waste energy re-rolling.

Talents
15: Master Poisoner – this boosts Leeching Poison (see level 60)
30: Nightstalker for speed or 1v1 or Subterfuge for strong mobs and 1v2/3
45: Vigor
60: Leeching Poison
75: Any, depending on your playstyle
90: Toxic Blade

Pluses
Heavy DoT damage can serve as prolonged AoE
Has decent mobility with Shadowstep
Can DoT from ranged

Minuses
Too much damage is reliant on DoTs
Energy regeneration is reliant on DoTs
No Envenom until level 36
Mutilate starves you for energy at lower levels

Advice
If you insist on leveling as Assassination, wait until level 36 for Envenom.

A note about Dungeons:
At the time of writing this, I haven’t tried low level dungeons since the changes hit, but I’ve heard that they now take longer and yield less XP than questing, on average. If you opt to run dungeons, know that your trash damage is going to be less than many other specs. As Assassination you can experiment with multi-dotting mobs, but overall you will probably just do better focusing on one target at a time. Your time to shine is against bosses. At level 63 this may pick up significantly. If you have experience with the 63-100 level range let me know!

Read More...

Class Discords: The Basics

In the past, websites, forums, and IRC were the primary sources of information about World of Warcraft, along with word-of-mouth. When Discord launched it quickly became the go-to resource for game communities. There was no manual–we were all pioneers as users and leaders of the platform. Over the past year we have learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of Discord as a chat client that is different/unique from anything that came before it.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion amongst the Ravenholdt moderation team as to how we could improve, and how class Discords in general could improve. I decided to write this guide because there is still a large volume of users that plunge into the deep end of Discord and are overwhelmed. They don’t know the basics and standards across Discords–and, in some cases, there aren’t standards–and feel nervous about asking for help or don’t understand how to find the information they need. On the flipside, the community feels exhausted (especially around patch/ptr update days) by the sheer volume of identical questions they get every day.

In this guide I will attempt to educate you on the baseline tools to have a good Discord experience. I will do my best to keep this brief. You need to bear in mind that each class server has its own rules, expectations, and organization, which I will get into later.

You poor, poor souls…

Welcome to Discord. I will be your guide.

Ahoy! I am Don Jose#9643 and I am one of the moderators of the Ravenholdt Discord community; in addition, I have leveled all classes to 110 and at least lurk the majority of other class Discords. I consider myself a casual player because although I do raid, I do not push high M+ keys or compete in any Mythic Raid races. Anybody who knows me or hangs out in Ravenholdt knows that I love helping players, memes, and generally hate RNG.

Note: I welcome all constructive criticism (spare me the “lol ur guide sux” DMs, thanks) and suggestions. You are free to spread this guide to all corners of the Intarwebz; in fact, I encourage it. We are all a part of Discord and how the communities will function and feel.

“A BETTER COMMUNITY STARTS WITH THE SELF.” -Me, 2k17 and probably other inspiring/important people

Joining a Discord Community

Discord has a ​web client​ (opened in your web browser), a ​mobile app​, and a desktop client (​you download and run it like software). The Web Client and PC Client are more or less interchangeable, but the mobile app does have some important differences that I’ll mention where appropriate. This guide is intended to be relatively TL;DR: so I’m not going to walk you through all the functionality of them. If you need/want more information, head to discord’s website: ​discordapp.com.

To join a Discord community, you will need a link to that specific server community.

Links generally look like this:

https://discord.gg/sCmmg7d​

(note the “discord.gg” in the URL. Beware of false URLs!)

Or like this:

https://discord.gg/ravenholdt

Or like this:

Hi, #Outlaw! SND! CONSISTENT. STABLE. FUTURE.

The majority of users will get invitations from guildies, friends, or forums.

Check the Channels

On the left side of the web and desktop clients, you will see that server’s channel list. These are the organizational ​topics of discussion​. Keep in mind that these are generally suggestions; players will often go off-topic. That’s one difference between a Discord server and a forum: these are living, breathing, real-time chats that move quickly.

Let’s use Ravenholdt as an example:

At the top, you’ll see the server you are currently on.

FOR MOBILE USERS:​ On the ​mobile app, ​channels are listed when you hit the top left ​=​ button​.

 

 

Below that, you can see channel headers (note the “PLEASE READ” over our #announcements and #resources-and-faq channels)

 

 

Spec Discussion – Check Pins

I’ll talk about pins soon. They are ​very important to universal discord use. If a Discord server has class or spec channels, ​that is not a guarantee that discussion will always be on-topic. This varies from server to server. Sometimes it’s just where players of that spec congregate.

 

 

If a server has a “general” or “off-topic” tab they are often less strictly moderated and feature random discussion topics.

 

 

CHECK ANNOUNCEMENTS, RESOURCES, AND RULES FIRST      ​

How individual servers word these channels will be different, but they all have them.​ You are responsible for the rules of the server, whether you read them or not. ​If you are ever confused or unclear about the rules, send a direct message to a moderator by right-clicking their name and selecting “message.” This is called ​Direct Messaging​, or “DMing.”

Familiarize Yourself with the Mod Team

Every discord has moderators. They are always listed at or near the top of the user list, which can be found on the right of the screen.

Again, using Ravenholdt as an example:

You can open or close the member list using the “People” icon, circled. It’s usually open by default. This is the same button/placement on the MOBILE APP.

Sometimes moderators have hierarchies with various titles. In Ravenholdt, our founders and team-leaders have purple names and are referred to (lovingly) as “Despots”.

 

 

 

 

Many servers have bots. I’m not going to get into them because they vary greatly in functionality and control–but they’re usually there to automate things like Raidbots simming, role/color requests, and so on.

 

Our moderators are are referred to (equally lovingly) as “Shadowblades”.

It me!

 

 

Moderation from server to server varies a lot, but in general, they are there to keep the peace, enforce rules, and be a resource for information (or somebody who can point you to the correct resource). Treat them with respect and you will have it returned, 9.9 / 10 times.

A Note: All mods are not around 24/7. They are volunteers, unpaid (as far as I’m aware), and they are not your personal helpdesk. Please consult the FAQs and the Pinned Messages before you reach out to them about game questions. If you see harassment, or feel like something wrong has occurred in the Discord chat, reach out to them with your concerns immediately. Do not escalate situations. As a final reminder, each Discord server operates independently. What might be considered harassment on Ravenholdt might be totally acceptable on another, so long as it doesn’t violate Discord’s TOS.

Check the Pinned Messages 

If you’ve already gone on Discord you have likely seen push pin emojis and seen people saying “check the pins,” or; “it’s in the pins,” and so on.

What are “the pins?”

They will vary from server to server, but generally they are ​the most important, up-to-date, and relevant/frequently-asked questions and guides.

FOR MOBILE USERS: The pins are located behind the ​“…” button in the top right corner of the server.

Note how when you open the pins in #outlaw I have listed relevant links to the guides, as well as a post about the current tier set and an external link to a post about UI Lag Tolerance.

Each channel (such as #outlaw or #pvp) will have its ​own​ pinned messages.

BEFORE TYPING ANYTHING CHECK THE PINS!

​ You are going to get meme’d into orbit if you join a Class Discord and ask a pinned question (ie. a question that is answered in a pinned message). The “regulars” of ​any community see it happen tens of hundreds of times per day, and it gets really old, really fast, to give the same answer over and over. ​That’s why pinned messages exist. You are not the first person with your question and you will not be the last.

Imagine being a retail clerk and there’s a sign on your counter that says, “Restrooms are to the left,” but hundreds of times per day customers come in and ask you, “Where are the restrooms?” when you’re busy helping another customer. It’s a similar situation! There’s nothing wrong with having questions, but when you don’t put in that minimum of work/research yourself you just look lazy and entitled.

Why am I being told to ‘Sim It’ or ‘Sim Yourself’? 

​TL;DR​: WoW is a complex game. Legion, in particular, introduced a lot of factors which make it difficult to tell if X talent, gear piece, etc. is superior. Running fight simulations (“simming”) is one of the best tools we have to try and get a more data-driven, accurate answer. WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU IS NOT BEST FOR EVERYONE. Simming is the “most-honest” answer. When people tell you this they aren’t trying to “just get rid of you,” they’re trying to be honest with you and help you get the best answer.

How do I sim? 

​Sim-yourself​ is a guide to using SimC (SimulationCraft) which is a powerful but somewhat complicated tool that runs thousands of simulated fights to try and determine your performance (and from that, what is better or worse for you).

If that is intimidating or too complicated, there are alternatives:

  1. ​Raidbots runs SimC with a newbie-friendly user interface.
  2. Ask Mr. Robot, aka. AMR, runs their own simulator​ ​with a newbie-friendly user interface.

How do I become a ‘regular’?   ​

Hang out on a server a lot. Be generally respectful. Don’t brag unless you’ve got logs to back you up (and even still, don’t brag, that’s annoying). Help out others. Have some fun, meme around a little. Have you ever joined a new friend group? It’s like that. Don’t be obnoxious, respect that some of these people have known each other for years, and you will eventually be included into the recognizable community figures/leaders/scallywags.

Why is it so chaotic/spammy? People seem really cranky!

​The chances are overwhelming that you logged on to the Discord after a ​big announcement, PTR datamine, or patch notes​. During those times the traffic to class Discords surges tremendously, and things get absolutely wild. Don’t judge the server by those days. Mods will have their hands full and there will be a LOT of people spamming the same questions over and over. Don’t be that person.

Other Resources:

Hero Damage: ​A website dedicated to the most current trinket, talent, relic, and gear simulations. It’s a great resource to check if you just looted a trinket or relic and have ​no idea if it’s an upgrade or not.

Ravenholdt: It’s my guide, so I get to plug the rogue website/resource. Ravenholdt is a go-to for various rogue-related content, but also has other guides such as the simming guide I linked above.

Class and Community Discord Links:

Community Discord Servers:  A list of links to the current class discord servers.  If your server is missing from that list please contact Wowhead to have yours added.

 

Read More...

An Interview with Paryah

Hey everyone, Haileaus here. I thought it would be cool to interview Paryah post-Blizzcon, so I did! Hope you enjoy!

Part 1 – Legion

Ok, so I’m way out of the loop. What happened with the whole Legion thing? Did we win?

We did! We…um…defeated the Legion? We assume? …since the last raid isn’t quite here yet. But yes, Sylvanas and Anduin, at least, live to fight another day. And fight they will.

What is the current state of the rogue class? I know Legion brought lots of changes, are there any generalizations you can make that would help old fogeys like me decide if we want to learn the new ways?

The state of rogue is good. There are always things that we might like tweaked or changed, but for the most part Assassination and Subtlety are both acceptable. Outlaw boasts fun gameplay but damage-wise it falls a little behind the other two. What it lacks in competitiveness, it makes up for with swagger, so all is not lost.

Even before Alpha there was drama about the rogue HQ being in Dalaran instead of Ravenholdt. In your eyes, how did it turn out?

When I first visited the rogue class hall I was super impressed with the detail and care that they put into it. It really is an amazing place and very roguelike. That said, as the expansion wore on, I began to wish once again that we had been put at Ravenholdt. Being able to get away from Dalaran to our own space that felt more like a rogue enclave and less like a seedy bar would have been nice. There is a teleport to Ravenholdt item that spawns in the class hall that you can pick up. Delightfully, it allows you to get to Ravenholdt from anywhere. I did find myself wishing for a permanent portal though, rather like the one that the monks got to go to Kun-lai Summit. And the druid hall is spoiled for portal choices. When all is said and done, I think it worked. Just <stares wistfully into space>, I like Ravenholdt…

 

Part 2 – Blizzcon and Beyond

Ok, now to the more relevant bits. You attended Blizzcon. How was it? Did you get a chance to say hi to Daxxarri?

Blizzcon was amazing. My expectation was that I’d be able to see more panels than I have in previous years on the Virtual Ticket, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. There was so much going on and so many people to meet…it was differently awesome than the Virtual Ticket. It was much more of a social experience. I met so many super cool people. Relevant to us, I met Celestalon who is a total sweetie and Perculia of Wowhead who I think is a Demon Hunter now but certainly used to main rogue. I also met Mitch and Matt of Blizzard Watch who write awesome stuff. I even got to shake Ion Hazzikostas’ hand and we exchanged a few words. He was wonderful. Sadly I did not get to meet Daxxarri. I would very much have liked to. Next year!

What upcoming feature(s) are you most excited about?

I think that I’m most excited about the new races. I’ve wanted to be a Zandalari troll since Mists and I am gratified that my prediction that Horde would get Nightbourne turned out to be correct. I had predicted High Elves for Alliance, but Void Elves are the next best thing – though I confess I’d hoped that Alleria would join Sylvanas on the Horde side. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to trying them all out. I may even roll a Dark Iron Dwarf. Maybe.

I read Fans and Ravenholdt’s Rogue Recap and I see we’re getting a bunch of new races. My question is, when will the Tauren rogues finally come out of stealth?

Ha. Only with the judicious use of toys, I fear. Despite being a fairly common ask, rogues have once again dodged the bovine bullet.

I hear PvE servers are going away, which could mean a legitimate return of world PvP. As the traditional master of ganks, what do you think this means for the rogue class?

This will be interesting. PvP mode will be toggleable, but only in major cities so you will have to go forth into the world having made the decision to PvP. My first thought was that the PvP targets may be reduced, but on reflection, with higher rewards for PvP mode and those who are really opposed to PvP able to opt out, I think it will make for a livelier and overall better experience for everyone.

Finally, Vanilla servers are coming back. Thoughts?

This is an interesting one. I was never among those who called for support of vanilla servers, but I find myself thrilled at the prospect of revisiting old haunts and getting to remember old quests. I will be an enthusiastic vanilla tourist. That said, my suspicion is that a large number of those calling for vanilla servers (not all to be sure) are wanting to relive the social experience and the newness of the MMO. I feel that those people, many of whom are in different places than they were in their lives, will find themselves disappointed and I fear that they will blame their disappointment on Blizzard for giving them exactly what they asked for. This is all speculation, of course, because Blizzard still hasn’t totally decided how they are going to implement the experience. Will we get a vanilla world and vanilla quests but with modern graphics and optimizations? Will there be flying and other more recent conveniences? Or will we all be in a way-it-was, more pixelated world, jogging about trying to figure out how quests work and what herbs are pickable? Will the Classic servers remain vanilla, or will they get expansions as time passes? Only time will tell but I’ll be excited to see how it all plays out.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I thoroughly recommend the Blizzcon experience. For getting the straight information, the Virtual Ticket is great, but nothing beats being there in person. The people and their energy make the con. It is so apparent how hard each Blizzard employee works to pull this thing off. And you still get the Virtual Ticket as well.

Read More...

Blizzcon 2017 Rogue Recap

Following this week’s Fans of Knives it’s been hard to miss that we have a new expansion on our hands. There was a large focus on gameplay features and progress systems in Blizzard’s presentations this year. I’m certain that Blizzard managed to make many people happy with largely sought after features such as a revamped leveling experience with scaling zones, no less than six new playable races, scrapping of the current legendary system in exchange for the new Heart of Azeroth and last but not least the announcement that a vanilla legacy server is finally in the works! (For which Blizzard is currently searching for a software engineer if any reader feels up for the challenge.)

In the shadows of these huge announcements we rogues were in good company of all other classes. There were no groundbreaking class announcements as we’ve had previous years. This doesn’t mean that our classes will stay the same or that you should worry about being stuck with that thing you didn’t like. The class devs are of course hard at work improving and polishing our classes, there’s a lot of work to be done considering that we’re losing a lot of mechanics and abilities when the artifact weapons and legendary effects are phased out.

A sneak peek into this work can be gleaned from the playable Battle for Azeroth demo that was playable at Blizzcon. Two major features were that classes are once again getting an unique class buff and that there will be another major stat and item level squish. We had the opportunity to see some ability and talent changes already in the works. Below I’ve made a recap of the first public view on new talents.

All specs

  • Expose armor seems to be our class buff. 5% increased physical damage, gets applied by our generators.
  • Feint gets reduced from 50% to 40% AoE damage reduction.

Assassination

  • Crimson Tempest is back as a level 100 talent and replaces Death from Above on the level 100 talent row.
  • Poison Bomb is now a level 100 talent with 4% chance per Combo Point and replaces Venom rush.
  • Venom Rush is moved to level 90 and replaces Alacrity – now reduces mutilate cost by 5 energy on poisoned targets, and moved to tier 90.
  • Master Assassin is now a level 30 talent and replaces Shadow Focus – 50% increased crit chance for 3 seconds after breaking stealth.
  • Iron Wire is a new level 75 talent that replaces Thugee – increase the duration of Garrote’s silence effect to 8 sec. Enemies silenced by Garrote deal 15% reduced damage for 8 sec.

Outlaw

  • Grappling Hook baseline becomes baseline with 1 minute CD.
  • A new talent Retractable Hook takes Grappling Hooks place for a level 30 talent. – Reduces cooldown on Grappling Hook by 30 seconds
  • Loaded Dice becomes a talent on the level 100 row and replaces DfA.
  • Blinding Powder is a new level 100 talent that replaces Parley. – Reduces the cooldown of Blind by 30 sec and increases its range by 15 yards.

Subtlety

  • Tangled Shadows changed to Shot in the Dark, your first Cheap Shot after stealthing is free.
  • Shuriken Combo gets nerfed from 10% per stack to 5%.

Our class buff becomes Expose Armor, which works differently than it has before. The current iteration simply requires us to be on a target using our abilities to work. The effectiveness will go down if we have more than one target however, and how this works on our AoE generating abilities remain to be seen. All in all I doubt this is a change that will have any impact on us as rogues. It means that you would always want to make sure you have a rogue on your raiding roster but this is nothing new for our class.

There’s always been a lot of speculation about rogue survivability. Cloak of Shadows, Cheat Death, and Feint are extremely strong tools that, more as a rule than as an exception, have been vitally strategy defining on at least one boss per tier. I’m happy to see that these have so far not been butchered; survivability is currently the main raid utility we have. I hope to see us keep these tools into the future as well, even if at a reduced effectiveness.

Certain legendaries or artifact traits have been converted to talents. So far we can see Poison Bomb (trait), Master Assassin (Legendary shoulders) and Loaded Dice (trait) being refitted as talents. There’s also a lot of room to see our current traits and legendary effects coming back in the Heart of Azeroth system. The changes in the Assassination tree also point to the creation of an AoE row which lets you tune around massive AoE, controlled AoE, and perishable adds coming throughout the fight. Interesting!

Another thing that has people excited is that Grappling Hook is now a baseline ability for the Outlaw spec. Cooldown has been increased to 60 seconds, but in its place there’s a new talent to reduce it to 30 seconds again. This means you can both have the extra burst of mobility from Grappling Hook, as well as either the attack range increase from Acrobatic Strikes or the extra movement speed from Hit and Run.

Personally I’m looking forward to this expansion and to following the development of our awesome class from now to when we get to make everyone feel uneasy about being in the shadows when they have world PvP toggled on!

Read More...

Some Fires Never Die

fierydmise on final boss episode 66

Fierydemise on Final Boss episode #66 discussing the rogue class in Warlords of Draenor.

When Fierydemise stashed his theoretical daggers in permanent storage last month, my first thought was: “Holy crap. How did it take him this long?”

A pillar of our rogue community for the past five years, FD has been a tireless defender of truth, justice and extensive mathematical rigor dating back to at least 2010, when in his very first official WoW forum post he assailed server faction balance as “absurd.” Trying to keep up with FD — or to top him in a theorycrafting debate — was like running a marathon: You had to be prepared to match him stride for stride until one of you dropped. And it was probably gonna be you who dropped.

My own history with FD began in September 2012, when he appeared in WoW’s official rogue forum out of the blue with a guide on how to play a combat rogue in Mists of Pandaria. Our exchange in that thread is pretty much how most of our conversations went back then: I questioned his sources, he defended his diligence, and we eventually worked out a compromise.

In the years since, I learned there’s no need to question FD’s sources. As he grew from rogue spec guide writer to all-around rogue class expert to one of the leading minds in WoW theorycrafting, what gave FD his strength (and his influence) was an unforgiving dedication to accuracy and rigor, and an unwavering desire to correct errors and ensure rogue players had the best information at their fingertips.

tamen and fierydemise at PAX Prime 2015

Fierydemise (right) with fellow Shadowcraft developer Tamen at PAX Prime in 2015. (Image via Tamen on Twitter)

All of that led him to team up with Haileaus, Paryah and me to create Ravenholdt back in 2014 — and for him to take the reins of Shadowcraft, the rogue class’s most venerable optimization tool, a little over a year later, following in the footsteps of Aldriana and Pathal. Fierydemise hasn’t just been a big part of the conversation among rogue players for years; he’s created the conversation, framed it, led it. Sometimes quite literally, as in the case of one of his greatest achievements, the establishment and growth of our Discord channel. He’s also, as it happens, just a genuinely good human being, with a level of empathy and personal connection that I think many folks tend to assume can’t exist in the deeply analytical mind of a theorycrafter. But it can. In most, it very much does. FD is a shining example.

But a person can’t volunteer their time and their energy to a passion forever, and for FD, the time finally came last month. That it took him this long to reach that point is a testament not just to his own sense of dedication, but also his commitment to the rogue class, the people who play it, and the people who help make our community thrive — not just the leaders you see writing guides or posting blogs or streaming or tweeting, but those who work quietly and behind the scenes as well. FD wouldn’t leave unless he was confident there were quality folks to carry the torch. That’s how quality he is.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few WoW (and rogue) community leaders, both past and present, who wanted to share their own thanks and recollections about one of WoW theorycrafting’s great minds, and one of the rogue class’s greatest, period. I’ll add to this collection as more submissions come in.

Aeriwen, longtime WoW rogue guide writer and theorycrafter

I can’t recall when I first met Fiery. The years have been so many. But with a bit of sleuthing, the earliest interaction that I’ve found between us seems to have been a debate. That seems appropriate. Fiery has been an invaluable leader in our community. His careful commitment to accuracy and due diligence has carried this community for a decade. He leaves big shoes to fill, but he laid behind him a well trodden path for others to follow. It has been a honor to work with him. He has been a wonderful friend and colleague these many years. I do not have to wish him the best because I am certain that he will succeed in his next endeavor. It is in his nature to excel.

Calligraphy, Wowhead developer and recovering monk theorycrafter

FieryDemise always asked me some pretty tough questions, and presented theorycrafting in a way I hadn’t really thought of. I tend to look at things from a more practical standpoint, whereas he really pushed things into a more theoretical standpoint. I’m not as involved with rogue, but I appreciate these types of challenging questions, and that he’s one of those very rare people who will listen to the “other” view without being condescending, even when he disagrees.

Celestalon, a.k.a. Chadd Nervig, Technical Game Designer, WoW

Thanks for all the contributions you made to the community, FD!

Mystler, rogue theorycrafter and Shadowcraft developer

With your “retirement” post offical, I just want to use the opportunity to thank you for all you’ve done. Personally, when I look back at the last few years, I’ve always been a silent listener in Ravenholdt IRC and later Discord. One who has mostly consumed information from trusted people in order to get better, with some “private TC” alongside. It was not until I read your ShadowCraft call for help that I woke up and finally decided to put my passion for the class to good use. I am so happy you welcomed me with open arms and got me started, which helped a lot to overcome my anxiety to work with and for the community.

I can understand your interests have shifted and with another “Thank you” I just want to wish you all the best! 🙂

original ravenholdt logo by fierydemise

The original (and most adorable) Ravenholdt logo, designed by Fierydemise.

Paryah, Ravenholdt co-founder and rogue journalist

Fierydemise. What can I say? Ebullient, brilliant, passionate. We share a love of rogues and classic science fiction. I have loved working with him and will miss him keenly. Salute, FD, you made this community what it is. Whoever gets to work with you in the future is truly fortunate. Best to you.

Pathal, a.k.a. Pins, former rogue theorcrafting leader and Shadowcraft wizard

Out of all the people I worked with on Shadowcraft, no one managed to put up with my shenanigans and idiocy like Fierydemise. He was my sounding board and filter to the rest of the community, and I know all too well how demanding both that position and designing the engine is. Lay back, crack open a beer, and take a breath. You’ve earned it.

Vigilate, veteran top-end rogue raider and PvE streamer

Fiery, I’m sad to see you quit. I remember the first time we chatted was back sometime in mid-late Cata. At the time, I was just looking for people to chat PvE Rogue stuff with, but I ended up finding something more as the past few years have folded out. I’ll always look fondly upon the “OG Ravenholdt” from the MoP days. It was a close knit community, and you were one of the people that made it great.

Responses on Twitter to Fierydemise’s Farewell Message

From Current and Former Community Leaders

Selections From WoW Players

Read More...

Sim Yourself

“Sim yourself.” More often than not, this is the reply that you’ll get when you ask about the best gear to equip or how stats scale for your character. But what does it mean to sim yourself? Why do we care? And, most importantly, how do we do it?

Because of the way that World of Warcraft is dealing with gear in Legion (e.g., a random chance that a new gear drop will be immediately upgraded in various ways), there are so many variables possible that in most cases there is no single Best in Slot. The gear and attributes that are best for you depend entirely on what else you have equipped and what content you are planning to take on. What this means is, if you are interested in optimizing your DPS for the content that you are playing, you will need a method for figuring out exactly how what you have interacts with any new gear that you might acquire so that you can pinpoint which setup will work best for you.

One of the most effective ways of doing this is by using a program called SimulationCraft, often abbreviated SimCraft or even SimC. It’s available as a downloadable program as well as an in-game add on. Once you get used to simming yourself, it’s not difficult – but it does take a little setting up. Another add on called Pawn is very handy for applying what you learned from your sim.

This is a quick and dirty guide to simming yourself to get the most out of your gear.

The first thing that you need to do is download and install SimulationCraft from its official website.

The next thing is to install and enable the SimulationCraft add on, which is available from Curse.

Note: If you don’t want to use the add on, SimCraft can import your data from the Armory. To do this, follow the instructions on SimulationCraft. Be aware that this is often a less optimal method because not only is the Armory occasionally out of date, but also you will need to log in and out of game to update it, which is less convenient than using the add on.

Open SimulationCraft and select the Simulate tab.

Open World of Warcraft, and make sure that your character’s spec, gear, and talents are set the way you want them. In your chat box type /simc.

This will open a box of highlighted code. On your keyboard, press C while holding down Ctrl to copy the code (if you are on a Mac, press C while holding down ⌘).

Return to SimulationCraft and paste (with Ctrl V, or ⌘ V on a Mac) the code into the Simulate window. Note: you can opt to either 1) paste your code after the code that is automatically in the box, or 2) delete the default code and replace it with your pasted code.

Select the Options tab and then the Scaling tab.

Check Enable Scaling.

We are rogues, so under Stats to Scale, select Agility, Crit Rating, Haste Rating, Mastery Rating, and Versatility Rating.

Click Simulate! in the bottom right corner.

It will probably take a little time for your simulation to run; the more powerful your computer, the quicker it’ll be. When it is done, you will see a screen that looks like this:

Scroll down a little. You will see your talents and artifact build along with a whole lot of other lovely data, but there are two things that are of immediate interest.

The first is your estimated DPS. This is just an estimate based on what you have equipped. Can you pull this number in a boss fight? Can you pull more? It doesn’t matter! The only reason that we care about this number is to use it as a baseline.

The second is your Scale Factors. This tells you your Scale Ranking, which is basically what stats are most important with your current build.

As you can see, according to this sim my stat priority at the moment is:

Agility >  Versatility > Crit ~=Mastery > Haste

Those priorities are completely customized to me. By comparison, if you look at a reputable rogue DPS guide like Stjern’s, it will tell you:

Agility > Mastery > Versatility > Crit > Haste

His stat priority is a place to start. With my gear and how I am optimized, my stat priority has now changed. This is exactly why no one can tell you what is best in slot for you without a sim.

When you get new gear, equip it, sim yourself again, and check out that estimated DPS. If it goes up, the new gear is probably an upgrade.

Pawn is an add on that works with your sim data to compare items in-game and give you an idea whether or not a piece of loot is an upgrade or not.

Install and enable Pawn, which is available on Curse.

Open World of Warcraft and you will see a Pawn button on your Character pane.

Now go back to your SimulationCraft results and find the Pawn string, which is right after your Stat Ranking. Highlight and copy the Pawn string, including the open and close parentheses and everything in between.

Back in game, click the Pawn button to open the Pawn window. Select the Scale tab.

 

Click Manual.

You should see a screen with more options. Click Import.

Paste the Pawn string from SimulationCraft into the text box and click Okay.

This will show you your new stat weights. Go back to the Scale tab and make sure that Show this scale in tooltips is checked.

Close the Pawn window. Now, when you look at gear in your bag, you can immediately tell whether or not it is an upgrade based on your sim.

If you prefer to watch and listen rather than read, Infexious has you covered.

Now you have the basics.

All of these tools, and the theories behind them, were created by the WoW theorycrafting community. Theorycrafters use math to analyze game mechanics. This can give us insight into the way the game works, which in turn allows development of these tools and best practices for playing your class and your spec.

And this SimCraft tutorial is just the beginning. If you want to learn how to hot-swap gear to compare sims, learn how to sim relics, or just learn more about SimCraft and theorycrafting, here are a few resources.

For quick simulations you can also use the Raidbots bot in the Ravenholdt Discord. Just type !sim -h in Discord for instructions. For an online solution, check out the Raidbots website.

Read More...

Greenskins Nerfed again!? and why it’s going to be okay

Greenskin’s Waterlogged Wristcuffs
Greenskin’s has undergone a series of nerfs on the PTR builds for patch 7.1.5. First from 400% to 300% and now from 300% all the way down to 200%.

 

Now, I can empathize why you would be upset if you had this legendary and were concerned about your DPS decreasing drastically…..but the simple fact is that these bracers were too strong.

Let me tell you why this change was needed

Greenskin’s is an often misunderstood legendary. Many don’t realize it’s potential. But, it’s actually the legendary with the biggest single target damage increase for all of the rogue specs.

Before the nerfs Greenskin’s was adding at least a 25% increase in ST Damage. Whereas, most other legendaries are around a ~10% damage increase.

Short Guide for using Greenskin’s Waterlogged Wristcuffs

Greenskin’s changes the rotation for Outlaws. Here’s some tips:

  • Firstly, you take the Quick Draw talent instead of Ghostly Strike.
  • True Bearing becomes your most valuable buff by a large margin.
  • Use Between the Eyes on cooldown give that you have consumed the previous buffs.
  • If you have a Blunderbuss proc and Between the Eyes is off cooldown, you save it until you reach 5CP. Then BtE to ensure the Blunderbuss proc is being enhanced.
  • If you don’t have a Pistol Shot proc and your BtE buff is about to run out, you use a regular pistol shot to consume the buff.

Here’s an example of why it is such priority to use as many BtE buffs as possible:

So, all that being said even though Greenskin’s is getting nerfed from 400% to 200% it’s still going to be the best ST legendary for Outlaw.

No legendary should be much more powerful than the others. A nerf was justified and it’s still going be a BiS legendary.

So quit yer cryin!

Read More...

Rogue Class Hall: Hidden in Plain Sight

 

Why yes, Rfeann it sure is.

Our Class Hall has a fair amount going on and one of the awesome little things that we rogues can do is occasionally benefit from the vault of treasures that Marin Noggenfogger so enjoys to nap on. Marin guards the Uncrowned Vault with pure goblin pragmatism, but there are ways to get him to part with a treasure.

The first thing that you need to do is talk to Winstone Wolfe and have him research The Vault. Once your research is complete, you will be able to acquire two different items that will allow you to pry a little something for yourself from those greedy goblin fingers.

One of those items is the Vault Ticket. This ticket has a chance to drop when you successfully complete a Class Hall Mission.

The other is Marin Noggenfogger’s Lucky Coin. This coin can be pickpocketed from various mobs throughout the Broken Isles.

Bring Marin a ticket or a coin, and he will allow you to pick one of three items for your very own. Look around. The items all appear in the vault and are highlighted as interactable. Some sit on their own, others are in containers like the Large Plundered Sack. Many items are single-use or have charges and include such wonders as Smoky Boots, Pack of Battle Potions, Thistle Tea, and Poisoned Throwing Knives. You can also get gold, Artifact Power, and if you are especially lucky, a toy (Suspicious Crate) or a transmog hat (Uncrowned Shadowcraft Cap).

But back to why we are talking about this in the first place. Sometimes, you will be able to get one or more Key to the Palace of Lei Shen. You may see a Sparking Set of Keys hanging on the wall, or you may get some from the aforementioned Large Plundered Sack. But why, like Rfeann, you might ask, are we able to get a formerly unattainable item from a long ago expansion? Well here’s the fun part.

Unlike in the old days, you don’t need to go all the way to the Isle of Thunder to enter the Troves of the Thunder King scenario, you can just run downstairs and hand your key to Taoshi who will send you right in. While you are there, just like in the before times, grab chests and/or work your way to the end of the scenario in the given time. At the end you will be able to open one or more Lei Shen’s Burial Trove chests depending on how many Buriel Trove Key you managed to pick up. Those chests have a chance to contain Tome of Otherworldly Venoms, and that unlocks a hidden appearance for your Subtlety Artifact Weapon, Fangs of the Devourer.

A few notes:

  • If you have keys left over from Mists of Pandaria, you can use them
  • You do not have to be level 110 to have the item drop
  • You do not have to be in Subtlety spec or have your loot set to Subtlety to have the item drop

So there you have it. A new and exciting use for Key to the Palace of Lei Shen. But there are still old uses: y’know, gold, and I know at least one rogue who’s going to use this to try to get those achieves he missed back in Mists of Pandaria!

A few more notes:

  • Currently you need to give Marin a ticket for the day before you can benefit from the coins. Hopefully this is a bug and will be fixed.
  • If you have Marin off on a mission, no worries, he’ll be available to assist you with your vault ticket if necessary. You’ll have to wait to give him a coin though.
  • There have been reports that the Suspicious Crate may actually spawn independently of Marin – so keep an eye out. It apparently appears on the rug directly in front of where Marin naps.

 

Read More...