In my opinion, one of the most coveted things rogues rarely disclose is their keybind layout. I mean who wants to advertise how they took you down with a minimal amount of effort as a result, in part, of a well laid out keybind setup. Rogues, in my opinion, stand out from other WoW classes because we have to manipulate several offensive and defensive maneuvers well to survive in PVP (you'll see what I mean below). If there are other classes that have similar setup in depth as I have, please feel free to post it - I'd be most interested in seeing it.
Before I go over my setup, you should recognize as I do that everyones hands are different as are the mouse and keyboard that they use. My layout below is in no way depicting a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Its intended rather to document my evolving layout and hopefully stir up some interest...
Stealth Mode: 8 keybinds total
1 > ambush
2 > garrote
3 > gouge
4 > pick pockets
5 > macro for improved sap (I'll go over this macro in another post)
6> cheap shot
sA > Disarm traps
sE > Preparation
Combat Mode: 24 keybinds total
(note s depicts SHIFT key, m mouse key)
1> shiv
2> macro for sinister strike
3> gouge
4> evis
5> macro for mutilate
6> kidney shot
sA > fan of knives
sC > kick
sV > every man for himself
sQ > thistle tea
sR > rupture
sD > dismantle
sF > envenom
sH > runic heal pot / health stone for arena
sG > macro for bandage self
sT > blind
s3 > evasion
s2 > SnD
s1 > distract
s4 > vanish
` > stealth
sE > preparation
m4 > cloak of shadows
m5 > sprint
I'll review my Macro's that I use in the next post - enjoy...
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Review of Deep Assassin build for Raiding
Over the past week, I tried a variation in the Assassin tree which reportedly lends itself to raiding. Its a 51/13/7 build (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=f0gfoexoVboIzAo0xV0hZxb). It leverages Hunger for Blood (HFB), along with Cut to the Chase for refreshing Slice-n-Dice (SnD) to its 5 point maximum. In this post, I wanted to discuss its gains/weaknesses from an overall playing experience. Additionally, I've included my own comments about its viability in PVE/PVP, however, this is just my own feelings about it.
Once I got this build setup properly, I hit the dummy targets over near SI:7 and put up my DPS meter. In this scenario, I loaded my blades with inst/deadly poisons and primed HFB to its 3 point maximum. In order to sustain maximum DPS output, you have to keep up your HFB and SnD. Here is what I typically do to maintain this:
1) Opener - you should get anywhere between 4-5 on Combo Points (CB). I typically use Rupture then Shiv followed by a Mutilate.
2) SnD - get this up, then use your normal attacks. When you're SnD gets low, use Eviscerate to bring it to its 5 point maximum (20 secs)
3) While your refreshing SnD, wait for the Mutilate cycle to hit (60+ energy) then execute it
4) Check HFB for expiry and refresh to its 29 sec maximum
5) Rinse / Repeat - but make sure you keep an eye on your expiry timers on HFB, and SnD while at the same time refreshing them and hitting your Mutilate cycles. There are probably add-ons from wow-curse that can aid in keeping track of this. Its important to remember your raid cycles will revolve around building mutiliate, followed by either another mutilate or Evis / HFB reprime. You shouldn't be using any other offensive maneuvers during this cycle.
With a little practice you'll get the swing of this as it does require thought about its execution. So getting back to my experiment, after a few minutes of doing this on those target dummies (the master type), I noticed my damage meters shot up several hundred points going from a measly 1100 dps to like 1600 dps - w00t.
Ok now for the real test. I went into a PUG for AN in heroic mode. I noticed some improvement in my overall dps but problems arose that made it increasingly difficult to keep up SnD + HFB. For example, several situations required me to move around a lot compounded by having to shift between targets periodically. This is on top of the typical defensive countermeasures that a rogue has to employ such as (evasion, vanish, cloak of shadows, etc.) To me, this *greatly* adds to the overall complexity of keeping your Mutilate cycles up along with HFB + SnD. Needless to say, I am not overly enthusiastic about this builds viability in a raid setting. I will admit that heroic AN is tougher than most Northrend heroics but irrespective of that, the aforementioned variables exist in other Heroics as well.
Because I primarily do PVP/PVE stuff, I wanted to feel out this builds usefulness in each specific context. To keep this short, I found it largely ineffective in PVP/PVE as I simply either didn't have the desire to keep priming my HFB or by the time I opened on NPC's the target was down already. For now I switched back to my 41/5/25 build. I might look at a deep combat build at a later time but am hoping Blizzard implements a multi-talent spec option in game without paying for it.
Regards,
TJ
Once I got this build setup properly, I hit the dummy targets over near SI:7 and put up my DPS meter. In this scenario, I loaded my blades with inst/deadly poisons and primed HFB to its 3 point maximum. In order to sustain maximum DPS output, you have to keep up your HFB and SnD. Here is what I typically do to maintain this:
1) Opener - you should get anywhere between 4-5 on Combo Points (CB). I typically use Rupture then Shiv followed by a Mutilate.
2) SnD - get this up, then use your normal attacks. When you're SnD gets low, use Eviscerate to bring it to its 5 point maximum (20 secs)
3) While your refreshing SnD, wait for the Mutilate cycle to hit (60+ energy) then execute it
4) Check HFB for expiry and refresh to its 29 sec maximum
5) Rinse / Repeat - but make sure you keep an eye on your expiry timers on HFB, and SnD while at the same time refreshing them and hitting your Mutilate cycles. There are probably add-ons from wow-curse that can aid in keeping track of this. Its important to remember your raid cycles will revolve around building mutiliate, followed by either another mutilate or Evis / HFB reprime. You shouldn't be using any other offensive maneuvers during this cycle.
With a little practice you'll get the swing of this as it does require thought about its execution. So getting back to my experiment, after a few minutes of doing this on those target dummies (the master type), I noticed my damage meters shot up several hundred points going from a measly 1100 dps to like 1600 dps - w00t.
Ok now for the real test. I went into a PUG for AN in heroic mode. I noticed some improvement in my overall dps but problems arose that made it increasingly difficult to keep up SnD + HFB. For example, several situations required me to move around a lot compounded by having to shift between targets periodically. This is on top of the typical defensive countermeasures that a rogue has to employ such as (evasion, vanish, cloak of shadows, etc.) To me, this *greatly* adds to the overall complexity of keeping your Mutilate cycles up along with HFB + SnD. Needless to say, I am not overly enthusiastic about this builds viability in a raid setting. I will admit that heroic AN is tougher than most Northrend heroics but irrespective of that, the aforementioned variables exist in other Heroics as well.
Because I primarily do PVP/PVE stuff, I wanted to feel out this builds usefulness in each specific context. To keep this short, I found it largely ineffective in PVP/PVE as I simply either didn't have the desire to keep priming my HFB or by the time I opened on NPC's the target was down already. For now I switched back to my 41/5/25 build. I might look at a deep combat build at a later time but am hoping Blizzard implements a multi-talent spec option in game without paying for it.
Regards,
TJ
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Beginning of the End...
I hit 80th level about two weeks ago while questing in Icecrown. I was happy that I didn't have to level anymore but realized that this is it - I won't be leveling my main anymore...ever. The good thing is that there are lots of things to do, all with relatively little time investment.
So basically I have decided to break up my time in three areas:
1) Completing as many Icecrown + StormPeak quests - I really don't need to do IC but am enjoying the story line as it ties back to Arthas. I need to do StormPeaks so that I can grind out my rep. and get the shoulder enchants with the Son's of Hodir. Questing will obviously help maintain upkeep on my repairs and other miscellaneous expenses. Its been said there are on average 550 quests per zone in Northrend (whew).
2) Guild Raiding - Will be running whatever comes my way from Northrend thats level 80. This will aid in gear'ing me up as my DPS output is somewhat below par at the moment. This is partially caused by my talent spec being a Mut/Sub variant with lots of burst damage output and survivability measures for pvp. Luckily my guild doesn't require me to respec. I am considering a hybrid spec between PVP/PVE but don't want to incur any expenses at this time - I heard the next patch 3.0.8 may not have the mulit-talent spec. capability - might be buckwheats for me until then.
3) PVP - I recently started to PVP again in the BG's. Although it was nice to get back into this, its somewhat overwhelming since the whole gameplay feel has changed. Everything seems to move more quickly and with the introduction of DK's, a new twist to the gameplay has been factored in. I recently noticed my Thistle tea gets a -20 point energy reduction at 80 (booooo). As far as Arena, I bought a 2's team charter and will most likely start running rated matches this week. I will also be continuing skirmishes as a warm up prior to doing the rated team matchups. I don't want to rush into Arena too quickly until I start collecting better gear.
Cheers,
TJ
So basically I have decided to break up my time in three areas:
1) Completing as many Icecrown + StormPeak quests - I really don't need to do IC but am enjoying the story line as it ties back to Arthas. I need to do StormPeaks so that I can grind out my rep. and get the shoulder enchants with the Son's of Hodir. Questing will obviously help maintain upkeep on my repairs and other miscellaneous expenses. Its been said there are on average 550 quests per zone in Northrend (whew).
2) Guild Raiding - Will be running whatever comes my way from Northrend thats level 80. This will aid in gear'ing me up as my DPS output is somewhat below par at the moment. This is partially caused by my talent spec being a Mut/Sub variant with lots of burst damage output and survivability measures for pvp. Luckily my guild doesn't require me to respec. I am considering a hybrid spec between PVP/PVE but don't want to incur any expenses at this time - I heard the next patch 3.0.8 may not have the mulit-talent spec. capability - might be buckwheats for me until then.
3) PVP - I recently started to PVP again in the BG's. Although it was nice to get back into this, its somewhat overwhelming since the whole gameplay feel has changed. Everything seems to move more quickly and with the introduction of DK's, a new twist to the gameplay has been factored in. I recently noticed my Thistle tea gets a -20 point energy reduction at 80 (booooo). As far as Arena, I bought a 2's team charter and will most likely start running rated matches this week. I will also be continuing skirmishes as a warm up prior to doing the rated team matchups. I don't want to rush into Arena too quickly until I start collecting better gear.
Cheers,
TJ
Sunday, January 4, 2009
WOTLK - Nearing the End...
I just leveled to 79 tonight and started looking for gear to replace my S1-S3 pvp gear. To my surprise, there is one particularly insane leather-working recipe for pvp rogues that come stacked with crit-rating, attack power, and resilience, not to mention an abundant amount of base points in Agi/Stam.
The set is named the Eviscerator (an 8 piece set) and can be easily made or bought depending on your profession set, or who you know. In my case, I make decent money so I just said f*** it - I bought several pieces along with a respective entry level WOTLK enchants to boot. What I found astounding were the materials used to make this stuff - they can be easily harvested/bought if you so choose - and I mean EASY. The materials in pre BC took an insane amount of grinding/questing/partying to get measely table scraps. This works well for me as I am limited time wise on steady game play but I do recognize many oversights with Blizzard's casual game design which I will not get into - its just too lengthy of a topic.
Next steps my main (not necessarily in any order):
The set is named the Eviscerator (an 8 piece set) and can be easily made or bought depending on your profession set, or who you know. In my case, I make decent money so I just said f*** it - I bought several pieces along with a respective entry level WOTLK enchants to boot. What I found astounding were the materials used to make this stuff - they can be easily harvested/bought if you so choose - and I mean EASY. The materials in pre BC took an insane amount of grinding/questing/partying to get measely table scraps. This works well for me as I am limited time wise on steady game play but I do recognize many oversights with Blizzard's casual game design which I will not get into - its just too lengthy of a topic.
Next steps my main (not necessarily in any order):
- leveling to 80 (questing/grinding - the usual churn)
- max out primary/secondary professions alchemy and lock picking
- max out combat areas such as throwing stuff and daggers
- get some higher end gear starting with my daggers and/or neck piece (its the only 70 item I have left)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WOTLK Combat Conversions...
Found this on the web somewhere - it looks legit however we'll know more about the true numbers for level 80 later on.. enjoy
Monday, December 15, 2008
WOTLK Initial Thoughts and Impressions...
It's been some time from my last update so I thought I'd journal my initial impressions of the second WoW expansion pack (XP). Being only 1 month in to the XP, I'll limit my thoughts mostly on PVE. At the time of this writing I've only been able to hit 75 so my experiences thus far are limited. I'll defer my comments on PVP since I am waiting to hit 80. I've rated each of the categories below on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best, 1 being abysmal)...
The quests themselves are much improved from the first XP. There seems to be much more integration between the storyline and quests available. A stellar example of this is the quest line that starts in Dragonblight and ends at the gates of the Ice Crown followed by a fantastic assault on Undercity. There are, I will add, cut-scenes which are really enjoyable to watch and enhance the overall pve game experience. I was living out my MJ dreams during the Undercity assault. Aside from the DB quests, there seem to be a LOT of PVP based daily's in Grizzly Hills which provides some much needed variety. Without giving things away, there are notably many more quests that involve mounted creatures on land/air. In Borjean Tundra, there's even a group of Druids that seek the elimination of Nesingwary (the hunter from Nagrand) which is kind of interesting - continuing a storyline between XP1 and XP2.
I would have given it a solid 5 but I did come across a few quests that were completely ridiculous - namely the "Riding the Red Rocket" and one other that I can't recollect the name where you need to either drop 20+ gp on an engineer'd part of know someone who can make it.
Landscapes and Creature Modeling (rating 5):
in one word..fantastic! The folks at Blizzard did a remarkable job at creating beautiful landscapes... if you look closely at the details, they made a lot of enhancements around fire, smoke, waterfalls, magics, etc... The layouts of each zone is unique but in some way has a feel as if they are part of the same land mass (Northrend). Creature modeling seems to be much improved. Mob's have more facial detail and seem less toon'ish. The most important thing for me was that it didn't require me to upgrade my hardware but improved enough to take notice.
Class Diversity: (rating 1):
Having played many online RPG's and MMO's (including an extensive paper and die RPG run), I have found some things that were fairly consistent: In a group setting, spell caster/Healer classes were relatively weak in melee range, had exceptionally low durability and armor, but were ultra-powerful when defended properly in the backdrop. Then you had your close range melee classes, which had medium to exceptional armor, were ultra powerful in close range single point melee. And then you had your hybrid classes, that were either a combination of ranged/melee or melee/casting which had greater utility in small group settings.
This to me, translates to tighter integration and a more enjoyable playing experience as you are dependent upon your other classes to do what they are supposed to do. You see this to some extent in group/dungeon/raid settings in WoW, however Blizzard took this in what I think is the wrong direction. Blizzard decided to blend class attributes from class to another. For example, several classes have the ability to do *single-point melee* DPS that equals or exceeds some top end raiding rogues. A great example of this are the new Death Knight's (DK's) or Retribution Pallys. Lots of DPS potential, great defensive capability - no down side. Even on the rogue side I've seen another manifestation with the introduction of Cloak of Shadows, giving them some magical defense capability, followed by Killing spree - what now rogues have multi-target AOE capability? I realize that Blizz is trying to give classes better play survivability in PVP but I don't think it was done correctly.
Conclusion:Having played many online RPG's and MMO's (including an extensive paper and die RPG run), I have found some things that were fairly consistent: In a group setting, spell caster/Healer classes were relatively weak in melee range, had exceptionally low durability and armor, but were ultra-powerful when defended properly in the backdrop. Then you had your close range melee classes, which had medium to exceptional armor, were ultra powerful in close range single point melee. And then you had your hybrid classes, that were either a combination of ranged/melee or melee/casting which had greater utility in small group settings.
This to me, translates to tighter integration and a more enjoyable playing experience as you are dependent upon your other classes to do what they are supposed to do. You see this to some extent in group/dungeon/raid settings in WoW, however Blizzard took this in what I think is the wrong direction. Blizzard decided to blend class attributes from class to another. For example, several classes have the ability to do *single-point melee* DPS that equals or exceeds some top end raiding rogues. A great example of this are the new Death Knight's (DK's) or Retribution Pallys. Lots of DPS potential, great defensive capability - no down side. Even on the rogue side I've seen another manifestation with the introduction of Cloak of Shadows, giving them some magical defense capability, followed by Killing spree - what now rogues have multi-target AOE capability? I realize that Blizz is trying to give classes better play survivability in PVP but I don't think it was done correctly.
So far I am enjoying the overall game experience of PVE, barring a few minor quest annoyances. Blizzard is one of those game companies that I have no regrets plunking down loot on - despite our gross differences in class diversity, I found the second XP well worth trying out. I'll post an update, when I go full PVP - there are some general concerns with aforementioned classes however I'll give it a go.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
PVP Status Check and Next Steps
In absence of a better title, I wanted to leave some personal notes regarding my overall PVP status in areas such as BG, Arena, thoughts about the Mutilate spec., and my current guild/realm status:
My overall PVP progression has been exciting to say the least. After settling on a key-bind layout, combat maneuvers and a fair amount of practice, I've been able to amass slightly over 6K of HP, several PVP items ranging in quality from S1 to S3 and have gained some valuable insight into PVP-land. I have also gained insight into other classes strengths/weaknesses as this is an essential element in PVP game-play.
As far as the specific areas of PVP-land (Arena/BG), my strategy up to this point is designate 1/2 nights a week for Arena, 3-4 nights for BG and perform dailys to raise capital when my loot supply is low.
I created a new Arena team "Cows in da hood" which was created out of a news incident observed on a podcast a few weeks back about some cows going buck wild in a remote neighborhood out in the mid-west - my description doesn't give it any justice whatsoever. I was able to bring on 2 Shaman from an earlier Areana team. I'm really happy they decided to join as we've played before in Arena and have developed a good rhythm with them. We also have a new hunter but am seeking 2 more to complete the team composition.
As far as the mutilate spec, its wicked evil. With the combo point build up of Seal-Fate + Initiative, I'm able to rack up CP's fairly quickly. I am also utilizing finisher's more effectively based on the class I am up against. One in particular that I am particularly fond of is Envenom as it appears to mitigate armor completely. I also use rupture on occasion but its dependent on if I want to be near the target or back off. One slight annoyance with the assassin build - its a positional talent which means you have to be behind your target to get off a mutilate. Some PVP'ers (not many) spot that out and try to keep their backs away from my front side.
I still want to try ShS build as this is the only talent build configuration I haven't tried as of yet. The only drag here is I hear this build works best with higher damage based weapons coupled with Hemo + lots of attack power which might mean I may need to get a new set of weapons.
One more note - I left my guild - it basically disbanded. I wish all members, class leads and GM the best of luck.
I don't think I'll be in a guild going forward - I switched to the dark side.
My overall PVP progression has been exciting to say the least. After settling on a key-bind layout, combat maneuvers and a fair amount of practice, I've been able to amass slightly over 6K of HP, several PVP items ranging in quality from S1 to S3 and have gained some valuable insight into PVP-land. I have also gained insight into other classes strengths/weaknesses as this is an essential element in PVP game-play.
As far as the specific areas of PVP-land (Arena/BG), my strategy up to this point is designate 1/2 nights a week for Arena, 3-4 nights for BG and perform dailys to raise capital when my loot supply is low.
I created a new Arena team "Cows in da hood" which was created out of a news incident observed on a podcast a few weeks back about some cows going buck wild in a remote neighborhood out in the mid-west - my description doesn't give it any justice whatsoever. I was able to bring on 2 Shaman from an earlier Areana team. I'm really happy they decided to join as we've played before in Arena and have developed a good rhythm with them. We also have a new hunter but am seeking 2 more to complete the team composition.
As far as the mutilate spec, its wicked evil. With the combo point build up of Seal-Fate + Initiative, I'm able to rack up CP's fairly quickly. I am also utilizing finisher's more effectively based on the class I am up against. One in particular that I am particularly fond of is Envenom as it appears to mitigate armor completely. I also use rupture on occasion but its dependent on if I want to be near the target or back off. One slight annoyance with the assassin build - its a positional talent which means you have to be behind your target to get off a mutilate. Some PVP'ers (not many) spot that out and try to keep their backs away from my front side.
I still want to try ShS build as this is the only talent build configuration I haven't tried as of yet. The only drag here is I hear this build works best with higher damage based weapons coupled with Hemo + lots of attack power which might mean I may need to get a new set of weapons.
One more note - I left my guild - it basically disbanded. I wish all members, class leads and GM the best of luck.
I don't think I'll be in a guild going forward - I switched to the dark side.
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