Getting my frost-bitten ass off the zepplin, i land myself in howling fjord, one of two new areas to quest in.
The quests are fun, and definately different, and as the place is (gasp) level 68, it means everything is relatively easy.
Put your minds at rest, tier 6 wielders, as the green quest drops aren't anywhere near the stats of the likes of us!
----IMPORTANT----
Murder spree is now my favourite spell. It almost kills a mob. its amazing! It's also useable from stealth or in combat, so it's very, very good :)
Awryn
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Beta Rogue Tester!
Yes, that's right! this lucky son of a bitch has recieved a beta key and will be taking his ass off to Northrend!
Stay tuned friends, and i shall be sure to update everything on rogues in the next few posts!
This couldn't be a happier time for me!
.....Except the whole downloading going on... i have 5 hours to wait! :(
Awryn
Stay tuned friends, and i shall be sure to update everything on rogues in the next few posts!
This couldn't be a happier time for me!
.....Except the whole downloading going on... i have 5 hours to wait! :(
Awryn
Friday, 29 August 2008
Something worthwhile to read real soon!
While at this very moment in time i have nothing viably improtant to say.. i would like to mention something that sounds very very interesting happening over on Crimson's Blog over the next few days.
He has, without a doubt, one of the best rogue blogs out there, with many many interesting reads (you don't need ot be a rogue to enjoy them, as some are general wow topics).
Lately he has had the genious idea of interviewing the classleaders and veteran guildies of our guild. Please people, give it a look, as i'm sure it will be incredibly interesting.
It's not up yet, as its a bit of a WIP, but i'll be sure to post a link to it the second it appears!
(I wonder if he will let me interview him?) hehe
Awryn
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Awryn Eyecandy -A space filler
Well, some of you might, or might not know that i'm a graphics uni student, who finished last year.
Here's a little something of Awryn i did, and i'll use it now as a bit of a space filler :P
Unfortunatley it gets rasterized (and therefore a bit pixelated) when i load it up on here, but nevermind!
Awryn
Here's a little something of Awryn i did, and i'll use it now as a bit of a space filler :P
Unfortunatley it gets rasterized (and therefore a bit pixelated) when i load it up on here, but nevermind!
Awryn
4 Set spells out some great DPS!
Well the nearly impossible happened and i managed to nab my teir 6 helm! Yumm yumm!
I'm eternally grateful to Shaerix, my hunter (irl) girlfriend who let me have her spot, and Draiza who (whether or not she had the dkp for it i don't now, but thanks anyway) allowed me to get it :D
So here it is!
Yeah, major e-peen points for Kalecgos in the background. Got him to 45% the other night (woot)
So anyways, Black Temple started tonight and my dps was considerably better than before, i even topped past Sypher for a good moment. (our usually top dps rogue extremely closely followed by Crimson -may i add)
The helm is an incredible piece, and i had to add a few purple stam and ap gems (which i plan on swapping for stam and agi when i can get round to it) in order to have the +agi and cit damage earthstorm diamond. (the previous abomination attached to my head was the tier 4 helm : / )
My hit went down to about 285 buffed, but my dps overall was much, much better.
However, on a down side, i do have to wear the tier 6 trousers, when (much to my horror) the badge loot ones from Quel'Danas are slightly better! My next mission is to get the chestpiece, and don the badge tousers yet still keep my four set. However i can patiently wait for that!
Oh, and news on the next part of my guide to WotLK rogues will follow sometime soon. I'm a little busy and knackered from this new job to get round to it after raiding and such, sorry!
Off to bed, Awryn out!
I'm eternally grateful to Shaerix, my hunter (irl) girlfriend who let me have her spot, and Draiza who (whether or not she had the dkp for it i don't now, but thanks anyway) allowed me to get it :D
So here it is!
Yeah, major e-peen points for Kalecgos in the background. Got him to 45% the other night (woot)
So anyways, Black Temple started tonight and my dps was considerably better than before, i even topped past Sypher for a good moment. (our usually top dps rogue extremely closely followed by Crimson -may i add)
The helm is an incredible piece, and i had to add a few purple stam and ap gems (which i plan on swapping for stam and agi when i can get round to it) in order to have the +agi and cit damage earthstorm diamond. (the previous abomination attached to my head was the tier 4 helm : / )
My hit went down to about 285 buffed, but my dps overall was much, much better.
However, on a down side, i do have to wear the tier 6 trousers, when (much to my horror) the badge loot ones from Quel'Danas are slightly better! My next mission is to get the chestpiece, and don the badge tousers yet still keep my four set. However i can patiently wait for that!
Oh, and news on the next part of my guide to WotLK rogues will follow sometime soon. I'm a little busy and knackered from this new job to get round to it after raiding and such, sorry!
Off to bed, Awryn out!
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Awryn's personal guide to the Northrend rogue!
Hey there chaps and chapesses! Been a while huh?
Well, over the next few posts (and by few i mean when i can be bothered to discuss and explain the new goodies and baddies us rogues will be handed) i will be chatting aobut the Northrend expansion and it's affect on rogues.
This is , of course, open completely to dicussion, wether agreeing or critisizing, and i would love to hear people's opinions and presonal preferances!
Today comes my talk about combat, and it's roles and changes come WOTLK!
First of all, the (current) new ablities we can learn!
Fan of knives:
Instantly throw both weapons at all targets within 8 yards, causing 100% weapon damage.
(50 Energy, Instant, 30 sec Cooldown, 5 yd Range, Requires Melee Weapon)
This unfortunately, is the only ability trained for rogues in the combat section of the spellbook. At a first glance, it seems a little, i don't know, semi-pointless? But if you think about instances like Mount Hyjal, this becomes something a little worth while. With both weapon damage at the same time, you should do a nice bit off aoe damage. Overall though, its not really that much of an improvement to our dps, as i'm pretty sure mages would get annoyed with all the sheeps (or penguins!) you'll be breaking :P
Pros: an aoe, so can't be too bad.
Cons: Energy cost and rediculously long cooldown.
Next we will talk about the talent abilities learnt within the combat talent tree!
Throwing Specialization:
Increases the range of Throw and Deadly Throw by 2/4 yards and gives your Deadly Throw a 50/100% chance to interrupt the target for 3 sec.
(2 Ranks)
Requiring 35 points down the combat tree, this actually seems, to me, a bit silly. As far as i can tell, this is mainly a pvp based talent, and won't really help with combat pve very much. In my opinion this would probably be better suited in the subtlety tree, where a majority of pvp based talents are. However i'm sure there isn't much worng with a combat specced pvp rogue :P
Pros: Great for pvp.
Cons: Have yet to determine a proper raiding use for it. (it disrupts, but so does kick.)
Unfair Advantage:
Whenever you dodge and attack you gain an Unfair Advantage, increasing your chance to hit by 2/4% and the chance that attacks will miss you by 2/4% for 8 sec.
(2 Ranks)
This, to me, is a must have for both pve and pvp. The extra hit benefits us raiders greatly, and the pvp'ers are going to love both the hit and the dodge increase. Found in the must spend 40 points section, probably the best rogue combat talent to come out of wotlk.
Pros: Extra hit and extra dodge!
Cons: There aren't any... It's a winner! -Unless of course there's some long invisible cooldown on it, however it's still an excellent talent regardless.
Stay Of Execution:
When you have less than 35% health, all damage taken is reduced by 5/10/15% and you are treated as if you are at full health.
(3 Ranks)
Found directly opposite Unfair Advantage, costing 40 points to get to, is Stay Of Execution. Regarding it's description, i'd say this is another pvp based talent. However, like they say, a dead rogue does zero DPS, so you decide. It's a personal getback at the warrior's execute, and renders it useless against us. How can they execute when our life is technically full? Pvp frustration fun!
Pros: Warriors and raid bosses alike will be screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!'
Cons: doesn't 'actively' enhance our dps.
Update: Waylander kindly pointed out this handy piece of advice that never crossed my mind: 'If you see the description of "Stay of Execution", you are treated as if in Full Health.
Imo this goes excellent with "Prey on the Weak" since you'll be always treated as if having full HP, then your crit will go up like crazy. Assuming of course that its based on a % basis.'
This would therefore, make Prey on the Weak, and Stay of Execution, and extremely useful combo to have!
Prey On The Weak:
Your normal melee critical strike damage is increased by 5/10/15/20/25% when the target has less health than you (as a percentage of total health).
(5 Ranks)
This talent, just like Unfair Advantage, is an incredibly useful talent to have. It has it's advantages in pvp and pve alike. Am i right assuming the second a bosses/opponent's health gets to 99%, and yours is 100%, your crit strike damage gets that increase? If so, this talent is priceless!
Pros: Extra crit strike damage within seconds of a boss/pvp encounter.
Cons: Are there any? -If it's percentage health like the discription, no, but if its actual health (eg 1000, 2000) then fighting a bear druid or a boss with millions of hp would render this useless until the very end! Let's hope it's the first one :P
Murder Spree:
Step through the shadows from enemy to enemy within 10 yards, attacking an enemy every .5 secs with both weapons until 5 assaults are made. Can hit the same target multiple times.
(1 Rank, Instant, 2 min Cooldown)
This is the last talent in the combat tree, costing 50 points to reach. At first, i was like 'Oh another pvp talent. Great for 5v5 or crowded rooms in BG's' But upon closer look i realised just how useful this ability could be in pve too! If i'm reading this right, it sounds like an opener, and if, like me, you have a great set of tanks in your guild, you could do this:
First of all, i'd open with garotte. Good old fashioned bleed effects! Then, i'd vanish again, and cast Murder spree. This means that not only have i applied a bleed affect, ive then hit the same target (assuming this is a boss) five times with both my weapons instantly. I can then continure to dps as usual, hoping this wont give off too much initial threat. Now this is assuming that it's a 'from stealth' ability. If it's not, then i'd use it whenever it's cooldown is off, for an extra DPS boost. 'Step through the shadows' on the tooltip would make me presume it's from stealth however.
Pros: Potentually, this could be an excellent addition to the combat raid rotation. However, i have yet to confirm it's energy cost (because surely an ability this good needs one)!
Cons: Possible high energy cost, and the fact that proabaly from stealth means you cannot use it's cooldown of 2mins to it's full potentual.
Well, thats about it folks for the combat tree! To summarise, the talents i strongly suggest you pick for a pve raiding rogue such as myself are:
Well, over the next few posts (and by few i mean when i can be bothered to discuss and explain the new goodies and baddies us rogues will be handed) i will be chatting aobut the Northrend expansion and it's affect on rogues.
This is , of course, open completely to dicussion, wether agreeing or critisizing, and i would love to hear people's opinions and presonal preferances!
Today comes my talk about combat, and it's roles and changes come WOTLK!
First of all, the (current) new ablities we can learn!
Fan of knives:Instantly throw both weapons at all targets within 8 yards, causing 100% weapon damage.
(50 Energy, Instant, 30 sec Cooldown, 5 yd Range, Requires Melee Weapon)
This unfortunately, is the only ability trained for rogues in the combat section of the spellbook. At a first glance, it seems a little, i don't know, semi-pointless? But if you think about instances like Mount Hyjal, this becomes something a little worth while. With both weapon damage at the same time, you should do a nice bit off aoe damage. Overall though, its not really that much of an improvement to our dps, as i'm pretty sure mages would get annoyed with all the sheeps (or penguins!) you'll be breaking :P
Pros: an aoe, so can't be too bad.
Cons: Energy cost and rediculously long cooldown.
Next we will talk about the talent abilities learnt within the combat talent tree!
Throwing Specialization:Increases the range of Throw and Deadly Throw by 2/4 yards and gives your Deadly Throw a 50/100% chance to interrupt the target for 3 sec.
(2 Ranks)
Requiring 35 points down the combat tree, this actually seems, to me, a bit silly. As far as i can tell, this is mainly a pvp based talent, and won't really help with combat pve very much. In my opinion this would probably be better suited in the subtlety tree, where a majority of pvp based talents are. However i'm sure there isn't much worng with a combat specced pvp rogue :P
Pros: Great for pvp.
Cons: Have yet to determine a proper raiding use for it. (it disrupts, but so does kick.)
Unfair Advantage:Whenever you dodge and attack you gain an Unfair Advantage, increasing your chance to hit by 2/4% and the chance that attacks will miss you by 2/4% for 8 sec.
(2 Ranks)
This, to me, is a must have for both pve and pvp. The extra hit benefits us raiders greatly, and the pvp'ers are going to love both the hit and the dodge increase. Found in the must spend 40 points section, probably the best rogue combat talent to come out of wotlk.
Pros: Extra hit and extra dodge!
Cons: There aren't any... It's a winner! -Unless of course there's some long invisible cooldown on it, however it's still an excellent talent regardless.
Stay Of Execution:When you have less than 35% health, all damage taken is reduced by 5/10/15% and you are treated as if you are at full health.
(3 Ranks)
Found directly opposite Unfair Advantage, costing 40 points to get to, is Stay Of Execution. Regarding it's description, i'd say this is another pvp based talent. However, like they say, a dead rogue does zero DPS, so you decide. It's a personal getback at the warrior's execute, and renders it useless against us. How can they execute when our life is technically full? Pvp frustration fun!
Pros: Warriors and raid bosses alike will be screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!'
Cons: doesn't 'actively' enhance our dps.
Update: Waylander kindly pointed out this handy piece of advice that never crossed my mind: 'If you see the description of "Stay of Execution", you are treated as if in Full Health.
Imo this goes excellent with "Prey on the Weak" since you'll be always treated as if having full HP, then your crit will go up like crazy. Assuming of course that its based on a % basis.'
This would therefore, make Prey on the Weak, and Stay of Execution, and extremely useful combo to have!
Prey On The Weak:Your normal melee critical strike damage is increased by 5/10/15/20/25% when the target has less health than you (as a percentage of total health).
(5 Ranks)
This talent, just like Unfair Advantage, is an incredibly useful talent to have. It has it's advantages in pvp and pve alike. Am i right assuming the second a bosses/opponent's health gets to 99%, and yours is 100%, your crit strike damage gets that increase? If so, this talent is priceless!
Pros: Extra crit strike damage within seconds of a boss/pvp encounter.
Cons: Are there any? -If it's percentage health like the discription, no, but if its actual health (eg 1000, 2000) then fighting a bear druid or a boss with millions of hp would render this useless until the very end! Let's hope it's the first one :P
Murder Spree:Step through the shadows from enemy to enemy within 10 yards, attacking an enemy every .5 secs with both weapons until 5 assaults are made. Can hit the same target multiple times.
(1 Rank, Instant, 2 min Cooldown)
This is the last talent in the combat tree, costing 50 points to reach. At first, i was like 'Oh another pvp talent. Great for 5v5 or crowded rooms in BG's' But upon closer look i realised just how useful this ability could be in pve too! If i'm reading this right, it sounds like an opener, and if, like me, you have a great set of tanks in your guild, you could do this:
First of all, i'd open with garotte. Good old fashioned bleed effects! Then, i'd vanish again, and cast Murder spree. This means that not only have i applied a bleed affect, ive then hit the same target (assuming this is a boss) five times with both my weapons instantly. I can then continure to dps as usual, hoping this wont give off too much initial threat. Now this is assuming that it's a 'from stealth' ability. If it's not, then i'd use it whenever it's cooldown is off, for an extra DPS boost. 'Step through the shadows' on the tooltip would make me presume it's from stealth however.
Pros: Potentually, this could be an excellent addition to the combat raid rotation. However, i have yet to confirm it's energy cost (because surely an ability this good needs one)!
Cons: Possible high energy cost, and the fact that proabaly from stealth means you cannot use it's cooldown of 2mins to it's full potentual.
Well, thats about it folks for the combat tree! To summarise, the talents i strongly suggest you pick for a pve raiding rogue such as myself are:
- Unfair Advantage
- Prey On The Weak
- Murder Spree
- Stay of Execution (as above)
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Legendary Fun -Spam of the week!
Well, i've just started training for my new job and i'm knackered. So here's something to keep you occupied for a few seconds till im recharged and back to blogging! This is a screenie of me with the legendary sword and dagger from the Kael'thas fight!
Awryn
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Listening to your fellows, It's more than worth it!
This here is the result of research, trial and error, and the fantastic advice Crimson gave me. The guy even posted a video on his blog to give me a proper reference to his dps rotation!
As you can see, recently i've come along way with my dps, and it doesnt stop there, a night ago Crim and i were discussing my stats and my gear -I should be on top form from now on!
It's a great feeling from seeing this (this is the dps for the Illidan fight. I might like to add that Toxin did die for a short while on the demon phase due to a demon killing him off, and he was infact higher at that point) and Shaerix, my girlfriend, also did outstanding dps too! Congrats her!
Once more, a big huge thankyou to Crimson, for his efforts to help me, and his great advice.
Thank you!
His video can be found here, on his blog here
Awryn
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
For the chopping block?
There's rumours of a sort-out in the guild. Apparantly the under-performers are to be either told off, or kicked. Wether this info is correct, i don't know, but it makes sense.
You can't have these types of people in an endgame raiding guild. It's not fair on those giving it their all!
Unfortunately, this spells bad news for me! -My dps is rediculously low, and ive still to replace my t4 helm, so my gear is still a little out-dated.
Today i plan to attack the rogue forums and leave a bit of a QQ comment asking people to tell me where im going wrong! I need to make my dps improve or i could be out!
Awryn
You can't have these types of people in an endgame raiding guild. It's not fair on those giving it their all!
Unfortunately, this spells bad news for me! -My dps is rediculously low, and ive still to replace my t4 helm, so my gear is still a little out-dated.
Today i plan to attack the rogue forums and leave a bit of a QQ comment asking people to tell me where im going wrong! I need to make my dps improve or i could be out!
Awryn
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Efforts Must Be Doubled!
With Wrath of the Lich King looming over us (WoW insider stated Blizzard's announced dates were sometime in Oct-Sept) it makes me a little apprihensive.
A new expansion brings new areas to explore, new items to work towards, a new amount of gold to save for the new mounts and proffessions.
So i've started to compile a list of things to do to work up to the expansion. It's similar to my other list, but more looking towards a new beginning, rather than before an end.
Awryn
A new expansion brings new areas to explore, new items to work towards, a new amount of gold to save for the new mounts and proffessions.
So i've started to compile a list of things to do to work up to the expansion. It's similar to my other list, but more looking towards a new beginning, rather than before an end.
- With inscription requiring herbs, now's the best time to pick them. I'm creating a bank charracter with loads of bags, and im going to fill it with herbs from every level. This, hopefully, should give me a huge income at the beginning of WotLK.
- Achevements! The new expansion brings an achevement system, and i'm a sucker for things like this. I'll be pre-completing the list of beta achievements i've stumbled across on a WotLK beta site.
- Reputations will be something i also work on. It might be a lot easier to come back and do it, but it's much more of a challenge if i handle it now. Something that could be fun to look back on! -This is also going to be a factor in the achievements department!
- I'll also be running around exploring all the places ive never been to, the instances iv'e never completed, and pestering the guild to show me these retro raids i've missed out on!
Awryn
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