WoW Cheats

Blizzard has put in a ton of new rogue loot, and really pulled out all of the stops. Read on for a list of all the gear you’ll be able to acquire in these first few weeks of our final confrontation against the Lich King.

Weapons:

I’m going to start with weapons first, because as I’ve said a thousand times, a rogue is his/her weapons. You’ll notice that Blizzard has tended to keep items of the same type dropping from the same boss/dungeon, this will make it easy to decide which 5-man you want to run to round out your gear.

In the dagger department, we can find a pair of slow daggers and a pair of fast daggers on the new 5-man dungeon loot lists. Heartshiver (normal Forge of Souls) and Blood Weeper (heroic Forge of Souls) are the slow daggers, which make great MH options. For your OH, which absolutely needs to be as fast as possible due to the new Deadly Poison mechanics, you can pick up Krick’s Beetle Stabber (normal Pit of Saron) or the Unsharpened Ice Razor (heroic 5 man trash).

My 5-man group found an Unsharpened Ice Razor on our first playthrough, as well as several other trash epics. It looks like the drop rates of trash epics in these dungeons is fairly high. We also found the fist weapon named Seven-Fingered Claws, which is a viable MH option for a Combat rogue using Close Quarters Combat for their weapon specialization. There weren’t any great maces, so it looks like Blizzard has decided to phase them out of the 5-man loot table.

There are two new swords added in ICC’s 5 mans, the slow-so-MH Ghoulslicer (normal Halls of Reflection) and the speedy Liar’s Tongue (heroic Halls of Reflection). While Liar’s Tongue is fairly potent and ilvl 232, the Ghoulslicer is a lowly level 219. Lucky for us, Blizzard also added two axes for rogue usage. In normal Halls of Reflection, you can find a Hate-Forge Cleaver, but it’s still only an item level 219. To find a great companion weapon to Liar’s Tongue, see if you can score a Nighttime, a slow axe that will suit your Hack and Slash spec perfectly. The Godfather of Souls keeps this axe in the heroic version Forge of Souls.

The Godfather also holds onto the only thrown weapon I could find, but a great one: Papa’s Brand New Knife. With Mutilate rogues loving Haste and Attack Power in light of the recent changes, this is perfectly itemized for them. Now if you want to steal a bow like the Crypt Fiend Slayer or the crossbow named Felglacier Bolter, go right ahead, but expect resistance from the hunters in your group.

Jewelry:

Once you start raiding Icecrown Citadel, you’ll gain access to the Ashen Verdict’s reputation rings. These work similar to Karazhan’s rings, so you will get an upgraded version at higher reputations. The starter band at ‘Friendly’, the Ashen Band of Vengeance, is very potent with its hit rating (hard to find in ICC) and high item level. Make sure to watch your reputation and pick this one up quickly. There are also two rings from the new dungeons, the Band of Stained Souls (heroic Pit of Saron) and the Ring of Carnelian and Bone (normal Pit of Saron). While we’re at it, Garfrost in the heroic Pit of Saron also holds a great necklace, the Barbed Ymirheim Choker. It’s not as good as the Onyxia quest reward, the Sparking Onyxia Tooth Pendant, but not bad nonetheless.

The real draw of the new loot tables are the pair of amazing trinkets available. The Needle-Encrusted Scorpion, which drops from heroic Forge of Souls, is basically a slightly upgraded version of the ubiquitous Mjolnir Runestone. With its Armor Penetration proc, it will allow for any rogue capable of running a simple heroic dungeon with the ability to soft cap their ArPen. Unfortunately, this trinket comes at a time where Combat is 2nd place on the rogue charts, and Mutilate rogues can safely ignore ArPen from their stat list.

The other available trinket, the Herkuml War Token, doesn’t even make you rely on luck! This one can be purchased with 60 Emblems of Frost, and is incredibly potent. The 153 Haste is great as is, but 340 Attack Power after a short build-up period makes this trinket a no brainer. I expect many rogues to make this their first Emblem purchase, especially if they weren’t lucky enough to score a Death’s Choice from ToC25, as ToC didn’t really have any other amazing melee trinkets.

Armor:

Between heroic gear, normal mode items, and the awesome Emblem of Frost leather, there’s nearly a piece for every slot. Take chest pieces for example: between Blackened Geist Ribs (normal HoR), Choking Hauberk (heroic HoR), and the 95-Emblem Shadow Seeker’s Tunic, you can truly move from ‘okay gear’ to ‘top-shelf epics’ while only doing new content. Note that the Emblem items in ICC are fairly expensive, this is offset by the fact that there are many more bosses in ToC than there are in Icecrown, and with the 4-week gating periods between bosses, you’ll have plenty of time to farm Emblems of Frost.

If you need new gloves, you can get a pair from normal HoR via the Carpal Tunnelers (a great pun!), though the Cat Burglar’s Grips (via 60 Emblems) are quite superior. If you need a new belt, for another 60 Emblems, the Vengeful Noose is waiting for you. An amazing cloak can be scored via 50 Emblems, the Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape. Due to a lack of really great capes outside of hard mode content in the last couple of patches, I see this as another great choice for an early Emblem purchase. If you’re trying to conserve, there’s also the Accursed Crawling Cape from normal Forge of Souls to tide you over.

If you’re looking for a pair of shoulders, you can find Bewildering Shoulders (normal FoS) and Spaulders of Black Betrayal (heroic HoR) in the 5 man dungeons. There’s also some great Shaggy Wyrmleather Leggings from normal PoS and Fleshwerk Leggings from the heroic version of PoS. Also consider using your old Emblems of Triumph to score a piece of T9 if you’re having bad luck with either of these drops.

There’s only helmet, the Frayed Scoundrel’s Cap from heroic FoS (from the same boss that drops the ArP trinket) that is perfectly itemized for a Mutilate rogue. For boots, you can find Blighted Leather Footpads in the heroic Halls of Reflection after escaping Arthas, though there was also a great pair that dropped from Icehowl in ToC10. Finally, you can also score a decent pair of bracers from the heroic Pit of Saron, and Chewed Leather Wristguards have hit on them too. Hit has become a scarce stat in ICC, and so be sure to evaluate where your hit chance is when considering items and upgrades.

Tier 10: Shadowblade Battlegear:

Our new set, Shadowblade Battlegear, is again purchasable through Emblems alone. The cost has gone up greatly from the Argent Tournament, but so have the set bonuses. The 2 piece bonus is effectively 30 energy a minute, in addition to making it easier to throw out Tricks of the Trade to the raid for a damage boost. With the 2 piece bonus, and the new ruptureless Mutilate builds’ viability, the Tricks of the Trade glyph may even become a standard. The 4 piece bonus isn’t too shabby either, though it remains to be seen exactly how valuable it can be. With an even mix of stats across each piece of the set, we see that there’s only one item with hit rating: Shadowblade Pauldrons. I would recommend moving to 2 pieces of Tier 10 as soon as it is feasible for you, though be sure to compare your gear in a spreadsheet before making that leap. This new gear costs so many emblems that you really don’t want to be wasting them on a piece you’ll replace quickly.

Conclusion:

With so much new gear, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. I would suggest finding your weakest pieces (by stats or by ilvl) and focus on where you can replace those pieces first, and then see what drops as you start to run the 5 mans. There will be a lot of interest in these dungeons over the next few weeks, and with Tricks of the Trade and Kick to offer, rogues will be very popular DPS classes to invite. Be warned, these dungeons are a serious step up in difficulty from what you’re used to, and they make ToC look easy.

Your goal is firmly in sight: your rogue is ready to being his or her assault upon the Lich King’s lands. With only a fleeting few levels between you and the level cap, these last few minutes are among the most important in your rogue’s development. With nearly every trick available and our DPS rotations fleshed out, your rogue will be feeling more and more like the level 80 you are about to become.

All three talent trees are fairly viable for leveling, and so this is by far the most flexible period of the leveling process. As I mentioned in the last installment, experimenting with different specs, rotations, and playstyles will only become harder and harder to do once you reach level 80. During these important formative levels, max out your respect costs and give every build a fair shake. You’ll be a better rogue for it in the end.

New abilities:
While there’s only really two new moves between level 71 and level 80, one of our earliest spells gets a complete makeover. Feint, which we learn at level 16, finally becomes the spell we always knew it could be. If used, it reduces all AoE damage that a rogue will take for 6 seconds. This spell alone will save you a hundred times while raiding, as there is plenty of AoE damage being thrown around. You won’t pick up Rank 8 (the version with the bonus) until level 78, but be sure to use it in any dungeons you explore while leveling up.

Prior to that, you’ll be receiving one of, in my opinion, our “signature moves”. Tricks of the Trade is our threat redirection / damage boost combo, which sees extensive use in both PvE and PvP. In a raid or dungeon environment, it becomes the tank’s best friend, and can really make your dungeon experiences much smoother. In certain fights where DPS gain significant buffs (like Hodir), Tricks of the Trade is crucial to a tank being able to maintain aggro on a mob. It can even be a DPS buff to share with another rogue during “burst phases” of certain fights. Tossing this to your partner in PvP can often be enough to score a kill, as the damage bonus is significant.

One of the reasons I see TotT as so integral to the WotLK rogue is its integration into the new T10 set. The 2 piece set bonus makes TotT yield energy instead of costing it, resulting in a significant DPS boost for everyone involved. We want to cast it more often, it allows more threat to be redirected due to increased energy, and it results in a higher uptime on friendly DPS classes. Imagine it as a poor level 80’s Renataki’s Charm of Trickery: pop it when you’re low on energy to give you just enough juice to extend that stunlock a few more seconds.

If you’re leveling with a partner (either a tank or DPS), be sure to toss them TotT every time it’s up. It takes the pressure off of you for incoming damage (and rogues are pretty frail in that regard) and boosts their damage, making the entire leveling process much quicker. You can check out my guide to macros to find a great TotT macro that will let you set it to an easy keybind and forget about targeting someone to cast it on.

The final move a rogue receives on their journey is also their just reward for reaching level 80. Fan of Knives has become a true game-changer for the way that rogues play. We’re no longer relegated to throwing grenades or making campfires in the back of the raid during AoE phases. Fan of Knives has been one of the top AoE abilities in the game today due to its unique scaling and properties. If you want to learn more about this ability, I wrote a full article dedicated to all of its intricacies. Let it suffice to say that if it weren’t for FoK, rogues would be nowhere near our current spot at the top 10% of the damage meters. Yogg+0 and Anub’Arak hard mode are two fights where FoK simply outshines every competitor, and resulted in both world first kills of the last two “end bosses” seeing rogues at the top of the meters.

Posterity:
While I strongly recommend you go crazy experimenting with specs while leveling, I would also caution you that due to the repetition of leveling and grinding, bad habits will eventually work their way into your subconscious. If you start letting Slice and Dice drop while you’re farming the Scourge, it will work against you later, when it’s actually pretty important. Start reading up on raiding rotations and playstyles, and try mimicking those as much as possible.

If you’re playing as Mutilate, it’s a great time to work on keeping Hunger for Blood up full time, while trying to maintain a good Slice and Dice uptime via Cut to the Chase + Envenom or Eviscerate. As Combat, keeping Slice and Dice up full time should be your goal, while also using your cooldowns wisely to take out 2+ mobs when Blade Flurry is available and destroying elites with Evasion and Killing Spree. Subtlety rogues should be looking out to also keep Slice and Dice up (I told you it was our most important ability!) and keeping the Hemorrhage debuff active while also using good energy management to maximize your finishers.

By doing the little things like keeping the right poison on both weapons, using the right gems (even if they’re just green quality), and starting to work on your end game rotations, you’ll be building the foundation for a long and prosperous life as a rogue. Take pride in your achievement of nearing level 80, and focus on refining your playstyle to the point that it becomes second nature. I talked about a few combat opener / sequences last time, and finding out how to go from an opener to a dead opponent in the most efficient way should be your objective.

Reputations:
While this will certainly change once Cataclysm is released, the message is still relevant today: focus on reputation quest hubs. There’s several reputations you’ll want access to once you hit level 80, and working on their quests while they still give experience is simply making them twice as awesome. The Sons of Hodir are key for their shoulder enchants (and decent starting weapons), while the Knights of the Ebon Blade will sell you a great helm enchant if you perform enough of their dirty deeds. Anything that you can do while leveling to give you an easier time at level 80 is like pure gold.

Level 70 gear:
One last tip for the leveling rogue, you can often find level 70 gear that players had stashed in their banks available on the AH for mere fractions of their original price. Level 70 BoE gear, epic gems, and consumables will greatly increase your leveling speed, so check the AH for any relics from level 70 that are left over that you can score for yourself. I find that the old DPS flasks and BoE level 70 blues are typically only a few gold total, which should be affordable with all of the questing and grinding you’ve been doing.

Conclusion:
I know that many of you are already level 80, and you’re interested in reading about the things that are affecting us now. However, there are still a ton of rogues that are leveling up, and we honestly need the fresh blood as the “great rogue to death knight reroll exodus” of WotLK left us pretty decimated. Look at the bright side, you won’t have to read another leveling column until Cataclysm! To those rogues who are just entering the fold at level 80, we welcome you with open arms, and we look forward to stabbing those cursed cloth-wearers and praying for Armor Penetration trinkets at your side.

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