Restoration Shaman – PVE Healing Jin’Do the Godbreaker

Now that you’ve killed the other four bosses, your party will be able to move into the area where Jin’Do resides.  If you haven’t done so yet, it is useful to kill Gub who is on a bridge on the way to Jin’Do.  If anyone in your group has to run back in from the start, the easiest way is to run through the starting area and go left along Gub’s bridge.

Before the Fight

Your group should kill the two big adds, called Gurubashi Spirit Warriors, on the stairs leading up to the Jin’Do boss platform.  These will do the Body Slam technique giving you a foretaste of the boss mechanic.  The mobs will leave a void zone, which doubles the damage taken by any player or mob in the zone.

It looks like a large dark purple-black circle on the floor.  It increases damage taken by any party member or enemy by 100%.  If the tank can position mobs in the void zone without standing in it, they will go down quicker.  Some low health spirit adds may also spawn from the void zone.  They should be killed quickly.

Jin’Do the Godbreaker – Phase One

The Jin’Do fight occurs in two phases.  The first phase is deceptively easy.  Jin’Do is in the real world in this phase and the tank can start anywhere while the dps hit him.

Jin’Do will then cast a Deadzone, which looks a lot like a death knight’s Anti-Magic Zone ability.  When players stand in it, it reduced magic damage.  It also greatly increases casting time.

After Jin’Do casts Deadzone, he will then cast Shadows of Hakkar.  The entire group will need to be in the Deadzone to survive the Shadows of Hakkar.  Jin’Do should not stay in the Deadzone with the players.

Jin’Do the Godbreaker – Phase Two

After a while, Jin’Do will shift to the spirit world.  The fight becomes much harder here, especially for healers who have a hard time healing on the run, such as restoration shamans.

You will see three chains.  The chains are attached to the spirit of Hakkar who is trapped on the platform.  To defeat Jin’Do, the group will have to break the three chains.

The chains shouldn’t be attacked until one of the Gurubashi Spirit Warriors uses a Body Slam on the player standing on the chain.  The tank will need to pick up a Spirit and bring him to the platform.  The Spirit will target a random player for his Body Slam.  If each player is by a chain, the Spirit will be tricked into Body Slamming the chain.  He will also leave a void zone which will cause damage to anyone who stands in it and will thereby increase the damage done to the chain by 100%.

The chain should then be attacked.  All dps players need break the chain as quickly as possible.  Melee dps can stay out of the void zone if possible until it fades, otherwise they will need some extra healing, and the ranged dps assigned to focus on the Twisted Spirits will need to keep at it, so they don’t overwhelm the healer.

The hard part about the fight for the healer is the Twisted Spirits.  They have low health but their numbers increase as the fight goes on, which can quickly overwhelm the group.  These need to be killed as quickly as possible.  It’s useful to have one or two ranged dps on the Twisted Spirits to protect the healer. The healer should stay close to the tank so he can grab aggro on the Twisted Spirits should they not be killed fast enough.

The last mechanic to be aware of is Shadow Spike.  A white circle will appear where a player is standing.  The player needs to move or they will take a lot of damage.  If you are trying to stay close to a chain – as you should be – avoid the Shadow Spike by moving around the chain rather than strafing away.

Healing Tips

The tank will be moving a lot throughout this fight but he shouldn’t be taking loads of damage.  Try to stay within range of him while maintaining your position near a chain that still needs to be Bodyslammed and avoiding the Shadow Spike.

There will be a lot of damage for the party in Phase 2.  People be hurt from the Body Slam, they might get hit from a Shadow Spike or damaged from the Twisted Spirits.  There are a few line of sight and range issues with some low walls in the boss area, so be aware both for healing and for running – if you’re stuck, you’re probably running against a low wall.

Surviving the Twisted Spirits

This is the key for a healer.  The Twisted Spirits must be killed quickly by one or two ranged dps.  The quicker they are killed, the easier the fight is.

About the time the third chain is going to go down, the Twisted Spirits may become overwhelming.   Do everything you can to stay alive.  Hopefully, your ranged dps will be killing them and slowing them so you can keep healing.

During the hardest part of the fight, everyone should use their cooldowns, healthstones, potions, and every possible trick to survive and get the last chain down.

Healing the Jin’Do Fight as a Restoration Shaman

This fight is very hard for restoration shamans.  However, we have a few tricks that can help us survive, even if our ranged dps players aren’t keeping the Twisted Spirits off us well enough.

Resto shamans wear mail armor and usually carry a shield.  That means we can take some more damage than our cloth and leather wearing counterparts.  Don’t panic if you have a few Twisted Spirits on you.

Have your Elementals ready to go.  The Earth Elemental is particularly good at protecting you until the Twisted Spirits overwhelm him.  The Fire Elemental works pretty well too.  If you can wait to use either – or both – of them until the last chain needs to go down, you can stand in position near the chain and place the totems to protect you while you heal.

Other useful totems are the Spirit Link Totem to help evenly distribute health and the Earthbind Totem to slow the Twisted Spirits.  The Stoneclaw Totem, if it is glyphed, will also provide added protection to help you survive.

Healing on the run is key here.  Use Earthshield on yourself if you need it or on the tank so you can run and leave him with some extra heals.  Nature’s Swiftness provides an instant heal and Spiritwalker’s Grace allows you to heal while moving.  Don’t forget Riptide and Unleash Elements for more healing and running.

Save Bloodlust/Heroism for the last chain.  It will help you heal faster and assist the dps in taking the last chain down.  If you are overwhelmed with Twisted Spirits and there is one chain left to go, use your Ankh to resurrect yourself and help the group finish free Hakkar.

Once you are done, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you’ve completed Zul’Gurub.  It’s significantly harder than the other Cataclysm heroics and comparable in difficulty to Zul’Aman.

Stoic Dwarves of ironforge are believed as rugged humanoids in ancient race. They live beneath the snow-capped mountains of khaz modan and always been found as a quick allies of human (maybe because of somewhat related forms) which revel their prospects of battle. The dwarves have undergone a remarkable evolution in past ages that is because a new found uncovered fragments of their ancient origin.

When battle call they rise to defend their friends and allies with an overwhelming valor and courage. Some of them left the security of their mountain fortresses for an all – out –war. Rumor has it that the discoveries of dwarves are created by the mighty titans from a stone when the world was young. Instinct tells them that they must find their proof of their existence from the titan’s hidden legacies. With this reason, the dwarves have sent out their troops in all parts of the world to know their past. The journey they meet has led to excavation sites some of which serve as a hideout and some as a good source of food and living.

The people of stormwind give up to lordaeron from the first war of humans and orcs. When the orcs pass a dark portal, the dwarves of ironforge and the wildhammers of aerie peak forms an alliance with them. As a result, the gryphon riders turned out to be a stronger in the battle.

The dwarves in a form of alliance can bring their courage and strength in a battle with classes that you could choose from: priest, paladin, hunter, paladin and warrior. From their home city they could mount battle rams and gryphons. They could use the following:

-          Frost resistance: Cold resistance + 10.

-          Gun Specialization: Gun skill + 5.

-          Stoneform:  If activated can be immune to poison, disease, and bleed with a plus of 5 % bonus but can reduce the speed to 70 %. It can last 20 seconds and has a cool down of 3 min.

-          Treasure Finding: If activated can see treasure chest in mini map. It can last until you cancel and has no cool down.

With patch 4.0.6 out I would like to delve into some viable Subtlety and Assassination pvp builds and highlight the differences in play style between the two trees, primarily focusing on rotations, stat priorities, glyphs, pros and cons of each build, and the impact the patch has had.   

Prior to Cata coming out we saw Assassination as pretty much the only viable choice for pvp. Now in Cata with major talent tree changes we see Subtlety rise as a pvp contender. In the latest patch (4.0.6) Subtlety received a much needed damage boost and a slight utility nerf, while Assassination remained untouched (see Rogue Patch 4.0.6 Changes post). This change has made Subtlety competitive as a sustained damage dealer (but still substantially lower than Assassination) closing the gap between Assassination and Subtlety dps.   

Personally I prefer to play Subtlety as I believe its mobility and utility far outweighs Assassination’s sustained damage advantage. The current mobility state of Assassination is terrible. Assassination rogues are very exposed to kiting from classes such as hunters and mages and really only have sprint as a gap closer. Until mobility is addressed I will be sticking to Subtlety.

Subtlety

Subtlety is an opener build that relies heavily on burst damage through abilities like Find Weakness and Shadow Dance and also cooldown usage to keep opponents controlled. It is regarded as the most challenging build to master due to its positional dependency (must be behind target to Backstab, Ambush, Garrote), its reliance on going in and out of stealth and its rotationless playstyle. But once mastered, it should be the preferred choice as it is really the only build of any sort of utility and mobility. Things such as  Gouge not breaking on your bleeds; using Shadowstep to easily stick to opponents and secure CC, and Shadow Dance effectively locking down opponents, not to mention having Preparation readily available is what makes Subtlety so attractive. There are two variations of Subtlety pvp builds that I have played around with.   

Subtlety Build 1 - 8/2/31   

Essential talents   

Secondary talents (handy talents to have)   

This build is regarded as the current cookie-cutter Subtlety level 85 pvp build. It skips Serrated Blades and Enveloping Shadows which are very lackluster in pvp.  Initiative  and Waylay are also rarely choosen by most rogues as other talents are more preferable and most rogues consider Waylay to be overkill when confident with their Crippling poison application.   

1 point is usually placed in HaT for the 5% crit buff and combo point generation (be wary when switching targets however). Sanguinary Vein is also recommended mainly for allowing Gouge not to break during bleeds. Cheat Death can regularly mean the difference between victory and death and has saved me countless times.   

The speed and healing buff from Quickening is the target in the Assassination tree. 3/3 Lethality and 2/3 Coup de Grace is your best option (dps wise) to get to Quickening and then put the remaining point into Puncturing Wounds for an increase in crit chance on your Backstab.   

Subtlety build 2 – 0/10/31   

Essential talents 
Secondary talents (handy talents to have)

This is the build I am currently playing and one which focuses on secondary talents from the Combat tree. The aim is to get to Improved Sprint in the Combat tree to enhance your mobility even further, making you virtually unkiteable. Once again Improved Recuperate  is taken and is pretty much a must have pvp talent for all pvp builds. A single point here is equivalent to over 300 resilience and the heal over time it grants is awesome, healing you for around 6K per tick with buffs! I find Precision coupled with the Glyph of Crippling Poison a handy talent in maintaining Crippling poison on my target. Aggression provides a nice dps increase on your Backstab and Eviscerate making it a good alternative to Lethality in the Assassination tree.

Assassination

Assassination is a build that has potent sustained damage. It is all about offensive pressure, utilizing your stuns, bleeds and poisons to chip away at an opponent until they’re dead. While being able to hit like a truck, the build has a big problem with mobility. Assassination rogues are therefore very susceptible to kiting and you will often find it hard to reach and stay on your target.

Assassination build – 31/2/8

As stated above this build is all about offensive pressure on your target. Realistically you could allocate points anywhere within this tree except Deadly Momentum and Murderous Intent. Skipping Cut to the Chase and Improved Exposed Armor is also recommended as they are weak talents when compared  to awesome Subtlety talents like Relentless Strikes and Opportunity. One modification to this build is to sacrifice the dps gain from Opportunity for the survivability that Elusiveness provides, but this is personal preference (also remember that Elusiveness received a nerf in 4.0.6). 

Subtlety stat priority, rotation, poisons and glyphs

Priority: 5% hit cap > Agility >Haste > Mastery > Crit

As with all rogue builds, agility is your priority stat. Haste is great for your energy regen and you should reforge crit or mastery to haste where possible. Mastery is a weak stat for Subtlety but make sure its at 10 for the Slice n Dice buff (2% faster attack speed vs 4.0.3 if you have 10 mastery) if you do make regular use of Slice n Dice in your rotation (but most Sub rogues rarely use it).

Rotation: 

As far as rotations go, there is no standard Subtlety rotation. Another reason why a Subtlety pvp build can be challenging to master. Depending on the target and their current level of hp I more often than not open with Garrote (which i have macroed with Premeditation), then always Shiv (unless I am going to use Kidney Shot), then hit Hemo, followed by Rupture. I rarely open with Cheap shot or Ambush because bleeds is what Subtlety rogues excel in so having Garotte and Rupture up is key. Furthermore opening with Garrote ignores armor and silences your target, an effect which can be extended with the Glyph of Garrote. I tend to leave Ambush for when I hit Shadow Dance or when my opponent is very low on hp.  

If I intend to use Shadow Dance on a target, I will usually use Kidney Shot instead of Shiv, and follow with up to 3 Ambushes and either Evicerate if they are almost dead else hit Rupture. 

After a 4-5 point Rupture, you can either apply a Backstab, get Recuperate up, then continue backstabbing until u need to refresh Recuperate, Hemo or Rupture. Or u can Vanish, Recuperate and Backstab.

After your initial attack on your opponent ensure that you keep Recuperate up at all times. Slice n Dice I rarely use and only really get up when I have a spare combo point handy.

Poisons to use: 

Wound Poison main hand, Crippling Poison off hand. Crippling Poison thrown. You can also try and use Wound Poison or Mind Numbing Poison on your off hand if you have specced in Waylay and are confident in its use.

Glyphs:

The Prime Glyphs I currently use include:

• Glyph of Haemorrhage
• Glyph of Backstab
• Glyph of Rupture (I grabbed this glyph over the recommended Glyph of Shadow Dance purely for testing)

Glyph of Slice n Dice may also prove to be an option with the buff to Slice n Dice in 4.0.6.

There are a lot of options when it comes to major glyphs. The ones I currently use include:

• Glyph of Garrote
• Glyph of Blind
• Glyph of Crippling Poison (recently replaced Glyph of Gouge with this glyph for testing purposes)

Glyph of Preparation is considered as mandatory for Subtlety PVP builds and I will probably end up swapping it back in for one of my current glyphs after some more testing. Glyph of Cloak of Shadows is also a viable option if u can afford to replace an existing one. 

Assassination stat priority, rotation, poisons and glyphs

Priority: 5% hit cap > Agility > Mastery >= Spell Penetration > Haste > Crit 

Mastery is actually an awesome stat for Assassination. The increase in poison damage that it provides outweighs the benefits of other stats like Haste and Crit.

Why Spell Pen you may ask? Well if you are an Assassination rogue you rely on poisons for a large portion of your damage. You will therefore want around 120 Spell Pen to cut through resistances which reduce your poison damage.

Rotation: Assassination is much easier to play than Subtlety. Your standard rotation includes either Garrote or Cheap shot (usually Garrote for the bleed and 5 second silence if glyphed), Mutilate and then either Kidney Shot or Rupture at 4-5 combo points (Rupture is usually used for Venomous Wounds energy procs). Then Mutilate, get Slice n Dice up, Envenom at 4-5 combo points if Rupture and SnD is still up. Only use Recuperate when you really need it as it has no regen benefits like the ones provided in a Subtlety build. 

Poisons to use: 

Instant Poison main hand, Deadly Poison off hand. Wound Poison or Mind Numbing Poison thrown.

Glyphs:

The Prime Glyphs I used for Assassination:

• Glyph of Rupture
• Glyph of Mutilate
• Glyph of Vendetta

Glyph of Slice n Dice is also a great option and should be used if you took Cut to the Chase. 

Major Glyphs include:

• Glyph of Blind (Mandatory for Assassination)

Glyph of Garrote, Glyph of Gouge, and Glyph of Cloak of Shadows are other popular Assassination Major Glyphs. 

Final note

As we can see Assassination and Subtlety are two rogue builds that have very different playstyles. Some players like the easier playstyle of Assassination where you stun and wear down your opponent with superior sustained damage. Others prefer the more challenging Subtlety playstyle with its high mobility and vast array of tricks. If you are mostly running battlegrounds I recommend using Subtlety as you won’t have a dedicated cleanser and you will get very frustrated from being kited constantly. For arenas you may want to use Assassination in 2v2 if paired with a healer for the heavy pressure that will be needed to down your opponent. However in 3v3 Subtlety will be your best bet due to its superior utility. At the end of the day pick the build that suits you most, and the build that you enjoy playing.

Patch 4.0.6 has been announced and so since it is just around the corner here is your quick guide to the patch changes for a rogue. First of all you can view the full list of changes in patch 4.0.6 here. In the patch notes blue poster and community manager Zarhym details all the major updates that come with patch 4.0.6 that are currently being tested on the Public Test Realm (PTR) as we speak.

The latest changes on these patch notes include:

• Combat Readiness now lasts for 20 seconds, down from 30 seconds, but the Combat Insight stacking buff lasts 10 seconds, up from 6 seconds.

• Smoke Bomb now lasts for 5 seconds, down from 10 seconds.

• Talent Specializations

  • Combat

  • Main Gauche (Mastery) now provides a chance to deal an attack for 75% of main-hand damage. This attack can trigger Combat Potency.

  • Revealing Strike now increases finisher effectiveness by 35% (45% glyphed), up from 20% (30% glyphed).

These patch notes are being updated and changed regularly so keep an eye on them closely as this information could vary. It looks like combat rogues can still expect to see a good buffing in the next patch to help give higher value to their mastery and Revealing Strike ability. This should also make combat rogues slightly more powerful to bring them even closer to Mutilate specs in raiding which should be good news for those rogues out there that are currently struggling to keep their combat build in raids. Do not worry however, this is not the full list of changes pertaining to rogues, Subtlety rogues are also getting a big boost to their mastery and specialisations in the next patch.

All Rogue Changes in Patch 4.0.6

The full list of rogue specific changes are:

• Blind now has a PvP duration of 8 seconds.
• Glyph of Garrote now increases the duration of Garrote by 1.5 seconds, down from 2.
• Combat Readiness now lasts for 20 seconds, down from 30 seconds, but the Combat Insight stacking buff lasts 10 seconds, up from 6 seconds.
• Crippling Poison now has a PvP duration of 8 seconds.
• Garrote now costs 45 Energy, down from 50.
• Sap now has a PvP duration of 8 seconds.
• Smoke Bomb now lasts for 5 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
• Stealth is no longer broken by enemies using Demoralizing Shout or Demoralizing Roar
• Talent Specializations

Assassination

• Deadly Momentum critical strike bonus now lasts for 15 seconds, up from 10.

Combat

 

• Blade Flurry is now a toggle that can be turned off by pressing the button again. In addition, this ability no longer has a fixed duration, but will go on cool down for 10 seconds after being canceled (similar to Stealth).

• Main Gauche (Mastery) now provides a chance to deal an attack for 100% of main-hand damage. This attack can trigger Combat Potency.

• Restless Blades now also reduces the cool down of Redirect.

• Revealing Strike now increases finisher effectiveness by 35% (45% glyphed), up from 20% (30% glyphed).

• Vitality now increases attack power by 25%, up from 20%.

Subtlety

 

• Elusiveness now reduces the cool down of Cloak of Shadows by 10/20 seconds, down from 15/30 seconds.

• Executioner (Mastery) has been increased from 2% to 2.5% per point.

• Find Weakness now grants 35/70% armor reduction, up from 25/50%.

• Preparation no longer resets the cool down of Evasion.

• Sanguinary Vein now gives a rogue a 50/100% chance for their own Bleed effects to not break their Gouge.

• Shadowstep’s cool down has been increased to 24 seconds, up from 20 seconds.

• Sinister Calling now grants 30% Agility, up from 25%, and increases Backstab and Hemorrhage damage by an additional 40%, up from 25%.

   

Glyphs

• Glyph of Garrote now increases the duration of Garrote by 1.5 seconds, down from 2.

As you can see there are plenty of rogue changes to get your teeth stuck into and you can expect new EP values for both Combat and Subtlety builds when this patch is released. In addition, more DPS testing will need to be undertaken to re-determine the value of abilities and compare these raiding builds accurately once again. It looks like only Mutilate has been left relatively alone in this next patch as Blizzard seem to be very content with that build as it is for now. The Garrote ability and glyph however that many  Mutilate players favour has been modified to be slightly more beneficial.

Non-Rogue Specific Changes

A few non-rogue specific changes also caught my eye in the next patch 4.0.6 that could have an indirect affect on rogues. First of all sockets are being added to all crafted epic items that do not already have one. That means the [Belt of Nefarious Whispers] will get a much needed extra socket in the next patch (/cheer).

Most strikingly though is that changes to Meta Gems, not only are we seeing the Meta Gems finally get fixed in Patch 4.0.6 to requires 3 red gems instead of more blue gems than red making them wholly viable again to use but the Patch is also bringing a few entirely new meta gems with it. The Agile Shadowspirit Diamond will be the traditional blend of Agility and 3% increased critical strike damage making the perfect bed mate for rogues of all builds.

There are also 3 new enchants available, one of which increases Agility by 50 which is rumoured to be a bracer enchant so this could very well become the best bracer enchant in Patch 4.0.6 easily replacing 65 Haste.

Finally the [Left eye of Rajh] has had it’s chance to trigger increased meaning a higher up time and a higher EP value making it even more powerful than it was before. For combat rogues it was already very powerful but Mutilate rogues may see it rise slightly in their table above the Halfus trinket [Essence of the Cyclone].

Maximising your DPS first starts with knowing your class inside out including talent builds, glyphs and reforging. In addition to this you may also wish to make sure you have the very best enchants and gems in your rogue’s gear as well as the best buff food and flasks at your disposal. All of these things add up to great DPS for your rogue if done correctly.

Gemming

The following is the general rule of thumb for gemming your rogue’s gear according to the socket colour:

Red Sockets: [Delicate Inferno Ruby] or [Delicate Chimera's Eye] (JC Only)
Yellow Sockets: [Deft Ember Topaz] (Combat, Subtlety) or [Adept Ember Topaz] (Mutilate)
Blue Sockets: [Glinting Demonseye]
Meta Socket: [Thundering Skyflare Diamond] (temporary) [Chaotic Shadowspirit Diamond] (when fixed)

For any remaining hit or expertise required use reforging and gear to obtain these values. You may wish to ignore socket bonuses in some cases and use only [Delicate Inferno Ruby] instead in some of your gear items. To work out if this would be a benefit or a loss use the rogue EP values to determine the value of the gems with or without the socket bonus. Whether or not a socket bonus will be worth it is different with each individual gear item.

Consumables

Flasks – [Flask of the Winds]
Make sure you always have a flask active on your rogue during raiding. They persist through death and provide the best stats in the game so even though they may seem expensive at the moment compared to elixirs they are definitely worth the cost. If you guild has the appropriate achievement you may be able to use a Cauldron for raids instead which will provide the same flask.

Food - [Skewered Eel]
Always bring your own food with you to raids and ensure it is 90 Agility and not 60. Even if your raid leader provides equivalent feasts, you may not always get the feast throughout your raid especially if you die on your own on trash.

Potions – [Potion of the Tol'vir]
This potion can be used once during a raid encounter instead of a health potion. This potion will maximise your DPS during burn phases and should be timed with Heroism/Bloodlust/Timewarp wherever possible to get the most benefit.

Scrolls – None
Scrolls are weak compared to other buffs and do not stack with Kings/GotW. They therefore have no use in raids.

Drums – [Drums of Forgotten Kings]
If your raid does not have a Druid or a Paladin present you may wish to consider using these drums to give your raid an extra buff. However, if a druid or paladin is present these drums should not be used at all as they are inferior to the actual class buffs.

Enchants

This is a full comprehensive list of the best enchants for a rogue given all the very best enchants in the game currently. Some of these may be more difficult to obtain than others.

Head: [Arcanum of Ramkahen] (Revered Ramkahen)
Shoulders: [Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal] (Exalted Therazane)
Chest: [Peerless Stats]
Back: [Greater Critical Strike] (Mutilate, Combat) or [Major Agility] (Subtlety)
Wrists: [Greater Speed]
Hands: [Haste] (Combat, Subtlety) or [Greater Mastery] (Mutilate)
Waist: [Ebonsteel Belt Buckle]
Legs: [Dragonscale Leg Armor]
Feet: [Major Agility] or [Assassin's Step]
Weapon1: [Landslide]
Weapon2: [Landslide]

For those of you that cannot yet afford maelstrom crystals, you may wish to make the following substitutions for your enchants at the moment:

Chest: [Mighty Stats]
Back: [Major Agility]
Wrists: [Haste]
Weapon1: [Hurricane]
Weapon2: [Hurricane]

Some professions also have additional enchants that are superior to the ones shown here. Make sure you check what extra bonuses your professions give to your rogue and how you can use them to your advantage. Remember to compare EP values to find out which bonuses are worth using and which should be ignored.

With the launch of Cataclysm you will no doubt want to get your rogue up to Level 85 straight away to start on the new Cataclysm content and experience all new heroic dungeons and raids. There are three main talent builds you may wish to consider using at Level 85 and each depends on your play style and requirements.Each talent build is subject to change in the future as we discover more about how rogues perform at Level 85 in Level 85 gear. However, this is a good starting point for any rogue who wants to maximise their DPS at Level 85.

Combat Max DPS Build

Combat rogues do not use stealth in combat, they are exceptionally good at multiple targets and fights that require a lot of target switching and can easily switch rotations to suit the fight needs.

Combat Level 85 Build 7/31/3

This build has 4 changeable talent points that must remain in the Combat section of the tree in order to progress further down it. These talent points are currently in [Reinforced Leather] and [Improved Recuperate] to improve survivability which is also beneficial whilst leveling your rogue from 80 to 85. This build focuses on more Eviscerate Damage as opposed to more combo point generation and keeps the original 3/3 [Relentless Strikes] for energy regains.

Assassination Max DPS Build

Assassination rogues open up combat with stealth and rely heavily on poison damage. Assassination rogues excel particularly well at single target fights.

Mutilate Level 85 Build 31/2/8

You will notice this talent build has only 2/3 [Precision]. This is particularly useful when you first hit Level 85 and your main activity is grinding heroic dungeons where less hit is needed. However, this does mean that once you start raiding you will need to keep a closer eye on your hit levels than other rogues because you start out with much less. This build also places 2 of the 3 changeable talent points into 2/2 [Quickening] on the basis that is will help improve damage up time instead of DPS and it also leaves Mutilate rogues free to skip out on speed enchants in favour of more DPS beneficial ones.

This build also has two points in [Nightstalker] which is another talent that does not affect DPS This is in order to progress further down the Subtlety Tree to the true goal of 3/3 [Opportunity].

Subtlety – Rotation Help Build

Subtlety Rogues use quite a complex rotation in PVE with a long ramp up time. This means they are better suited to single target fights. They also use Stealth and a wide variety of abilities.

Subtlety Level 85 Build 0/10/31

This build focuses on perfecting the Subtlety Rotation by obtaining [Improved Slice and Dice] in order to make the rotation more manageable. Unlike the Level 80 build this talent build focuses entirely on the Combat Tree once the Subtlety tree is completed in order to obtain 3/3 [Aggression] and keep 3/3 [Precision] to make raiding hit easier to obtain. This build is one of the more flexible and debated builds within the rogue community.

Subtlety Max DPS Build

Subtlety Level 85 Build 8/2/31

This build almost entirely ignores the Combat Tree in favour of my direct DPS enhancing talent points in Assassination. However it does still maintain 2/3 [Precision] to allow you to more easily reach (or close in on) the poison hit cap. This is the build for raiding subtlety rogues who are very comfortable with their rotation.

Which Build is the Best?

When your target mob is above 35% health Combat rogues are the top DPS build. However once the target mob falls below 35% Mutilate rogues have a significant upper hand by 15% damage. This evens out to roughly make Mutilate the top DPS Build with Combat and extremely close second. However, because Combat is more suitable to tricky raid situations than Mutilate is, Combat will usually be stronger in these fights and you will often see these two builds switching places throughout the raid. This means both Combat and Mutilate are viable raid PVE builds at level 85. Subtlety rogues however fall below both Mutilate and Combat rogues as well as having a unique and difficult rotation with a lengthy ramp up time. This means Subtlety, while much better now in PVE is still not a reasonable raiding choice for maximising DPS.

The Subtlety rogue has not always been considered in the past as a viable PVE talent build for rogues and usually only used in PVP situations where it is exceptionally strong. However, since patch 4.0.1 more and more rogues have been testing out Subtlety builds in PV situations and reporting great success. Since the 4.0.1 combat scare many combat rogues switched builds to subtlety too, so this guide should help you on your feet in this relatively new world of PVE DPS for rogues.

Talent Build

First of all you will need a talent build to get you started. At level 80 your talent build should look like this:

Subtlety Talent Build Level 80

If you are looking for level 85 talent builds these have not yet been decided upon but many rogues are leaning towards a Sub/Combat mix for level 85. A good place to start for a level 85 talent build is this:

Subtlety Talent Build Level 85

Rotation

The rotation for Subtlety is often seen by many rogues are the most complex rotation of all three builds. However, once mastered it is very powerful in PVE and particularly excels at single target “tank and spank” fights (i.e. Saurfang ICC).

1. premed/shadow step/ambush =  5 CP
2. SnD
3. hemo/backstab to 5 CP
5. rupture
6. shadow dance/premed/shadowstep/ambush
7. recuperate
8. ambush/backstab to 5 CP
9. eviscerate

It is thought you may want to leave Hemo out entirely except when target switching if you prefer. This is entirely up to you at the moment with the Subtlety rotation.

As you can see from the basic structure of this rotation the idea is to use your ShS/ShD/Ambush where ever possible and fill the remaining time with backstabs to generate combo points. In terms of finishers Subtlety rogues need to keep three main finishers up at all times:

• Slice and Dice
• Rupture
• Recuperate

You may find the inclusion of Recuperate odd as a non damage dealing buff, however coupled with the talent [Energetic Recovery] every time your recuperate ticks you will gain extra energy making recuperate highly valuable. It may seem like a lot to keep up at first but Subtlety rogues also have the talent point [Serrated Blades] which refreshes your rupture every time you use eviscerate.

Therefore once you have all three finishers active you can keep them going by rotating Slice and Dice, Eviscerate and Recuperate finishers. This can be tricky at first so it’s recommended you get as much practice in as possible on a target dummy and in dungeons beforehand.

Glyphs

Glyphs for a subtlety rogue can be tricky to decide upon especially with the major glyphs. Make sure you have a good stock of all the glyphs your sub rogue could use as you may find them very situationally handy.

Major Glyphs

[Glyph of Backstab]

[Glyph of Slice and Dice]

Then one of the following:

[Glyph of Hemorrhage] – Remember that Hemo is worthless without this glyph.
[Glyph of Rupture] – If not using Hemo this will help keep your rotation smooth.

Major Glyphs

[Glyph of Sprint] (Improves Damage Uptime).

Then any other two major glyphs. Good examples are:
[Glyph of Premeditation]
[Glyph of Ambush]

Minor Glyphs

[Glyph of Poisons] (Optional)

[Glyph of Safe Fall] (Highly Recommended)

Then any one other minor glyph.

Weapons

Subtlety Weapon choices are at the moment the same as Mutilate rogues. Sub rogues need to use daggers in order to use Backstab in their rotation and the preferred weapon speed type is 1.8 in the main hand and 1.4 in the off hand.

Stats Priorities

This is the order of priority you should place your stats in when considering reforging and gemming. It is essentially the same as a Combat rogue which mean reforging crit for mastery when poison hit capped is not a good idea in general.

Agility >> Expertise > Spell Hit = Haste > Crit >> White Hit > Mastery > AP.

This means when considering other aspects of Subtlety rogues such as Consumables, Enchants and Reforging looking at combat rogue choices is a good place to start. You can find more information on these here:

Gemming for Rogues

Reforging for Rogues

Enchants and Consumables

Since patch 4.0.1 combat rogues have taken a very nasty blow to their DPS. Many people are struggling to cope with the changes and thinking of retiring as a combat rogue entirely. This post will hopefully provide some useful information about these problems as well as provide help for the combat rogues out there that haven’t yet given up hope.

In terms of how each build stacks up against the other the current rumours are that Mutilate and Subtlety are the new PVE kings leaving combat in the dust. While this may be true to some extent it’s not quite time to hang up your combat axes just yet.

First of all I’d like to bring your attention to the first post in the EJ Patch 4.0.1 rogue thread which provides a brief summary of what we know so far:

Okay, which of those is best?
Good question. We don’t know.

But…
We don’t know. Stop asking.

 Quoted from Elitist Jerks Forums

With this in mind remember that Blizzard are indeed thinking about this problem as well. With raiding coming to a close in Wrath and Cataclysm a mere weeks away now it’s up to us to perfect our combat rogues and embrace the changes. It is a very real threat that we combat rogues may have to switch to Mutilate or Sub but I wouldn’t jump into action just yet.

It seems Blizzard is aware of the problems facing combat rogues at the moment and are starting to attempt to fix things slowly. Many combat rogue abilities have been buffed along with mastery values already. You can also expect many more changes to come in the future too so do not despair quite yet, let’s give them a chance to fix things first.

Mastery

Both Combat rogues and Mutilate rogues saw a boost in mastery but only Mutilate rogues seem to have benefited from the boost. Mastery EP values for Mutilate have increased to 1.9 up from 1.7 which now makes it a reforge-able stat for them in place of white hit. This means Mutilate rogues can now reforge crit into mastery on gear that already has haste on it, once they are above the poison cap. Unfortunately, combat rogues have not seen this beloved change and remain at an EP value of 0.6 meaning Mastery is still very much worthless.

This is a massive problem for combat rogues and leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouths. The promises of 400% mastery rating effectiveness now even out at about 60% and still the stat is sub-standard as a reforging option. Not exactly the diamond studded stat we were hoping for.

Macros

The humble combat rogue now has plenty of macros to juggle for seamless game play. With the introduction of Revealing Strike and the strong favour of rupture rotations it seems we will need macros more so than ever now to improve our rotation accuracy. For many of you hardcore raiding rogues out there with Engineering this can seem very daunting and more than a bit of a headache.

For engineers they should already have something like this for their macros:

/Cast Sinister Strike
/Cast Saronite Bomb

This macro allows the user to activate their Saronite Bombs whenever they do not have enough energy to perform a Sinister Strike. This allows them to click the aoe symbol on the location they want to throw the bomb whenever the bomb has cooled down without needing to keep an eye on the item during the encounter.

/Use Aldriana’s Gloves of Secrecy

This macro uses the rogue gloves with the engineering enchant Hyperspeed Accelerators on it. The glove name will change depending on your own gloves of course.

You may also wish to add another macro which rotates between Sprint and Rocket Boots on a single key to cut down on extra key space.

With regards to your rotation you should consider a sequence macro to rotate a single button between your finisher of choice and Revealing Strike. This will help to prevent you from pressing RvS at the wrong time or forgetting it and missing it entirely. This button should then follow a slightly different rotation method to accommodate for this.

A cast sequence macro is very simple and should look something like this:

/castsequence reset=2 Revealing Strike, Eviscerate

This will rotate between Revealing Strike and Eviscerate once pressed. You will need to follow something similar to this rotation to use this properly:

1. SS x 3
2. SnD
3. SS x 3
4. EvisMacro
5. if combo points = 5 then Evis Macro, if combo points = 4 then SS x 1 then Evis Macro

You should also include rupture into this rotation if properly glyphed etc particularly for tank and spank fights. Rupture will also need to follow the same rules with an RVS/Rupture cast sequence macro.

However, you can also use the macro constantly at 4 points and then use an alternative evis only button at 5 combo points to be even more accurate. This is because it is unavoidable to waste combo points as a combat rogue but RvS decreases your dps if used after 5 CP. This is what makes combat rotations and abilities so much more confusing and hard to master. Do not expect to perfect this rotation overnight no matter how skilled you are. If you are having troubles with your new macros or rotation then spend long periods of time on the training dummies! Hours, weeks, months if you have to to make sure you perfect the rotation as much as possible.

Gear Scaling

This is also a major problem for combat rogues. Mutilate always had the upper hand for raiding builds until combat started reaching new levels of gear scaling that mutilate could not hope to achieve. With the removal of Armor Penetration from the game it looks like combat rogues in current gear are suffering tremendously. No longer able to take advantage of crazy gear scaling our dps has actually taken a blow overall from pre-patch dps as opposed to Mutilate rogues who have seen an increase to dps. This is where many rogues have started crying into their pillows at night. It was supposed that Mastery when boosted might fix some of these problems for us but as of yet we’ve seen no beneficial changes overall.

Weapons

Okay okay enough bad news already! Notice this post from WoW Insider about weapons for combat rogues:

Combat rogues can use any main-hand weapon, as long as it’s slow.

If I’m using an axe in my main hand, as I often do, I want to be using an axe in my off hand. It’s just that simple. However, with Combat Potency and Deadly Poison emphasizing the importance of a quick off-hand weapon, daggers are going to yield better DPS

Quoted from WoW Insider

Sounds like bad news to many who like symmetrical weaponry (myself included) but think about this for a moment… at least we can start stealing all those tasty daggers from the Mutilate rogues in earnest now. No longer will we have to wait for a lucky drop of say umm 2 axes or so from ICC that fit the bill. Now we can roll on those daggers too unashamedly and that gives us all a much better chance of getting a decent level of gear from those with unlucky weapon drops. Not to mention [Heaven's Fall, Kryss of a Thousand Lies] we were previously unable to roll on. Okay so it’s not enough to make us a raiding viable build but it brings a quiet smile to some. Of course do not forget our optimal weapon speed for an Off-Hand dagger is 1.4 unlike the Heaven’s Fall.

It’s also worth mentioning that our AoE ability Fan of Knives now requires us to have a thrown weapon in our offhand. This means bows and guns are now pretty sub standard for rogues and should be left for other classes to fight over.

Cool downs

Many of our favourite staple cool downs have changed and the mechanics that affect them have also changed. Make sure you are familiar with these changes thoroughly, one of your DPS problems could actually stem from a poor cool down management. For example, you can now use abilities during Killing Spree! So do not wait for the teleporting to finish anymore, keep bashing your rotation out throughout it.

In addition do not ever touch Blade Flurry on a boss! The haste benefit from Blade Flurry is now on Adrenaline Rush instead and Blade Flurry also comes with a significant energy decrease while active. This means using Blade Flurry for any single target mob will always decrease your DPS.

Try to time Killing Spree with your passive proc Bandits Guile to maximise KS damage.

Remember many cool downs are now much shorter and also can be further reduced by finishers. With this in mind keep an eye on your cool downs and make sure they are popped on every cool down as much as possible.

It will definitely take time to sort out your cool downs, macros and rotations so they feel natural to you again. Take some time on the practice dummies and also jump into heroics to practice your cool downs and multiple mob techniques.

Gear Sets

If you were the type of rogue to horde side grades or to partake in an alternative PVE Mutilate spec then now is the time to go through your bags and bank and sort out all your gear. Perhaps there are some secret upgrades you have stored away that could be of use to you? Since the stat changes and particularly the Arp removal from the game many of your old gear alternatives may suddenly become better options for your gear. Play around with your gear set, enter in EP values if you have to to sort out which ones may be more beneficial to you. What was BiS for you pre-patch 4.0.1 may not be so great for you anymore.

What to Do

• Practice on the training dummy until your fingers bleed
• Await a nice new spreadsheet preferably from Aldriana!
• Play with macros to make your rotation easier.
• Play with your cool downs in heroics.
• Roll on daggers for your offhand.
• Make sure your rogue is fully up to date with gems, enchants, reforging.
• Play with your gear sets.
• Make sure your Ranged weapon is a thrown in order to use FoK.

Doing all of this won’t suddenly grant you insane combat powers and allow you to beat those pesky mutilate rogues, but it can mean you hold your own against them to a reasonable standard while you wait out the storm. Don’t give up your combat rogue just yet if combat is what you truly love to play. We can wait a little longer while we find out how things are going to develop for combat rogues.

In patch 4.0.1 some of the favourable enchants and consumables for rogues have changed due to the tweaks and changes to our stats. This means many rogues will need to re-enchant some of their gear and purchase new food to ensure they are ready for raiding and maximising their DPS. This post will not only detail which of these enchants and consumables have changed or remain the same but also why they have changed using EP values as our basis for comparison.

EP Values

EP stands for Equivalency Points and is the measure by which we can determine the “worth” of each stat compared to other stats. In order to calculate which enchants and consumables will be the best DPS gains for a rogue in patch 4.0.1 we will need to use the new 4.0.1 EP Values for rogues. Today we will just be looking at Mutilate and Combat rogue EP values although Sub values may be released soon.

Combat EP Values

• Agility 2.88
• Crit 1.62
• Haste 2.25
• Mastery 0.60
• Expertise 2.20
• Spell Hit 2.38
• White Hit 1.69
• Attack Power 1

Mutilate EP Values

• Agility 2.8
• Crit 1.4
• Haste 2.2
• Mastery 1.7
• Expertise 2.6
• Spell Hit 3.1
• White Hit 1.7
• Attack Power 1

Using these values we can now determine which buffs and enhancements are going to be the best DPS increase for rogues and make some comparisons to re-evaluate the old top contenders.

Weapon Enchants

Old Weapon Enchants: [Berserking] MH, [Berserking] OH
EP Value of Berserking: 400 x 1 = 400 EP

Mongoose (same proc rate)
Combat: 120 Agility + 30 Haste = (2.88 x 120) + (30 x 2.25) = 413.1 EP
Mutilate: 120 Agility + 30 Haste = (2.8 x 120) + (30 x 2.2) = 402 EP

Therefore our new MH and OH enchants are: [Mongoose] MH, [Mongoose] OH.

It’s worth mentioning that for a while it looked like black magic may be a contender for combat OH weapons. However this was resolved as a slight error in the Combat 4.0.1 Spreadsheet (created by Lightshadow) and has now been ruled out as a possibility.

Armor Enchants

Only a few of the enchants for armor need to be modified. Essentially speaking if you have any Attack Power enchants on your gear you should consider swapping them out for Agility enchants instead. Here is the new complete list of armor enchants for a rogue in patch 4.0.1:

• Head – [Arcanum of Torment]
• Shoulders – [Greater Inscription of the Axe]
• Back -[Major Agility] NEW
• Chest - [Powerful Stats]
• Wrists - [Greater Assault]
• Hands - [Major Agility] NEW
• Waist – [Eternal Belt Buckle]
• Legs – [Icescale Leg Armor]
• Feet – [Superior Agility] NEW or [Tusker's Vitality]

From this we can see that the back, hands and feet enchants have changed to the agility ones. We can see why by simply plugging in the EP values of each enchant.

Back: [Major Agility] versus [Greater Speed]

22 Agility= 63.36 EP (Combat) and 61.6 EP (Mutilate).
23 Haste = 51.75 EP (Combat) and 50.6 EP (Mutilate).

Hands: [Major Agility] versus [Crusher]

20 Agility = 57.6 EP (Combat) and 56 EP (Mutilate).
44 AP = 44 EP (Combat and Mutilate).

Feet: [Superior Agility] versus [Greater Assault]

16 Agility = 46.08 EP (Combat) and 44.8 EP (Mutilate)
32 AP = 32 EP (Combat and Mutilate).

Consumables

The flask we use will remain the same. We compared it to the [Elixir of Mighty Agility] just in case and these were the results:

[Flask of Endless Rage] : 180 AP = 180 EP
[Elixir of Mighty Agility] : 45 Agility = 129.6 EP (Combat) and 126 EP (Mutilate).

Therefore the [Flask of Endless Rage] is still the best option for rogues in raids.

For food we no longer have use of Armor Penetration food (Combat only) since the stat has been removed. Combat rogues will therefore need to get rid of their old [Hearty Rhino] as it has now become crit which is quite worthless. We have compared all the major food groups to find out the new winner for both Mutilate and Combat rogues:

Haste Food: 40 Haste Rating
40 Haste = 40 x 2.25 = 90 EP (Combat)
40 Haste = 40 x 2.2 = 88 EP (Mutilate)

Agility Food: 40 Agility
40 Agility = 40 x 2.88 = 115.2 EP (Combat)
40 Agility = 40 x 2.8 = 112 EP (Mutilate)

Attack Power Food: 80 AP (Includes fish feast)
80 AP = 80 x 1 = 80 EP (Combat and Mutilate)

Hit Food: 40 Hit Rating
40 Hit = 40 x 1.69 = 67.6 EP (Combat)
40 Hit = 40 x 1.7 = 68 EP (Mutilate)

Crit Food: 30 Crit Rating
30 Crit = 30 x 1.62 = 48.6 EP (Combat)
30 Crit = 30 x 1.4 = 42 EP (Mutilate)

Therefore the Agility food [Blackened Dragonfin] is now the best food to use in raids for both Mutilate and Combat rogues.

Right now everything is being argued over, theorycrafters are gouging each other’s eyes out with an ice scream scoop called “math” while others are stabbing “combat log” shivs into their backs. So with everyone humming about this latest patch what have they said about glyphs? Well, it seems Glyphs is the one topic everyone is avoiding! Trawling through the Elitist Jerks 4.0.1 Rogue Guide yielded little results and when it was questioned the post was promptly ignored several times throughout the thread. So it seems for now we are very much on our own when it comes to Glyphs.

Changes to Glyph Mechanics

The way we use glyphs in WoW has changed a lot in Patch 4.0.1 and it’s worth taking note of these changes. First of all we now have 3 tiers of glyphs to use. Where we use to have either Major or Minor Glyphs to choose from we now have Prime, Major and Minor glyphs.

Secondly, once you have learned a glyph you can then use that glyph indefinitely using your Glyph tab (in the Talents window “n”). This means you will no longer need to stack glyphs in your bags to change out per encounter. Once you have learned a glyph it will remain in your Glyph book to use or switch out with others as and when you need them. So, if you are thinking about using a particular glyph for one certain encounter make sure you learn the glyph and you will be able to pop it in a space when you need it and then remove it again afterwards without losing the glyph if you need it in future too.

You will however need to purchase [Vanishing Powder] in order to replace glyphs which can be purchased from an Inscription Vendor for just 32 silver per 5. You only need to have some of this in your bags for it to work, when you click on a new glyph over an old one to replace it, you will see a pop up box asking if you are sure you want to do this and it will cost exactly 1 Vanishing Powder to do so. Click yes and viola, job done. You can view how many powders you have through the Glyph tab on the bottom right hand side.

So far Aldriana recommends the following Prime Glyphs for rogues but unfortunately has not mentioned any Major Glyphs:

Combat Prime Glyphs

[Glyph of Sinister Strike]

[Glyph of Adrenaline Rush]

[Glyph of Rupture]

Mutilate Prime Glyphs

[Glyph of Mutilate]

[Glyph of Backstab]

[Glyph of Rupture]

Other Glyphs to Consider

These are not yet set in stone so be prepared for the recommended glyphs to change at any time. However, you may also wish to consider alternatives to these glyphs. For example, if you are a combat rogue and you are optimising your build for target switching type fights you may not be using Rupture, Mutilate rogues with low haste may also wish to drop rupture for now. Therefore you may wish to consider replacing your Rupture glyph for:

Combat Glyphs: [Glyph of Revealing Strike] or [Glyph of Killing Spree]

Mutilate Glyphs: [Glyph of Vendetta]

Major Glyphs

No definite information about major glyphs has been stated as of yet. So it’s up to us to flesh out a good glyph combo.

[Glyph of Tricks of the Trade]
If you have the two piece Tier 10 set bonus stay away from this glyph. This glyph simply reduces the energy cost of your Tricks ability whereas the Two Piece Tier 10 set bonus not only removes it entirely but also gives you 15 energy. Using this glyph in conjunction with the two piece bonus would simply mean your tricks does less damage. If you happen not to have it, then it could be a good glyph for you to use although it is highly recommended you obtain the two piece set bonus instead.

[Glyph of Blade Flurry] (Combat Only)
For combat rogues this looks like an excellent choice for a major glyph slot. Blade flurry, while it has a reduced cool down is now completely useless for single target encounters but will be used frequently with multiple targets. This will be quite handy for trash, leveling up and multiple mobs in general during boss encounters allowing you to use Blade Flurry much more freely and not just when you have AR or KS free.

[Glyph of Expose Armor] (Probably Mutilate only)
Mutilate rogues with talents in Improved Expose Armor may find this glyph useful. Typically only rogues who suffer from a lack of Prot Warriors in raids would consider this talent but if they do this glyph is the perfect partner for you.

[Glyph of Fan of Knives]
This glyph while at first glance may seem good for multiple targets, may in fact be a bit of a waste of time. Unlike previously where this glyph increased Fan of Knives damage it now simply increases the radius of your Fan of Knives ability. Since the Fan of Knives ability is still 8 yards and this is often ample enough for most situations it may cause you more trouble than anything else when it becomes 12 yards. This remains to be seen however but if you do put this glyph on make sure you get used to it’s new larger radius and don’t go pulling unwanted mobs on your adventures!

[Glyph of Sprint]
This glyph seems to be wonderful for both combat and mutilate rogues. The increase in speed for sprint means you have a better damage up time on encounters with target switching. Helping you get from a to b is always a damage increase even if you can’t see it on the spreadsheets. A must have for all rogues.

[Glyph of Feint]
This glyph focuses on allowing you to avoid heavy AoE and reduce your threat when necessary without deterring you too much from your rotation. Reducing the energy cost of feint could be very handy so you don’t waste too much energy when you nee dot get yourself out of a bind or in fights where heavy AoE damage could be fatal (HC Blood Queen for example). Definitely a glyph worth considering for a spare slot.

[Glyph of Cloak of Shadows]
This glyph focuses on damage reduction and would be particularly helpful on fights such as Heroic Sindragosa where we rogues need to pop our Cloak of Shadows ability often. However this is very situational dependant so make sure you have this glyph to hand and you’ll be able to switch out a lesser glyph such as Glyph of Feint or even Blade Flurry if it’s not needed, for this one on such fights.

Major Glyphs Summary

Combat:

[Glyph of Sprint]

[Glyph of Blade Flurry]

[Glyph of Fan of Knives] or situational: [Glyph of Cloak of Shadows] or [Glyph of Feint]

Mutilate:

[Glyph of Sprint]

[Glyph of Feint]

[Glyph of Fan of Knives] or situational: [Glyph of Cloak of Shadows] or [Glyph of Expose Armor]

Minor Glyphs

Unfortunately for Mutilate rogues the Glyph of Vanish has been removed. So essentially speaking the only 100% solid Minor glyph all rogues need is [Glyph of Safe Fall] to reduce extra falling damage in certain encounters. on a side note you may also wish to consider [Glyph of Poisons] for situational encounters such as the Lich King for rogues that need to switch to Crippling Poison on their weapons to slow down Val’kyr.

A Quick Note on Reforging

Now you have your glyphs sorted out I want to take a minute to talk about reforging. For a complete reforging guide see Reforge me a New One! over at PVE Rogues. To summarize:

What Reforging Does:

Reforging a stat will only convert 40% of that stat to another stat of your choice.

You can only reforge lesser stats such as: Hit, Expertise, Crit and Haste. You cannot reforge Agility.

You can only add lesser stats from reforging too.

Reforging will cost you every single time you do it the vendor cost of the item in question.

You cannot reforge new stats onto gear that already exist on the item. For example, if you have 23 Haste and 23 Crit on your gear, you can reforge the Crit into Hit or Expertise but you cannot turn it into Haste.

Excerpt taken from http://pverogues.blogspot.com

As a rogue the main stat you need to reforge is Critical Strike Rating. This is because this is the one Stat on your gear that has the lowest EP value (except for Mastery rating which we don’t have yet). As a rule of thumb you should always reforge all your gear. This will make a huge difference to your DPS overall. The order of reforging stats should be:

Expertise until capped (or extremely close) > Hit until Poison Capped > Hit (on gear that already has the haste stat on it) > Haste

Reforging your gear will therefore ensure you are safely above the poison hit cap and have as much haste as possible. When reforging your gear make sure you first reforge all gear with Haste on it already to obtain the expertise and hit caps before moving onto haste gear if needed. This will ensure you do not reforge items with hit that could be haste and end up after reaching your caps with gear that you cant reforge haste onto.