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Patch 4.0.6 – Hunter Gemming, Glyphs, Enchants and Consumables

Posted on: Mar 18, 2011 | Author: Shambels

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No one likes a player who comes to a raid unprepared or more specifically unenchanted, ungemmed, unglyphed and without consumables. More often than not such a player will be booted from a raid. So to be competitive in raids and pump out dps to your full potential you will need to know which gems, enchants, glyphs and consumables to use.

With the release of Cataclysm we have seen a new bunch of gems, glyphs, enchants and consumables. Below is a concise guide on what best to equip/use in 4.0.6.

 

 

Gems

Red sockets:   Delicate Inferno Ruby (or Delicate Chimera’s Eye if you’re a JC)

Yellow sockets: Deadly Ember Topaz

Blue sockets:  Delicate Inferno Ruby (or Glinting Demonseye if socket bonus is at least 20 agility)

Meta Gem: Agile Shadowspirit Diamond

Firstly make sure you satisify your meta gem requirement by equiping 3 red gems (which is your main gem anyway so this is no problem). Also because agility is our best stat we will be ignoring all blue sockets and equiping +40 agility gems if the socket bonus is less than 20 agility. For yellow sockets however if the socket bonus provides at least 10 agility or 20 of another stat then it is worth using the Deadly Ember Topaz orange gem (as specified by Frostheim from Hunters Union).

 

 

Glyphs

BM Prime Glyphs 

  1. Glyph of Arcane Shot (Arcane Shot is used by BM hunters regularly and a 12% boost makes this glyph a must)
  2. Glyph of Kill Command (solid glyph that provides a nice dps gain)
  3. Glyph of Kill Shot (two kills shots in a row is awesome. This glyph provides more dps than Glyph of Serpent Sting if your hunter is geared, however the dps gain will vary depending on the fight duration)
  4. Glyph of Serpent Sting (viable option, provides a constant dps benefit)

BM Major Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Disengage (can be handy in raids)
  2. Glyph of Bestial Wrath (nice dps gain, rivals some prime glyphs!)
 

Marksman Prime Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Steady Shot (10% boost is nice to a shot that is already a large contribution to your dps)
  2. Glyph of Arcane Shot 
  3. Glyph of Kill Shot 
  4. Glyph of Chimera Shot (very viable glyph, however you need to be precise and comfortable with your rotation to utilise the benefits of this glyph.)

Marksman Major Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Disengage
  2. Glyph of Silencing Shot

 

Survival Prime Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Explosive Shot (a 6% boost to your main shot makes this glyph a no brainer)
  2. Glyph of Serpent Sting (good for SV as its gets more benefit from Serpent Sting through mastery and Toxicology)
  3. Glyph of Kill Shot
  4. Glyph of Arcane Shot (grabbing this glyph instead of Kill Shot depends on your gear and haste, which in turn affects your rotation. If you find yourself firing more and more Arcane Shots grab this glyph instead)

Survival Major Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Disengage 

 

Minor Glyphs

  1. Glyph of Feign Death (can be handy in raids)
  2. Glyph of Mend Pet (pretty much means you don’t have to carry food for your pet anymore)

 

 

Enchants

Head: Arcanum of the Ramkahen (obtained from the Ramkahen Quartermaster and requires a reputation of revered)

Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal (obtained from the Therazane Quartermaster and requires a reputation of exalted. If you’re only honored with Therazane you can get Lesser Inscription of Shattered Crystal while working your way to exalted.)

Chest: Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats (if you cannot get hold of the required Maelstrom Crystals, Enchant Chest – Mighty Stats is your best option.) 

Waist: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle

Back: Enchant Cloak – Major Agility

Wrists:  Enchant Bracer – Agility

Legs: Dragonscale Leg Armor

Feet: Enchant Boots – Major Agility ( or Enchant Boots – Assassin’s Step if you prefer the slight speed increase instead of the extra agility)

Gloves: Enchant Gloves – Major Agility

Weapon (2-hand): Enchant 2H Weapon – Mighty Agility

Rings: Enchant Ring – Agilty (if you are an enchanter)

 

 

Consumables

Flasks: Flask of the Winds (expensive but provides amazing stats and persists through death. A must for any raid.)

Food: Skewered Eel (or Seafood Magnifique Feast when your guild is able to make them)

Potions: Potion of the Tol’vir (recommended to use during boss burn phases to maximise dps. Best used together with Heroism/Bloodlust/Timewarp)

Drums:  Drums of Forgotten Kings (recommended to use if you have no pally or druid in your raid)

 

Following this guide and preparing yours for raids (and even heroics) in the correct way will show fellow raiders and party members that you are serious about raiding and are prepared to contribute to your full potential. You will also have more fun raiding when you see the dps increase a little preparation can do.

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Posted in Cataclysm, Hunter, PVE | 6 Comments »

Restoration Shaman Enchants, Gems, and Consumables – 4.0.6

Posted on: Mar 15, 2011 | Author: Savoire

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Be the best healer you can be!  Find your optimal talent build and co-ordinate it with the best enchantments, gems, and consumables you can acquire and afford. 

 
There will be raids in which having every possible advantage will mean the difference between getting a boss down and wiping.  Also, you do not want to be the player who comes unprepared – unenchanted, ungemmed, or with no raid food or flasks.
  

 

Enchantments
  

Head: Arcanum of Hyjal 

These are sold by Provisioner Whitecloud (requires revered with Guardians of Hyjal)
  

Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone 

These are sold by D’lom the Collector who is the Therazane quartermaster and requires exalted with Therazane.  If you’re only honored with Therazane, get Lesser Inscription of Charged Lodestone - and work on the Therazane daily quests!  There are some achievements (not to mention gold) to be had while doing them, so consider it multi-tasking. Don’t forget to wear the tabard while doing dungeons to help you hit exalted too. 

If you are a scribe, get Felfire Inscription.
  

Chest:  Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats 

This is the expensive version requiring Maelstrom Crystals. The +5 to all stats is not worth 3 Maelstrom Crystals unless you’re overflowing with gold.     

Enchant Chest – Mighty Stats is the less expensive version.  

If you’re still having mana issues, try Enchant Chest – Exceptional Spirit.
  

Waist: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle – provides an extra socket so you can equip another gem.
  

Legs:  Powerful Ghostly Spellthread 

For shamans who are hoping to upgrade their leggings, try  Ghostly Spellthread. These are fairly affordable now.
  

Feet: Use Enchant Boots – Haste.
  

 
 

Wrists:  Enchant Bracer – Mighty Intellect 

This is expensive and needs Maelstrom Crystals.  

If you’re a leatherworker, an inexpensive and hugely better option is the Draconic Embossment – Intellect. 

Enchant Bracer – Exceptional Spirit is nice if you need more spirit and mana regeneration.  

If you prefer haste, go for Enchant Bracer – Speed.  
 

Hands: Enchant Gloves – Haste is the best option for hands.
  

Back: Enchant Cloak – Greater Intellect is my preference.  

You could also go with Enchant Cloak – Greater Critical Strike, but as intellect increases both the mana pool and the critical strike, I prefer the intellect increase. 
 

Weapon: Enchant Weapon – Heartsong  

It is better than Enchant Weapon – Hurricane but they are both good.  Heartsong increases spirit and Hurricane increases haste, so choose the stat that is more valuable to you.  
  

Off-hand: Enchant Off-Hand – Superior Intellect 
 

Ring: Enchant Ring – Intellect  

It is an enchantment available only to enchanters who have the skill at 475 or higher. 

Other professions may provide additional enhancements to your gear.  Be sure to research the professions you have in order to utilize your soulbound bonuses.  You may even decide that one profession or another provides such great bonuses that it would be worthwhile to switch professions.  Leveling a profession can be expensive and time-consuming so be certain you are up for the challenge before doing so. 
 
 

 

 

Gems
 

Red Sockets:  Brilliant Inferno Ruby.   
The JC-only red gem is Brilliant Chimera’s Eye.
  

  

Blue Sockets:  Purified Demonseye
 

  

Yellow Sockets: Reckless Ember Topaz or Potent Ember Topaz
 

  

Meta Sockets: Ember Shadowspirit Diamond
 

  

 

  

Consumables
 

  

Flasks: Your two choices here are either Flask of the Draconic Mind for intellect or Flask of Flowing Water for spirit.  When you are first doing heroics or raids, go for the spirit flask.  As your gear gets better, the intellect flask will provide more healing power overall. 
 

Battle Elixir: Ghost Elixir is my favorite battle elixir when I want to boost my spirit.  There are some fights where the raid leader may need to call for a wipe, such as on the first two bosses in Blackwing Descent, and the healers (especially shamans with insta-ghost-wolf) can make it to the raid door without dying.   If you don’t need the spirit boost, consider a crit boost via Elixir of the Cobra.  Either of these should be less expensive than flasks – as long as you don’t die.  There aren’t many good guardian elixirs to pair with the battle elixirs, so you might do as well to get flasks unless you are able to find a good sale, are an alchemist, or have a friend who is an alchemist.
 

 

  


 
Food: Severed Sagefish Head, with +90 intellect.  When your guild is able to, the Seafood Magnifique Feast will be perfect.
 
 
 
 
 

  

  
 
 
 
 
 

 
Drums: Drums of Forgotten Kings
Consider these if your raid or party has no druid or paladin.  The druid and paladin class buffs are superior to the drums, however, so don’t bother with them if you have the real thing.

 

 Follow this guide in preparing yourself for raids or even for challenging heroic dungeons or achievements in heroic dungeons.  If you aren’t a restoration shaman, but you want to show your healer you care and appreciate all the help and healing she brings to the raid, consider giving any of these items to her as a welcome gift.  Don’t forget the blue ribboned wrapping paper! 

 

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Posted in Cataclysm, PVE, Shaman | 5 Comments »

Rogue Enchants, Gems and Consumables – 4.0.3a

Posted on: Jan 14, 2011 | Author: Garona

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Rogue Gems Enchants and Consumables

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.

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Posted in Cataclysm, PVE, Rogue | 5 Comments »

Subtlety Rogue Guide 4.0.3+

Posted on: Nov 28, 2010 | Author: Garona

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Subtlety Rogue Guide 4.0.3

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

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Posted in PVE, Patch 4.0.3, Rogue | 4 Comments »

Concise Resto Druid Guide in Patch 4.0.1

Posted on: Nov 13, 2010 | Author: Garona

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Resto Druid Guide 4.0.1As some of you may know I usually talk about rogues, but I do have a resto and tanking druid I am very fond of and today I want to share with you all the basics you need to know to get your resto druid up to date with patch 4.0.1 as a healer.

Talent Build

As a healer, talent trees can be subject to opinion on a variety of specific talents so do not be alarmed if you see variations of this talent build in WoW. If the idea of healing in patch 4.0.1 seems a little daunting, this talent build is good place to start, the build is recommended by Elitist Jerks and provides a good basic starting ground for any healer.

Resto Druid Build 2/0/34

Remember that this build is not set in stone and you can play with some of the talent points to tailor the build to your own druid needs. If you are looking for some level 85 talent builds to aim for a brief look at the RestoDude’s Druid Guide can help to offer you some insight into the strengths and weaknesses of various homemade talent build varieties.

Healers have alot more freedom with thier build than DPS classes, so slight tweaks to your build can help you to improve mana regeneration, strengthen group healing, tank healing or much more. Start with the above recommended build and see how it feels for you.

Glyphs

Prime Glyphs:
[Glyph of Rejuvination]
[Glyph of Lifebloom]
[Glyph of Swiftmend]

These glyphs are quite obvious, there isn’t much choice for healer druids in terms of healing glyphs. The only other option is [Glyph of Regrowth] which so far has shown to be quite weak overall however it could be considered as a situational tool.

Major Glyphs:
[Glyph of Wild Growth]
[Glyph of Innervate]
[Glyph of Rebirth]

Again there isn’t that much to choose from with healing glyphs for the Major slot either. Other options include [Glyph of Thorns], [Glyph of Barksin] or [Glyph of Healing Touch] but these are very situational dependant. Thanks to the new glyphs system however you’ll be able to switch out glyphs on a per fight basis so make sure you learn these for later use when needed. Ideally you do not want to replace your [Glyph of Wild Growth] with these options so swap out either your Innervate glyph if you are comfortable with mana or your Rebirth glyph.

Minor Glyphs:
[Glyph of the Wild] – To reduce mana spent when casting re-buffs mid battle on ressed targets.
[Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth] – So you are never caught without when your BR is needed and saves you a few pennies and bag slots too.
[Glyph of Dash] – When you need to be somewhere in a hurry.

The only real glyph you must have here is [Glyph of the Wild] for healing purposes as it reduces mana spent when getting someone back up into the fray as quickly as possible. The others can be considered optional but since there isn’t much else to choose from with the minor glyphs it’s a good selection to go for. You may wish to store [Glyph of Aquatic Form] for those times when you need to get around water faster but at the moment that’s not necessary or helpful for raiding.

Gems

Gemming as a resto druid in patch 4.0.1 remains quite simple. First of all the gemming rule of thumb is:

Red Sockets – [Brilliant Cardinal Ruby] (Red Gem)
Yellow Sockets – [Reckless Ametrine] until haste capped (Orange Gem)
Blue Sockets – 1 x [Nightmare Tear] (Prismatic) if your meta gem requires it otherwise use [Brilliant Cardinal Ruby] (Red Gem)

For meta gems use either [Insightful Earthsiege Diamond] if you have mana issues or [Revitalising Skyflare Diamond] for more throughput if your mana is fine. If you are using the [Insightful Earthsiege Diamond] and you need to use a [Nightmare Tear] to activate the blue socket bonus, make sure it is in the highest blue socket bonuses you have available.

Haste Cap and Reforging

The haste cap for druids is now 1016 haste rating. You will need to make sure you continue to gem [Reckless Ametrine] in yellow sockets until you reach this value. You may also need to reforge your gear to add some extra haste to reach this value. You will likely not have many mana issues anymore so reforging spirit is probably your best bet. You can also reforge spirit to Mastery depending on your rotation play style. If you continue with a rejuv heavy method you should consider giving Mastery a miss overall for now.

Consumables

Continue using [Flask of the Frost Wyrm] for flasks, [Runic Mana Potions] during mana intensive encounters and spellpower buff food such as [Firecracker Salmon] or your raid fish feasts.

Enchants

The current accepted best enchants for a druid healer are:

Tier 11

One final note to leave you with is the new Tier 11 set design that has recently been introduced to us. The Male Druid and Female Druid tier 11 sets have been revealed to us and yes, they have wings! Finally a druid set I can love. Also it seems we will be reverting back to class based tier sets so no more sharing our tier with rogues. So something to look forward to there (as if Cataclysm wasn’t enough!). These sneak previews originate from the wonderful folks over at MMO Champion.

Next Week: Rotations and Healing Calculators!

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Posted in Druid, PVE, Patch 4.0.1 | 5 Comments »

Protection Paladins in 4.0.1

Posted on: Nov 03, 2010 | Author: Recrypt

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This article outlines changes to Paladin tanks in patch 4.0.1.  It covers headline changes, example talent specs, gems and glyphs.

Headline changes to tanking paladins in 4.0.1

Changes that directly affect play

  • [ Consecration ] now lasts 10s  and has a 30s CD.  This is therefore no longer spammable and therefore cannot form the basis of an aoe tanking build. [ Hammer of the Righteous ] (HoR) has been given an aoe effect and a 4.5s CD so aoe tanking is still possible with a rotation based around HoR (basically rotating HoR with any other multiple attack such as an un-glpyhed [ Avenger's Shield ] or Consecration or [ Holy Wrath ] etc).
  • [ Holy Power ] has been added and linked into specific spells.  This is a type of combo point like ability (similar to rogues combo points/DK runes/the changed warlock soul shard concept etc) whereby the paladin can charge a Holy Power battery in steps of 1 to a max charge of 3 and release this charge all at once.
    • For a tanking paladin Holy Power can be gained through [ Crusader Strike ] or Hammer of the Righteous (which share a 3s CD).
    • For a tanking paladin Holy Power can be released through [ Shield of the Righteous ] (does damage based on the number of charges consumed) or [ Word of Glory ] (WoG, instant heal, based on number of charges, on friendly target for zero mana)
  • [ Argent Defender ] must now be manually activated (10s Duration).  It reduces damage by 20% and heals for 15% HP if paladin would have died.  Its is important to emphasize that this ability (including the 15% heal on death) only lasts for its 10s duration, it has a CD greater than 10s.
  • [ Hand of Reckoning ], this taunt now has no damage component so is basically only a taunt rather than something that can also be used to effectively pull.

Changes that indirectly affect play

  • [ Divine Protection ] has had its CD and damage reduction halved.
  • Specializations – choosing protection gives the paladin
  • Blessings have been changed.  [ Sanctuary ] has been removed (both mana regen and hp boost are part of the prot specialization).   Wisdom has been removed, ([ Might ] now also increases mp5)
  • Holy shield has been removed, this has effectively been made part of Shield of the Righteous (SOR) as you now get a bonus to block for a limited time when you activate SOR.
  • Block is now provided by mastery (not strength as before).
  • [ Forbearance ] is still present but only for targets of [ Divine Shield ], [ Lay on Hands ] and [ Hand of Protection ].
  • Defence rating no longer exists, reduction in crit chance is now talented.  Only defensive stats are Dodge and Parry though Agility appears to still provide some dodge (~0.01% per Agi) and Strength will provide some parry (as it has always done for DK’s).
  • Divine Intervention has been removed in 4.0.1, so no more cheap repair bills :/

Example builds

Solid tanking build 0/33/3

This build takes all key tanking talents as well as [ Divine Guardian ].

Basic rotation on multiple targets mobs is HoR interleaved with Avenger’s Shield, Consecration and Holy Wrath when available.  When HoR, AS and Consecration are all on CD Judge or burn Holy Power with SoR.

For single target mobs replace HoR with Crusader Strike.

Fun 5-man Word of Glory build 3/31/2

This build maximises self healing, even more healing could be obtained by using Seal of Light instead of [ Seal of Insight ] but at the expense of dps/threat.

For this build maximum self healing is obtained by using a rotation based around Word of Glory (e.g. rotate Crusader Strike with Word of Glory for single target or HoR with WoG for multiple targets).  It is important to note that if you have a good healer you will want to use a high threat rotation as your healing will be effectively wasted – same rotation as above for the solid build.  Only if your healer is in trouble should you switch to WoG spam.

For each build the panic skills remain as Argent Defender, Divine Protection and Lay on Hands.  At lvl 85 a new skill [ Guardian of Ancient Kings ] with a 5 min CD that reduces damage by 60% comes into play and gives the paladin tank the same CD based mitigation as other tank classes.

Agro

Given the number of changes to the class it is worth mentioning something true prior to 4.0.1 but equally true after with respect to agro, hit and dodge.  You won’t generate agro from an attack that misses or is dodged.  In short this means you want,

at least 26 Expertise (rating of 200@80, 781@85) up to a max of 55 Expertise (rating of 422@80, 1652@85). 8% hit (rating of 246@80, 961@85).

Gems – General

It seems that the main point of giving everyone more HP and removing things like Defence was to allow people to gem/enchant for a balanced character, instead of having no choice but to stack specific things like stamina (though this isn’t a crazy plan).   It would probably be a waste of money to re-gem/re-enchant for the hell of it unless agro is a problem (in which case make sure you have enough expertise/hit, and haven’t forgotten to activate [ Righteous Fury ]).

  • Stamina is still important (indirectly it gives some threat through the AP generated by the specialization Vengeance) however don’t just assume that stacking stamina is the way to go for upgrades you acquire, it depends on the situation (see below discussion on the method behind gems/enchants).
  • Dodge/Parry, these two now provide the same avoidance so one is not vastly superior to the other, both are useful.
  • Strength provides threat through AP but not block anymore though it does now appear to increase parry (~0.002 per str) as it has always done for DK’s.
  • Agility no longer provides Armour rating but still gives dodge (~0.01% per agi).

Gems – Method

As with many classes the logic behind choosing gems tends to be simple for most people.  In the case of paladin tanks the Meta gem choice at 80 is basically

Most people would then gem to maximise stamina with [ Solid Majestic Zircons ] while getting the required gems to activate the meta.  This means gems like stam/dodge/parry/strength assuming you have enough expertise/hit.

The key to the question “stam or avoidance” is usually to ask the question “why did the tank die?”  If a tank dies because he takes too much average damage (the healers simply can’t keep up or run out of mana) then avoidance is better than stamina as it will reduce the load on the healers, however, if the tank dies from spike damage (the healers have plenty of mana and could have landed more heals given time) then stamina is better as it gives the healers more time to heal before death. This means that the right gear/gems/enchants for the tank depend not only on the tank but on the group i.e. including healers and dps.  The dps are important as they determine the length of the fight, low dps means a long fight and average damage could become an issue for the healers.

Glyphs in 4.0.1

There are now 9 active at once (up from 6), three each of prime, major and minor.  Your character now learns glyphs permanently and can switch with a regent (bought from a vendor for a nominal amount).

Glyphs can be expensive relative to pre 4.0.1 prices as demand is up (every character can learn all rather than just 6, so many people want a full set).

Recommended tanking glyphs

Prime

Major

Minor

Glyph tweaks

Macro’s

I used to use the following macro for Righteous Defence however having tested it for this guide I find it isn’t necessary (and probably never was), I list it only to show that one should regularly test macro’s to make sure they are doing something useful!

#showtooltip Righteous Defence

/cast [button:1, target=target-target] Righteous Defence

This macro would allow Righteous Defence to be used as a taunt, i.e. you cast it on the enemy mob rather than your ally.  Blizzard must have realised it was going to be used on a mob rather than an ally as the spell already has this functionality built in.

The following macro allows the use of Divine Shield to quickly clear negative buffs, agro is of course reset when used so a taunt will be needed.

#showtooltip

/cast Divine Shield

/cancelaura Divine Shield

I have found this needs to be pressed twice in 4.0.1, it allows the paladin to remove all debuffs and minimises the agro down time (agro is reset so you will have to taunt after this but it actually allows you to use Divine Shield on yourself in certain circumstances).  Doing this without causing a wipe makes you look pro, using it and causing a wipe makes you look poo ;)

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Posted in PVE, Paladin, Patch 4.0.1 | 6 Comments »

Patch 4.0.1 – Hunter Gemming, Glyphs, Stats and Reforging

Posted on: Oct 30, 2010 | Author: Shambels

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Hunter Gemming, Glyphs and Reforging - Patch 4.0.1

Today I’m going to discuss gemming options, glyphs, stat priority and reforging as a hunter. There has been some very interesting changes for the hunter class with the introduction of 4.0.1 and unfortunately it appears that these changes have significantly affected our dps in a negative way.  So it is important that we make the appropriate changes to ensure we make the most of our already depleted dps. 

Gemming

Agility is out best stat after we reach the Hit Cap, so gemming agility currently is the way to go. It is still unclear what the socket bonus threshold is, so for the time being it may be a good idea to pick up a high agility socket bonus by using either [ Deadly Ametrine ] or [ Deft Ametrine ]. You will also need to use one [ Rigid King’s Amber ] or [ Glinting Dreadstone ] (if not hit capped) for your meta socket requirement. For all other sockets use [ Delicate Cardinal Ruby ] even if you are below the hit cap. This is the preferred option because you can always get your hit rating by reforging and it is better off sacrificing either haste or crit rating via reforging rather than agility via gemming. 

Please also note that it is still unclear whether Deadly Ametrine or Deft Ametrine is preferable for yellow sockets but it is likely dependent on your current crit and haste levels. Especially haste which has been found to improve the flow of your shots and keep your focus in balance at certain levels. 

It is also worth mentioning that [ Nightmare Tears ] are no longer worth using since there is no longer a stat dps bonus from [ Hunter vs. Wild ] and [ Careful Aim ]. 

The gems we want to use are: 

  

Glyphs

Currently at level 80 our prime glyphs are very similar across all builds primarily due to the fact that Beast Mastery and Survival don’t have access to [ Cobra Shot ] yet. At level 85 we should see a substantially different makeup between the hunter builds. It should be noted that the new [ Glyph of Serpent Sting ] may yet prove to be a viable glyph to use combined with [ Improved Serpent Sting ], but further testing still needs to be done in this area. Similarly [ Glyph of Chimera Shot ] needs further testing to establish if its a better alternative for Marksman. 

Our major and minor glyphs provide very little benefit to our dps, so it is really up to you what you choose here, but for major glyphs I recommend the [ Glyph of Disengage ] if you utilize this ability and [ Glyph of Silencing Shot ] if specced in [ Silencing Shot ] for the 10 focus regeneration on a successful interrupt. 

BM and Marksman Prime Glyphs 

  1. [ Glyph of Steady Shot ]
  2. [ Glyph of Arcane Shot ]
  3. [ Glyph of Kill Shot ]

Survival Prime Glyphs 

  1. [ Glyph of Steady Shot ]
  2. [ Glyph of Explosive Shot ]
  3. [ Glyph of Kill Shot ]

Major Glyphs 

  1. [ Glyph of Disengage ]
  2. [ Glyph of Silencing Shot ] (if Marksman)
  3. …

Minor Glyphs 

  1. [ Glyph of Feign Death ]
  2. [ Glyph of Mend Pet ]
  3. [ Glyph of Revive Pet ]

  

Stat Priority and Reforging

Early testing has shown agility to be our best stat, crit rating and mastery rating to be neck and neck for a close second, with haste coming in as a close third. 

However stat weights and priority for hunters is still a topic under investigation and currently there is no decision made on exact stat weights. The complexity of stat weights stems from first working out our shot equations and then testing out a number of different configurations based on a mathematical model. Right now no such model exists and there is some confusion among hunters how our stats stack against each other, especially since it looks like stat weights are specific to not only your talents but also the gear that you have. So it is probably not wise at this stage to reforge all your crit and haste to mastery. However it is definitely a good idea to experiment with different configurations to see the differences in your dps. 

Our main stat priority is currently as follows: 

Hit: Hit Rating post 4.0.1 seems to have changed slightly and it looks like 246 hit rating (8%) will now get you hit capped. If you’re a Draenei, [ Heroic Presence ] will lower this further by 1%. Note that Heroic Presence is no longer a group/raid buff. 

Agility: Agility looks to be the best stat to gem for hunters (once you reach the Hit Cap). Agility now gives us two AP per point instead of one and also increases our crit. 

Mastery: In the early stages of patch 4.0.1 mastery rating is looking like a really viable stat. For a Marksman Hunter, mastery rating increases the chance for every shot to fire an additional shot for 115% weapon damage. Currently the only way to get points in this stat is through Reforging. 

Crit: Prior to patch 4.0.1 crit was a very solid stat for hunters and continues to be so post 4.0.1. Frostheim from warcrafthuntersunion has deduced from his initial testing that there is very little difference in value between crit rating and mastery rating. In most cases you do not have to gem crit as high end icc gear has plenty of crit already. The Crit Cap for hunters is still 104.8%. 

Haste: As mentioned above haste has become a more valuable stat in 4.0.1. Haste will be used to improve focus regeneration and affect the casting speed of both [ Auto Shot ] and [ Steady Shot ]. 

Reforging 

Going off the testing done by Frostheim from warcrafthuntersunion, 1 mastery is better than 1 crit so reforging crit into mastery should in theory improve your dps. Haste is a much more complex stat to weigh because there are a very large number of variables contributing to our margin of error. Initial tests have shown 1 mastery rating to be better than 1 haste rating. Thus reforging haste into mastery should in theory improve your dps. However haste throws another spanner in the works, causing yet more headaches 

“Haste is a bit complex in another way, because there are certain haste plateaus where you hit a “magic” spot in your rotation, and dropping just a couple percent suddenly removes an entire shot from your rotation. Still, the general rule seems to apply in most situations.”      Frostheim 

At the end of the day, I don’t think we will ever work out exactly what is best for level 80, as level 85 is the focus of most theorycrafters. So as mentioned above, have a play around with reforging, and see what you come up with. I have talked to hunters that have reforged haste/crit into mastery and gained dps, and similarly talked to others hunters who have  lost dps by doing so. My small piece of advice is to keep an eye on how much haste you reforge and make sure you do not gimp your focus regeneration too much as this will disrupt the smoothness of your rotation. 

Enchanting

Enchants for patch 4.0.1 are as follow: 

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Disc Guide to Gems, Glyphs and Reforging

Posted on: Oct 24, 2010 | Author: Aura

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Disc Priest Gems, Glyphs, Reforging

Further to my previous post on Discipline Priest Talent Changes in patch 4.0.1, today I’m going to discuss Gemming options, Glyphs, Consumables and reforging as a Disc Priest. First of all before we begin, it has been noted for Gems, enchants and consumables that you could probably just stick to what you have for now and see how you do in raiding first before you make any drastic changes. Discipline priests were remarkably over powered prior to the patch and now post-patch it looks like they are something bordering on superhuman. So with that in mind you may be comfortable as you are while you wait for Cataclysm even if you are still raiding.

Glyphs

These are the current best glyphs according to the Elitist Jerks Discipline guides. Some of these may be optional or dependant on your build specifics so don’t be afraid of playing with them.

Prime Glyphs:

[Glyph of Penance]
[Glyph of Power Word: Shield]
[Glyph of Prayer of Healing]

The first two glyphs are pretty standard and are must haves for all disc priests. You may wish to consider [Glyph of Renew] if you are an Improved Renew Build Disc Priest especially for fights such as Valithra but this is optional. However [Glyph of Prayer of Healing] should be your main used glyph as it provides a much larger benefit for most fights.

Major Glyphs:
[Glyph of Holy Nova]
[Glyph of Divine Accuracy]
[Glyph of Dispel Magic]

These glyphs are a little less convincing for many people. [Glyph of Dispel Magic] is a good choice if you are on dispel duty often in raids all in all. However the top two glyphs are not so important for raid healing unless you are going for the “Heal through DPS” build. If you are not going for this build then these two glyphs could be replaced by others. For example, [Glyph of Fear Ward] and [Glyph of Mass Dispel] would be particularly handy on fights such as Heroic Blood Queen. You could even choose [Glyph of Fade] if you for some reason have threat issues.

Minor Glyphs:
[Glyph of Shadowfiend]
[Glyph of Levitate]
[Glyph of Fortitude]

These three glyphs while optional do provide decent benefits for you in a raiding environment. [Glyph of Shadowfiend] provides additional mana if your shadow fiend dies prematurely however this can be interchanged with [Glyph of Fading] instead if you find your shadowfiend simply doesn’t die and especially if you use fade a lot. [Glyph of Levitate] helps to keep those pesky fire loving DPS out of trouble as well as all purpose use around Azeroth. Finally [Glyph of Fortitude] is highly beneficial if someone has been battle ressed in a raid and needs re-buffing, this glyph should never really be overlooked.

Gems

Intellect is the new wow factor stat for Discipline Priests (and other casters alike) since it is the only way to obtain additional spell power since patch 4.0.1. As such your gemming options should look something like this:

Red Sockets: 20 Intellect [Brilliant Cardinal Ruby]

Yellow Sockets: 10 Intellect 10 Haste [Reckless Ametrine]
Unless haste capped then: 20 Intellect [Brilliant Cardinal Ruby]

Blue Sockets: 20 Intellect [Brilliant Cardinal Ruby]

In summary, if you are haste capped (a bit of reforging should do this anyway if you aren’t already) then your best bet is to ignore all socket bonuses and gem for pure intellect. You don’t need anything except red gems to activate your meta gem so you don’t need to worry about that at least. Socket bonuses as they are, are simply not enough of a benefit to outweigh the extra 10 intellect you get with gemming for pure Intellect, even with a small amount of regen tacked on.

Enchants and Consumables

Generally speaking you should begin by keeping your enchants and consumables as they are. Flasks and Food for instance still provide pure SP bonuses. Since there is no such thing (just yet anyway) as intellect food for level 80 raiding, your best options for food and flasks remain [Firecracker Salmon] (or fish feasts) and [Flask of the Frost Wyrm].

Enchanting wise, you wont see any differences either. Since no new Intellect enchants have popped up things are pretty much the same as they always have been, spell power enchants will remain BiS alongside the increasingly popular Tuskar’s Vitality for boots.

Reforging as a Disc Priest

The one stat all disc priest currently drool over is Mastery. That’s because it directly affects the absorption amount of shields and yet prior to Cataclysm there is no way of stacking Mastery with enhancements like gems. Therefore the one stat of choice for reforging your gear will be mastery. When reforging gear take note of the following order of preference:

Crit < Haste until capped < Regen < Mastery

Since we cannot reforge any stats into Intellect these are the four stats we will be dealing with. First and foremost you can take it as a given that you will want to reforge all the crit on your gear to a more beneficial stat. Crit is still not that worthwhile for disc priests and is botom our priority ladder. Secondly check your Haste against the Haste cap. With the changes in patch 4.0.1 the haste cap is now 19% (was 5%) so make sure you reach this number first before considering anything else. If you are under the haste cap, check to see if gemming Int/Haste gems in your yellow sockets will finish off the job. Then if you still need to, pick out all the gear on your priest that does not have the haste stat on it and reforge the crit into haste. However ideally, you want to get as much mastery as possible instead.

Once you are haste capped or as close as you possibly can go with your current gear and reforging, Start reforging the rest of your gear to mastery. This means reforging crit into Mastery or in the case of those who are easily over the haste cap, reforging haste into mastery if there is no crit on the item. Don’t worry about touching your regen stats.

Ideally you want to simply reforge all your crit into mastery rating whilst staying at (or above) the haste cap. Alternatively you can simply fully reforge to mastery.

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Posted in PVE, Patch 4.0.1, Priest | 2 Comments »

Patch 4.0.1 – Concise Rogue Guide Level 80

Posted on: Oct 08, 2010 | Author: Garona

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Patch 4.0.1 Rogue Guide

Before Cataclysm is released Blizzard will be launching Patch 4.0.1 to prepare us for this exciting expansion pack. Not only will we get to savour some delicious new quest lines about the Twilight Cultists and their plans to level our home cities but we will also have some time to get used to our new talent builds and abilities before Cataclysm is launched.

As far as rogues go no official theory crafting has yet been published and Aldriana has been taking a back seat to the discussions so far. That means it’s up to us to formulate a solid plan of action for raiding at level 80 with the new builds and abilities. Fear not though, because we’ve done all this leg work for you and this guide will take you through the basics to raiding at Level 80 in Patch 4.0.1.

Combat Talent Build

UPDATED: Level 80 Talent Build: Combat 2/31/3

This talent build can be modified slightly to suit your personal tastes or the types of raids you will be doing.  The main areas of change would be 2/2 [Recuperate] and 2/2 [Reinforced Leather], which are non DPS talents necessary for progressing down the combat talent tree. These can be placed anywhere in the combat tree you prefer as no other talents in the tree can improve DPS. This build has focused on survival which is particularly beneficial for heroic modes or other intense healing scenarios. It’s also a good basis for leveling 80-85 particularly if you are doing it solo without compromising your raiding ability before Cataclysm.

Mutilate Talent Build

Level 80 Talent Build: Mutilate 31/3/2

This build can be exchanged with: Mutilate 31/2/3 depending on the amount of hit you currently have on your rogue. With Mutilate rogues, hit tends to come much easier than combat rogues so it is likely if you are well geared that you will be able to go for the Mutilate 31/2/3 build instead. This again is your own personal choice so make sure you judge it carefully as to whether or not the extra 2% hit is going to wield more DPS for you than another point in [Relentless Strikes]. If your hit is low (i.e. just above the poison hit mark) stick to the basic Mutilate 31/3/2 as it is likely to be much more beneficial to you.

Some talent points within the Assassination tree are also interchangeable. It is strongly recommended you keep the 2/2 [Quickening] talent points as it will indirectly increase damage by increasing damage up time as well as improve survivability in intensive raids. However you may choose to move 1/2 [Deadened Nerves] if you so choose to. As far as level 80 raiding goes however, this is the standard best suitable talent make up.

Gemming

Red Sockets – Agility (Delicate Cardinal Ruby)
Yellow Sockets – Agility & Haste (Deft Ametrine)
Blue Sockets – Agility & Hit (Glinting Dreadstone)

Agility will be our new number one stat as pure Attack Power and Armor Penetration are no longer available. Attack power and crit will be gained through Agility only and haste will become much more valuable to both Mutilate Rogues and Combat rogues as it effects our Energy Regen. So far initial theory crafting has placed haste caps at 7,000% so currently there is no limit to the amount of haste you can stack as a rogue. However, Agility will remain our number one stat and will come as top priority for all sockets.

Additionally, Hit rating has now become a blue gem allowing us to place mixed Agility and Hit (Glinting Dreadstone) gems in our blue sockets. This will prove much more useful to us and hopefully mean more socket bonuses are kept and not ignored. However this also means you can expect a massive regem when Patch 4.0.1 is launched as your socket bonuses and gems may be completely mixed up (in particular combat rogues).

Armor Penetration

This stat is being completely removed from the game. Rogues will no longer be able to stack any amount of Armor Penetration and all Armor Penetration that currently exists in the game will be converted into Critical Strike Rating. This means many combat rogues will have an excess of Crit at level 80 and this will need minimising as soon as possible. If you have a spare Mutilate gear set get it out ready for the patch as it will be much easier to balance stats and regem than your combat set.

Combat Max DPS Rotation

* 3 x SS
* SnD
* 4 x SS
* 1 x RvS
* Eviscerate
* 5 x SS
* SnD
* repeat from 4 x SS

This rotation factors in our new combo point generating ability [Revealing Strike] (RvS). In order to prevent an RvS where it is not necessary and to prevent RvS timing out at low energy levels the rotation places RvS as the last combo point in our rotation. So far it has been suggested that if a 2 combo point Sinister Strike lands at the 4 combo point mark (making 5 combo points before an RvS) then it is still beneficial to use one RvS even though your combo points are full so that the buff from RvS can be used. Never use an RvS when you are refreshing your Slice and Dice as RvS is weaker than Sinister Strike and does not affect SnD in any way. Do not forget to use Tricks of the Trade on every cool down.

Mutilate Max DPS Rotation

*Vendetta & Tricks of the Trade
*Stealth
*Garrote
*1 x Mutilate
*SnD
*2 x Mutilate
*Envenom
*if target < 35% Health: 5 x Backstab, else 2 x Mutilate
*Rupture
*if target < 35% Health: 5 x Backstab, else 2 x Mutilate
*if Rupture < 11 seconds Rupture, else repeat from Envenom.

This rotation looks a lot more complicated than we are used to seeing with Mutilate rogues. The good news is [Vendetta] (the new HfB) does not require a bleed effect to activate. Make sure you keep Vendetta refreshed throughout the fight and try not to clip it by more than a second or two. This means Mutilate rogues will have a lot more interesting things to do instead of the cool downs that Combat rogues enjoy.

The rotation is basically the same as it has always been, simply make sure you keep Rupture up as well on your target and keep refreshing SnD by using Envenom at 4 or 5 point combos. Additionally, when your target is below 35% your backstab ability is suddenly much more powerful so if you are in a boss fight where you are naturally behind your target you can start using Backstab instead of Mutilate at this point. Remember to always keep your Tricks of the Trade ability on cool down just like combat rogues, and use Vanish and Garrote on every cool down too in order to activate your Overkill ability.

Summary

There are lots of changes going on at the moment with rogues as you can see and it will take a long time to get used to them and to iron out all the wrinkles. Topics such as glyphs are still very much up in the air at the moment and it could take some time before the final values are released. As with all new expansions and patches where the mechanics are modified you can expect to see yet more changes popping up as time goes on so make sure you keep checking back for updates and new information. In the meantime this is a solid base to begin your new raiding lives at Level 80 and hopefully you will get all you need to get done before the Expansion Cataclysm is finally launched on 7th December 2010.

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Posted in PVE, Patch 4.0.1, Rogue | 31 Comments »

Max DPS PVE Mutilate Guide 3.3.5

Posted on: Sep 26, 2010 | Author: Garona

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A Mutilate Rogue with the Top DPS in VOA

 

Welcome to my quick and comprehensive guide to Assassination rogues and how to maximise your DPS as a Mutilate rogue in patch 3.3.5. You may often find Assassination rogues referred to as Mutilate rogues instead, this is because the main combo point generating ability for an Assassination rogue is called Mutilate. Therefore Assassination rogues and Mutilate rogues are one and the same.

 

If you are looking to enter into PVE content in the World of Warcraft you will be competing with many other players who all have the best gear, the builds and the best rotations. Your gear upgrades will come in time through raiding Icecrown but everything else you need to sort out yourself before you begin serious raiding. This is a quick guide to Mutilate rogues in Wrath and includes everything you need to know to get you started and to ensure you maximise your DPS.

 

Talent Build

Mutilate Talent Build – 51/18/2 (Up to date with Patch 3.3.5)

 

This build has a strong focus on your key abilities as a Mutilate rogue. This includes poison damage, Mutilate and Envenom. Mutilate rogues no longer use Rupture in their rotation so the ability [Blood Spatter] is not included. The two talent points found in [Fleet Footed] are somewhat interchangeable but most rogues will keep them here for added damage up time on bosses where a lot of movement is required. At lower gear levels you may see less  benefits from [Lightning Reflexes] and more from 5 points into [Relentless Strikes] instead. This is because at lower gear levels you may not have the desired amount of haste for this build. As you gear up however, Lightning Reflexes becomes more and more powerful.

 

Rotation

For a single target the Mutilate rotation is pretty straight forward.

  1. Enter Stealth
  2. Break Stealth
  3. Begin auto attacks
  4. 1 x Mutilate
  5. SnD
  6. HfB (Refresh before it drops off)
  7. 2 x Mutilate
  8. Envenom
  9. Repeat from point 7

Some mutilate rogues may prefer to stealth over to their target and use Garrote instead. This has however come under dispute recently and most rogues now no longer do this in a raid environment. This is because the downtime received from stealthing over to your target is considered too large overall so that you lose too much damage up time. You should also remember to cast [Vanish] on every cool down and immediately break stealth by using an ability such as garrote in order to activate your [Overkill] ability.

 

It is also vitally important that you maximise the use of your [Tricks of the Trade] ability. This improves raid DPS considerably and also helps you to easily manage your threat without holding back on your attacks. Finally, use [Cold Blood] when you have 5 combo points before you use [Envenom] on every cool down as much as possible.

 

Glyphs

The following Major Glyphs can be used for a Mutilate rogue:

  1. [Glyph of Hunger for Blood]
  2. [Glyph of Mutilate]
  3. [Glyph of Tricks of the Trade]
  4. [Glyph of Fan of Knives]

The first two glyphs are a strict requirement for a raiding Mutilate rogue. The third and final glyphs however are often interchangeable. It is generally accepted that raiding rogues use the  [Glyph of Tricks of the Trade] as their third and final Major Glyph. This is because while it does not generate any personal DPS is does generate extra DPS for your raid. For a well organised raid group with at least 2 rogues present, rogues will often exchange Tricks of the Trade on each other to maximise DPS. The fourth Glyph is for personal DPS only and is not as beneficial for a raiding environment. However it can be used effectively for heroics and trash.

 

You will also need to ensure you at least have the following two minor glyphs for raiding:

These will help you reduce damage when thrown around  (for example Eye of Eternity for those that have been there) as well as increase damage up time when you make use of your Vanish ability and your target moves.

 

Poisons

Mutilate rogues will use only two poisons (one on each weapon), these are [Instant Poison] and [Deadly Poison]. Many mutilate rogues get easily confused by poisons and what weapons to place them on. There is only one solid rule of thumb for Mutilate rogues but it can mean some rogues will have Deadly Poison on their off hand and other on their main hand. Follow these guidelines to find out which is which for you:

  1. Deadly Poison will always go on your fastest weapon.
  2. If your weapons are the same speed, Deadly Poison will then go on the weapon with the highest DPS average.
  3. Your fastest Weapon will always go in your main hand.
  4. If your weapons are the same speed, the weapon with the highest DPS will go in your main hand.

This will maximise your poison proc damage first and foremost which provides more DPS than the extra mutilate damage from a high DPS weapon in the main hand. If weapon speed is the same it will then factor in Mutilate damage.  Make sure you look at your weapons carefully and follow these steps to find out where your weapons and poisons should be. For high gear level weapons you will often find a high DPS, fast weapon in your MH with deadly poison. For lower gear levels it is often (but not always) the other way around.

 

Gems

Mutilate rogue gemming is pretty straight forward when compared to combat rogues. Mutilate rogues will never use Armor Penetration gems so the focus is always on Attack Power and Haste. At lower gear levels you will start off by gemming Agility until you critical strike rating is at a reasonable level (something like 35-40%). Once you reach Emblem of Triumph gear and above (ilevel 245+) you should begin changing your gems. As a general rule of thumb you should gem:

 

Red Sockets: Bright Cardinal Ruby (40 Attack Power)
Yellow Sockets: Stark Ametrine (20 Attack Power & 10 Haste)
Blue Sockets: 1 x Nightmare Tear (+10 to all stats), then Bright Cardinal Ruby in all others (40 Attack Power)
Meta Gem: Relentless Earthsiege Diamond (21 Agility & 3% Critical Damage)

 

Make sure you place the nightmare tear into the item of gear with the best socket bonus. For any other gear with blue sockets in you can ignore the socket bonuses and gem for pure attack power. You will also need to keep an eye on your hit rating and crit rating, to do so use a Crit Cap Calculator program. If you are in need of more hit to become hit capped or to avoid wasting crit, replace your yellow gems with Pristine Ametrine (20 Attack Power & 10 Hit).

 

Enchants

Excluding special enchants from professions you will need:

Head - [Arcanum of Torment]: Requires Revered with the faction Ebon Hold
Shoulder – [Greater Inscription of the Axe]: Requires Exalted with the faction Sons of Hodir
Back – [Major  Agility]
Chest – [Powerful Stats]
Wrists – [Greater Assault]
Hands – [Crusher]
Waist – [Eternal Belt Buckle]
Legs – [Icescale Leg Armor]
Feet – [Greater Assault]
Weapon 1 & 2 – [Berserking]

 

Ideal Raid Situations

Now you have everything you need to get started maximising your DPS and being the best rogue you can be. However, I will leave you with one last word of advice. Mutilate talent builds are for tank and spank fights, they are designed to maximise DPS on a fight where you stand still and nuke. This means you may not be performing optimally in all raid situations. Many rogues will have two talent builds for different raid situations, typically one Mutilate build and one Combat build. Mutilate rogues will excel in fights such as: Deathbringer Saurfang (ICC), Toravon (VOA), Festergut (ICC). However for other fights such as Marrowgar (ICC), Anub (TOC) and The Lich King (ICC) where movement and target switching is necessary throughout the boss encounter you may find your DPS is lower. Similarly combat rogues will struggle more on Saurfang and excel on The Lich King encounter. This is because they perform well in these types of fights because their build is designed to do so. To fully maximise your DPS in Wrath raids, it is always recommended you have both a PVE mutilate build and a PVE combat build to change according to the boss you are about to fight.

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Posted in PVE, Pre Patch 4.0.1, Rogue | 23 Comments »

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