So I was doing my ussual looking around everybodies blog when I stumbled upon a post on outofmana.blogspot.com Megan has a post there linking to http://meghanohara.org/wordpress/. Following it I think you will be pleasantly surprised to find a well done hilarious comic that has some brutal truths. Give it a look. 5 Stars from me I can't wait for the next one.

PvP. Player versus Player. No timed action patterns, no artificial intelligence (sometimes none at all). Just you sitting at your desk and someone else sitting at theirs. Each of you trying to reduce the others health points to zero. And I stink at it. Well, specifically, Arena. I've tried and I just can't get the hang of it. A big part of it is that all of my talents and gear itemizations are purposed for raiding and dungeon content. I know stamina and reslience are the most important stats to have for being successful with Arena play. But I've never done any serious PvPing. Sure, when the honor system was revamped towards the end of 2006, I was right in there with all of the other BG noobs farming for perplz.

I can take any of the popularly accepted Rogue builds and make them work well for PvE content (yes, I was 20/0/41 lewlstep for my virgin Kara run, and I managed to keep myself in the top 3 dps). But ask me to put together a solid PvP build with talents focused for Arenas, and I'm lost. Does the old school 31/0/30 Cold Blood Prep build work? How about 41/0/20 Mutilate Assassination? I know Combat Maces is one of the more popular newcomers, but what talents in the combat tree are good for Arenas? What about the stunlocking Hemo builds from the past?

Not that I plan on respeccing for PvP anytime soon, I am just curious. I want to know what other people have had success with. I try looking and reading through the forums, but all I get turned away pretty fast by all the trolls and flamers.

So, any advice from anyone out there?

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Posted By Doomilias to A View from Behind at 8/31/2007 10:38:00 AM

A long time ago I once held a contest and gave away an n52. However when I lost interest in WoW the traffic on RogueSpot reflected that and took a nose dive. With donations not coming in its impossible to give away free stuff...

However pageviews are up visits are up, yesterday we did 4800 in pageviews. Not an amazing amount of traffic but significant to say the least. I have also taken some time to try and master google adsense away from the gold farmers. You will notice 2 half banners to the right and left of the advertisement under the RogueSpot banner. The center one supports our hosting the outside ones support the community. Hopefully with a watchful eye we can keep the gold sellers off the site. There is a thread running in the CnD where members can report gold selling domains so that I can add them to my block list.

With the new ads comes cool stuff. Hopefully the first of which will be to give away some cool stuff. So check out our um... "sponsors" and get pickpocketed by our clever donation button on the right. Feel free to donate as little as a dollar or go for epic status like Seedyrom and donate $40+

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

~CS

Recently roguespot was recognized by WOWinsider for its great quality that it brings to all rogue and wow players. Its great for this community to be recognized by an amazing source of WOW knowledge like WOWinsider. We as a community need to continue this effort to make the rogue community the greatest community of all classes. Thanks to people like Cerias, Osiris, Ming and many others; I would have to say that we have the most comprehensive and indepth source of knowledge than any other class in World of Warcraft.

I come to you today with a challenge; to add that extra post of knowledge, share that amazing link of strategy with your fellow rogues, and to point others to the place you call home; Roguespot!

If you have any information, suggestions, or comments you would like to make. Please send me an email at khormid.roguespot@gmail.com

It really is awesome to be in a guild that is progressing quickly through Karazhan. I know it's not a huge deal considering most raiding guilds are well into 25-mans by this point. But for me, who has bounced around from guild to guild trying to find a home...it's exciting. We had two groups on Prince last night, and as you can see from the picture to the right, we got him down again. Took 6 tries because of horrible infernal drops. Group 1 should get him tonight, and the group I'm in is going to take out Illhoof and then give both a dragons a go.

In other news, heroic Durnholde is totally overpowered for the loot it drops, and I'll never do it again.

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Posted By Doomilias to A View from Behind at 8/27/2007 08:24:00 AM

Ahhh... Diminishing Returns. The enemy of every good stunlock if your not careful. Ever watched a video of a Rogue PvPing and seen him blind his opponent only to restealth and then sap his target as the blind wears off? Is the undead rogue simply playing with his food at this point? Hardly...

Many learned rogues understand the concept of diminishing returns. Here is an excerpt from wowwiki.com explaining the process.

• When a spell with diminishing returns is used against a target in PvP, the first effect has full duration.
• On the second use of the same category of spell (e.g. slowing), that spell's duration is reduced by 50%.
• On the third use, the duration is reduced by 75%.
• On the fourth attempt, the target becomes immune to the spell.
• Spells must be used on the same target within 15 seconds of the *end* of the duration in order to be diminished. In other words, if a target hasn't had a slowing spell active on them for more than 15 seconds, the next slowing spell will have full effect.

So the rogue described above is not simply toying with his opponent. He wants to get the full effect of his cheapshot and kidneyshot. Restealthing in a duel against a DPS class has the same effect. Wait your 15 seconds (as long as they cant heal) and then start back in against them with the full effect of your stunlock. If they are a healer blind, heal yourself, restealth and sap to elimanate diminishing returns on your opponent.

This concept is something I consider finesse. Sure you can power through a 50% shorter stunlock and kill your opponent but knowing this concept makes your moves that much more debilitating. This is the tool of a skilled Rogue acting with precision not one jumping up and down behind you flailing their weapons hoping for the best.

Labels: notebook, rogue

New rewards are popping up on PTR lately for the violet eye faction. There are some new rewards; a couple leatherworking patterns, a new elixir and a greater agility enchant for weapons. You can see them on PTR currently on Apprentice Darius who stands in front of the Karazhan entrance. Check out this story on wowinsider for details on the new rewards.

Labels: news

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Posted By Doomilias to A View from Behind at 8/20/2007 11:54:00 PM

So I know you've seen them on a bunch of sites, but here they are again for all us rogues to drool over............mainhand and offhand! Now if you were ever curious about the lore behind these blades; be curious no more. These blades once belonged to the demon called Azzinoth who had been one of the doomguard commanders of the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients. He carried these weapons for a long time until he met his end at the hands of Illidan Stormrage. After Azzinoth fell, Illidan took the weapons and over many years grew continually stronger in skill with these demonic weapons, even more so then Azzinoth was.

Illidan still bares these blades today inside the black temple, but now our fellow rogues and warriors can loot these amazing weapons and wield them in battle. These blades can't be combined as one.

A little tidbit for those who like to know; Furi of Blood Legion on the US server Illidan was the first to complete a full set of these weapons on August 1st, 2007.

Labels: lore

So I had a couple of messages on my desktop from people who were under the impression the site was closing or moving. No no... One of our contributors is moving his blog which is completly independent from RogueSpot over to gamer riot. I would like to thank Venick for his contributions to RogueSpot and I wish him luck over at gamer riot. RogueSpot however will be around for a good long time.

~CS

"We've partnered with DIRECTV to offer a great value to World of Warcraft players and new DIRECTV customers. Between now and November 30, 2007, players who sign up for DIRECTV will receive 11 months of World of Warcraft FREE! New DIRECTV customers who aren't already World of Warcraft subscribers will also receive a free copy of the World of Warcraft game client. Visit DIRECTV’s Championship Gaming Series site to learn more about this special promotion."
-Source

So first we had the addition of paypal to the giant we know as blizzard. Now they are working with DIRECTV? I guess that means if you were thinking about satellite, then now is the time to signup.

Labels: news

I have been working on a bunch of stuff behind the scenes for RogueSpot. I want to drive more traffic here as well as add more features to the site. One of those will be a videos feature page.

All of RogueSpot's videos will be available through our site or filefront as they are released but I wanted to go ahead and make a youtube channel for shits and giggles. So if you have a youtube account check us out. I put up the Night Elves Dying Video as our first one and Ill go from there.

I would also like to network out and make the channel a hub... linking or commenting on other good Rogue Videos on youtube. If you have an account with youtube come join the RogueSpot channel and help me get it kicked off right.

Could it be? Blizzard commented at blizzcon that they would be looking into leveling times and that they feel that it needs to be sped up a bit. What would that mean? Or what about the new system for arena weapons? Come expansion time they plan to knock season 1 stuff to the honor system, season 2 will have its arena point costs lowered and season 3 will not only cost arena points but it will also required specific team ratings. So this new process of moving old season stuff to the honor system and forcing the current stuff to be harder to obtain; how does this affect you? Do you think that blizzard should make leveling faster than it already is? Chime in and let me know what you think.

Labels: rumors

"We're pleased to announce that we're now able to accept PayPal payments for World of Warcraft subscriptions. Both current and new subscribers can now assign their PayPal account as their automatic payment method on the Account Management page. If you wish to open a PayPal account or want to learn more about the popular online payment system, the PayPal website has the details. "
-source


I know I'm going to stick to my current way of paying for my subscription but I will say that it does open up more choices for alot of other people.

Labels: news

So I was wondering around and recently came across this very nice and new website. Lootables....the new way to search for your item desires and wants or maybe just to compare a new weapon verse an old one.

After playing with the tool for a few moments I realized how easy and quick it was to find the item that I was looking for. So I decided hey I want to compare the two offhand axes from the arena rewards...I selected the season 2 and season 1 axe with ease and then to the right of the webpage it will pull both weapons up so that you can make your comparisons; up to a maximum of 4 items. Another thing I like about the information that this site gives is that it shows you the arena costs in a easy to see view without having to scrounge around like on some other sites.

Though they may be their own entity they also make sure to give you the links for the items on allakhazaam, thottbot, wowhead and armory.

My favorite thing though has to be the guides for leveling up the different crafting professions. Not only does it tell you what items to make at what levels and how many, but it also gives you a breakdown of the materials needed for each craft along with average ah costs and notes for special items drops that may need to be farmed. Check this out for an example.

After some playing around and surfing, I'd have to say that this website is truelly something amazing in the works. What are you waiting for? This post is done now go get your butt over there and check it out.

Ever wonder what no social life would look like if you could illustrate it in terms of wow. Probably something like this. Seriously though grats to this guy for all the faction work... but um its time to get outside and get some sun I think. I won't be presumptuous enough to say go get a girl... lets take it one step at a time... lets get outside first.

I guess I know where this guy is coming from sort of. Back in the golden age of EQ i racked up 270 days /played in 365 days. Thank god I got off the evercrack.

~CS

Labels: armory

I'm writing this down as a way to memorize what I feel is a solid strategy against warlocks. I've put much thought into this during the 48 hour maintenance in determining what moves I should use and when with the least amount of cooldowns. These fights would be done as combat mace spec, against skilled Warlocks, and I've removed alot of other possible variables - leaving the basic in and out of how to win. This is not to promote how to kill a warlock perfectly. I have not tested these strategies nor do I believe they are flawless.

Affliction / Demonology Warlock (Felhunter)
Undead / Combat / Offhand: Crippling
In this type of fight, it would probably be best to kill him as fast as possible but with some control involved. You can begin by opening with Garrote to provide extra damage rather then Cheapshot. Since you have three seconds of space to act on, I suggest using Shiv and then Kidney Shot. At this point, the fight can evolve into two different ways.

A) The Warlock trinkets KS and immediately AoE fears.
B) The Warlock takes the KS in order to save it for another or possibly Blind.

Starting with A, you want to Shiv as soon as possible after Kidney Shot. Hopefully the combination of PvP trinket and the second Shiv don't overlap and stays applied. In doing so, the fear will go off and assuming your Undead you should Will of the Forsaken quickly. Upon such, I suggest Sprint if he doesn't have crippling on him and/or he applies Curse of Exhaustion. When you catch up, apply crippling (if it isn't) and begin to turn on Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, and Slice and Dice. This is where the rush begins.

Its quite obvious to say that you now have to out damage whatever health discrepancy he has over you and then some. In order to do this, continue your barrage of Sinister Strikes until you reach about 60% health. At which point, a transition is in order. Begin by halting your assault and saving energy. With the trinket out of the way, you can safely use your Blind, Gouge the pet, Cloak of Shadows, and start to bandage. Once completed, Vanish one second before Blind is over or one second before Clos is over. Vanish and restart with a Cheapshot and Kidney Shot combo which will hopefully finish him.

Now to begin with B, continue on by Sinister Striking twice. Try to finish the KS with a kick one second before it ends or as it ends. He'll then initiate AoE fear which you counter with Will of the Forsaken. Perferbly he'd then Death Coil you in which you should dispel with trinket as quickly as possible. If crippling wears off, is trinketed, or he applies Curse of Exhaustion, Sprint back to him and hit Shiv. Turn on Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, and begin racking up 4-5 points combo points.

Once you gather the points, use Kidney Shot now to finally force the trinket and Blind him. Hopefully with enough energy, Gouge the pet, Clos and begin to bandage. Vanish and restart with a Cheapshot and Kidney Shot combo which will hopefully finish him.

Demonology / Affliction Warlock (Felguard)
Undead / Combat / Offhand: Crippling
This fight I feel is much more dangerous. A Felguard can ruin your opening stunlock but also had incredible damage throughout the fight. Good Warlocks will keep their Felguard at a distance so that they may charge you during your the end of your stun. Thats why instead of opening with Garrote, I would suggest Cheapshot.

This keeps the Warlock in place and if the Felguard doesn't charge immediately, hands you enough time to apply Shiv. I would also suggest Kicking him right after Shiv, silencing him for a moment after you get Charged. Now two fight paths can form at this point:

A) Upon the charge the Warlock immediately trinkets crippling to gain distance, applies Curse of Exhaustion, and gets ready to AoE fear when you get close.
B) Upon the charge the Warlock walks slowly away, applies Curse of Exhaustion, and gets ready to AoE fear when you get close.

Starting with A, you should begin by Sprinting and applying Shiv once in range. Fear is irrelevant so Will of the Forsaken and make sure that crippling is on before anything else. Once in melee range, turn on Evasion, Adrenaline Rush, and Blade Flurry. Begin your barrage of Sinister Strikes until 3-4 combo points and Kidney Shot. At this point, do one last Shiv and Kidney Shot.

As soon as you're able to, Gouge the pet and clos. Begin to bandage and one second before it ends, Vanish. Try to Sap the Warlock so that when it ends your next Kidney Shot won't be on diminishing returns. Restart with a Cheapshot and Kidney Shot combo which will hopefully finish him.

Now with B, you should try to conserve your Sprint for later and apply Shiv once in range. As always, break fear and make sure that crippling is applied before anything else. Once in melee range, turn on Evasion, Adrenaline Rush, and Blade Flurry. Begin your barrage of Sinister Strikes until 4-5 combo points and Kidney Shot. He'll probably trinket this KS so immediately do Shiv. Hopefully the combination of PvP trinket and the second Shiv don't overlap and stays applied.

He'll now Death Coil and begin to cast Fear. Don't trinket out of the Death Coil but trinket the Fear. Afterwards, Blind him, Gouge his pet, and begin to bandage. Vanish and restart with a Cheapshot and Kidney Shot combo which will hopefully finish him.

Destruction / Demonology Warlock (Succubus)
Undead / Combat / Offhand: Crippling
Working on this as you read. I'm determining what would be the best option: Killing Succubus (possible instant resummon) or try (pretty much have to) to deal with her and the Warlock.

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Posted By Venick to Venick and Taeveril's Blog at 8/15/2007 03:29:00 PM

I was doing my daily lookup of worldofraids.com I love that site they always seem to have breaking news really quickly. I honestly beleive that Teza (who is a guy, I do not want any RogueSpot Rogues msging him /whisper OMG I do it from behind too! I will smack you) must stay up all nite searching for news. I imagine something like Neo in the opening scenes of the Matrix where hes asleep at his computer and its scanning news articles from around the world.

They had a link to Armory Musings... if you flip through the blog it has stats on alot of the European Realms. Its a pretty impressive data mining operation and fun to look through. I scrolled back a page or two to bring up the Rogue report. They break down most popular piece of equipment for each slot by spec and all sorts of other goodies. They also show class and faction distribution for different servers not to mention displaying how much of a certain class went Aldor and how many went Scryer. Check it out for yourself you can spend a good hour on this site just sifting through all the data.

Labels: blogs

The PVP Notebook is something new that I plan to keep up on. It is simply the random things that I note while dueling or playing arena. At the very least it is reinforcement for me as some of you may already know to do these things. For others it may be helpful.



One of the things that annoys me in a duel with a priest is his shield. He can keep it up indefinitely and that takes a lot of the bite out of your attack if you front load a lot of your dps. I was contemplating this problem the other day while I was circle strafing a priest outside of Orgrimar. We we're dueling and I didn't want my ambush or my first mutilate to be absorbed. I thought about trying to time it for when his shield died but he was able to keep it up over lapping his shields. I sat there for what seemed like a minute before slapping myself in the forehead.

Approaching him cautiously... i smacked him over the top of the head with the blunt end of my dagger with exactly 3-5 seconds remaining on his shield. Since he normally tries to overlap by less then 1-2 seconds I was able to sit out the remainder of his shield and open up on him with ambush or cheapshot into mutilate. Very simple yet highly effective in duels.

Labels: notebook, priest, rogue, sap