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Respec To Assassination

Posted by on Dec 12, 2009 in Commentary |

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: respec to Assassination. Patch 3.3 has buffed damage output from that tree so much that Combat doesn’t even stand a chance. I no longer have the data from Recount with me but here’s what drove the proverbial nail in the coffin when I was thinking about the numbers a few days ago.

I noticed the damage increase in Icecrown Citadel. There were two rogues in the group and we were just leaving everyone behind in DPS. No one else was even close. To verify this, I decided to use it on a fight where Assassination is at a disadvantage: Anub’Arak. We usually position the adds next to Anub so melee can AoE/cleave them. It makes sense for me to run Combat during that fight so I can use Blade Flurry + Adrenaline Rush. I was clearly in the lead of the other rogue in the group until we got Anub down to 30%. When he started leeching life from everyone, I had no more adds to buff my damage so it became a single-target race in terms of DPS. Guess what? The other rogue caught up and beat me.

So that’s it. Run Mutilate/Assassination. Don’t believe me? Check out the updated Q&A at EJ.

I expect Blizz to swing the nerf bat pretty hard on this one, so enjoy it while it lasts.

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Rogue DPS: Solo HAT Versus Mutilate

Posted by on Dec 31, 2008 in Commentary |

Happy holidays to everyone. Today’s post is about something that’s loved and hated: Honor Among Thieves (AKA HAT). As you can see from the skill description, you get a combo point everytime someone else crits. That part works as intended. The rather controversial aspect is how it stacks with other rogues. You get one combo point per HAT rogue, so if you have 3 rogues with the talent, you get 3 combo points per crit. That’s how you can spam Eviscerate and get the top DPS spot in no time.

Right now, that information isn’t groundbreaking. A lot of people know about it and the reactions are mixed. Those who love it argue that it contributes to overall DPS and makes raids faster and easier. Those who hate it say that it’s a bug that’s being exploited. I’m not here to discuss the pros and cons in those terms. The fact is that it’s happening and it’s being used to its fullest advantage.

There is one question that some of you are asking: how does HAT perform with only one rogue in the group? I hope to answer that. Note that I’m approaching this coming from a Mutilate background. I was curious about HAT so I decided to give it a whirl earlier today. I do not have the screenshots anymore but after running three instances, I was satisfied that I got the answer I was looking for. We ran Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme, The Nexus and Drak’Tharon Keep, all on heroic. I reset the data per instance, to give it a fair comparison. Our group consisted of a prot pally, a ret pally, a holy priest and a hunter. At the end, my DPS was a hundred or so less as a HAT rogue compared to Mutilate. I’m used to seeing it hit 1300-1400 DPS with Mutilate. With HAT, it was 1200-1300.

Now, here’s where the pros and cons “in those terms” come in. The pros of a HAT rogue is that it’s very easy to get the numbers above. You literally just spam Hemo and wait till the combo points come in. Once you get five, hit Eviscerate and repeat the cycle. It’s literally easy DPS, probably the simplest that you can get in-game. The cons? If you’re running solo HAT, its performance greatly depends on how well your group crits. Your damage output is literally dependent on everyone else’s crit ratings, so be prepared for that.

So that’s it. If you have your doubts I suggest you try it out yourself. It’s really not too bad. Plus, you get the benefit of taking a break from the complicated rotation of Mutilate.

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