Rogue Theorycrap

Quick Update IRL

2007-08-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

Landed a new job. More than doubled my salary and higher bonus potential. Went Blizcon and found that murloc toys were detained at customs. And Blizzard still does not have a slight fucking clue on what's wrong with rogues in PvP. Lowest mobility, low survivability, and the smallest area of attack out of all classes.And most importantly, finally got my fucking Blogspot account working again.

Weapon Specialization (de)Mystified

2007-05-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks/months/years of rogue forum trolling at work, the question of how Fist/Dagger weapon specialization works have never been directed answered, documented, or even tested, despite the well known fact that Mace/Sword spec will work only if you ahve mace/sword equipped even in offhand only.IMHO, the source of the confusion in Fist/Dagger spec is that, paperdoll's crit rate will

Mutilate, Part 4: Myth on Off-hand Weapon Choices

2007-03-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Time to put something on this blog. IRL > WoW. I have also found a new home at Huang Long with a group of very skilled friends I have known since WoW release. Eminence, my former guild, has just started to get serious about 25men raids and shall catch up and leapfrog the likes of DnT very soon. I wish them best of luck.In my opinion, the need of a high damage OH to maximize DPS for Mutilate

Patch 2.0: Combat Potency

2006-12-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

Combat Potency is a 35 points combat talent that gives, at 5/5, 20% chance to regen 15 energy on successful OH attacks. It is quite easy to model the amount of energy regen.Energy Regen as a function of Weapon Speed and Mitigation, without any speed mods.ER (S, M)= (1/S) * (1 - M) * 20% * 15= 3 * (1-M) / SGrahpically depict, ER (S, M) looks like:To maximize ER, take partial derivative on S:d ER

Patch 2.0: Day 1, Blade Twisting

2006-12-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

Patch 2.0 finally arrived yesterday and I log on right after getting home from work. The spec of choice is 10/41/0 Combat Mace stun/daze build. I have tried 41/3/7 mutilate build on test servers for couple of hours, but I figures that its time for me to change. I have been in the various SF builds for majority of my time in WoW, or at least 100 days out of the 130 days played, including new

TBC & Crit Scaling

2006-11-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

In TBC, Blizzard introduced one additional stats called Resillience Rating (RR) of which decrease your crit rate by 1% and crit damage by 2% per every 39.4 RR @ level 70. Here is the list of damage calculations:Assuming a crit rate of C, resillience of R, mainhand damage of MH, offhand damage of OH, respective damage modifier of Mod, then Backstab(BS), Hemorrhage(Hemo), Mutilate(Mut), Sinister

Mutilate, Part 2: Crit Profile

2006-11-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

In part 1, Mutilate was evaluated from a lv60 perspective with rosy 30% crit rate and 1540 attack power. So in this post, I am going to investigate how Mutilate will scale at lv70.I will use my mediocre gear as an example.434 Agi135 Naked299 item29.97% Crit5% malice4.65% naked10.31% item agi10% item +crit chanceThe crit profile of Mutilate will therefore be:49.04% Non Crit41.98% Single Crit8.98%

Mutilate, Part 1: Dual Wield Spec vs Opportunity

2006-10-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

The rogue class has evolved over time. I remember we used to wear the OH weapon purely for the stats (Bonescrapper) as OH weapon DPS were basically nullified by dual wield penality. As gears progresses, OH DPS becomes more and more important and at some point, become a significant part of the overall DPS profile. Mutilate elevate the OH DPS to another level as it is the first skill/talent that

Combat Rating System Explanation - Bliz

2006-10-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming release of the Burning Crusade, we thought we would take the time to explain more on a new stat that we are introducing: Combat Ratings. These ratings are being used for any combat stat that previously was percentage-based such as: critical strike chance, hit chance, dodge chance and

Memorable Rogue

2006-08-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today Chalon announced his "retirement" from WoW and community. He is a highly respected rogue and raid leader of Eternal Reign on Light Bringer. He is the author of Rogue FAQ and the famous combat dagger DPS calculator spreadsheet.I have never spoke to him, but I started my WoW 'career' following his Rogue FAQ, and he has been very helpful on the rogue forums.Raid Leader, ER - http://

BC Talent Preview: Surprise Attacks

2006-08-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Suprise AttacksRequires 1 point in Adrenaline RushRequires 40 points in Combat TalentsYour Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Gouge can no longer be dodged.Melee attack ruleset explained hereEnergy regen explained hereAssuming a typical melee attack table of a well equiped rogue and a backstab damage of B. Energy loss for miss/dodge/parried backstab is 11.00-04 Dodge (5%)05-09 Parry (5%)10-44 Crit (

New Combat Dagger Build

2006-07-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Taken directly from an email conversation:If you want to own DM up, the most important thing, beside l2p, is spec all the high DPS buffing talents. So lets look at the DPS gained from the arguable talents (raid buffed DPS, using Tier 3 gears. Numbers roughly got from Chalon's current DPS calculators):Adreline Rush (Direct-scaling):Assuming you are doing 1400 expected/average backstabs, AR is

World of Rangecraft and Rogues

2006-05-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Since 1.11 is in public beta and 1.12 is on the horizon, its a good time to bring up some of the issues thats detrimental to the rogue class (and my feral pussy cat).1. VanishOh ya, when is blizzard going to fix this shit. Nothing beats vanishing and knocked right out due to mid-swing attacks, heat-tracking arcane missles, and pet of all seeing. Vanish was working at an acceptable level during

More on Sword Spec Modeling

2006-05-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

There has been some discussion and validation of Sword Specialization mechanics on the Rogue forum recently, and the results are exactly the same as I stated in both 3/2/06 and 3/3/06 post.Sword Spec proc off only swords.OH sword spec proc triggers an instant extra MH attack.Special attacks triggers an instant extra MH attack.Sword spec proc is an normal mainhand attack and will cancel

Tier 3 Rogue Set, Bloodelf Racials, and Naxxramus Items

2006-05-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've been so fucking busy over the past few months with company earnings and various conferences so cbf updating this blog. But here comes E3.BoneScythe, 9 piece Rogue Tier3 Set.Set Bonuses:2 Piece: Your normal melee swing has a chance to invigorate you, healing you for 90 to 110.4 Piece: Your Backstab, Sinister Strike, and Hemorrhage critical hits causes you to restore 5 energy.6 Piece: Reduces

Melee Attack Ruleset

2006-03-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

Miss + Dodge + Parry + Block + Crit + Hit = 100%For example, if I have 30% Crit, +0 Hit and my target has 5% Dodge, 5% Block, 5% Parry, then in ONE DICE roll,00-04 Miss (5%)05-09 Dodge (5%)10-14 Parry (5%)15-19 Block (5%)20-49 Crit (30%)50-99 Hit (50%)so if the magical Blizzard dice rolled 35, it will be a crit, and so forth.Now what happens in a Coldblood Evis? The Crit chance is increased to

Energy Regeneration Oddities

2006-03-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well, if you ever played a rogue, you know your energy is rarely a multiple of 5. So here it is.Sinister Strinket = 40 energy (45 before talents)Backstab = 60 energyMissed SS costs 7 energy.Missed BS costs 11 energy.These numbers are gathered from Kurinnaxx fight in AQ20. His sandblast reduces your hit chance by 20% (or some retarded amount like that), so I was able to keep on missing SS/BS and

A Preview of My Next Version of DPS Calculator. Dynamically Updated (some bug of course)

2006-03-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Main Hand Enchant DPS Chart <= OH Poison DPS None Deadly Poison V Instant Poison VI Dense Sharpening Stone Elemental Sharpening Stone MH Poison DPS => - 25.4 16.2 6.6 5.2 OH None - - 25.39 16.18 6.57 5.25 Deadly Poison V

1.10 Darkmantle Set

2006-03-13T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the new 1.10 Darkmantle Set.The set graphics looks great and the stats fits very well between Nightslayer and Shadowcraft. The 4 piece set bonus of +35 Energy proc sounds extremely promising. I am particularly interested in DM Boots due to the stealth bonus.5/5 MoD gives 15 Stealth Skill Points.DM Boots gives 8 Stealth Skill Points according to WoWGuru.NE Racial gives 5

I Slap Myself in the Fase. 1% Chance to Gain Extra Attack = 1.5% Hit

2006-03-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

I retract my eariler statement that +2% Hit and +2% Chance for an Extra Attack have no material differences after some discussion with Pj. We have come to an agreement that 3% Hit = 2% Chance to Gain Extra Attacks. This is some logic flaw on my part. My apologies.So 5/5 Sword Spec is effectively 6.5% Hit. HoJ is effectively 3% Hit + 20 AP.My 03.03.06 post regarding my calculation assumptions

HoJ/Sword Spec Procs? Pfft. Get +Hit

2006-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

First of all, I've shown a 0.5% increase in DPS from 2% hit to 2% for an extra attack. That's far from 50% improvement from the comment.2.4 MH and OH Speed Assumption I assumed 2.4 speed for both MH and OH. Most MH sword speed ranges from 2.6 to 2.9. There are only 4 epic sword that has speed less than 2.4: Blackguard(craftable), Ravencrest's Legacy(AQ Gate Quest), Maladath, Runed Blade of

+2% Chance for an Extra Attack Has No Material Benefit Over +2% Hit

2006-03-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

Known Facts:HoJ procs off both special attacks and normal attacks.HoJ can proc on another HoJ proc.HoJ proc triggers an extra Main Hand attack.Now assume a normal 5% hit 30% crit rogue (20% miss rate on normal attacks, 0% miss rate on special attacks) SS spamming over the course of 100 seconds using two 2.4 speed weapons. Further assume 250 non-crit white attacks and 318 non-crit SS for

AQ Item Wish List

2006-02-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

Now that AQ gate is finally opened on Blackrock and Eminence is up to Huhuran (NR cockblock), here is my wishlist for AQ40/AQ20 in the order of desire:Deathsting - C'Thun(?)Anubisath Warhammer - Trash MobsBlessed Qiraji Pugio - AQ40 Boss DropSand Polished Hammer - Ossirian the UnscarredDeathdealer Vest - C'Thun Deathdealer's Boots - Princess HuhuranRing of the Qiraji Fury - Battleguard Sartura

SnD/Rupture and Finisher Efficiency - by Kalman (Updated 03.01.06)

2006-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Link to original post by Kalmam. And my apologies for spelling the name wrong twice. :(http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-rogue&T=918191&P=2There are 3 common SnD specs: 0/3, 1/3, and 3/3 Improved. 2/3 specs are rare.With 0/3, your timers are 9/12/15/18/21.With 1/3, your timers are 10/14/17/21/24.With 3/3, your timers are 13/17/22/26/30.A 1 CP SnD is modelable as 20 energy,

Trinket DPS Calculations

2006-02-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

It's really hard to compare active trinkets (ZHM, VT, etc) to passive trinkets (DFT, BB, etc) using some reasonable basis. Quality can only be compared when you can quantify their effects and that's what I've been trying to attempt.Drake Fang TalismanListing the DPS for DFT for comparison basis. Since I am trying to use Excel spreadsheet to model DPS, I am going to do it in lazy mode by simply

Two New Toys Since September 2005

2006-01-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finally picked up some new toys last weekend after a long slump. Striker's Mark from Magmadar in Molten Core and Polished Ironwood Crossbow from Emeriss for my Nature Resist. There is simply no better range weapon that will provide the same amount of DPS increase as Striker's Mark.Nightslayer Boots still won't drop. And ZG +60 Energy Trinket is still a long way to go.My Microsoft

Useful Rogue Macro (Updated 03.02.06)

2006-01-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

Weapon Switch/script PickupInventoryItem(16);/script PickupContainerItem(3, 17);/script PickupInventoryItem(17);/script PickupContainerItem(3, 18);Auto Bandaid/script if (UnitCanCooperate("player","target")) then TargetUnit("player"); end UseContainerItem(3, 1); if(SpellIsTargeting()) then TargetUnit("player"); end/script TargetLastEnemy();Use Trinket Slot/script UseInventoryItem(13);Auto Riposte

Temporary Weapon Buff DPS

2006-01-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Instant Poison DPS = MH Poison Procs + OH Poison Procs + Special Attack Poison Procs= Poison Damage/MH weapon Speed + Poison Damage/OH Weapon Speed + Poison Damage/Time in between Special Attacks (HM Only)= Poison Damage * (MH Weapon Speed + OH Weapon Speed) / (MH Weapon Speed + OH Weapon Speed) + Poison Damage / (4 SS | 6 BS)= (20% | 30% Improved IP) * (130 | 150 Viled Poison) * {[100% - max(

Finishers DPS & Combo Point Generation (W.I.P.)

2005-12-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

I have covered the basic DPS formulae for Special Attacks and White Attacks. Now it's time to model Finishing Moves. Finishing moves are a bit trickier due to the nature of how Combo Point ("CP") is generated; Seal Fate will generate 2 CPs per crit and Backstab generate CPs slower than Sinister Strike due to the energy cost.Lets start the calculation with 5cp Finishing Moves.First we need to know

Basic Rogue Forumlae

2005-12-19T12:21:00.002-08:00

These are the building blocks of Rogue class:Attack Power = Character Level * 2 + Strength + Agility - 20 + Attack Power Bonus from Items 14 Attack Power = 1 Damage per SecondCrit Rate = [(0 | 5 Malice) + 5 + AGI/29]%Crit Rate + (Hit Rate - Crit Rate) + Miss Rate = 100%Armor = Agility x 2 + Item Armor + Shield Armor% Reduction = max{[Armor / (Armor + 400 + 85 * Enemy Defense)] * 100%, 75%}Proc