WOW Guide Quick Note About Rogues...  

Quick Note About Rogues...

Just a quick note about rogues, grouping in instances, and controlling mobs.

I've noticed, after reading several of the combat Guides, that a lot of players seems to think a rogue's only real role once a fight starts is DPS. They're missing a great thing rogues can do: stun duty. Between Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot, my level 46 rogue can effectively stun a mob twice in one fight. In instances where I'm grouped with the usual complement of tanks, casters and healers, these stun attacks are very handy. I should note that I've not seen the high level instances, and it's likely that there are quite a few enemies there that are either immune to stuns, or have such high armor that I can't count on landing the blow reliably. But in at least the low- and middle-game instances I've seen so far, stunning has been a lifesaver.

Once the fight is on, the rogue needs to avoid out-aggroing the tank. This can sometimes be a problem for rogues concentrating on straight DPS (or even DoTs, if you're using them for some reason and the tank is doing poorly). So if it fits the situation, I will almost always relegate myself to stunning duty.

If possible, I'll start out stealthed and wait until the tank has hit the mob a few times. Once the mob's health bar has dropped a little bit, I hit it with Cheap Shot, stunning it for two seconds. Then I use Sinister Strike and/or Backstab enough to get five combo points -- but instead of using them as soon as they're ready, I just sit on them. If the fight is not going to last long -- and it usually doesn't, with a full group -- I'll forego the finishing move. (If the fight is obviously going to take a very long time, enough time for me to build up another five points, I'll succumb to temptation.)

Even if I can't start out stealthed (a failed sap or whatever) and therefore can't use Cheap Shot, I try to have five combo points and enough energy for a Kidney Shot by the time the mob's health bar is getting low enough that it is thinking about running away. I always use Crippling Poison in an instance, of course, but I find that a well-timed Kidney Shot -- which will stun the mob for five seconds at my level -- makes it a moot point. The group can finish off the enemy without worrying about any of this running-away-and-bringing-back-a-wipeout-force business. Even if it does start to run, having taken five seconds off of its running time means it isn't going far enough to matter.

This approach is about as simple as it can get, but it works. I only write about it here because I've yet to see others talking about it, and it's a role that rogues can play in a group that makes us a more versatile class.

Advantages: -- The mob won't run off to bring back friends. -- There is NO chance that I will outdamage the tank. -- My energy bar stays ready in case a mob breaks onto a caster and I need to try to distract it. -- Keeping a mob stunned for up to seven seconds of a fight can help the healer save a little mana.

Disadvantages: -- By not using Eviscerate or Rupture, you give up some of your DPS.

Some folks might complain that holding on to your combo points in a short fight sacrifices DPS, and they're right. It does. But if the group is doing well, I'll ask myself, is the extra DPS I can dish out really needed? I'm trying to be a team player; working in a group always involves sacrificing some of your individual talents, as you put the group's needs at first priority. If the mob takes three seconds longer to drop, but we're breathing easier because it isn't going anywhere, I feel comfortable that I'm doing the right thing.

Naturally all this depends on the circumstances. If we overpower the mobs enough that a well-timed Eviscerate will take it down before it gets a chance to run, so be it. By contrast, if the mob greatly overpowers the group, I might start pounding on it as hard as I can. If the mob is of a type that never runs away, then stunning only serves to help alleviate damage to the tank -- and while that is a good thing, it might not be necessary, depending on your tank and on your healer(s). Somebody else (another rogue, priest, etc.) might be controlling the mob well enough that you don't need to concern yourself about how much damage you do. Etcetera. It varies. But stun duty can be a useful role in a group and it's something to keep in mind.

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