I will be starting a mini-series of posts that center on resources for rogues. In each post, I will try to give you guys links to places that help me follow the path of those who tread lightly.
Any WoW player will tell you that finally getting to the maximum level—currently 80—only marks the beginning of your journey. After the toil of leveling comes the task of gearing up. As a rogue, how exactly do you go about doing that? Is it simply a matter of getting the items with the most agility? Does it involve getting anything that raises your attack power? What about haste, armor penetration and critical strike? When you think about all the things that you have to consider, it can be overwhelming.
The quick answer to all of that is to grab a spreadsheet. Yes, that’s a file that you can open in Excel. There are several out there, but the one I use the most is Vulajin’s. All you have to do is to grab the file, insert your talents, gear, gems and enchantments and you’ll get an idea of how much damage you’ll do. It’s particularly useful during planning. Thinking of respeccing? Input your talents and see how that works for you. Not sure about getting a gear upgrade? Insert it into the spreadsheet and find out if it will help your DPS or not.
One thing to note about the file is that it only contains blues and purples. Don’t expect it to help you if you’re weighing two greens against each other. I shouldn’t need to say this, but it’s only applicable if you’re level 80. Like I said, you can use it for planning, but you’ll only be able to maximize its use if you’re at the level cap. It may sound silly for you to grab an Office document to find out how much DPS you can do, but when you get used to it, you’ll find that it’s an invaluable tool.