zeroinitiate - A World of WarCraft Rogue Blog

I hate to say it, but I saw it coming:

• The base damage bonus from Hunger for Blood has been reduced from 10% to 5%.
• The bonus damage rogues gain from attack power for poisons has been decreased. This applies to Instant Poison, Deadly Poison, and Wound Poison.

[Source]

Dinaer posted that the number crunchers at EJ are saying that this means a 7% decrease in damage for Assassination. I was doing nearly 7K on Festergut last night. The nerf brings that down to 6500, give or take. The actual numbers are still out so I’m waiting for the results. While I expected the nerf, the manner in which it was implemented is disturbing. Rogues are doing too much damage? Nerf HfB AGAIN. Nice. Thanks for making us WoW’s guinea pigs.

Happy holidays to everyone! I hope that you guys got your Merrymaker title by now. Icecrown is on its second week and we’re all going to have to catch up with the content once the holidays are over.

I find it odd that I’m actually nursing a toothache right now. I first felt it a couple of weeks ago and when I finally consulted my dentist, I was told that an extraction was necessary. I’m fine with that. However, she was going to go on vacation which meant that we would have to postpone the procedure until Monday. In the meantime, she gave me painkillers to medicate through the problem.

So here I am, spending Christmas with a tooth that’s nagging me worse than any mother-in-law would do. If the pain becomes unbearable, I reach for my pills. This isn’t exactly the way I pictured my holiday to turn out.

Back to rogue matters: make sure that you check the EJ forums regularly as 3.3 progresses. A recent example of why it’s important is Instant Poison’s rise to becoming the main hand poison of choice, even if you’re running Combat. I tested this on my last 25-man raid and the results were very, very clear. I was even asked by two of the people we PUGged in how I was doing that much damage. Funnily enough, the point I was trying to bring up in my last post was raised.

PUG rogue: What’s your rotation? (Note that out of personal pride I never ask this from a fellow rogue. I feel like I’m not doing my job if I’m getting out-DPSed and I don’t know why. I don’t mind getting asked though, like in this case.)

Me: SnD, HfB, Mutilate, Envenom, Mutilate, Envenom.

PUG rogue: Oh. You changed specs.

Apparently, he was asking about my rotation as Combat. By the time he asked, we just downed a boss so I was in my Assassination spec. I then told him that I go Combat on trash and use whatever cooldowns are available during the fights, which is exactly what I wrote about last time.

So, how have your fights been? I like the changes because rogues are doing so much damage right now. Still, either Blizz nerfs Assassination or they buff Combat. I’m hoping for the latter. Our hunter is starting to complain though. He made a comment about how poisons are “cheap damage” at the moment. It’s actually a little funny. Back when Ulduar was relevant he was saying my damage was “all from Fan of Knives”. If it isn’t one thing it’s another, I guess.

Enjoy the holidays, folks. See you after the break.

Now that 3.2 is out, emblem farming is the trendy thing to do. I know that some of you don’t like the way Blizzard is practically giving away epics, but what can we do, you know? Might as well go with the flow.

I found myself in a curious situation a couple of weeks ago before the patch came out. After doing a quick gear check, I saw that there were no upgrades available for me in terms of Conquest emblems. I was done. For someone who only raided Kara in BC, it was quite a shock. I’ve never had this much gear before.

After the surprise went down, I looked at the Triumph emblem vendor and checked what I needed to do next. Maybe that’s a question you’re also asking yourself. I mean, which gear should you get first? The answer lies in a spreadsheet. Grab one that’s ready for 3.2 and check what you should get. As much as I would like to get the 45-emblem shoulder piece, breaking the 4-piece Terrorblade set bonus hurts my DPS too much so I’ll have to settle for something else. Right now, I’m set to get the ring then the thrown weapon.

3.2 is all about upgrading your gear. Like I said, Blizzard is practically throwing them at you so run those heroics when you can. Do the daily heroic, farm heroic Trial of the Champion till you’re blue in the face. This is our chance to catch up with the content. Might as well take advantage of it.

2008 Worldwide Invitational Announced

The fourth Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational is coming to Europe! The event will be held at the Porte de Versailles Exposition Center, Paris, France, over the 28th and 29th of June 2008. Open to gamers from around the world, the Worldwide Invitational will feature a wide variety of activities, including:

• Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
• Artist and developer signings
• Professional eSport tournaments and casual tournaments for attendees
• Hands-on play with World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and StarCraft II
• Merchandise and other products based on the Blizzard Entertainment game universes
• Silent auction
• Musical performances
• And more…

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