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Class Roles in Groups - Rogue
by Ricca

A rogue has 3 jobs in a group

1. Crowd control - by sapping (having improved sap for instances is very helpful) and by keeping a target stunned or disoriented using sap, blind, cheap shot, gouge and poisons...all are great for this kind of fighting..

2. To deal as much dps without grabbing aggro from the tank.We are built to deal high dps but not take dps. High dps is important to take down mobs fast..With combo points and high agility this is a good role for the rogue. Focusing on the MT's target after he has aggro will speed up the death of the mob, but is less likely to steal aggro from the MT.

3. Lockpicking and detect traps- Rogues can get into locked doors and open locked chest with their lockpicking skills. I highly recommend reaching a skill of 300 for this. It will come in handy in end instance runs..and going into strat and dont have a dwarf to tell the good crates from the bad just ask a rogue , they can detect whether a trap is on a crate or not.

Rogues sometimes forget their role in the game and want more dps or to top the damage meter. To do this, they jump in front of the tank and keep grabbing aggro...but this is not their job. A good rogue would stay stealthed, let the warrior go in to establish aggro. Then the rogue should get BEHIND the MT's target and beat him till he is dead. If by chance the rogue grabs aggro, immediately back off, stop hitting it and let the tank regain aggro. If the tank is doing his job, this will not be a problem. Use Feint if you need to and as a last resort pop a Vanish.

Two basic methods a rogue can use:

Combat- a combat style of fighting usually starts with a ranged weapon from a long range so the rogue can get a few hit in then they run up to the target and beat the target till the target is dead. This style of fighting requires dps heavy melee weapons for their damage.

Assassination- Assassins use stealth and special moves to get the job done. Once the target is dead the rogue will return to stealth and find its next victim..stealth in, kill and stealth out. The victim doesnt know what hit him!

Energy

The rogue depends on an energy meter and a combo system. Opening moves and special attacks can build up combo points for finishing moves. You can get up to 5 combo points. All 5 may not be needed for the finishing move, but the more points you gain, the more effective your finishing move will b

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Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. - (Isaac Asimov)

Vinzalf

Don't ever underestimate the power of Feint.

In my experiences, it misses quite a bit, but when a tank loses aggro and it comes onto you, a rogue, it's never good.

One of my recent runs in Uldaman(PUG) I ran into some issues when the tanks weren't tank enough to tank. Then they complained to me why I did not take the aggro, trying to make it look like I was doing nothing whatsoever (Regardless of the fact my add-ons said I had done about 44% of the damage that instance, and I was at the top of the list, followed by the mage, then the tank.) I had to explain that It wasn't my job to maintain the aggro. I used feint alot that run because I would have easily taken it.

The only time a rogue should attempt to gather aggro is defending the 'squishies' in the group. If mobs start running for the mages / priests, run after them, gouge, and get the aggro. Give the tank some time to get things back in line.

All of my personal experience here has been from lower level instances, the highest instance I've ever been in is Zul'Farak. I was still using these techniques in there. Perhaps in the end-game instances, roles will change, as I do not have experience in that specific Arena.

I often take it upon myself to protect the casters, as Generally, I can take down add's faster than a tank getting distracted and pulling the whole group closer. I can tank for a short period to dispatch a single add, leaving the tank on the main objective and protecting the casters.

And a tip for you squishies who always run when getting hit, try not to run away from the rogue trying to catch up with you, we have sprint, but it's on a 5 minute timer and if we have to continuously do it for you, one boss fight probably won't be enough of a cooldown.

And when all else fails, Vanish. Just remember to bring Flash Powder.


As far as soloing goes, and this applies to groups as well if there aren't many methods of crowd control in your group. If you have a weapon that adds a slowness effect to a person, i.e. ice, use your choice of poisons on it, but when fighting with a weapon that does not have a slowness effect, specifically against humanoids (instances generally have more humanoids than other mobs), use crippling poison on at least one of your weapons (if you are dual weilding - also highly recommended) because it helps immencely when they reach the flee point. For multiple reasons: 1.) Its really really annoying trying to catch a guy so you can hit him *looks at casters again*.
2.) It makes it easier to finish the enemy off before it reaches a larger group to pull back with it.

DOT's (Damage over Time) are pretty much your worst enemy. DOT's are fairly effective at keeping a rogue from stealthing again for any long period of time. This is another reason why in groups you should let the tank handle aggro =P

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Rabbitfeed

NineBlades here hehe thats cool beeb but what about us subtlety rogues (dagger spec)
hehe just wanted to post something you seem to know a lot about different classes ive been looking at the different posts its great info

beep

I was just the poster, not the author...lol. If you've got rogue-specific questions, I recommend you chat with Ricca, Psiserrat or Shalthazar.

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Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. - (Isaac Asimov)