Rogues are the masters of darkness, and live and breathe in the shadows. As long as there is Evil, dark services are invaluable; hence, assassination is one of the oldest professions in Azeroth. Historically, the rogue class is arguably to have derived from Garona Halforcen, who is considered one of the most famous rogue protagonists. She was one of the main characters of the original Warcraft I storyline that ultimately led to the rise of the Warcraft series. Halforcen was half Orc and half Dranei, who served the Shadow Council—the purpose of the Council was to ensure the victory and stability of the Horde in their quest to destroy the Dranei race.
In the World of Warcraft Cataclysm, subtlety rogues are notorious for massive burst damage and offensive pressure if played effectively. For example, by pressuring a healer in PvP and blowing the cooldowns in the first 10-15 seconds, it can lock a healer from casting any heals for that duration. Subtlety’s primary asset is control, whether it is controlling a dps (caster or melee) or a healer. Subtlety rogues can control another player by using dismantle, kick, smokebomb, vanish, sprint, and shadowstep—this is a long list to choose from that no other melee classes have in the game. With the latest 4.1.0 patch that introduced the Rise of the Zandalari, Rogues remain very difficult to beat, if played right using the most effective PvP spec, gear, and damage priorities. Here is a level 85 PvP Rogue subtlety spec (10/0/31) that I like—it is the same spec used by Rogues on the top 5 arena teams via ArenaJunkies.
Assassination (10): Coup de Grace = 2, Lethalith = 3, Quickening = 2, Puncturing Wounds = 3
Subtlety (31): Improved Ambush = 3, Relentless Strikes = 3, Elusiveness = 2, Waylay = 2, Opportunity = 3, Energetic Recovery = 3, Find Weakness = 2, Hemorrhage = 1, Honor Among Thieves = 1, Premeditation = 1, Cheat Death = 3, Preparation = 1, Sanguinary Vein = 2, Slaughter from the Shadows = 3, Shadow Dance = 1
Associated with this subtlety PvP spec, here are the recommended glyphs.
Prime: Glyph of Backstab, Glyph of Shadow Dance, Glyph of Hemorrhage Major: Glyph of Garrote, Glyph of Blind, Glyph of Preparation Minor: Glyph of Poisons, Glyph of Distract, Glyph of Safe Fall
In PvP, while it is essential to know your class, it is also essential to know other classes’ strengths and weaknesses. While it is ideal to know all the classes, covering all possible opponents that you will face, it is time consuming and very complicated. As there are no damage rotations or pre-determined situations in PvP, you are always facing unknowns and need to react as fast as possible to new circumstances. So, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of other classes will give you an edge in PvP. Furthermore, reaction time is critical, so having an effective set of keybinds and macros will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to execute a command.
Strangely enough, what I find most useful in learning the strengths and weaknesses of each class is through a WoW leveling guide. Each class has various skills and racial abilities, and it is challenging to keep up class updates with the release of new patches and expansion packs. With a good leveling guide, it works like a class encyclopedia, except much shorter, that explains the talents of each class. I found the Booster leveling guide’s class videos very resourceful for this purpose. After learning how the talents work for each class, combined with having the best PvP spec and a set of good keybinds and macros, I am playing my subtlety rogue as it is intended; hence harder to beat in PvP. Once I select a target, I am popping in suddenly, unleashing a huge amount of damage for a few seconds, blind the target, and get out safely by vanishing…poof!
