Rogue 80 Combat and Mutilate

What is the best raid spec?

The one that you like!

I personally have never played around with a deep subtlety spec and currently use combat for raids. Again, why? Because its what I like playing. There is endless debate and theorycrafting over which spec "rulz" at any given moment in the game and that's great!

Currently, however, the boards are about even across Combat, Mutilate and Subtlety within certain parameters. What! I can hear the screams now. This is better than that because of the other. Sure we can all see figures of endless data and theorycrafting mathematics proving one point or the other. The fact is we can probably never play exactly to that data for any given circumstance, we are not machines, we will not play our spec perfectly. What do we do then? Play what suits YOU!

World of Warcraft is a game of increments however and as we all know gear can make a difference.

What is the best Combat and Mutilate gear?

That is something theorycrafting and the guys who are good at it can help us immensely!

The guys at Elitist Jerks. Vulajin, Mavanas and Thaela and others for example. Have done a lot of great work on their spreadsheets to help us get more from our game.

Personally I like Aldriana's Rogue Combat and Mutilate Spreadsheets and so have linked them here.

Save them. Put your gear in. Play with gear and gems to get the most out of your Rogue.

If you want to argue with these guys about the veracity of their calculations feel free.

But I suggest unless you have spent a long time at data mining and theorycrafting yourself.

"You are not prepared!"

Trial of the Crusader - Northrend Beasts

ArgentSun

of

Wowhead

has put together a





Guide for Trial of the Crusader - Northrend Beasts.

So what Rogue 80 gear is in it for me?
Normal 10 man, check it out:

3 x Emblem of Triumph
Collar of Unending Torment
Acidmaw Treads
Acidmaw Boots

Just a Rogue 80 footnote here:

Gormok the Impaler is the first boss of this encounter, he has a rather nasty move called Impale.

This can be Disarmed! Ok, you say, that's a warrior thing!

Rogues have Dismantle.

Same effect? Let us know!

Rogue 80 Expertise Cap

Expertise, why?

Expertise basically dictates if a boss can dodge or parry a melee attack.
Its basically understood that a boss has a 6.5% "Soft cap" chance to dodge a melee attack and 14% "Hard cap" chance to parry an attack.
As Rogues, unless their threat meter blows their eardrums apart, do not act as main tanks (Yes I have seen a Rogue with 104% dodge MT a raid!), lets be concerned with the "Soft cap".

Expertise Rating
Expertise rating is generally from gear stats. (eg Conqueror's Terrorblade Breastplate)
For each "32.78998947" in expertise rating at level 80, you reduce your chance to be dodged/parried by 1%.

Therefore 32.78998947 x 6.5 = 214 Expertise Rating to reach the "soft cap".

Expertise
Expertise is generally gained from talents. (eg Weapon Expertise)
For each point "1" in expertise, you reduce your chance to be dodged/parried by 0.25%.

Therefore 6.5% / 0.25% = 26 Expertise to reach the "soft cap".

Where do you find this?
In your Character page at the bottom between all your l33t gears will be your melee stats.
They will read:

• Damage: xxxx-xxxx
• Speed: x.xx/x.xx
  
• Power: xxxx
  
• Hit Rating: xxx
  
• Crit Chance: xx.xx%
  
• Expertise: 26/26

Rogue Level 80 Expertise cap 26!

Again it isn't critical to hit this on the mark, however exceeding the cap will do zip to help your dps.