Rogue tanking, while challenging, is a ton of fun. Here are a few things I’ve learned that might help you get out on the dance floor.
Talents
I prefer the Combat tree, and I think it’s the best option for all content.
- Improved Sinister Strike (2)
- Lightning Reflexes (3)
- Deflection (5)
- Precision (3)
- Endurance (2)
- Riposte (1)
The key talent here is Riposte, which helps you generate a lot of extra threat for a nominal energy cost. I take precision because missing stinks, but you can probably put the points elsewhere if you want.
Runes
The only mandatory rune is Just a Flesh Wound (chest). However, I strongly recommend Blade Dance (legs) for extra avoidance and Riposte procs.
Glove Runes are up for debate. I don’t even have the MG rune, but I’ll probably pick it up eventually. For P1, however, Saber Slash is best in almost all situations, but Sinister Strike is better when enemies are immune to bleed*. Shiv is also a viable alternative, especially if you have a good dagger for it and want to experiment with quicker CP generation. Both benefit from Improved Sinister Strike talents.
Energy > Combo Points
The chief complaint I hear about rogue tanks is the loss of combo points when switching targets, especially when things go south.
But I have great news! You really don’t want to use Blade Dance, which you should have up as much as possible, with more than 1 CP. That grants you BD for 14s, and additional CPs only increase that by 4s.
Likewise, your secondary finisher will be Slice and Dice, and its duration gains diminish beyond 1 CP.
But more important than either of those points: energy is way more important than combo points to a rogue tank. You’ll need to spend it wisely to ensure you can switch targets and build aggro or kick when necessary.
What to press (and when)
Single target tanking is easy: open however you’d like (Garrote, Ambush, Face Pull and SS) and spend your first CP on Blade Dance. With BD active, spend the rest of your points on SnD. Riposte on CD.
For multi-mob tanking, however, there’s a bit more decision-making involved, and it all revolves around energy usage and Riposte procs. Here’s some info to help:
- Riposte costs 10 energy — very cheap, procs when you parry an attack, does NOT build CPs on the target. Should be used on CD and provides mitigation (disarm), good damage, and most importantly, threat. BD will effectively double your base chance to parry.
- Kick costs 20 energy — also cheap. You always want enough energy to kick if casters are around. Helps you mitigate damage, control packs, and feel like a ninja.
- You lose CPs when you target a new enemy, so before you smash tab, you need to ask yourself a very important question: do I need to refresh BD or SnD on this mob? If it can wait, it’s usually best to lose the CP and save your energy to build threat via SS or Riposte on a new mob. Sometimes, you just need to forgo both and spend all of your energy on SS to build initial aggro, then prioritize BD and SnD once things smooth out (just make sure you and your healer can handle the dmg).
It goes against a lot of rogue logic, but you need to prioritize energy and get used to using finishers with 1-2 CPs at most (or worse, not at all) if you’re going to reliably tank multiple mobs.
Miscellaneous
From what I’ve read, your bleeds generate the most threat on paper beyond a certain point, i.e., keeping SS stacks up and spending excess points on Rupture. I rarely get a chance to spend many points on Rupture, however. Saber Slash, Riposte, and Slice and Dice do plenty of damage.
Also, my whole spiel on multi-mob tanking goes out the window if your group members blast AoE on pull. As a rogue tank, you’re essentially the new (old) warrior, who gets energy starved and must stack sunders. It helps to politely ask your group to single-target for the first few seconds until you can pick everything up. Save your taunt for these occasions. Some groups will tell you to f-off and will pull the whole dungeon anyway. It happens, just roll with it and get that loot.
I prefer to ‘chain-pull’, by which I mean: build sufficient aggro on one target, then grab the next while DPS burns down what you’ve secured; if you wait for things to die before you grab the next mob, your DPS will be tapping their foot and chomping at the bit. You can reliably build large packs over time, so people can use their sparkly AoE moves and boost those meters. Runs become smooth with little downtime, and healers rarely go oom because we’re so good at avoiding dmg. I actually have to stop and let DPS drink more often than healers.
In some dungeons, like Stocks, I open with a sap on one target (careful, it’s expensive), build aggro on the two others in the room, pick up Sap when a) it breaks, or b) I feel like it, and then I’m off to the next room while the mobs, stricken with Crippling Poison, crawl after me.
Final Thoughts
Rogue tanking is a lot of fun, and I encourage all rogues to give it a shot. I can see Sub becoming a viable tank tree in future phases with the benefits to dodge (increased change through Ghostly Strike, extra CPs through Setup, some utility via Hemorrhage). Folks have predicted we’ll get a rune to help with AoE, possibly Fan of Knives, but I think it’s more likely we’ll get a rune that decreases the CD on Blade Flurry. We’re too good at some things to be great at everything, and that’s okay. That’s classic.
Please let me know if you think I’ve missed anything. Good luck, you scoundrels—stick em with the pointy end.
