Datamined Rogues’ Naxx set bonuses are all poison based:
2-set bonus: Your Instant Poison deals 20% more damage. You heal for 5% of all damage done by your Poisons.
4-set bonus: You have a 100% chance gain 1 Energy each time you deal periodic Nature or Bleed damage.
This is such a shame as PvE rogues have been neglected all of SoD when it comes to gameplay options:
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Swords rogues have been forced to play Saber Slash since Phase 1 and have always been sub-optimal. A bleed-based damage profile defeats the purpose of an agility based swordsman and completely goes against why most people want to play this class. While Assassination has been historically the DoT based spec, Swords combat has always been a slash, burst heavy spec. Blizzard never coming up with a single option other than saber slash is the epitome of why many walked away from SoD in the early phases.
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Backstab builds have been the one saving grace of PvE rogues in SoD. In the early phases it was super suboptimal, but it has grown with ZG and BWL set bonuses. Unfortunately, AQ set bonuses were so poor for backstab, that best in slot remains ZG/BWL sets. This is going to get even worse in Naxx. Not only will you not have access to all of the ZG/BWL set bonuses (yes, you can probably get one via the new enchant), the gap between mutilate and backstab is going to multiple dramatically. Backstab already doesn’t have access to poison based runes and therefore are both inconvenienced (by having to actually carry poisons with them) and nerfed (not getting to apply poisons with MH attacks bc of WildStrikes).
Mutilate/poison builds are great, but rogues are not going to have the option to play any other builds if the set bonuses remain the same. Swords will remain a sub-optimal bleed spec, and backstab will go extinct as they will be forced to use ZG and BWL gear in Naxx.
I really hope flagging these issues early will help Blizzard change their mind. At the very least, I hope they make it so you can buy Naxx pieces with older set bonuses. But even that is not a solution because it just means that only one spec gets new things to look forward to while all others are left using the same set bonuses that they have for many months.
2 Likes
I would love for hemo+CB swords to be a thing in pvp.
Some good points in there and I hope blizzard listens.
3 Likes
So many great options. Rogues had more builds than any other class in classic. It feels butchered that there could be only one viable spec in naxx.
2 Likes
Rogues played iea with swords in classic and u only brought 1 rogue. Wdym they had many options?
im confused with your analysis
2-pc combat dps uses deadly brew which applies instant poison procs on the weapon you are using windfury/furry on. like the spec and rotation literally don’t change
4-pc it benefits from dealing periodic Nature or Bleed damage. so, its arguably better for combat as it double dips.
Next Phase, I think you will probably see Backstab builds fall back more with the release of new shoulder enchants and rune bonuses from previous sets. You’re also not accounting for the core-forged set bonus that will allow your poisons to crit for 100% of the damage as well, which will become a substantial increase for Mutilate and Saber Slash builds again. Pair that with trinkets such as Venemous Totem and Spider’s Kiss, and you’ll see these builds spewing out poisons on their targets.
Backstab doesn’t really have runes from previous sets off the top of my head that support this gameplay style that it can benefit from, as it was designed around a set from a catch up raid.
3 Likes
Rogues played iea with swords in classic and u only brought 1 rogue
That’s just not true except the .01% of top sweaty raids. Everyone else certainly had no qualms with bringing dagger rogues the entire expansion. Speaking as someone who was in a top guild as a daggers rogue and had multiple other dagger rogues in the guild.
Sorry for ur multiple thousands of DPS loss and extra 20-30 minutes a night in naxx. I personally don’t want to sit in naxx for more than an hour. So my guild only ran 1 rogue. Also only 2 locks and I couldn’t even use ISB because it would push off a deep wounds I was just spamming searing pain.
However if y’all didn’t mind the extra time in raid then ye it’s not like rogues were bad. Any class can do all the content in classic because is so easy. No class is bad in classic.
Unless they give us another mini set bonus for a new raid like Karazahn Crypts or the Tyrs Hand Scarlet Dungeon. Which I could see them doing for Backstab builds.
But ya Saber Slash and Mutilate benefits from the tier.