Rogue Daggers and Ambush

I have been levelling with improved Ambush and had a great time. Able to 1 shot clothies when eating, and can efficiently quest as long as i was 1-2 levels above the mob.

Getting closer to 60 I am finding so much conflicting information on the ideal daggers for Ambush spec.

Can anyone tell me how to calculate hypothetical ambush damage with a weapon.

For example, Scarlet Kris has 43-81 Damage at 1.5 seconds (DPS 41.3 per second). My current Searing Needle has 42-80 Damage at 1.8 seconds (DPS 33.9 per second). There is a big difference on the DPS per second but for Ambush calculations shouldnt i be paying attention to the higher damage number. In this case is there little point in getting Scarlet Kris for the extra 1 damage (80 vs 81)?

honestly it with daggers it tends to be that you can gauge the damage with both the base stat as well as the dps stat most daggers tend to be same speed or close
. honestly its gonna be the sub stat the picked the dagger in this case.

higher damage number is better than dps when it comes to ambush damage. So the slower the weapon, the better

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Thanks, do you know the formula?

I can work backwards from the Grand Marshall dagger to see what daggers I should pursue for (time invested/reward).

Sinister Strike, Ghostly Strike, Backstab, and Ambush are all dependant on a weapon’s damage stat, so typically, the slower, the better. In the case of the Scarlet Kris, though: it’s simply a better weapon overall despite its faster attack speed since it has higher minimum/maximum damage stats and DPS.

Side note: your white damage (auto attacks) make up a large portion of your overall damage, so you always need to take this into consideration, as well.

I agree, this is typical for when i do a dungeon.

In my scenario im looking at it from a PVP point as i usually macro swap to my slower offhand sword after I use my ambush. It is a niche play style requiring more patience but I love the big crit numbers.

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You do you! That’s what Classic’s all about.

you can macro weapons changes into your ambush attack.

you want the highest damage number weapon in your main hand for ambush.

#showtooltip Ambush(Rank 6)
/equipslot 16 Gutgore Ripper
/cast Ambush(Rank 6)

#showtooltip Backstab(Rank 8)
/equipslot 16 Gutgore Ripper
/cast Backstab(Rank 8)

Also with your ambushing (and backstabbing) you would want weapon damage enchant rather than something like crusader.

I alternate my dagger swapping with…

#showtooltip Hemorrhage(Rank 3)
/startattack
/equipslot 16 Mass of McGowan
/cast Hemorrhage(Rank 3)

On you character it show how the weapon damage is (not the dps, and not only the weapon damage) per swing with the min and the max (like 100-150). Just add the % ambush add and the extra damage. With 100-150 damage per swing, that’s 640-815 ambush.

That work fine, but the dagger you equip must be other than the off hand, because you can’t swap it with a only MH weapon (Mass of Mcgowan).

slower is not always better for rogue your forgetting about our poisons as well as on hit chance effects.

eerrr…unless i am reading this wrong…nope I do it all the time. Unless you were assuming I just swap between the 2 weapons…

…I got 3
Core Tooth stays in Offhand and those 2 main hand swap based on which move I hit.

Yeah, because you swap only the main hand. I used to have trash blade and The Shadowfoot Stabber and can just swap between the two.
(like this, and back to trash blade for hemo)
#showtooltip Ambush(Rank 6)
/equipslot 16 The Shadowfoot Stabber
/equipslot 17 Trash Blade
/cast Ambush(Rank 6)

But now with a MH only weapon I needed to get another weapon. (just to let him know, I didn’t until it happen to me xD)

I should have clarified: For those listed skills, it’s better to go with slow, high damaging weapons in the main hand. It’s always best to use the fastest weapon you can find for your off hand for procs and what have you.

Also: if you’re a Horde rogue, make sure to not poison your main hand if you want to benefit from a shaman’s weapon enchanting totems! The poison takes priority, so the shaman weapon enchant won’t apply.

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again its a complex calculation because you have to factor in the speed in 1 dps is not worth taking a slower dagger over a faster one

Read the tooltip, then do the math.

250% weapon damage + 290.

What is the weapon damage?

Its not that simple…

I have Scarlet Kris which has damage of 43-81. Applying the forumla in the tooltip means damage of 81 x 250% + 290 = 492. I hit consistently for 600-800 with crits in 1K+ depending on mob level.

Just compare the dmg on the daggers.

It is that simple.

How much damage does your character sheet say you auto attack for?

You’re ignoring the rest of the stats from your gear, bud.