I’ll preface this by saying I’m not trying to yuck your yum, I just want to know what if anything I’m missing out on. In Hearthstone, Rogue is my most played class and I actually like the class fantasy. But in WoW, Rogue is the one class I could never see myself maining. The energy mechanic seems to run entirely counter to what I think of when I think of the thief archetype, seeing as from where I sit, it seems like the single most restrictive anti-fun “hold-your-horses” resource.
At early levels, the class feels like fighting your way out of a plastic bag, and the other specs don’t offer any respite like I can find while playing feral druid, as an example. I understand that this is partly smoke-and-mirrors, and that casters will superficially seem to be doing more at low levels since the casting times fill the empty space in combat that would otherwise be filled by auto-attacking, but on the other hand I also don’t see why I would grit my teeth and bear through that with sheer force of will when there are other classes that seem more fun right out of the gate- so my low vantage point leaves me wondering, at what point does the class become fun? Does it become fun at all? If I want to play up the Agility stat’s namesake, should I just play DH instead?
On a related note, it seems to me the main reason that DK and DH were successful as hero classes is because you get to skip that part of the game where your number of available skills is below the threshold at which melee is a tolerable play experience*. Every time I try to roll a rogue, by the time I’m level 50-60 I’m just ready to swap back to Unholy DK because, get this, it feels faster. A two-handed sword wielding plate wearing no-mobility juggernaut feels faster than rogue by the time it becomes available.
*(for this reason, I actually think a caster hero class would be relatively unsuccessful- casters already feel better right out of the gate, so there’s a missing prong to whatever appeal they’d have)
TLDR : What do you like about rogue? If it takes meeting a threshold to enjoy the class, when does it become fun, in your estimation? Am I just outside the target audience for it’s mechanic set? I don’t want to boost, I’d prefer to learn each spec as I go.
Energy may feel restrictive during leveling. As you get better gear/haste it will barely be noticeable.
Immediately, on the character creation screen.
DK and DH were successful as hero classes because they only required 2 brain cells in order to function and because Blizz made them ridiculously OP on release. Today DK still only needs 2 brain cells, DH maybe needs 3.
Stealth and control. The numerous ways to troll/mess with people.
I started playing rogue before all the pruning. It was much funner then. It still is fun to me, but it’s not quite the same. RIP old sub spec.
Was rogue hit by the pruning disproportionately? I admit the reason I’m still shopping around is because everything feels shallower and I’m hoping maybe novelty will make up for that loss some. =/
I don’t know if I would say rogues were hit disproportionately. All classes were affected by pruning.
Everything is shallower. Class design, especially uniqueness, is the worst that it has ever been in this game. Thankfully Blizz is starting to realize this, hence their decision to reverse a lot of the pruning for Shadowlands.
Stealth and the crazy things it brings. Not many mmorpgs have a permanent stealth class. Rogue will always be king in that aspect. Also as outlaw at 120 and ok geared, i never have energy issues.
They thought pruning would make it easier to play classes for new players because of fewer buttons to manage. But what happened was Rogues and other classes have fewer defensive CDs now.
Which means experienced players know how to stagger CDs and stuns while new players struggle.
There is no combat readiness, nerve strike, etc. to help players during the leveling process. No glyph for renewed duration of SND and recup after killing blow for leveling.
Also, Rogue major damage cool downs come late in the leveling process along with mastery.
To be a true lover of Rogues you have to like the chase. The sneaking, walking deep into a city or dungeon, knowing one mistake kills you and enjoy the risk. It isn’t about being fast for me, it’s stalking something, even if it takes hours and the satisfaction of the kill.
I loved F117 Stealth Fighter and Submarine sims because it’s the same mind set.
I can do things on my Rogue I can’t do with any other class and that is why it is my favorite and always will be.
Lol, in retrospect the OP does seem very much like I want APM to be maximized before all other considerations (Gotta go fast!), but really I just meant that it was slower than I would have expected- I’d hope a lightly armored melee combatant would be designed with mobility in mind and at least comparatively higher APM than STR counterparts since presumably people select their classes with the idea in mind that classes should play the way they look.
Anyways, the stalking stuff makes sense as another angle of course. Thankya
For me it’s the ability to be selective about your target, awaiting a moment of weakness on a pull or in PvP…or if you choose to ultra aggressive
The ability to hold in place a group in bg via stuns and saps as they collect and try to out your stealth as your team runs back a flag
Pickpocket… Not sure why I love it but I do… Sneaking around dungeons grabbing bags of cash
There is Brotherhood /sisterhood in being a rogue… While you know you must kill the other there is respect in their death
Fear … Everyone gets nervous when they know a rogue is about …They type it out loud for all to see "rogue " …and rogue means danger …we are like sharks in the shallows
Alas, the fun of rogue is gone for me. There was once upon a time that it was my favorite class.
Then Combat became Outlaw. Ninja became Pirate. Solid and predictable damage became an RNG reroll snooze fest. Awesome became lackluster. One of the most interesting and difficult classes to play correctly became a joke of a class. (Granted, that happend to every single class in the game, but when it happened to my combat rogue it felt like someone else wrecked my car and then took it to a 4th rate body shop and now all the appeal is gone.)
I used to play warrior a lot. I liken it to playing poker, with warrior every hand I had to go all in. On rogue you pick and choose your engagements, rogues control, tricks and escapes allow you more freedom and self determination.
I love being able to sneak around and pick and choose my targets…
World pvp… part of the fun for me is seeing someone minding there own business and lvling or gathering and pretty much just messing around with them. Saps are fun. When I sap someone they go on red alert! They mount up and leave Hastily or start taunting randomly… sometimes I’ll close in for the kill or just continue to play with my prey.
Questing, it’s easy to get around the unfavorable areas and mobs to get where I need to go. The same can be said about farming nodes etc
BGs a good rogue can make the fight… sneak past the front lines and target that healer in the back…
I have these same questions as the OP, I have been shopping around for a main class as I don’t have the time to alt hop anymore. I have a dh/hunter at 120 but I had rogue in my backpocket wondering if I wanted to give it a try and make it my own, ive just never been able to pull the trigger for some reason.
For most it’s an artificial skill cap to play it well… To truly enjoy the flow you need to organize the standard interface bars so it’s not such a stretch if you are a clicker
Try bartender out or another and get your rogue on …and always salute the rogues you kill
Rogues are very sad compared to the old days. They used to be able to outplay most other classes. Now tank classes can watch tv as they kill rogues. I know rogues have always had to work to bring down a tank but now its basically impossible if the tank is similar gear as you…even if the tank player stinks.
