New Rogue Badge Loot and AEP

Recently, MMO-Champion posted all the new Badges of Justice loot from Patch 2.3. Among them were some major Rogue upgrades for neck, back, wrist, hands, legs, feet and trinkets. So, start running some Heroics and saving up your Badges of Justice as you'll need 475 to get everything that's new.

I plugged the items into Shadowpanther's Excel spreadsheet to determine their AEP. As far as I know, Ming was attributed to coining the phrase or at least making it so widely known. His work is the backbone behind most Rogue theorycraft. Shadowpanther uses a group of fixed values for AEP, though some other Rogues theorycraftsmen have a dynamic AEP based on current gear, talents, etc.

Quick rundown on AEP. AEP stands for Agility Equivalency Points. Each stat an item possesses is given an AEP score to measure it against Agility. Each point of Attack Power is valued at .5 AEP because Agility gives Attack Power, Dodge and Crit. Strength is also valued at .5 AEP because it is worth 1 AP. Stamina is valued at 1 AEP for survival in the base AEP ratings but there are also two other AEP values called DAEP and MAEP. See, normal AEP is weighed for PvP, DAEP is weighed for PvE and MAEP is weighed for Maximum Damage. Once each stat is given a weighed AEP value, you can then look at a piece of gear convert all the stats to AEP and add them together. The item with a higher overall AEP should be better for you character than an item with a lower AEP. This isn't always the case, but it's a pretty good estimation.

The other two stats that are useful to examine are Total Crit (TCrit) and Total Attack Power (TAP). TCrit is a calculation of the total crit for an item converting Agility into +Crit and adding it to the item's +Crit. TAP is the same concept adding Strength plus Agility plus Attack Power to give you one score.

Brooch of Deftness, neck slot, cost 35 Badges of Justice. It ranks only 28 MAEP (Maximum DPS AEP) and 49 on DAEP (PvE AEP) which is incredibly low down with the level 70 blue and greens, but not surprising given only +22 Hit Rating. It ranks much higher on AEP (PvP AEP) at 67 (Worgen is rated at 76). While this won't replace the Worgen Claw Necklace because it lacks Agility and Attack Power, it might go into my PvP set as it has 37 more Stamina.

Brooch of Deftness Binds when picked up Neck +48 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 22.

New gloves, Trickster's Stickyfingers, costs 60 Badges of Justice. AEP 120, DAEP 106, MAEP 93, TCrit 0.75%, TAP 98. Like the Shallow-grave Trousers below, +25 Haste makes these gloves much more desireable based on AEP. They rank about 4th overall even above the Tier 4 Netherblade Gloves.

Trickster's Stickyfingers Binds when picked up Hands Leather 252 Armor +30 Agility +28 Stamina Durability 40 / 40 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves haste rating by 25. Equip: Increases attack power by 68.

Dory's Embrace is a new cloak, 60 Badges. AEP 106, DAEP 69, MAEP 54, TCrit 0.90%, TAP 45. If you look at AEP vs MAEP and AEP is twice as high, you can immediately surmise an item was built for PvP. The high AEP is a result of more Stamina than any cloak rated on Shadowpanther's list and +20 Resilence and a feature from the Tier 6/Season 3 gear: Your attacks ignore 112 of your opponent's armor. Nice.

Dory's Embrace Binds when picked up Back 114 Armor +34 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 20. Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 20. Equip: Increases attack power by 46. Equip: Your attacks ignore 112 of your opponent's armor. "Approximately priceless."

New bracers, Master Assassin Wristwraps, 35 Badges. AEP 93, DAEP 81, MAEP 71, TCrit 1.33%, TAP 67. There's not much special about these except they rank 4th for sheer awesomeness. You'll probably still want to wear your Veteran's Leather Bracers for PvP though.

Master Assassin Wristwraps Binds when picked up Wrist Leather 177 Armor +17 Agility +22 Stamina Yellow Socket Socket Bonus: +2 Critical Strike Rating Durability 40 / 40 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 18. Equip: Increases attack power by 50.

Shallow-grave Trousers, 75 Badges. AEP 171, DAEP 148, MAEP 127, TCrit 1.13%, TAP 137. Due to its +30 Haste Rating component, this is rated 3rd on MAEP, 5th on MAEP and 4th on DAEP. That's about Tier 5, Deathmantle, equivalent. Wow.

Shallow-grave Trousers Binds when picked up Legs Leather 353 Armor +45 Agility +46 Stamina Durability 90 / 90 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves haste rating by 30. Equip: Increases attack power by 92.

Nyn'jah's Tabi Boots, 60 Badges. AEP 126, DAEP 117, MAEP 105, TCrit 0.73%, TAEP 89. Imagine these boots did not have the gem slots or the slot bonus, this item would still hover around 5th on all 3 AEP lists. With the slots and the slot bonus, these boots rise up to the 2nd (or 3rd) best boots for Rogues.

Nyn'jah's Tabi Boots Binds when picked up Feet Leather 278 Armor +29 Agility +21 Stamina Blue Socket Red Socket Socket Bonus: +3 Hit Rating Durability 60 / 60 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 22. Equip: Increases attack power by 60.

Two new trinkets, Cruelty and Determination.

Cruelty gives +Crit and for 15 seconds, once every 3 minutes, 1750 maximum health. This doesn't rate high on the AEP charts, but is definitely important for PvP players.

Cruelty Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 40. Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec.

Like Cruelty, Determination gives the same On Use effect for 15 seconds, but instead gives +80 AP. As I'm a Sword Rogue, I'll be using Determination over Cruelty, because of the +AP.

Determination Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases attack power by 80. Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec.

So, should you start racing through Heroics now saving up or wait until Karazhan and Zul'Aman bosses start dropping Badges as well? That's up to you, probably both! Don't forget about the great items already available from Badges like the Bloodlust Brooch, Blood Knight War Cloak, Choker of Vile Intent, Ring of Arathi Warlords, and the Mask of the Deceiver. Now, you have get a full set of epic gear without having to raid 10-man or 25-man instances, and if you do, you have even more options.

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I Feel Naked in the Arena

...and not in a good way. No, I'm not talking about ERP. I'm talking about craptastic armor values of my Arena gear!

After reading about Season 3 gear and armor penetration over on Phaelia's Resto4Life, it made me start thinking about the armor value I have now compared to the armor value of the cloth wearers.

With a little digging, I discovered the following:

• For Tier 5 gear pieces that correspond to Season 2 gear (head, shoulders, chest, gloves, legs), cloth wearers get about ~1k in armor, leather wearers gets about ~2k in armor, mail ~4k, plate ~7k.
• For Season 2 gear pieces that correspond to Tier 5 gear, cloth wearers get about ~2k in armor, leather wearers gets about ~2k in armor, mail ~4k, plate ~7k.

Uh... what? In our Arena Gear, the gear that is supposedly designed toward survivability against those who would rather we not continue stabbing them in the eye, we have as much armor as a Priest. Yeah. Priests and all other clothies got a 100% boost to their armor from Season 2 gear. Meanwhile, Rogues (and to a lesser degree the various Druid specs) get virtually no armor boost.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the various classes and their abilities designed around the type of armor they wear? A Warlock has Fear and other tools to help compensate for his cloth armor. A Mage has Polymorph and Frost Nova and other abilities. Every cloth wearer has already been balanced for their armor type.

Now this is probably the result of them already giving the cloth wearers the +910 armor that will be partially negated by the armor penetration of Season 3. However, why should Rogues (and Restoration Druids) be penalized by not getting any armor bonus? No wonder why in a 5v5 match, our team met with a Priest who seemed to have more armor than me. Add on Inner Fire and all their other abilities, she had way more armor than me.

Therefore, since the beginning of Season 2, cloth wearers have gotten tougher, while melee characters and healers in leather have received zero compensation. Even next season, it will take weeks for melee players to get Season 3 pieces. Meanwhile, cloth wearers will continue to enjoy their day in the sun.

All of this and rogues still get to stand toe to toe with their opponents to do damage. Cloth wearers already have ways to distance themselves from melee characters and now they have twice the armor as they did before as well!

It seems to me that the entire idea of armor penetration is flawed and this solution is even more flawed. Even a proposed solution of giving all characters 910 more armor just seems like a bad fix because PvP characters will have an advantage over PvE characters.

I'm under no illusion that game mechanics are easy to balance for PvE and PvP, but there has to be a better solution.

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Decyphered Script: Trinkets

Encrypted Text on WowInsider highlighted Ten Great Rogue Trinkets. I'm a bit envious that I didn't beat her to the post myself as I had been thinking about just such a thing.

While I'm not in 100% agreement with everything in it, it was pretty funny and hit most of the major trinkets.

We differ in that I use TrinketMenu to cycle through my "On Use" trinkets which she seemed not to prefer over the "On Hit" trinkets. Therefore, let me recommend two starting trinkets for Rogues: Bladefist's Breadth and Core of Ar'kelos. Both are rewards from readily available quests in the Outlands. Their "On Use" abilities get me to swap them out for the Bloodlust Brooch whenever it is down. In this way, I always have +200 AP when I want it most.

Core of Ar'kelos Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Use: Increases your melee and ranged attack power by 200.  Effect lasts for 20 sec. Equip: Increases attack power by 52.

Bladefist's Breadth Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 26. Use: Increases attack power by 200 for 15 sec.

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Talented Rogues

Once upon a time, a young rogue named Valenna picked up the Thrash Blade! DUN DUN DUN!

Thrash Blade Binds when picked up One-Hand Sword 66 - 124 Damage Speed 2.70 (35.2 damage per second) Durability 90 / 90 Chance on hit: Grants an extra attack on your next swing.

It was like Arthur picking up Excalibur! From the fateful moment, I became a Combat Sword rogue. Most other rogues went Daggers, a few CrAzY rogues went Fists, but I liked and stayed Swords. I did a lot of damage and never really had to concern myself too much with positioning or other things.

But when the expansion came, I found better daggers much sooner than I found better swords. Until one day, one of my daggers, the Emerald Ripper, was so much better, I simply had to switch.

When I switched to Daggers, my build became what you see now on the Armory.

My blog title is obviously named taken from the quote of Daffy Duck from Robin Hood Daffy. However, as my current build shows, I have no Deflection, thus the Parry! portion of my title may be a bit misleading. As I leveled, Parry and Riposte were essential to survival. But now, looking at the butt of a raid boss or even fighting level 70 critters in Tier 4 gear, neither requires me to Parry much and pretty much everything in a raid is immune to disarm. Therefore, both of these were dropped from my build as soon as I started raiding.

Strangely, looking at one of my new favorite sites, Gankbang, I do fit the Dodge! part of my title. Based on the site, it seems I have the highest Dodge percentage, 36.75%, of any rogue on my server. o_0

Spin! will obviously now refer to how quickly I change my build. After looking to increase my DPS, some analysis shows that the Swords specialization should give me the higher damage I'm looking for. My new build switches from a Combat Daggers & Backstab build to a purely Combat Swords build. I'm also going to take this opportunity to reduce my Lightning Reflexes and move my Dodge down to more normal levels. In the process, I'm picking up several talents for PvP, such as Improved Gouge, Improved Kick, Nerves of Steel, etc.

The swords I'm currently planning on acquiring will be the Merciless Gladiator set of the Slicer and the Quickblade.

Merciless Gladiator's Slicer Binds when picked up One-Hand Sword 203 - 305 Damage Speed 2.60 (97.7 damage per second) +27 Stamina Durability 105 / 105 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 10. Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 19. Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 12. Equip: Increases attack power by 30.

Merciless Gladiator's Quickblade Binds when picked up Off Hand Sword 102 - 191 Damage Speed 1.50 (97.7 damage per second) +27 Stamina Durability 105 / 105 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 10. Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 19. Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 12. Equip: Increases attack power by 30.

I should be able to get the mainhand next week and the offhand a few weeks later. The decision to switch from Daggers to Swords has been a hard one, but it's not as if I will not be able to go back to what I have now if it doesn't work out. The only thing I will have lost is the Arena points I've ground out with my 5v5 team fighting against OPlocks.

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Loot Ninja!

I'm not usually going to post all my upgrades, but since I did get FIVE in one night, I figured I'd post them anyway. On July 3rd, in one night, we started Karazhan and killed every boss from Attumen to Netherspite, with the Chess Event as a nice digestif at the end.

First, I finally got the Worgen Claw Necklace from Attumen. I think I'm the last person on the server to get it.

Worgen Claw Necklace Binds when picked up Unique Neck +20 Agility +21 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 17. Equip: Increases attack power by 42.

Next, none of the other bosses wanted to drop any rogue loot until Netherspite. There, I picked up the Skulker's Greaves and Mithril Band of the Unscarred.

Skulker's Greaves Binds when picked up Legs Leather 319 Armor +32 Agility +28 Stamina Red Socket Red Socket Blue Socket Socket Bonus: +4 Dodge Rating Durability 90 / 90 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 28. Equip: Increases attack power by 64.

Mithril Band of the Unscarred Binds when picked up Unique Finger +26 Strength +24 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 22.

And then in the chess event, I received the Girdle of Treachery.

Girdle of Treachery Binds when picked up Waist Leather 205 Armor +18 Agility +37 Stamina Red Socket Red Socket Socket Bonus: +3 Agility Durability 40 / 40 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases attack power by 58.

But even though Karazhan ended at 1 a.m., I was talked into going to Heroic Mechanar until 3:30 a.m. There I picked up the Assassin Fire Opal.

Assassin's Fire Opal Binds when picked up +6 Critical Rating and +5 Dodge Rating "Matches a Red or Yellow Socket."

So, yes, it was a very good night.

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2.1.0 Patch & Tier 6 Armor

Well, let's start with the armor. I'm going to pretend I didn't see it. OMFG, who am I kidding? I've seen it. Apparently, they were running out of time and decided to alter the Nightstalker armor rather than come up with something cool. We also apparently have forever been assigned the colors red and black. I'm beginning to know how the druids feel with their brown and green. HA! Whatever. At least red and black are cool. Poor druids. T_T The patch includes the introduction of more Darkmoon Faire cards. I think this may be the rogue card:

Wrath (Furies)

Each time one of your direct damage attacks does not critically strike, you gain 17 critical strike rating and 17 spell critical strike rating for the next 10 sec. This effect is consumed when you deal a critical strike. (Stacks up to 20 times)

That's a maximum of 15.38% increase to critical. Wow. It may be trinket slot-worthy.

Rogues changes in the patch, categorized with comments

• LAME! Added a new double-attack animation for "Mutilate".
  I'm sure rogues everywhere were dying for this one.
• NERF! "Cloak of Shadows": The tooltip has been adjusted to indicate this ability removes hostile effects, rather than dispels them. "Cloak of Shadows" does not count as a dispel, and will not interact with dispel resistance or effects triggered by dispelling. This ability no longer removes the "Weakened Soul" debuff.
  Ever since I've read this I've wanted to try this out before it gets patched.
• BUFF! "Deadly Throw": This ability will now damage hunters and their pets when they are affected by "The Beast Within" or "Bestial Wrath". Those targets will still be immune to the movement impairing portion of "Deadly Throw".
  Hmm. Maybe I'd care more if I mapped this ability.
• BUFF! Fixed a data error that caused "Ghostly Strike" and "Riposte" to generate more threat than intended.
  Awesome! But I don't have either, so "meh".
• BUFF! Fixed a bug where the "Silence" effect on "Garrote" was getting resisted too often.
  The Man is always trying to put the Rogue down.
• NERF! "Insignia of the Alliance/Horde" and "Medallion of the Alliance/Horde" now remove "Fear", "Stun" and "Polymorph" effects and no longer remove "Charm" effects.
  Boo. This is one of the three reasons I equipped this trinket. Rather disappointing.
• BUFF! "Improved Sap" (Subtlety) renamed "Dirty Tricks": Increases the range of your "Sap" and "Blind" abilities by 2/4 yards and reduces the energy cost of your "Sap" and "Blind" abilities by 25/50%.
  Alright, apparently all the gold I've slipped GMs is finally paying off.
• BUFF! Increased the frequency and amount of "Blinding Powder" found in pickpocketed junk boxes.
  OMG!! OMG!!!! So lame.
• NERF! "Mutilate": This ability will now always consume the "Cold Blood" buff when it strikes an opponent.
  Hmm.. Another one of those "doesn't affect me why should I care" changes.
• NERF! Poisons: The difficulty of dispelling these is now based off the level of the player, not the level of the weapon the poison is applied to.
  Makes sense, but it doesn't make it cool to nerf.
• BUFF! Reduced the reagents required to create most poisons.
  Sweet!
• NERF! "Remorseless Attacks"(Assassination): "Hemorrhage" added to the buff tooltip. This ability will no longer trigger from killing totems.
  Yet they still allow warriors to generate rage from totems and critters. h8 warriors
• BUFF! Rogue poisons no longer have charges.
  You had me at "Rogue poisons no longer have charges."
• BUFF! "Sap" now automatically gains the full benefit of "Improved Sap".
  2 free talents points for damage. w00t!
• BUFF! "Shadowstep" (Subtlety): The cooldown has been reduced to 15 seconds.
  Someday, I'll have 123 Talents points to be able to take advantage of all of these buffs.
• NERF! "Stealth" will now be broken correctly by damage shield such as "Oil of Immolation".
  What IS the reasoning behind a rogue unstealthing when damaged? Total crap I tell ya.
• BUFF! "Surprise Attacks" (Combat): This talent now correctly prevents "Envenom" from being dodged.
  I wonder why no one cared before. Let me think. Oh yeah. Envenom is useless without Mutilate which is at the bottom of the Assassination tree and Surprise Attacks is at the bottom of the Combat tree. *sigh*

Well, there you have it. We got a few Buffs, but mostly, Nerfs. Obviously, Blizzard hates Rogues. Please lobby for more Rogue buffs.

Hmm.. Wait... There's more:

• Creatures will no longer "Cleave" targets that aren't in front of them.
• "Polymorph" spell duration has been changed from 20 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Creatures will no longer perform "Sweeping Strikes".

These changes were obviously placed in the game for feral druids. =/ So disappointing.

the end

Continue reading '2.1.0 Patch & Tier 6 Armor'