Dagger Assassination Rogue VS. Mace Combat Rogue.

(O.K. you can turn some theme music on for this article I would suggest Mortal Combat, or The Matrix)

After leveling to 56 on a Dagger Assassination Rogue, I switched over to Mace Combat Rogue. When you make the switch you lose the ability to use 2 skills, Ambush and Backstab, notice these are both “burst” damage skills. That is where there is a huge difference between the 2 Rogue types, the Dagger/Ass has a ton of burst damage, where the Mace/Com has no burst damage at all. However the Mace/Com Rogue makes up for the missing burst damage with higher overall DPS per swing as well as the occasional proc of a 3 sec stun. Here is me switching over with the new Mace skill:

Skill at 1

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This is same bear… like 5 mins later almost killing me LOFL!

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Skill at cap for level, 280

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Here is my 57 Mace/Combat Rogue pwning a 59 Elite (solo)

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(Yes that is a really gimped 59 Elite)


I did have quite a few problems with stuns proc’ing too much and the mob then becomes immune, however this stun proc also saved my butt a few times, so I am kind of neutral on the stuns… It also appeared that the cheap shot, kidney shot, as well as the stun procs, are all considered the same “type” of stun. So if you use Kidney shot or Cheap shot then these do seem to “count towards the target becoming immune”. I also saw some “fat” on the Mace/Com Rogue when it cam to S&D. At first I was using a 5 point S&D, but I always was still in S&D when the combat was over. If you notice in my “temporary build” for this, I spent the 3 points to increase the length of the S&D time by 45%. This greatly helps as I can do a 3 point S&D and it works just fine. So lowering the S&D from a 5 point down to a 3 point really helped me lose the “fat”, this also allowed be to use the other 2 points I normally build, into placing them into a 5 point Evis. Where the Mace/Com Rogue goes “balls to the wall” is by popping Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, and S&D at the same time. This in most cases seem to be too much overkill and a waste of timers.(save these for PvP) I did do a little PvP to test it out and ended up 4-0, none of these were ganks, all had full health and mana.(if they had mana, 1 of the kills was a 59 Rogue and another was a 57 Warrior) This may sound awesome, but to be honest the targets I killed really seemed “noobish”, so lets just say that I did not see any problems in 1 VS. 1 PvP conflicts. I am going to just list some “points of interest” here so you can get a feel for how I tested the class.

1. One of my concerns was “Can a Mace/Com Rogue = the DPS/Time that a Dagger/Ass Rogue can?” I really tried to answer this question but the results were inconclusive, again the Dagger/Ass Rogue has very high burst damage, and the damage a Dagger/Ass Rogue can do in the initial 2-4 secs of combat cannot be matched by the Mace/Com Rogue. HOWEVER, after the first 4 secs,(counting that the Mace/Com Rogue popped Adren and at least Blade flurry) the Dagger/Ass Rogue simply cannot keep up with the Mace/Com Rogue in DPS. This leads us to point of interest number 2…
2. Which build type is better for PvE? I feel the Mace/Com Rogue edges out slightly here as my Mace weps are a little slower, but after the first 3 points I simply pop S&D, and just start dishing out the damage. If anything ever “hits the fan” you always have the Adren rush to fall back on, and this basically doubles the rate at which you can spam SS and fill up those 5 points for an Evis.
3. Which build type is better for PvP? This, honestly greatly depends on your target. I feel a Dagger/ASS Rogue would handle cloth peeps a lot better then a Mace/COM. However when armor comes into play with mail and above, then the Mac/Com Rogue seems to have the advantage.
4. Some of the problems with both these classes is the trade offs they have to make to be able to fully spec their build. For example: What is better Adren rush or Cold Blood? Do you want the 100% energy increase for 15 secs, or do you want the guaranteed crit right now which would most likely kill your already half dead target?



Now it seems we are back where we began… In my opinion it is not your build or skills that define your success as a Rogue, it is the targets armor, class, and skill that will dictate how successful you are. This is the only class in WOW that I feel that way about, all the others I have a definite opinions on as far as which builds are better, as a Rogue though I see no clear answer. I know some might feel that this is retarded, and there must be a “Rogue build” that is better then the rest, unfortunately if there is I do not see it. Which Rogue will I take into my end game PvP combat, the Dagger/ASS or the Mace/Com? I have no freakin idea… its that close…