First impressions on the fights in Ulduar for me were fantastic – speaking in general, they seemed far more varied, interesting and demanding than those fights in Naxxramas, and whilst not quite up to Sunwell level, at least provides a much steeper learning curve than anything in WOTLK so far. I often found myself just auto-attacking whilst marveling at all the crazy lazerous explosions and colossal stone-and-metal-built constructs smacking on our tank.

As with anything, spending 20 hours+ on it a week quickly diminishes the wow factor sadly. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that at the heart of the “bread and butter” encounters in Ulduar (and indeed seemingly every instance) is that melee have one function: stand behind the boss, avoid death-filled things, and perhaps interrupt when the mood takes you. Oh, and DPS, that can help. Whilst there are the odd encounters that spice up this mechanic, Thorim with his insane buffs that should make any true rogue giggle with glee, or Deconstructor with his adds, heart and bombs, for the most part they are at heart the same basic encounter for the melee, or at any rate for rogues. Although disappointing, this is hardly a new problem with WoW’s encounter design.

The fight that I see, however, as a melee’s moment to shine (or at least, complete an Olympian gauntlet of “not fucking up”) is Mimiron. This guy has every possible death-trap known to roguedom – proximity mines, coned auto-attacks that rip you to pieces, nasty, slippery adds, and bombs which explode on stabbing. If Illidari Council was “the Superbowl of not standing in things”, this is “the Superbowl of not standing next to things”. Oddly, although it catches me out the most, this fight is my favourite so far. The ramp up in difficulty for Mimiron is coherent throughout the raid, requiring some of the most throughput healing in Ulduar, efficient tanking and on-the-ball and proficient DPS. The melee, however, appear to have the best and worst time of it. That, in World of Warcraft, is what stimulates me the most – having to perform perfectly in a hectic environment. Whilst we haven’t quite got it running absolutely smoothly, my guild is learning this and the glow from those who execute it perfectly is amazing.

As far as specs go, mutilate for the most part keeps up with most other classes, but can’t touch that which comes out from our geared up Fury Warriors and my fellow combat rogues. Mostly this seems due to the fact that most fights don’t let you stand still and DPS, allowing for the ~30 second rotation I use to come into play, and the constant moving and rejigging means that poisons, rupture and SnD tend drop off. As soon as I pick up a decent mainhand (still rolling with a blue fist, whey) I’ll give combat a decent go on the fights that are particularly bad and compare. My fellow rogues say that it’s a far easier rotation that’s easier to pick up again once you’ve left it off, and the DPS results speak for themselves. Maybe it’s time I stopped being the outsider…

Iseult, your friendly neighbourhood backstabber!

So, the reason I play the game is for this demanding lady here. Iseult the Rogue was born last year in the summer just after my exams, as part of a reroll project called Anastasis. Originally born as a combat-wombat (Yes! That is the official term) and having gleeful fun all the way up to 70, using not only one sword, which most people would consider perfectly adequate, but TWO,  exploring rogue-hood in general and most of the time mucking up other people’s instance runs. Although an incredibly powerful class in PvP my entire skills were devoted to blinding an enemy and then sprint around them 3 times before being smashed into the earth. I could also make some interesting noises on this side of the screen which would doubtless scare my enemies into submission.

However, as soon as we stepped into a raid, I felt like I could rogue it up proper – attacking with precise movements and carefully planned rotations, which in no way resembled smashing sinister strike and then rolling on the nearest finisher. I made exacting choices in my gear (The shiny ones! The shoulders with spikes! OOOOH THE SWORDS WHICH GLOW PURPLE), the most efficient and deadly raidspec (Gotta make sure I don’t leave a row empty!) and enchants that complemented my armour and playstyle (the cheapest).

In all honesty, I did enjoy at last playing a class that could be technically demanding, and payed off fantastically when you played well. Although the basic rogue rotation is by no means complicated (in the days of 2 SND, 5 rupture, rinse, repeat, get carpal tunnel syndrome) all of the extra situational tools and tricks were hard to master and get the most out of when you needed them. Add to the fact that your armour tends to be dark, figure hugging and spikey and well, that’s one of my favourite dreams in itself.

Nowadays I’ve gone for an assassination build despite combat’s recent resurgence. I picked it up in 3.0, when we were still trying for timed Zul’Aman despite the removal of the timed mount, and never looked back. Bugger swords, sticking two daggers into something’s neck, watching it’s life slowly tick away due to the numerous poisons, lacerations and other grizzly injuries, whilst I laugh in his face….alright officer, nothing to see here.

The spec I used was always centered around mutilate (DUH) and the few talents that rogues can’t do without. It’s still that today, and of all the rogue specs I’ve had the opportunity to mess around with at 80, still the most fun.

And that’s why I love my rogue *snuggle*! Maybe some more dazzling class will come and distract me long enough to make me have a go (tricksy programmers) but for now, I’m never looking back.

I am an avid player of World of Warcraft, let’s make no bones about it. I play a rogue in a 25-man raiding guild and so on the grand sliding scale of the game am considered to be on the nerdy side of “hardcore” – I’m far from this however, and although I enjoy playing well and with some skilled comrades, a game’s a game and that’s all WoW will be to me. I do enjoy getting the most from my character and so enjoy discussing (often with myself) new builds, playstyles, and so on, as well as chronicling my tales as a guild leader. If you find this kind of thing interesting then have a read; if you’ve come here for knitting patterns or “my favourite traffic cones 1964-1992 inclusive” then, unless I decide to blog in a hitherto unexplored direction,  you’ll be sorely disappointed. Sorry.

So, without further ado, here we go. Good luck, and see you on the other side.