Encrypted Text: Assassination in Wrath 1
Encrypted Text: Assassination in Wrath 1
Every Wednesday, Encrypted Text explores issues affecting Rogues and those who group with them. This week Jason Harper, the new Rogue feature blogger, discusses the Wrath Assassination expansion tree.
The Assassination tree, home to the deep dagger Rogue, is a major part of Rogue specifications for both PvP and PvE play styles. While the Combat tree is focused on increasing white damage overall, and Subtlety about survivability and burst, Assassination is all about the liberal application of consistent damage through a repertoire spells and damage application modifiers (a la poison). Burning Crusade talents and spells like Cold Blood, Lethality and (Improved Poisons assisted) Envenom are amazing non-positional damage sources, with Mutilate being the positional coup de gr?ce to a fight.
All that said, it should be noted that while Assassination Rogues do benefit from three times the combo-point generation potential, white damage is reduced in comparison to other builds, most mobs in end-game are poison immune (and in situations where you need to change targets, you have to build back up your poison stack on them) and Find Weakness does not apply to white damage.
Knowing all this, what’s new that might make wayward-but-dagger-longing Rogues want to go deep into the tree?
The seven new talents in the Assassination tree are: Deadly Brew, Turn the Tables, Infectious Poisons, Blood Spatter, Cut to the Chase and Hunger for Blood. The new talents start at the seventh level of the Assassination tree and require a commitment of at least 30 points (out of the possible seventy-one at level eighty).
Poisons can be the bane of the Assassination Rogue, either providing a huge benefit in damage or utility or being completely unavailable due to current boss game mechanics (in that they are immune). Both Mutilate and Envenom require poison applications on the target to be in any way useful (Mutilate gives a 50% damage bonus against poisoned targets). Assuming that you’ve got yourself a non-immune target, Deadly Brew would give you a 50%/100% chance to apply an additional, non-equipped poison(!!), to the target. Instant Poison will apply Deadly Poison (in addition), Wound Poison and Mind-Numbing will apply Crippling Poison (in addition). As you might expect, this provides a great benefit in PvP since now you can apply Instant and Wounding to also get Deadly and Crippling. I’m already hearing cries of “OP.” Combined with Improved Poisons you’d see the stacks build fast. Obviously PvE viability would require a change in the way poisons work on boss encounters.
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