While villains in WoW Classic were among the best damage experts across all phases, in Burning Crusade Classic they are outperformed by many other specializations in terms of DpS. But how bad are villains really in Stage 1 of TBC Classic?
On many WoW servers: Burning Crusade Classic, it is currently easy to see how self-confident the classes are. While the strong hunters and warlocks often clearly state in party search requests that they are not just any damage dealers, but belong to the crème de la crème (“here, hunters!”), rogues report with remarkable regularity with a tentative “inv”.
Dagger-slingers’ Hope: The party builder doesn’t check the writer’s class and only realizes they’ve got a villain on board after being invited. Without such a trick, it should be almost impossible on some realms to find accommodation in a group for a heroic dungeon outside of a guild.
Villains in Stage 1: A Difficult Birth
Thanks to the experiences in the original TBC and from the various private servers, many players knew in advance that the formerly so strong villains and warriors on Outland would only slowly get going. The reasons:
Important values such as critical hit value, weapon knowledge, speed and armor penetration are in the basement and can only be increased with difficulty or not at all due to the equipment available at the beginning. Many other classes are less dependent on these values and more easily achieve higher DpS values.
The group and raid support of rogues and offensive warriors is too low compared to other classes to absorb the DpS loss.
Many fights from phase 1 and phase 2 are melee-unfriendly. More hunters, warlocks and co. not only cause more damage, their presence also makes many fights even easier.
And indeed: If you look at the statistics on Warcraftlogs , the combat villain in Karazhan, Gruul’s Lair and Magtheridon’s Lair – in terms of average damage – always ends up in the lower midfield. Speedrun guilds often only have one or no villains in the raid roster. And even in heroic dungeons, many players are reluctant to take a villain with them.
How bad are villains in stage 1?
I myself am currently playing a villain (and a priest) in the Burning Crusade Classic endgame and I think that many players underestimate the advantages that a well-played villain can already offer in dungeons and raid instances.
Lots of control and some DpS support
Rogues have plenty of tools to control enemies or stop dangerous spells.
Headbutt : Not as versatile as, say, the Mage “Sheep”, but still a reliable tool for taking a humanoid out of combat for 45 seconds.
Sneaky Trick and Kidney Smash : These two abilities combined can take the focus target of almost any dungeon group out of combat for up to 10 seconds. In many cases, this is enough to knock down the targeted opponent without the tank having to pay too much attention to it. Of course, Kidney Slash can also be thrown in from time to time in combat to take the pressure off the tank or to pin down enemies who just want to run towards the healer or a “DD” with too much aggro.
Kick : One of the most reliable spell interrupts in the game, you can throw it in every ten seconds to thwart dangerous spells. With some bosses like Magtheridon, having reliable interrupters at the start is extremely helpful.
Shiv + Mindnumbing Poison : Speaking of spell interrupts, with this off-hand poison and Shiv, the victim’s casting speed can be slowed down at the touch of a button, making interrupts a breeze. Here, too, I refer to the Magtheridon add-ons as a useful application.
Distract : Whether you want to separate two groups, hold up a patrol, or “set up” a target for the next headbutt, Distract rules.
Deadly Throw : If you get the blue or epic gloves from the PvP set (such as Gladiator’s Leather Gloves ), you’ll get another interrupt with Deadly Throw, which will allow you to complete certain kick tasks on your own.
Blinds : Situationally applicable, blinds can currently be very useful, especially in the dungeon area. Use this to control temporarily acquired players or your headbutt target after the effect expires, giving the tank a few more moments to intercept it.
With all of these tools, rogues provide a level of control that’s worth its weight in gold in any heroic dungeon, and even in some raid situations. In addition, the villain with evasion enabled can also act as an offtank for a short time, for example to get an opponent off the healer or to replace the dead tank and rock the fight home (all already experienced live). Or the rogue leverages entire mechanics with Cloak of Shadows or gets rid of a hard ticking DoT, which relieves the healer enormously.
In the meantime, I have also been able to extensively test Improved Armor Weaken in practice. Not only is the ability stronger than Warrior’s armor cleave (thus providing better DpS support), it also doesn’t interfere with the aggro buildup of Protection Warriors. In addition, there are currently many wildness druids (who of course don’t use Rip Armor when tanking ) and hunters in Outland, who benefit enormously from the buff.
Don’t forget another advantage of the villains: In the Shattered Halls, villains grant you a shortcut, and they can also open locked chests in all dungeons.
My conclusion: take villains with you
In my guild, most players wonder why rogues have such a bad reputation. On the contrary, the phrase “It’s cool that we have a villain with us” has often been heard in common dungeon rounds in Discord. I guess I saved the butt of another damage specialist or healer without anti-aggro talents. 😉
Yes, we are currently not causing the highest possible damage. For this we weaken kicking, stunning and armor as much as we can, and headbutt is better than its reputation. And if we start all the cooldowns, we can get really good DpS numbers over a certain phase, especially when a second target is hit by Blade Flurry .
With all of this, keep in mind that rogues really get strong at Tier 6. Good for any squad that has their assassins well equipped in the previous stages.
What is your experience with rogues in the PvE section of Burning Crusade Classic? Do you also prefer to go into heroic dungeons or to Karazhan and Co. without the melee fighters? Or do you like having a headbutt on two legs at the start? Tell us in the comments!
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Burning Crusade has the maximum level in WoW at 70 and brings 2 new playable races (Draenei& Blood Elves). In addition, there is a new continent: The Sheol
The Burning Crusade is the first expansion for the successful MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW) from the developer studio Blizzard. The add-on introduces a new continent called Outland. There are also new races. The Blood Elves for the Horde and the Draenei for the Alliance. The classes Paladin and Shaman are now also playable for both factions. Furthermore, the expansion brings an increase in the level limit from 60 to 70 as well as flying mounts.
World of Warcraft (WoW)
The online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW) was released in Europe in 2005 and is an MMO with a subscription payment model. In WoW, players can complete tasks with their characters to improve their hero and meet like-minded players. There are thirteen different races to choose from when selecting a character – six of which belong to only one faction each – as well as eleven classes. In World of Warcraft, players have the opportunity to join the Horde or the Alliance, complete missions and quests with their character in the rich world, and adventure with other heroes in instanced areas for five, ten, and even 25 players. In addition, characters can take up professions, collect pets and mounts, compete against opposing players in battlegrounds and arenas, or simply unwind in the main cities and chat with their guildmates. Guides, news, videos, screenshots, reports and more about World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade are collected on our topic pages.
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