Rogue Advice (in an Instance)

Lets get it out in the open right away - yes everyone like to be top of the damage/dps chart - but NO this should not be your first concern.

Dead rogue = no damage
Wiped party = no fun

Instances take teamwork and that should be your first thought - how can I best support the team?

Particularly pre-80th level (though some of this may be the case at 80th) you may find yourself grouping with people who are:

1. Not as well equipped
   
2. Lower level
   
3. Still learning how to use their skills

In an ideal world tanks will keep aggro all the time, clothies will never aggro adds and you will get to spend all your time hitting your target with as much damage as you can. We do not live in an ideal world.

So what can a rogue do?

Firstly about pulling mobs:

This is something you shouldn't do except in exceptional circumstances, if you pull the tank has to compensate for the extra aggro you've got to get mobs off you and the healers will no doubt have to work overtime to keep you standing. Stealth does not make us invisible it just lets us get closer without pulling so don't think you're safe just because you stealthed. Learn the limits and make sure you don't exceed them, use distract if you're in doubt. Stealth does give us the ability to observe more than other players can so if your group does not know a particular instance well, use this to spot pats, scout areas and warn them. Also note that distract can work magnificently to hold up pats so your group can pull just the mobs they want. Additionally sap can help a group that is struggling to take on bigger groups of mobs so don't be afraid to offer.

If (despite what I've just said) you accidentally pull a group consider burning your vanish cool down to avoid an early/massed pull the group can't handle as this can often re-set the mobs if you are far enough away from the group or at least allow the tank to get the aggro quickly.

Next about openers: ambush is the most (one hit) damaging opener we possess, but it also generates a lot of aggro and does nothing to help the party, Backstab is effectively the same. Consider cheap shot as this nullifies the mob you hit for a few seconds allowing everyone to get set (but note that virtually all bosses and some mobs are immune to this). Garrotte is also good as the dot adds it's damage over time, useful if a boss has stages where you can't attack or if the mobs are likely to flee and also lowering your threat early in the fight. If you're high enough level to have tricks of the trade this can mitigate a lot of these concerns as it has a 30 sec up time before activation which lets you set it up just before the fight, recover the energy, then attack with impunity as all your aggro will hit the tank.

Once the fight is going:

First and foremost your threat meter should be your guide (omen is a particularly good one) to how much damage you can do/what action you should take. If your tank has solid aggro over you feel free to go all out, if not consider renewing tricks or popping a feint. In a worst case scenario where you've done so much damage you've pulled the mob off the tank, pop vanish to re-set your aggro then work back in a little slower.

You should also be watching out for your healers and other clothies (which threat meters will generally not help you with). While our armour/hit points are not the best with a well timed use of evasion we can tank a mob for a short period (certainly longer than most clothies), perhaps long enough to drop it or for the tank to re-acquire. Gouge and blind are generally useless in group fights without extraordinary co-ordination but can give a healer just enough time to loose aggro to a mob so think about these (if there are dots on the mob though these will fail). Kidney shot is better as you can stop the mob without needing everyone to leave it alone, but you might need a few seconds to have the energy and combo points. Once you've got the mob off your ally you may find you have the aggro, if so move it back towards the tank asap as you're unlikely to survive long and a lot of their threat generation is close range, use sprint if you need to as this will generally let you kite the mob.

Generally you should be attacking the same target as your tank, however especially if there is a caster/healer in a group of mobs you may provide better support by getting it out of the fight quickly. This is difficult as you run the risk of pulling aggro if you tank is attacking something else, but generally casters have low enough armour and hp to let you do this. In any case if you plan to do this make sure you let the group know.

In terms of rotations these will depend very heavily on your talent spec and possibly your equipment but almost without exception Slice and Dice should be up early and stay up as long as possible. I also recommend regardless of your normal rotation, using dot poisons and rupture when a fight will be broken up into periods where you can't hit the target (mostly against bosses) and you should carry enough poisons into an instance to change over as needed. You should also have a very clear understanding of what your basic rotation is.

That said some of your finishers and other abilities are highly situational and ca force a change in your rotation. Kick is the daddy against casters, but kidney shot can be highly effective too. Against heavily armoured targets expose armour can work wonders at improving the whole party's damage and for enemies with special attacks or defences dismantle or (again) kidney shot can help a lot. For situational responses a good addon can help you time these correctly (I like the IceHUD).

You should use your cool downs as much as possible within the framework outlined above, but be aware of the layout of the instance and when the next boss is. If a boss is coming up it is mostly better to hold off using your cool downs till you reach it as they will provide much better results in these fights.

Being the healer’s best friend:

I’m sorry to tell you that healers generally tend not to pay us much attention, I suspect the reason of this is that they’re too busy keeping the tank up. There are things you can do to help them and make sure you’re alive to continue the fight.

Now there are healing potions in the pick pocket loot you should never be short of these so bring a good stack to the instance and use them as required.

Cloak of Shadows is awesome for clearing dots and other de-buffs, but use it judiciously. There’s nothing more pointless than using it to clear a de-buff that turns out to be ‘slower casting time’ so know what the mobs cast or check the de-buff before you pop it.

Against aoe we can often see our health decimated in seconds, do not be afraid of moving away from the fight for a few seconds, maybe bandaging and then re-entering when your health is higher.

It’s also well worth using pots to cure diseases and poisons if you need to.

When the fight ends:

Make sure the fight is actually over as larger fights may have multiple adds that haven’t been dealt with even if the main target has gone down. Also you may have sapped or otherwise incapacitated targets still to deal with. If the fight is actually done, and especially if you don’t know the pat movements in the zone, loot quickly and get back into stealth. We have a significant advantage over most classes in that (if our health is ok) we are ready for the next action almost immediately as energy renews very quickly, if the next fight starts unexpectedly you should be ready.

Outside of combat:

Secondary skills can make you very popular with a party. Pick locks can make you invaluable by allowing entry to dungeons where you don’t have the key, shortening the route to the key bosses and allowing collection of additional loot, but only if you’ve trained it. Make sure your PL is comparable to your level by using random doors, lockboxes and pp loot junkboxes. Cooking is great if you’re able to hand out buff food to the group and first aid provides you an ability to help the healer.

Corpse running should be automatic for everyone but especially for rogues. With the option vanish or stealth we provide one of the best ways for a group to avoid running into re-spawns. If you vanished out of a fight that otherwise wiped the party you should stay in stealth and keep an eye out for resurrection problems for your team.