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Encrypted Text: Most valuable procs

Most raiding rogues I know tend to look for pure, solid stats on their weaponry. Agility, stamina, AP, crit and hit -- these are the backbone of the rogue arsenal. Procs can be less than ideal, given their unreliable nature and spiky DPS increase.

But there are some procced abilities that stand out above the others. Procs that are frequent enough or major enough to turn the tide in boss fights, destroy your enemies in PVP, or just look really cool and flashy on your weapons. Read on to discover which Burning Crusade procs to use and which procs to lose.

Weapon: The Night Blade
Weapon type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Your attacks ignore 435 of your enemies' armor for 10 sec. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Proc rate: Approximately 6.5%.
Analysis: This proc used to be ridiculously overpowered. With a proc rate of 21 percent, rogues could have this up constantly, adding an extra 11-14 percent more damage in raids. Blizzard nerfed the proc down to a more managable 5-8%, but it still seems to proc in "stacks", making it a worthwhile investment -- though probably not worth several thousand gold.

Weapon: Riftmaker
Weapon Type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Encloses enemy in a temporal rift, increasing the time between their attacks by 10% for 10 sec.
Proc rate: "Once every three to four mobs", so probably around 2-4%.
Analysis: This proc sounds nice, like a BC version of Thunderfury. It even procs on bosses! However, it doesn't stack with Thunderclap -- and since Thunderclap is now a mainstay of any tank, this isn't as awesome as it seems. I'd pick Night Blade over this, although the proc can be neat for PVP.

Weapon: Revenger, Blade of Unquenched Thirst
Weapon Type: Rare 1.5 speed sword, Rare 1.3 speed dagger
Proc: Steals 105 to 125 life from target enemy, steals 48 to 54 life from target enemy.
Proc rate: 4.75%
Analysis: Meh. Since these are 1.5 and 1.3 speed weapons, they'll be used in the offhand, which means it'll proc less due to the higher miss penalty equal miss penalty, but the smaller number of hits due to not having any specials besides Shiv. And lifestealing is sort of a iffy proc anyway, which is why few people use it on their weapons. I like the suggestions on the Wowhead forum that these be used by prot paladins, since the lifestealing proc benefits from spell damage. Let these go unless the DPS is a big upgrade.

Weapon: Dragonmaw, Dragonstrike, Drakefist Hammer
Weapon Type: Epic crafted 2.7 speed maces
Proc: Increases your haste rating by 212 for 10 seconds
Proc rate: 1.4 procs per minute
Analysis: This proc increases weapon speed by about 20% at level 70 -- at least for now, although haste is getting nerfed in the near future. For right now, this is one of the best procs out there, substantially increasing your DPS with its high proc rate. The AEP charts have the proc as worth about 35 agility after the 2.2 nerf, compared to 53 before, so spend your mats at your own risk.

Weapon: Blackout Truncheon
Weapon Type: Rare 1.5 speed mace
Proc: Increases your haste rating by 132 for 10 seconds.
Proc rate: 1.9 procs per minute, or about 4.75%
Analysis: People used to offhand this with the Dragonsomething maces for a hemo haste spec. They also used Shiv to get an additional chance to proc off of this. This would be excellent except that hemo is still a sort of mediocre raiding spec, and haste is getting nerfed back to pre-BC levels in 2.2. Good times while they lasted.

Weapon: The Bladefist
This is yet another haste proc, this one for 180, but since I'm getting tired of describing haste procs, I'll refer you to the two previous posts.

Weapon: Blinkstrike
Weapon Type: Epic 2.6 speed sword
Proc: Grants an extra attack on your next swing.
Proc rate: 5-6%
Analysis: Man, sword rogues just go nuts for extra swings. This item, Hand of Justice, Windfury, sword spec ... Anyway, this item is the equivalent of your 5 points in Sword Spec if you're combat swords. But it's possible to put too much value on the proc. I recall one guild, pretty far into TK, that had all their rogues using Blinkstrikes. Shadowpanther's AEP chart puts the proc as worth about 30 agility, which seems a bit low, but it's still not worth passing up much higher base DPS swords for a chance at a proc.

Weapon: Heartrazor
Weapon Type: Epic 1.8 speed dagger
Proc: Increases attack power by 270 for 10 seconds.
Proc rate: 5-6%
Analysis: The first real dagger upgrade from Malch has some good base stats and a nice, Crusaderish proc. Not particularly exciting or showy, but if it procs a couple of times a minute, it can really ramp up your damage on long boss fights. After the 2.2 haste nerf, this will probably be the best rogue proc in the game, so pick it up now! (Just remember to vanish often.)

Weapon: Rod of the Sun King
Weapon Type: Epic 2.7 speed mace
Proc: Chance on melee attack to gain 10 energy or 5 rage.
Proc rate: 4-5%
Analysis: This is an excellent proc for PVP, where hemo can devastate your opponents (and requires some extra energy.) However, if you're using maces and can kill Kael'thas, it's going to be a tough call between this proc and Dragonstrike's. The proc rate also seems rather low for an item of this caliber, particularly considering the power of Combat Potency.

Weapon: Syphon of the Nathrezim
Weapon Type: Epic 2.8 speed mace
Proc: Fills you with fel energy, allowing all melee attacks to drain life from opponents.
Proc rate: No confirmed data, but proc lasts for 6 seconds.
Analysis: Finally, an interesting lifestealing proc! This fills YOU with the fel energy, making ALL your attacks for those six seconds heal you and do an extra 20 shadow damage (enhanced by raid buffs.) So altogether, you can heal about 200-250 damage over 6 seconds, while doing the same amount of damage to your opponent, unmitigated by armor. It's not wonderful for PVP, and the enhancement shamans are going to hate you, but the speed and top-end damage on this weapon would make it an excellent choice for a combat mace rogue. The proc is just a bonus.

Weapon: Shard of Azzinoth
Weapon Type: Epic 1.9 speed dagger
Proc: Calls forth an Ember of Azzinoth to protect you in battle for a short time.
Proc rate: 0.5 procs per minute, lasting 15 seconds each.
Analysis: The best dagger in the game, and it does what? Okay, you're probably going to be picking up this item for its high damage, slower speed, and 64 AP, but your little green guardian comes along with it. This guy does 135 DPS every second for 15 seconds, and won't break crowd control in PVE. Yeah, it sounds like Perdition's Blade v. 2.0. However, step back from the theorycrafting and think of the intangibles. Every time this guy pops out in PVP or when you're grinding, you're telling the world, "I killed Illidan." That alone makes it worth it. The Vanquished Tentacle of C'thun is still cooler, though.