Advertisement

Forum post of the day: A Rogue without a cause

Maximogu of Firetree

posed the question "Why bring a Rogue to an 80 heroic?" in the general forums. He claimed that at this point there CC is unnecessary for most tanks that rely on AOE. Most of the trash pulls are handled by AOE classes now, making the Rogue's single target focus obsolete. He argued that Rogues are best suited with Druid tanks that do not handle multiple mobs as well as other tanking classes do.

Here are some of the reasons given for bringing a rogue along:
Anushka of Kel'Thuzad: There's a lot of nasty things that can be interrupted in most heroics. Though I wouldn't take more than one rogue.
Khadros of Frostwolf: To listen to the sound of theirs daggers going schlick schlick schlick.
Morgrimm of Korgath: Because one of my friends is a rogue.
Owari of Frostwolf: To DPS, of course.
Mypetgoat of Bladefist: It's one expendible DPS that won't roll on my gear.
Madia of Maelstrom: They need loot and stuff too.

All of these responses seem pretty trivial, but hint that in most cases Rogues are still welcome in a heroic group. This discussion brings a few questions to mind:
Have Rogues been rendered obsolete in contemporary PvE?
Should Rogues be given AOE abilities in order stay in the game?
Why am I leveling a Rogue, anyway?

I like this AOE business about as much as I like wearing heels in the mud. As a tanking Druid I'm still a fan of CC, which may make me seem like an over-cautious worry wart. Though it is not as spectacular as watching a Paladin burst down an entire pull, I find that CC helps reduce the number of corpse runs back to the instance. In the end I find this completes the instance faster. When I DPS with an AOE tank, I snarl and sneer just a little when I have to come out of cat to cover Pally who bit off more than the healer can chew.

There are some challenges to this method however. I have to count on my party members to avoid breaking CCs and be prepared to re-up their traps, polymorphs, roots, etc when necessary. I have less trouble with Rogues breaking CC than most AOE DPSers. When I take the time to mark pulls, I still find it hand for folks follow the target order. I PUG more or less everything and many times I find folks bored with, or unwilling to follow my strategy. Does this mean that Bear tanks are also obsolete?

Maybe I'll find it hard to find groups in the future, but for now, I think I'll keep a Rogue in my pocket. We relics from a bygone era need to stick together.