Rogues and what specialty to pick.

[Luninariel 0]

So, I came back to WoW, after a Hiatus since... before ruby sanctum was released. I have a rogue at 100 and am taking it pretty casually and I really enjoy the game, and it's raids, but I no longer know whats the top specs are for any given situation since everything's flipping willy nilly. I love raiding but don't want to take it Hardcore (As in, I like raiding and want to perform best that I can, but I don't want to be dedicated to a 25-man Mythic raiding kinda deal) so I'm wondering, what specialization I should aim for when raiding. I leveled as Assassination and Combat, and follow the class guides near religiously. So I guess the question is what specialization should I be to do LFR, Normal raids, heroics, and PVE content and do the best I possibly can? Or does specialization not matter because the difference between them is negligible?

Edited April 14, 2015 by Luninariel

[Carrn 284]

At the point you're playing, whichever one you enjoy the most will be the best for you.

 

From a pure numbers standpoint, Sub is best on Single Target fights and Combat best for more than 2 targets. The two specs are effectively even at 2 targets

 

Assassination falls fairly far behind in both situations

[Luninariel 0]

See, I thought that's the real choice it would break down to. Either sub or Combat with Sin dropping behind. What's the difference between Combat and Sub on a numbers standpoint? Is it going to be detrimental to a raid if I am Combat and not sub? Also isn't combat easier to upkeep than sub is? By upkeep I mean how bad did you mess up if you miss a bit of the rotation, or get screwed by a mechanic? 

[Carrn 284]

Combat is less punishing, but not by much. 

 

The damage difference is pretty significant though, if you're actually talking about truly min/maxing. 

 

Again though, I want to stress that it's not significant enough to the point that if you really enjoy one spec more than another to play something that you don't like unless you're pushing Mythics

[Luninariel 0]

I keep seeing blizzard buffing Assassination spec, is there a chance it could end up being the higher end spec, or would it just help move it to the area where Combat and Sub are now?  

[Carrn 284]

I think it will just help to even it out, but we'll see once everything is more finalized. I suspect that it will look pretty much the same

[lipsinch 46]

Sub got a small buff, no?

[Carrn 284]

Yeah it did, but I'm not sure about how much of a difference it will make in the long run. Really all that happened is we got slightly more dps during our "downtime" phases, with BS buff. Finishers got nerfed but SV got buffed, which I think works out to about the same during burst.

 

Slight buff, but not huge. Asn got buffed more, but I don't think it's enough to make it super viable

 

On a side note, the Sub set bonuses for t18 make me salivate