“The Basic Rogue PvP Guide” by Nevian

Last update/edit: 20.09.2010
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“Rogues, the class where the cap of skill
is nearly beyond human reach.” (Buddhist)


I - Pooling Energy
II - Finishers
III - Openers
IV - Crowd Control
V - Positioning and Awareness
VI - Using your abilities
VII - Knowing your enemy
VIII - Talent Builds and Weapons --- (updated 12.07.2010 with a new and better Sub build)

XI - Gear and Stats
X - “Rotation”, Tricks and what to Trinket
XI - Macros
XII - Other Useful Tips
XIII - Useful Websites


..... I - Pooling Energy

Do not be fooled by how “fast” your Energy replenishes. Actually, it replenishes very slowly and you must be aware of it and know how/when to use it. Being out of Energy when you actually need it might cost you and your team mates a lot of fights.

You’ll never kill a good player or any half-decent healer without pooling energy. What “pooling” means is to never stay at close to 0 energy for too long. You must use all your energy at once and wait for it to fill up before you start using damaging abilities again. If you have 100 energy and used all of it, wait until it gets to 90 before using your offensive abilities again.

This is done for a simple reason: it’s harder for your enemy to react and avoid or heal out your fast and big damage, while it’s much easier to avoid the same damage done slower (slower, due to waiting for your energy).

Also, imagine you have 5 cp’s on your target and just 25 energy for a Kidney Shot. If you use Kidney Shot at this point, you simply waste it because you have no Energy left for doing damage.

One more thing, it’s important to always have 15 energy left for a Kick (25 energy without the PvP Gloves). Use Kick on the end of a cast (when it’s almost finished casting). This gives you time to pool energy and avoid a fake cast intended to waste your Kick.


..... II - Finishers

Using the proper finisher depends on the situation you’re in. This comes with experience, but here are some basic things to know:

Rupture: the ticks of this finisher can crit and its damage can be very high with Blood Splatter and Serrated Blades. It ignores armor, so it’s very effective against Plate users.

Slice and Dice: this spell will make you hit with Auto Attack 40% faster. Don’t forget that it will also help you apply your Poisons faster. It’s a very powerful finisher for increasing your sustained damage on targets that just won’t go down fast.

Kidney Shot: a 5 combo point Kidney Shot is a 6 second stun that makes your enemy unable to do almost anything. He can’t use almost any spell/ability and cannot block, dodge or parry your attacks. Needless to say, it’s a very deadly finisher. It’s also our key ability in PvP because it works as offensive and defensive at the same time.

Eviscerate/Envenom: our main damage dealing finishers. Use them when your feel like you target is close to death.

Expose Armor: use it if you have absolutely nothing else to use. It's good with SnD and Rupture up for some more sustained damage. Even better if you use Armor Penetration for some reason. I, myself, almost never use this finisher but it's good enough to remember about it. You can use this on all types of armor too and it's quite nice for bursting down a heavy to burst target. Although, as I've mentioned, this is a very situational finisher.

In different situations, different finishers will benefit you the most. It takes time, experience and practice to know which one to use and when.

..... III - Openers

Sap: this is not an "opener" but you must use it every time before you "open", if possible. With Dirty Tricks, the range of Sap is greater than the range of your other openers, making it easier to secure your target in place and safely land your opener without risking being noticed due to close range.

Ambush: the most offensive opener. It deals nice damage to cloth and leather users.

Cheap Shot: our main opener. Combined with a 5 cp Kidney Shot makes your enemy cry : -) Use it almost every time.

Garrote: the “anti-mage finisher” but is also good for any caster. Although use it on mages every time! It applies a silence and they cannot Blink away, while they can Blink out of a Cheap Shot.