Sunday, December 14, 2008

Improving on my 19 twink rogue

Rowena is my bank character. Since leaving Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, or Undercity means certain experience point gain, that is all she can do, aside from putting the hurt on the 10-19 bracket in Warsong Gulch. I rarely take her out, but when I do, I like to make sure she is holding her own out there. That means she needs some updates.

What has changed recently that a 19 might want to take advantage of? Let's start with the new profession, inscription. For a rogue, there seems no benefit for being one. However, there are the new Darkmoon card sets that can be made by a scribe, and glyphs, of which a level 19 will have 1 major and 1 minor to fill. Rogues Deck gives a quest for items (the quest giver is summoned right to you!) That have a level 10 requirement. They are green, but with the random enchantment, you really never know what you are going to get. Might be worth toying with. As for glyphs, there are many major to choose from, but few minor. Here are my picks...

Glyph of Evasion-5 seconds is enough to get away and bandage, to kill the other person, or to cap the flag.

Glyph of Eviscerate-Eviscerate is great at low levels, because you don't have many spells. For higher level rogues, this glyph is meh, but for 19, 5 combo points can mean the death of almost anyone out in that battleground, twink or not. That is, if you stick around long enough to lay those combo points that thick...

Glyph of Sprint-I'm on the fence on this one, and this is why. At 19, twinks drink Swiftness Potions like kids drink Kool-aid on a hot summer day. That extra speed increase might get you ahead of them faster, but to have it drop off sooner? I'm still thinking on that one. Not sure if it's worth a major slot.

Glyph of Sinister Strike- Another one I'm not too sure of. I think I would take the evasion over this, because sometimes I may hit one stinky gnome, then hare off and stab an icky draenei. If I'm gonna have both of them hitting me while I jump on the "catch the flag runner" train, I'll need the evasion.

Glyph of Backstab- I personally am out for damage and evasion at 19. Those that do use daggers, this is an excellent boost in damage for you, especially if you are handy with your sap and gouge attacks.

Glyph of Garrote- Another nice boost to damage for my stealthier counterparts.

There are more to be had at this level, some for spells you haven't even learned yet! Take a look at them here.

As for minor glyphs, there are only three, and they aren't really handy for low level rogues that are stuck in major cities. If you are a fishing twink, you might be able to use the Glyph of Blurred Speed to get away from aggressive mobs/players. Otherwise, pick pocket and pick lock seem kinda silly.

How about the new buffs given to gathering classes? Let's look into these and see what benefits we can reap from them.

Mining gives us Toughness. The buff is small at first, giving 30 extra health. At maximum, it gives 500 extra health. This is a huge boost! I heard that the restrictions for level on gathering professions had been tossed aside, but is it possible to smelt all the way to the top? Let's look. According to WoWHead, this chart seems to tell me you can smelt, though it may become expensive, all the way to 375. This should give you Toughness, a boost not to sneeze at.

Herbalism now gives Lifeblood, a nice heal over time effect. This is not a profession you can do alone to level higher than 150. If you have the experience to blow, or are starting from scratch, and have a buddy that is much stronger than you along, this could be overpowered. Lifeblood at this rank is all your health and then some over 5 seconds. Hot Dog! This can be cast in stealth after the next patch, if I remember right..

Skinning awards us Master of Anatomy, figuring we have skinned so many beasts that we now know just where to hit to gain extra damage. This, again, is not a skill you can level alone. If you have a buddy and enough experience points, wouldn't this be a wicked addition to what should already be a high percentage of crit?

As Rowena already has mining, I may, over time, slip her some ore to smelt to get her health bonus. She is also a semi-fishing twinklette, her boots waiting in the bank for an enchant, and hat still uncaught.

That is all for now! Did I miss anything? Tell me below!

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