From Ailion, the Rogue lead.
In 1.6.1, I will be adding a new ability, Planar Reversal, which will be unlocked when 14 soul points are invested into the RS soul.

This is a non purgable toggle ability and causes you to Plane Shift behind the target when using Shadow Stalk, Shadow Assault or Shadow Blitz.

Shadow Stalk, Shadow Assault and Shadow Blitz now causes you to Plane Shift towards the target by default, regardless of whether you are in Stalker Phase or Guardian Phase.

With this change, Rogues can now use targeted Plane Shift abilities without being forced into a detrimental situation.
And here I was, so happy not being forced to use some stupid blink'tard spec.
Posted by Dunsparrow
Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 11:42 AM | 14 comments  
Nightblade is back in PvE with the latest patch. Its been discussed a lot on the forums, but in case you missed it:

Raid Nightblade
49 NB / 17 Sin

The macros and rotation are all pretty standard, but there are a few things worth mentioning. Even with Fervor, you'll be energy starved if you're spamming Expose Weakness on CD, since its off the GCD. This means you should use a tablet with this spec. Any tablet will work, since they all give the same amount of energy regen. You don't need Elder (although Elder gives more strength). If you don't have a tablet, then Expose doesn't really increase your DPS much at all.

Macros

ST Macro 1

#show Puncture
cast Puncture
cast Dusk Strike
cast Twilight Force
cast Primal Strike
cast Fiery Chains
cast Fiery Spike
cast Expose Weakness


ST Macro 2 (use with 4 CPs)

#show Twilight Force
cast Twilight Force
cast Primal Strike
cast Fiery Chains
cast Fiery Spike
cast Expose Weakness

Macro 3

#show Scourge of Darkness
cast Scourge of Darkness
cast Dusk to Dawn

Synching up your SoD and DtD is very important for boosting DPS and thats the point of this macro. You want to cast Scourge on the rotation when your Nightrage falls off, and then go right into DtD to re-apply Nightrage. This way you'll never have that sad rotation where you have to use a Blazing Strike without Nightrage up.

Comments

Its still a very awkward spec to use in raids because of how stupid it is for a melee class to have to use a channeled ability to get a necessary buff. It would be much better for Nightrage to proc on Scourge of Darkness and last 35 seconds, or from Twilight Force / Dusk Strike and last 10 seconds. Whatever. The point is that Dusk to Dawn is a stupid ability for rogues to need to use in raids, and its not something that Warriors or any other Rogue spec is saddled with.

Still, the spec is probably our highest DPS at the moment (still putting us firmly behind equally geared/skilled Mages and Warriors). Rogues need a buff, but this is our best current option.
Posted by Dunsparrow Labels: ,
Yes, this spec still works in 1.6 and is more important than ever for surviving alone on Ember Isle, and many other things.

Lightning Ragnarok Shining Majesty
20 BD / 22 RS / 24 Sin
This build's strength lies in its versatility. Here is what I use the spec for currently:

  • Soloing Major Rifts
  • Soloing Ember Isle
  • Handling tomes on Matron Zamira encounter in HK (so I don't have to bring a separate Sin/NB spec)
  • Tanking encounters for which I'm overgeared
  • World PvP (unless it gets serious)

Macro


#show Precision Strike
cast Precision Strike
cast Phantom Blow
cast Puncture
cast Quick Strike
cast Keen Strike
cast Flash of Steel
cast Expose Weakness
cast Reprisal

If you're on something tough, make sure to use Guardian Phase. It reduces the damage you take but the Leaching Poison healing remains constant, so you gain survivability and still deal damage constantly with Planar Vortex. Don't skip the point in Shadow Mastery. This alone is about 10% physical damage reduction.
Posted by Dunsparrow Labels: ,
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 6:04 PM | 7 comments  
Trion thought they nerfed Nightstalker in 1.6. They thought wrong. The new Nightstalker has more survivability than ever, and only slightly reduced damage. Feel the power.

Nightstalker 1.6
38 Nightblade / 28 Riftstalker / 0 Infilitrator

This build has it all. Defensive cooldowns, offensive cooldowns. CC breaks. Solid offensive power, Fell Blades. Nom nom. From 1.5 version, you gain about 10% physical mitigation from the new Shadow Armor, Rift Prison and some other stuff. Its highly versatile. The talents on Zam don't exactly match live, but the points are in the right place.

Macro

#show Dusk Strike
cast Dusk Strike
cast Twilight Force
cast Phantom Blow
cast Fiery Chains
cast Primal Strike
cast Fiery Spike

Play it basically the same as originally Nightstalker. You have slightly less offensive punch, because of the changes to cooldowns, but your defenses are rock solid and mobility is even better than 1.5. Enjoy.
Posted by Dunsparrow Labels: ,
In case you didn't notice, Tier 2 Air planar attunement lets you use a weapon buff for +30 dex to one-hander. Pretty nice for ranged. If you were smart and saved your points, congrats. I didn't. Here's the GM response to my request to have my points reset.
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On November 16, 2011 14:39:23 [Customer Service] wrote:
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Hello Dunsparrow! Thank you for contacting us regarding Planar Attunement! Please note that the period during which we offered limited Attunement resets has concluded. This feature is designed to offer permanent, unique character advancement past level 50: your paths to Planar Attunement—and the benefits you unlock along the way—are shaped by the irreversible choices you make and the Planes with which you choose to align. However, we continue to read your feedback about the issue and take your suggestions into consideration when discussing the future of endgame advancement! Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions or recommendations. Thanks again for your continued support of Trion Worlds and for playing RIFT. Your reference number for this question is *redacted*. Sincerely, GM Lasaira Game Master Trion Worlds Inc.
Really, a permanent choice based on incomplete information, because Trion chose to add abilities after we chose where to put our points? Great logic.
Posted by Dunsparrow Labels:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 2:29 PM | 9 comments  
I saw this one coming. Trion is looking to nerf Rogues in PvP and lower our damage in PvE by nerfing the MM crystal to 30% bonus damage on electrified munitions.

We are aware that certain Nightblade related specs are creating issues in PvP. We are looking to address the issues that we perceive.
I'm not going to discuss the issues in this thread - I'm just popping in to let you know we are looking at things.
~Daglar

No, its not because rogues are overpowered, its because idiots from other classes don't know what to do with themselves when rogues are competitive DPS in PvE, and aren't free kills in PvP. So, they head to the forums and whine.

Prior to 1.5, healers could -- quite literally -- ignore rogues, keep themselves alive and heal their team. Rogues were a non-factor in PvP. Even as the old 51 MM, Improved Hit and Run only gave Rogues brief periods of time to do competitive damage. They still were no threat to high-rank healers or warriors.

Obviously, any change to rogues that takes them into the realm of playability is going to present some growing pains. Of course that P8 rogue is going to kill the P6 cleric who previously ignored him. It's obvious. The cleric is not used to rogues being a threat, and the rogue has been fighting an uphill battle for 3 months in PvP. It's like someone finally took the weights off the bat.

When that happens, some players run to the forums to cry, and some dig in and work on improving. If Trion listens to the whiners, who are complaining with obviously incomplete information about mechanics that they obviously don't understand, then nothing good will ever be accomplished.

Maybe the next time that cleric runs into the rogue, he'll be a damn sight more careful. He might even have to start using abilities and cooldowns he didn't use before or he might have to focus heals on himself instead of letting hots do all the work.

Eventually, each class will come up with new strategies to adapt to the new gamescape. I've already seen it happen with equal-rank members of every class. I've beat them, they've adapted, they've beat me, I've adapted, etc. That's why we play.

It's not supposed to be easy for you to trash an equally skilled and geared player from another class. If it is, that is a problem. Rogues were in that untenable position in 1.5. Now we're not. Its imperative that Trion gives everyone time to adjust, and not make knee-jerk changes to put rogues right back in the crapper.
Posted by Dunsparrow