However, the new buffs to NB are weighed down by the nerf it received through the changes to Anathema. No more 75% reduction in healing. Since Anathema + Fell Blades was really required to kill healers most of the time, NB really lost its edge in a key area, although all-around it is still very strong.

With the predominance of the spec but the loss of surefire healer killing, I have decided to venture into the Marksman tree. MM is very powerful and while I rarely had Marksman rogues kill me as NB, it always felt vulnerable to them. And vulnerable it is. Here is my group PvP and NB-slaying spec I've embraced after various MM build tests:

While many MM like to go 38 + x and spend points in Ranger or Assassin, I feel the final 13 points in MM are just too good to make up anywhere else. Adding Retreat, Eradicate and Sniper Pedestal is well worth the additional points.

Key abilities: Swift Shot, Barbed Shot, Rapid Fire Shot, Empowered Shot, Deadeye Shot

Macros

#show Improved Hit and Run

cast Improved Hit and Run

cast Empowered Shot

use Words of War

#show Deadeye Shot

cast Deadeye Shot

cast Bull's Eye

Playstyle

Like Nightblade, Marksman is cooldown-dependent to a degree. However, the major MM cooldown, Improved Hit and Run has a shorter cooldown (86 seconds) and adds an incredible amount of damage, especially if you remember to put down Sniper Pedestal (naysayers be damned, its awesome).

MM is very powerful in group situations with its ability to assist melee and add huge amounts of damage, or pick off wounded targets without putting you at great risk. The biggest downside is that it is very squishy, so you need to rely on your speed and maneuverability to stay out of trouble. If you get pinned down, you're done.

This spec massacres Nightblades. Eradicate will remove nearly any cooldown they pop (Ebon Fury, Nightrage, Blackout, Twilight Shelter, etc.). Without Ebon Fury, a NB has no chance of killing you, as you can keep him at range all day. If needed, Cleanse Soul can get you out of a sticky situation, as 90% of NB damage is magic, but you really shouldn't need it. A NB can protect another buff for 6-9 seconds by popping Cleanse Soul or Twilight Transcendence himself, which makes him immune to eradicate, but this is fairly uncommon and with Getaway, you should be able to still get to range and remove his CD as soon as this ends. Plus, you just made him waste 3-4 cooldowns and not even survive.

I'm not giving up on Nightblade. I still love the soul and the play style. I am currently toying with a spec that abandons all reason and drops Infiltrator entirely, but its not ready for prime time yet (if ever). For now, I think the sustained damage of NB is not quite there, and its damage is too easily mitigated by kiting.

I still have Gunblade, but the current metagame makes killing Nightblades a priority and this spec does that just fine. There are a few Gunblade variants that are now more viable since the patch, including a MM-heavy Gunblade. I think the synergy between NB and MM still exists and that you can weight these 2 souls to your liking. I'll post a few of them soon.

Oh, and Deadeye crits for 2000 on 900 valor targets. Weee.

Looks like 1.4 is tomorrow which means new raid-quality crafted items, new Unseen PvP quests and items (including PvP Rifts) and a new 10-man instance - Drowned Halls. We cleared this instance on the test shard and I'll post those videos up later today. I'll also be posting my new Nightblade PvE spec in a bit. I doubt it will beat Sabdancer, but it will be fun and interesting to play NB in raids for a change. I'll be giving it a shot.

With Fell Blades and Anathema no longer stacking, a few things will shift with rogue PvP specs. My only new spec is a variation of Gunblade that is more defensive, if you're lower rank or feel a bit too squishy in standard Gunblade spec. I'm not sure which I'll use yet.


Original Gunblade will still be viable as well. Either way, you probably don't want to use Hasted Shot anymore, because you'll be better off waiting to get in range to Flame Thrust with the Nightrage buff.

This spec will remain relatively unchanged. While Anathema no longer stacks with Fell Blades (and is inferior to Fell), it will still be worth getting 15 Inf, because you need at least 10 for Cleanse Soul and there is really nothing else you would get with 5 points.

This leaves you with the standard Living Flame spec: 51 NB / 15 Inf / 0 BD.

Since I haven't gone over macros and play with this spec, I'll go over it here. Although most things are the same as with the Deep Nightblade spec.

Macros

#show Dusk Strike

cast Dusk Strike

cast Primal Strike

cast Fiery Spike

#show Twilight Force

cast Twilight Force

cast Fiery Spike

#show Scourge of Darkness

cast Scourge of Darkness

cast Blazing Strike

cast Flame Thrust

Unlike the Deep Nightblade spec, this spec relies heavily on being in melee range. You can do reasonable damage at medium range but your damage output is much lower than melee. This spec has a wide array of defensive and offensive cooldowns.

Offensive CDs

Living Flame

The namesake of the spec is also a great ability. This creates a physical damage AOE around you that pulses for about 400 per tick for 5 seconds. Its not channeled so you can continue doing your DPS rotation, which is what makes this spell worth getting.

Ebon Fury
Know it, use it, love. This is your greatest damage CD and allows you to spam Dusk Strike and Twilight Force, so it allows you to deal good damage even at range if needed.

Dusk to Dawn
It's barely a cooldown, but with the new Nightrage buff it grants, you'll want to pop this puppy ASAP when its off cooldown. Nightrage gives your Blazing Strikes and Flame Thrusts an additional 40% damage. Should be badass, but its purgable so its not reliable against dispel classes.

Twilight Shelter

Reduces incoming damage by 80% and outgoing by 40%. You generally want to use this one against assassins to deal with their dots while you kill them. Also useful to time with a mage popping their own damage shield.

Blackout

This one is awesome against any non-dispel class, though marginal against Assassin. Best used against warriors and Marksman who pop Hit n' Run (cover it with Cleanse Soul).

Twilight Transcendence
Makes you immune to all damage for 3 seconds. Also removes magic-based stuns/cc. I tend to use this right when an Assassin jumps me to prevent him from applying Impale. I also use it against casters if I get a huge number of debuffs.

Cleanse Soul
Makes you immune to magic for 6 seconds. Its awesome against Duracell-type clerics and any mage. Also very good when fighting another Nightblade.

Sidesteps
Most useful against any other rogue. I generally pop this any time a rogue opens on me, if its up.

After messing with various Assassin specs this week, I threw up a little in my mouth and decided NB is just more my style. I wish there was a viable NB spec for PvE, but Deadly Dance is just too good and has basically 0 synergy with NB, plus NB lacks the AP modifiers in BD and Asssassin. It's too much of a handicap. Maybe some day.

I've finally settled on Living Flame for PvP. I resisted it for a long time with my Nightblade Beast and Gunblade specs, but I love Nightblade and I think that despite how much I hate 51-pointers, it doesn't make much sense to go 44NB 16 Inf 6rng when I can go 51 NB 15 Inf 0 MM and only lose a snare and some AP, while gaining Living Flame.

I like 0 MM over 0 Ranger with NB because you already have a ranged finisher with Flame Thrust and Swift Shot is helpful in getting you back into range (or staying out of it).

The problem with this spec is it doesn't do too well against Assassins (at all) and struggles against Parry-gons and shield warriors as well. It is strong against mana bars and it will bring down a cleric solo. However, if a good 51sin opens on you, you are 50/50 at best, even with every cooldown up. With 600 valor, I have sins take me to 40% in 5 seconds then vanish and let me bleed.

Parry-gons you basically need to avoid DoTs and Dark Contain them when you see them start parrying every attack. If they have Break Free up, you'll need another CD, like Twilight Shelter. You can still sneak attacks in from behind, but Rift is not so good at detecting where you are in relation to the other player's orientation, so you can try, but they are mostly invincible.

I still keep Gunblade around also, because its the best overall. The kiting capability from Marksman gives you a strong chance to beat anyone. It's not as strong against bluebars but can still win, and Swift Shot/Hasty Departure/On the Double let you kite Assassins and warriors and win that battle.

I've been working on a variant of my Nightblade PvP spec that is still a work in progress but I wanted to go ahead and post about it.

I call it the Gunblade - 38 NB / 15 Inf / 13 MM

This spec generally works on the same principles as Nightblade, but makes a few key substitutions. Namely, you're dropping Blackout and Ranger for Marksman. Losing Blackout hurts, but the build is not viable without it.

Key concept: Gunblade works by using ranged attacks from melee range. A side effect is a nearly-permanent increase in movement speed (from MM skills), so you'll never be kited again. Your goal is to open on an opponent, apply Scourge of Darkness quickly and then go for a point-blank Rapid Fire Shot finish. Meanwhile you are ripping out damage with Dusk Strike and talented-Swift Shot.

Advantages: Compared to my Nightblade beast spec, Gunblade has far greater speed and maneuverability, and is able to deal considerably more damage from range. In close, the Gunblade damage is higher when utilizing Ebon Fury due to adding Rapid Fire Shot.

Disadvantages: Compared to my other Nightblade spec, Gunblade has less survivability when being focus fired, due to not having Blackout. Furthermore, unless you have Ebon Fury up, this build deals slightly less damage in melee range, due to losing a few key Assassin talents.

Macros

Builder

cast Dusk Strike

cast Twilight Force

cast Swift Shot

Finisher

cast Scourge of Darkness

cast Rapid Fire Shot

cast Hasted Shot

cast Blazing Strike

Notes: The only melee attacks utilized in this build are Dusk Strike and Blazing Strike, so damage is not considerably lower if you have to stay at range, however you want to melee for Hellfire/Fell Blades procs at the very least. Your ranged shots proc Increased Fire Power, which is important for keeping your damage up. This is another reason to never use Primal Strike.

This build can be more effective against Riftblade or Paragon warriors as you can outrange them and kite using the speed bonuses. It also works very well against mages. It's important to remember that you want to try to be in melee range whenever you can, despite having a wide arsenal of ranged attacks.

This build still bears some refinement, and right now I struggle most against 51Sins who get an opener on me (luckily there's not many of those right :x). Pretty much anyone else I can put away with little effort. Enjoy!

I've had tremendous success in PvP using a Nightblade PvP build. With this spec, I've been able to kill healers and even R6 clerics in WFs and 1v1. It offers strong survivability, especially as valor increases and though it is reliant on 2 min cooldowns, it has a lot of them.

Dunsparrow's Nightblade: 44NB / 16Inf / 6 Rang

This spec offers what I consider to be the best combination of damage, utility/versatility and survivability. The combination of Fell Blades and Anathema is enough to kill a healer when timed well, and cooldowns allow you to take out your target and survive against heavy odds. It can deal good ranged damage and Crippling Shot allows you to slow. I skip Improved Twilight Force because I feel those points are better spent elsewhere, since you have a ranged snare already.

Macros Used:

Kill Macro

cast Dusk Strike

cast Twilight Force

cast Primal Strike

cast Fiery Spike

cast Quick Shot

Snare Macro

cast Crippling Shot

cast Twilight Force

cast Fiery Sike

cast Quick Shot

Finisher Macro

#show Scourge of Darkness

cast Scourge of Darkness

cast Blazing Strike

cast Flame Thrust

cast Head Shot

Finisher Macro 2

cast Blazing Strike

cast Flame Thrust

cast Head Shot

Cooldowns

#show Ebon Fury

cast Words of War

cast Ebon Fury

The 2nd finisher macro is for targets that are nearly dead and you don't want to cast a SoD that won't get used. This spec revolves around pounding people down from melee range while still being able to deal reasonable damage out to 30m.

The points in Ranger not only give you a 30m CP-generator and finisher, but also 5% crit, 46 attack power, and a ranged snare.

The macros are designed to prioritize your abilities based on distance, so you'll use the most powerful ability you have at a given range. Flame Thrust is worth it (imo) because of Lingering Flame, even though you could use Head Shot. I try to throw a Fiery Spike on people right at the start.

For fighting mages and caster clerics, you have Cleanse Soul, which absolutely wrecks casters. You can use it to immune the most powerful abilities like Incinerate, Stream of Reclamation, Degeneration, Mortality etc. If you need another magic immunity, you have Twilight Transcendence. Of course, Blackout will work too on incoming spells.

For fighting melee, you have fewer options. If a rogue gets the jump on you, you can pop Twilight Transcendence to go immune to his Impale, and then dip into Twilight Shelter to reduce his DoT damage while you beat him up. Against Warriors you're screwed against tanks (just ignore them) but you can usually pop Blackout and Ebon Fury and just win a head to head match against any 2h user.

Against healer clerics, you have Fell Blades and Anathema. When used in combination, they reduce a cleric's healing on himself by 75%. Typically you want to jump a cleric, get 5 CPs, then pop SoD and go to town. Once you get the cleric to 50%, pop Anathema and your Ebon Fury macro and go for the finish. If a big heal is going to get off when he's low and Anathema is gone or almost gone, use Dark Containment as an interrupt. Watch for Fell Blades getting purged and re-apply it.

I find this spec to be highly effective in group and solo situations and ran with it almost exclusively from Rank 4 to 6. I'm working on a variation of it right now and have not yet decided if its worth it. My PvP video is going to showcase this build primarily.

So yes, the world is ending in 1.3 (Test server runs confirm it) but for now, I'm having fun running flags in Whitefall Steppes. Won't be much else for Rogues to do in 1.3.

The spec: 29 Rift / 20 Inf / 17 Marks

This build goes deep enough in Rift for all the blinks and decent mitigation with Improved Rift Guard. It goes deep into Inf - all the way to improved movement speed if you're R5 or higher. The linchpin though, is the 1 7 points in Marks that give great escape potential, with On the Double / Getaway, Hasty Departure, Improved Swift Shot and Hasted Shot all boosting movement speed. Then you have Repelling Shot and Static Shot to help get some distance.

With this spec, you don't have the guaranteed full-time 20% speed like you do with bard, but with all the run speed buffs, you'll have at least one up any time enemies are around, which is key. All the additional tools at your disposal are great, plus you have some points free if you want to go deeper into Rift for a bit more survivability.

This is not a great spec for surviving a flag standoff, but for getting their fang to your base, this is a fun little spec to tinker with.

What it offers (compared to 51 assassin, its closest relative):

If you're trying to kill a necro/lock or cleric, your best bet is to pump out the most damage possible, using all your cooldowns. Your biggest advantage here is that they won't take you seriously because you're a rogue, so you can usually get all your DoTs up before they freak out.

Open with Jagged Strike > Puncture > Blade Tempo/Trinket > Impale and then get 5 combo points as quickly as possible, interrupting any heal being cast during this time and they should be hurting a bit by now. As soon as you get 5 Combo points:

Deadly Strike > Slip Away > Assassinate

This should hit almost anyone for well over 2k damage and if they are below 500 valor it can go upwards of 2500 with Blade Tempo and trinket active. If they're still alive, follow with Foul Play/Backstab and dump down to 0 energy. If they manage to heal through that, you gave it your best shot, but now you're dead. :)

You can do this as 51 Sin also.

Open with Jagged Strike > Puncture > Impale then Slip Away and immediately start spamming them with Expose Weakness. This will add damage to your DoTs, but more importantly, it will force them to stay in combat so they can't drink. Once your DoTs expire, reopen and even an 800 valor warrior will be below 50%.

You can also use this Expose-spam technique to prevent rogues from stealthing if you're not ready to engage them yet (like if his friends are hanging around at Vault). He'll stay unstealthed and when the time is right, you get the opener.

This is actually fairly challenging if they have high valor.

Open with Jagged Strike and immediately Foul Play to give yourself time to Puncture and Impale. Don't snare. You'll need it later and he's about to break it with On The Double.

If he pops Improved Hit and Run, you need to either Side Steps or Slip Away.

If he gets to range on you, you need to use Flash of Steel or Sprint, but don't use FoS while his OTD is up or you'll waste it on his immunity.