Rogue mainhand = damage range > speed (slower) > DPS?

warriorpoetic

Is it more important to have a higher damage range than a slower speed in a rogue's mainhand? Bear in mind my toon doesn't have poison yet and if what you tell me will change when he can poison please state so. My talent points are in improved sinister strike and malice and I have the following two swords:

(Sword A)

Enamelled Broadsword

Damage 12-23
Speed 2.40
DPS 7.3
+1 Strenght

(Sword

Northern Shortsword of Power

Damage 14-26
Speed 2.20
DPS 9.1
+4 AP

If damage is more important then Sword B goes in the mainand but if a slower speed is more important it's Sword A that goes in the mainhand. People have told me that higher DPS and quicker speed goes in the offhand as a rule of thumb for rogues.

So for the mainhand is it damage range > slower speed > dps or slower speed > damage range > dps?

People on outland are telling me different things so it's hard to know which is right. Please give your reason for why one of the swords should be in the mainhand and why the other should be in the off if the reason isn't DPS. Also it would help alot if a few people who know about rogues would comment on this even if it's just to confirm what someone else has already said.

Ivan

Attack speed is pretty much mute for the rogue main hand. Generally people aim for slower, because given similar dps if a weapon hits less often then it must have a higher top-end damage (i.e. maximum damage)

Since dps is damage per second its essentially damage range multiplied by attack speed = dps.

So, ultimately for a mainhand weapon for a rogue its all about the dps as (depending on your spec) anywhere from 40% of your damage can come from your white attacks.

Next comes top end damage, the highest amount of damage your weapon can do as this improves your special attacks i.e. sinister strike, backstab, etc.


Attack speed for your main hand is pretty much irrelevant.

For your off-hand there is a talent for rogues in the combat tree called Combat potency. This restores energy every time you swing with your offhand weapon. As there is no cooldown on the ability the faster your weapon swings the more energy you get.

To summarise:

DPS > Maximum Damage > Attack speed

Damage range is actually a somewhat bad thing, as the smaller the range is, the more consistent your damage is. However, the smaller the range the less damage the weapon will generally do, to ensure that the dps is consistent with similar weapons. This is pretty much irrelevant as well though, as weapons are generally not designed/chosen with this in mind.

Hope that helps.

Funky

I would have said that other than massive upgrades Max Dmg > DPS for rogues

warriorpoetic

I appreciate both of your responses although some of the math given as an explanation doesn't seem to add up although it's probable that I'm misinterpreting it in which case I will address it after: can more rogues weigh in please?

Ivan

Math? Whose got math?

Show it to me...

and funky, it really depends on the spec. Some builds (ala assassination) focus more on spamming specials and therefore max damage is better.

Combat however, being the current most common type of build, generally involves keeping slice and dice up with stockpiles of haste rating and spamming sinister strike.

This is generally where dps is better.

There is another type of build that I am aware of, that involves spamming shiv and envenom, with combat potency but I dont know enough about it to really comment. Though at a guess, I'd say dps again, is the priority.

warriorpoetic

Enamelled Broadsword

Damage 12-23
Speed 2.40
DPS 7.3
+1 Strenght

Just wondering how exactly you pull the DPS figure out of the speed and damage range. On a side note I have 2 points in SS/combat and 5 in malice/assas and I'm wondering where I should put the next few?

I want a combat build eventually but with so few points at the moment I thought that improved ss and malice would be best for me.

Orion

Ivan wrote:

For your off-hand there is a talent for rogues in the combat tree called Combat potency. This restores energy every time you swing with your offhand weapon. As there is no cooldown on the ability the faster your weapon swings the more energy you get.

Not just that. Fast weapon in OH means more poison application. Talents that increase your weapon speed mean more application from MH. Instant attack talents such as SS and BS are MH attacks independent of weapon speed (yellow instead of white damage).

So slow, high DPS weapon in MH and fast weapon in OH = more poison and higher instant attack damage on top of your normal weapon damage.

Orion

Ivan wrote:

Combat however, being the current most common type of build, generally involves keeping slice and dice up with stockpiles of haste rating and spamming sinister strike.

True. Constant S&D ftw . But in instances/raids Backstab > SS. Slower cooldown but much more damage. And you can keep S&D up all the time. All you need is a good tank to keep the mobs back to you

Ivan

Well, I'll bow to the wisdom of the end game raiding rogues

But most rogues in our guild are sword spec'd, dont ask me why... so backstab isnt an option