Poster Darkshaft is claiming that Daggers will be the way to go, come Wrath of the Lich King. He posts, on the Rogue forums:
For PvP at least BC put large focus on swords, maces, and fists for a rogue. The only time I ever see rogues using daggers is usually in raiding--and even then its usually as an off-hand weapon for potency and mongoose procs.
Come WotLK, I can't see a viable use for swords, maces, or fists unless a rogue is planning on speccing heavily into combat. Even then, combat still seems like more of a PvE spec then a PvP spec. Some survivability has been added to the combat spec, but for me its not enough survivability. That being said Throwing Specialization is nice for casters, but it needs a longer interrupt duration. Stay of Execution seems great for when you are close to death, but 5% damage reduction is definitely not the same as cheating death. Unfair advantage looks awesome and will probably be one of the main reasons any rogue will take up the combat tree in PvP at all--not to mention how potent it would become in raids. Prey on the Weak can go either way--useless if they have more health than you--invaluable if they have less. As a percentage Prey on the Weak would have tremendous raid potential as well.
Comparing Subtlety to Combat--I would venture that Subtlety has way more PvP potential than Combat would. And it appears that Blizzard is puting a big "we want you to use ambush" sticker on the Subtlety tree as using daggers. A tactic I am currently waiting to try out is opening with a cheap shot, using shadow dance, and spamming ambush a couple of times. Waylay is awesome and the Improved Ambush along with a reduced energy cost thanks to Slaughter from the Shadows makes it quite a deadly attack. And if they get away from you? Shadowstep and backstab. Backstab also benefits from Slaughter from the Shadows and even recieves a damage bonus with Sinister Calling. Put some points in Assassination for extra backstab crits and crit bonuses and a subtlety rogue becomes quite a deadly PvP-er.
And what about survivability? Sub rogues still have Preo[Prep] and Elusiveness plus a little extra movement speed when stealthed--helpful when trying to escape after you have vanished. Cheat Death is still there along with this odd talent known called Wrongfully Accused which would give the rogue 6 seconds to either finish off his opponent or get out before his buddy's attacks regain their full 100% potential.
I have not looked deep into Assassination--but from what I can see it has been given a small amount of raid potential (Cut to the Chase and Turn the Tables). As we all know, daggers are must if one plans to go deep into Assassination because of Mutilate. As such, poisons and staying behind one's opponent are a must and remain one of the largest reason I never went Mutilate for PvP. If Assassination had a Shadowstep ability of its own, then I believe it would be more than worth taking for PvP. Sadley, Assination lacks any abilities of its own that would otherwise aid me in instantly placing me behind my opponent. With AoE and stand-offs in AV or EoTS--trying to sneak behind one opponent while six or seven of his buddies are present becomes a chore and more often then not is rewarded by being spotted too early and swiftly killed.
I staying Sub for PvP and trading in my swords for a pair of daggers, but would like to know if any other rogues see PvP potential in Assassination or Combat that I have not mentioned. Or, any reason why Swords, Maces, and Fists would actually be better than daggers for Sub spec rogues. Those rogues would give me a run for my money. I would venture to say that my mom would get scared and say, "You're moving with your aunte and uncle in Bel-Air!" I begged and pleaded with her the other day, but she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way. she gave me a kissin and she gave me my ticket, so I put my walkman on and said, "I might as well kick it!" First class, yo this is bad--drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass. Is this what the people of bel-air livin like? Hmm this might be alright! I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and it had a dice in the mirror! If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, "Nah, forget it, yo home to bel-air!" I pulled up to the house about seven or eight and I yelled to the cabby, "Yo, holmes, smell you later!" I looked at my kingdom--I was finally there to settle my throne as the Prince of Bel-Air.
Long read, I know.
But aside from throwing down the original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme, I think his post is pretty viable. Having had a chance to try out some of the new Dagger viable specs (such as Mutilate), it's clear that Blizzard has put a lot more thought into them.
Though, I've still preferred speccing Shadowstep. While Mutilate does some heavy damage, and the poisons are healer's nightmare, it's difficult to replace the survivability and mobility of Shadowstep.
What do you think?
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