A Lazy Rogue’s Guide To Raiding
by
Updated 10/11/07
I’m a lazy rogue, that’s how I’ve always described my play style. I don’t like having to sneak around and slowly get behind a mob. I’d much rather just walk up to it and start spamming the same key until it (or I) dies. Sure, I will accommodate a little bit for groups and raids, let the tank get aggro first, sneak and sap as needed, but in the end I'll still be walking up and just hitting the mob however it stands. I hardly ever use Blind (why focus on other mobs, plus one less reagent to farm regularly), I don't think about using Gouge to stop a cast if Kick and Kidney Shot are cooling down (I mostly just hope it doesn't hurt too much), and I only use my big cool downs for boss fights or emergencies (who wants to keep up with all those countdowns for hours on end?).
And yet, despite my laziness, I’m still a strong raider. In fact I'm usually the top DPSer in a well established raid guild. I don't get fussed at for not doing my job and I've never been booted from a group, raid, or guild for slacking off. I'm doing something right but I'm not having to put a lot of effort into it, so I figured I’d share my experience with other lazy rogues out there.
I think people who play rogues as their main character tend to be lazy. Come on, you know it's true. Ever used stealth to bypass quest guarding mobs, even if you could of beaten them in combat? Ever sapped a low level mob next to a herb or ore instead of fighting it? Do you stealth in group to better hide your AFK tag? See, you're lazier than you thought.
Being lazy doesn't mean you don't pull your own weight in raids, it just means you pull your own weight with the least possible effort. Hitting auto attack and watching TV isn't being lazy, that's being a leech and will likely get you kicked out of the party, raid, or guild. Rogues are the only class that offer zero group buffs or benefits and we hardly CC in raids, so you need to DPS well enough to justify your raid slot.
Being lazy won't lead you to your maximum DPS potential, although this guide should still produce more than sufficient DPS for you and your raid leader. If you want to see large, pretty crits and be at the top of the damage meters every raid by a significant margin then go find a guide on hardcore raiding and have fun with positioning and constant farming. You can still do very good DPS while being lazy, and even make the top of the damage meters in the right circumstances, but that isn't the point of this guide.
Lastly, a fair warning. It takes a decent amount of effort before you start raiding so that you can be lazy during raiding. The preparation is worth it, better to take your time out of game and plan things out rather than stress out during the raid on what the most efficient next button to push is. This guide will get you through all of that preparation so that when it is finally time to raid you can just sit back and relax.
