WoW 3.1.3
Last update: 07/08/2009

First of all, thank you to everyone that reported this for sticky! If you find this information useful, please keep requesting the sticky so that it can stay for a longer period of time.

A very special thank you to Dominika for taking the time to go through my guide one section at a time.

Here is my Mut Raiding Guide that gives practical advice rather then “Do this or FAIL!”. It’s a little guide I put together using my experience as a raiding rogue. I’ve added some revisions regarding how to gear up for Expertise. This is more or less a beginners guide focused on Mut raiding. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged. As you progress through raiding you will want to ask specific questions to the community that are not covered in this guide. Enjoy.

(A Pre-Naxx option)
(Murder doesn't work in Naxx and Quick Recovery is useful when not exp capped)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#f0ef0exoi0oIuVo0xV0hZxb

(Most common Post Naxx - Pre 4/5 T8)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#f0ef0exoVboIuVo0xV0hZxb


Glyphs:
HfB / Mut / Rup

Poisons:
Instant MH / Deadly OH

Rotations:
(if stealth) TotT, Garrote, HfB, Mut, SnD, Mut, Mut, Rup, Mut, Mut, Env.
(no stealth) TotT, Mut, Mut, Rup, HfB, Mut, SnD, Mut, Mut, Env.

If this lay out gives you a headache then I'll break it down. You'll want to bleed the target above all else (garrote or rupture) so that you can use Hunger for Blood (HfB) as soon as possible. You'll want the minimum amount of Combo Points for SnD and 4+ Combo Points for Envenom to refresh SnD to it's full, 5 point timer (20 seconds).

Rup with 4+ Combo Points
Env/Evisc with 4+ Combo Points (or any number if SnD will be lost otherwise)

Once you're started this rotation it's a dance between keepin HfB, SnD, Rup up at all times. The exact rotation becomes less important as you choose what abilities to use to keep refreshing the main three. Below you will find the order of importance from a DPS perspective.

HfB > SnD > Rupture:
Keep HfB up at all times. Keep SnD up at all times. Rupture is expendable for a few seconds if HfB or SnD is dropping off. Always use Envenom (or Eviscerate if lacking 5 stacked Deadly Poison) to refresh SnD. If you have to use SnD after the starter then you will loose DPS. Keep those three going as best as possible for the best damage.


Talents/Abilities:

Ruthlessness
Keep your eye on your combo points when fighting bosses. This little baby has a 60% proc chance when using a finisher (SnD, Env, etc.) and really helps you generate combo points. It's biggest use is adding that 5th and final Combo Point for an Env/Evisc or Rupture. It's other major contribution is between Rupture and SnD in a stealth starter. You only need 1 point to SnD because you will Mut for the Envenom refresh anyway. This saves you a step in the starter rotation.

Seal Fate
Seal Fate works similar to Ruthlessness except that it grants another Combo Point when a special attack crits (mut and garrote for assassination). See. Ruthlessness for the same general idea of its usefulness. Don't use Cold Blood to proc Seal Fate. CB should only be used with Envenom which will not proc Seal Fate.

Envenom
This is your biggest finisher in terms of damage. It's used to refresh SnD (regardless of time left) to the full 5 point SnD duration (20 seconds without glyph or Imp SnD from combat tree). SnD must already be active for this to apply.

The main reason I added this to the guide is because Envenom uses up the Deadly Poison stack from the boss. Wait until you've applied one deadly poison before using Mutilate again (mut does 20% more damage to poisoned targets).

If you Envenomed with 4 stacks of Deadly, then you have 60%(master poisoner) to apply a new Deadly Poison for 4 seconds (each stack of deadly with envenom increases the time by 1 sec.)

Vanish! It’s so awesome!
Unlike Combat, Mut makes use out of Vanish (if you’re not afraid to die) in a DPS sense. Like Cold Blood, it’s useful to activate Overkill as early as possible during a fight. Not many fights last longer then 5 minutes but it's still the best use of it. Pop Vanish and get out of stealth as soon as possible. The longer you stay in stealth the less DPS you do.

Garrote is the best stealth ability you can use when using Vanish for Overkill. The downside is that the longer you wait for energy to Garrote the less white damage and poison damage you do.

Cold Blood
Best to use this ability for 5 point Envenoms. Like Vanish, use this ability as early as possible for multiple uses during one fight.

Expose Armor
This ability will increase your raid's overall damage/DPS. However, using it will certainly lower your own personal damage. If you have a raid that's heavy on Melee classes (but lacking a prot warrior or any warrior that doesn't use Sunders) then you should squeeze one in after an Envenom that refreshes SnD.

Lowering your DPS to increase the raids melee DPS should always be considered as a team player.

Tricks of the Trade
This wonderful ability does two things for our class. (1) Puts two players worth of threat on the tank. (2) Enables your entire raid to DPS almost immediately rather then waiting for the tank to get a firm grip on threat on his/her own.

This can also be used on another rogue if you place tricks on each other. It will add 15% damage to each rogue and will increase each Rogue's DPS (His/Her threat will be come yours and vise versa). However, doing this to a top DPS without getting tricks back (non rogue) can be a very dangerous choice. It’s more common to see 2 rogues in 25mans so expect to TotT your tank in 10mans.

It's best to let your energy regen after using TotT before attacking so that your energy is at 100% before the starter rotation. Tricks will originally grant you 30 seconds before it drops off but becomes a 6 second buff once you attack. This gives you the time you need to get into position and back to full energy for starter rotation.

Tricks of the Trade can be used while in stealth.

Overkill
Overkill grants you 30% energy regen for 20 seconds. Always try to start off a boss fight while in stealth. Even if it's removed before you reach the boss you still have activated Overkill which boosts your initial DPS and makes the starter rotation more smooth.

Feint
Helpful to lower threat if you find yourself passing the tank in threat. It’s other (and more important) use is to cut AoE damage by 50% and that’s very useful in fights like Emelon (voa) or XT-002 (uld). If you have the chance to run away from the boss to avoid the AoE, you should still use Feint. Being a good DPS isn't just about pushing DMG, it's about playing smart.

Cloak of Shadows
Use it! Help your healers by knocking off DoTs like big poisons or diseases. Also useful for XT-002 Deconstructo's gravity bombs too!

It can be used in conjunction with Feint for some AoE situations but It’s not perfect… 90% of the time, it gets the job done every time, though.

Fan of Knives
Not the best AoE in the game but still helps in AoE situations. One great use of this is in conjunction with Tricks of the Trade when pulling AoE mobs or boss adds. Helping the tank with AoE threat lowers your chance of getting killed by a poorly timed Fan of Knives.

Shiv
Take it off your hotbar. There is never a justified reason to use shiv.

I have redacted hit from the original section of this post to give more depth.

Hit:
For Mut builds in raiding, poisons hit is the most important goal to reach. Because Hit was slightly redesigned from TBC, rogues no longer try to reach the white hit cap. We now focus on the poison cap which is listed below.

The Poison cap

315 without moonkin/shadow priest/Draenei which is obtainable.

210 hit rating to poison cap with a moonkin/shadow priest in the raid AND a Draenei in the party.

The yellow hit (special moves and finisher) cap is 99. Specials hit is very important for the same reasons why expertise is so important. Not missing a special attack means you generate Combo Points smoothly. 99 is very easy to get if you keep hit in mind while gearing up.

Never dip below 99 hit. This is essential for the assassination rogue (for the same reason you want expertise). Your gear should naturally accumulate way more then 99 hit so never gem for it.

However, you should really aim for Poison cap which is at 315 without the right raid. It is true that you hinder your DPS if you fall below the poison cap, but hit is subject to raid composition as well. The cap is lowered by the presence of a Draenei in your party and Moonkin/Shadow priest in the raid.

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Expertise:
Sadly, unlike combat, mut has no exp within in the tree. You need to gear up for expertise as soon as possible. It’s a wise choice to Gem for Expertise if you have yet to reach the cap. A failed hit is a major loss in DPS. Exp cap is 26/26 or 214 rating.

Not being Expertise cap won't completely break your DPS. It does interrupt your combo point generation when the target dodges your special. I still did a ton of damage even before I was capped but CP generation wasn't smooth and that irritated me a lot.

Macros

Auto Attack:
If a mob dies and you don't use the auto attack key on your hotbar (it's weak anyway) then this macro allows your character to auto attack. If you're out of energy and you press Mutilate, you're character will do nothing. Only when you can USE a damage attack will the game allow you to start up white damage (auto attack).
/cast Mutilate
/startattack

TotT:
I like to focus target my target for TotT so that I never have to stop DPS on the boss to apply it.
/cast [target=focus] Tricks of the Trade

DPS meters
#1 they are inaccurate but still useful for a general idea. #2 Mutilate never starts the fight strong (even if it’s burst) and the longer the fight, the higher you will climb in overall damage (this is absolute personal experience). I've had tanks standing next to me using recount and giving my dps as 2.5k while my own recount shows 2.9k. I've also been last on the list of overall damage for the first minute or two and then watched myself climb to #1 by the end of the fight (non moving boss).

Key Bindings
I prefer to use one hand for most of my damage abilities.
#1-5 on the basic hotbar for abilities like TotT macro, Mut, HfB, FoK etc.
Alt+1 - Alt+5 to the lower left hotbar for special abilities like vanish, cold blood, blind and evasion.
F1 - F5 to the lower right action bar for finishers like SnD, Rupture, Envenom.

This way I utilize 15 abilities with one hand vs. 10 abilities that range across the keyboard. I chose Alt because it's close to the space bar and more accessible using the thumb compared to Shift or Ctrl.

”Special” Add-ons
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/deadly-boss-mods.aspx
You should really use this add on for raiding. It saves lives and keeps you from going on the bench when your guild/raid wants to replace your for not knowing when and where things get intense.

http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/omen-threat-meter.aspx
Useful to watch your threat (but usually isn’t an issue).


Gear:

Weapons:
(Pre Naxx)
Dual: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37856
or the more expensive and rare OH
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44310

Post Naxx: (Berserker MH / Mongoose OH)
Main Hand:
SR: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40386
or
Anarchy: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39420

Off Hand:
WD: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39714
or
OoR: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39427

Armor:

Pre Naxx / Heroics
Back: HoL
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37840

Ring: Gundrak
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37642

Chest: Azjol-Nerub
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37219

Legs: Ahn-kahet
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43286

Shoulders: Ahn-Kahet
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37593

Belt: Heroic Badge Reward
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40694


The crafted Trollwoven set and Durable Nerubhide cape all grant less expertise but more of other stats then the above listed.

Belt: Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43484

Shoulder: Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43481

Back: Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43565


Post Naxx Expertise Gear:
Chest
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39386 (Naxx 10, Gothik or Gluth)
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40539 (EoE 25, Container)

Hands
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39727 (Naxx 25, Grand Widow Faerlina)

Helm
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40329 (Naxx 25, Gothik or Gluth)

Legs
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39224 (Naxx 10, Maexxna or Gluth)


I currently have 26 exp rating from the following pieces of gear with only one exp gem.
Helm of the Exodus
Tunic of Dislocation
Jorach’s Crocolisk Skin Belt (Blue 8exp/12stam gem)
Collar of Dissolution
Leggings of Discord


[u]The rest of your gear[u/]
http://www.wow-loot.com/rogue.htm

In Depth Rogue Resource
http://elitistjerks.com/f78/t37183-pocket_guide_wotlk_updated_3_1_a/
http://www.shadowpanther.net

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Q u o t e:
Reserved

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reported for sticky, this ##%! is legit.

Pretty good post, but nothing original in my opinion. I feel like a few of your statements are incorrect:

1) For your rotation advice, i would not trick of the trade during your opening rotation. TotT should be used pre-fight, because the key stroke it takes + the enregy it uses can vastly hinder your opening. If there's one thing important about mut raiding, it's that the opening must be well timed so it starts your normal rotation off in the right direction.

2) DPS meters are inaccurate. I loled.

3) 99 hit is far from adequate for mut raiding, even pre-naxx. Until you hit poison cap, your dps is greatly hindered because of how much of your damage comes from IP alone. If you don't have poison cap, no other stat is worth geming/enchanting until you get it.

Other than that, it is a good guide, yet nothing that can't be found on elitist jerks.

nice, reported..

could use changes, as above poster mentioned TotT

very helpful dear, tyty :D

The guide is overall poorly worded and somewhat misleading. Opinions are stated as fact and vice versa. Some information is found to be wanting in truth. I'd suggest improvements but in truth it would be easier to rewrite the whole thing.

Reported for unsticky. Nothing personal, just don't really want to have to argue with 'But the sticky says...!' all the time.

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Q u o t e:

Reported for unsticky. Nothing personal, just don't really want to have to argue with 'But the sticky says...!' all the time.

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Well... you could always give advice before unsticky reporting. Nothing is written in stone. Advanced rogues shouldn't have a reason to look at the guide, imo.

Edit:

What part(s) do you have concerns about?

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Q u o t e:
Mutilate Specs:
(Most common Post Naxx - Pre Ulduar)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#f0ef0exoVboIuVo0xV0hZxb
(Most common Pre Naxx.. murder dunt wurk. Also helpful when not Exp capped)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#f0ef0exoi0oIuVo0xV0hZxb
(Most common Post Ulduar… 4/5 T8)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#f0ef0exoVboIzAo0xMZxro0h

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What's the difference in these builds? Why would I use them?

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Q u o t e:
Rotations:
(if stealth) Garrote, HfB, TotT, Mut, SnD, Mut, Mut, Envenom, Mut, Mut, Rup.
(no stealth, u fail) TotT(wait for energy), Mut, Mut, Rup, HfB, Mut, SnD, Mut, Mut, Evenom.

Once you're started this rotation it's a dance between keepin HfB, SnD, Rup up at all times. Your Rotation becomes much less important after the start. Just keep all 3 up as much as possible by any means of combo points or rotation. If you can't keep them all up then look bellow for the order of importance.

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Really confusing wording here. Disagree with both opening rotations. (Stealth: Garrote, HFB, Mut, SnD, Mut to 4 - Rupture, Mut to 4 - Envenom. No stealth: Mut, SnD, HfB, Mut to 4 - Rupture, Mut to 4 - Envenom)

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Q u o t e:
always use Envenom to refresh SnD.

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An underlined always is pretty specific. What about if you have combo points but no Deadly Poison? Surely Evis is better than losing SnD?

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Q u o t e:
Useful Stats
Expertise:
Sadly, unlike combat, mut has no exp in the tree (even though combat already has Surprise Attacks). So you need to gear up for expertise as soon as possible. It’s OK to Gem for Expertise (despite the die hard…”you don’t gem for anything other then Agi/AP”).
Exp cap is 26/26 or 214 rating.

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You have a category called useful stats that only contains expertise. There are more useful stats than that. Also, though this is not the place for me to try to convince you that expertise is sub-optimal, you shouldn't give the impression that not being expertise capped is going to break your DPS -- it won't.

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Q u o t e:
Keep your eye on your combo points when fighting bosses. This little baby can proc at anytime and really helps you generate combo points. Very useful when you Rupture (normally out of CPs), Ruthlessness procs, 1 CP for SnD then build for an Envenom within 8 seconds. Keeping your eye on CPs will REALLY help out your overall damage.

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A bit confusing here. Ruthlessness doesn't proc 'at any time' and is no more unpredictable than Seal Fate. Saying 'Watch your combo points' is fine, but mention everything and when and why your combos will change. You probably want to talk about the theory of '4+' finishers with assassination too.

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Q u o t e:
Unlike Combat, Mut makes use out of Vanish (if you’re not afraid to die) in a DPS sense. There’s no special time to use this, like Cold Blood, it’s just very useful to activate Overkill at any given time when energy starved. Pop it and you have the option of any stealth ability (which still works out to Mut as the best).

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The time to use it is, like any cooldown, as early as possible unless you know the length of the fight, or save it for a burn phase. Being energy starved in a way that means you are going to lose HFB, SnD or Rupture is pretty rare - you typically only want more energy for more envenoms. Where did you find that Mutilate is the best ability to use after vanishing? Garrote?)

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Q u o t e:
Puts double threat on tank and because you’re mutilate, you’ll get more bang for the buck

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'Double threat' is confusing/misleading. You haven't provided a reason to support the second statement there, and I can't think of a reasonable one.

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Q u o t e:
This can also be used on another rogue if both of you tricks each other. 15% to each (negating threat) is a good thing. Doing this to a top DPS without getting tricks back (non rogue) can be a very dangerous choice. It’s more common to see 2 rogues in 25mans so expect to TotT your tank in 10mans.

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Might want to mention fights with no threat, and you're kind of implying that two rogues tricksing each other generate no threat, which clearly isnt true.

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Q u o t e:
It's best to let your energy regen after using this between attacking to maximize DPS. When to use it is up to you. What's important is using before any attacks.

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This part is entirely confusing. I don't really understand what you are trying to say at all.

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Q u o t e:
Real Rogues Don’t Use Feint" is B.S. They are either trying to troll you or some how show superiority through stupidity. If you have to use it for threat, then do. It’s other use is to cut AoE damage by 50% and that’s very useful in fights like Emelon (voa) or XL (uld). Use it!

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Not true, feint really is next to worthless outside of the 50% damage reduction. There's some merit to saying it allows you to do more damage before pulling aggro but the gear difference that would have to exist between the rogue and the tank would have to be huge for a rogue dumping energy into feint (thereby doing less damage) to reach the tank's threat level. I've never had a threat issue that tricks of the trade and vanish together could not solve.

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Q u o t e:
XL gravity bombs too!

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The boss is XT-002 Deconstructor (XT).

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Q u o t e:
Very useful with Warrior and Druid tanks.

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Unnecessarily biased against these tanks, which are more than capable of holding AOE threat in WOTLK.

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Q u o t e:
They say 4 env / 5 rupture is the stronger rotation. If you build 4 combo points and you need to slap Rupture back on the boss... don't Mut again. Wasting a combo point is weak compared to you jamming 2 envenoms between a rupture. If Mut uses 55 energy and you use it to build one combo.. then you wasted 27.5 energy and that's not smart. 5 rupture is optimal but never when wasting a combo point.

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Entirely confusing. '4+ finishers' applies to both envenom and rupture. Being exact about the number of energy wasted by mutilating at 4CP isn't necessary, and your math is wrong (You lose 1-2 potential combo points, not exactly half the effect of a mutilate)

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Q u o t e:
Auto Attack:
I like to use Auto attack with Mut so that I can keep DPSing if out of energy for new targets.
/cast Mutilate
/startattack

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This is sensible but I can easily see how people would have no idea what you mean in the description.

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Q u o t e:
I like to focus target my target for TotT so that I never have to stop DPS on boss to apply it.
/cast [target=focus] Tricks of the Trade

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Again, macro is sensible, but implying that it would be otherwise necessary to stop DPS is wrong.

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Q u o t e:
#1 they are inaccurate but still useful for a general idea. #2 Mutilate never starts the fight strong (even if it’s burst) and the longer the fight, the higher you will climb. I've had tanks standing next to me using recount and giving my dps as 2.5k while my own recount shows 2.9k. Some say it depends on range but just keep the eye on your own for personal increase/decrease.

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They're pretty accurate - they come straight from the combat log, which extends very far now. Mutilate does start fights strong due to Overkill and can apply Rupture or Expose quickly. Speaking of expose, you might want to mention that somewhere in your guide.

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Q u o t e:
I only use 1-5 on the basic hotbar. I attach Alt 1 - Alt 5 to the lower left hotbar for special abilities like vanish, cold blood, blind and evasion. F1 - F5 to the lower right action bar for finishers like SnD, Rupture, Envenom. This way you utilize 15 abilities with one hand vs. 10 abilities that range across the keyboard

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Your own solution to hotkeys. I get that you wanted the guide to show 'what works for you,' but you are being unfairly dismissive of alternative ways of doing things.

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Q u o t e:
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/deadly-boss-mods.aspx
You NEED this add on! Don't even bother raiding without this. It saves lives and keeps you from going on the bench when your guild/raid wants to replace your for not knowing when and where things get intense.

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”Must have” Add-ons? Truly optional addon. Even moreso in WOTLK than previously. I raid some of the highest content in the game without it.

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Q u o t e:
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/omen-threat-meter.aspx
Useful to watch your threat (but usually isn’t an issue).

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Even worse than optional, this addon is redundant since the functionality was built into the default UI. It's useful now mostly for showing your threat relative to people BESIDES the main tank.

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Q u o t e:
Here are some pieces that you should try to get while in Heroics and I’ll list some of your options to help yourself gear for Expertise.

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Unnecessary expertise focus again.

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Q u o t e:
The Trollwoven set and Durable Nerubhide cape all grant less expertise but more of other stats then the above listed. If you go over 26/26 expertise then you are wasting stats so gem with that in mind.

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Q u o t e:
Pre Ulduar Exp Gear:

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Q u o t e:
I currently have 26 exp rating from the following pieces of gear with only one exp gem.
Helm of the Exodus
Tunic of Dislocation
Jorach’s Crocolisk Skin Belt (Blue 8exp/12stam gem)
Leggings of Discord

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*whistles nonchalantly*

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Q u o t e:
Like Expertise, there comes a point when attack power/agi can grant higher over all damage.

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Interesting here, since you now make a statement against expertise...! ><


I spent too long on this...

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Q u o t e:
I spent too long on this...

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Thanks :D

I read your post and I made some changes. I even added you to the top as a thank you.


All that effort and credit will be lost once the guide is unstickied =(

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Q u o t e:
I read your post and I made some changes. I even added you to the top as a thank you.


All that effort and credit will be lost once the guide is unstickied =(

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Which really should happen ASAP btw. Try proofreading for spelling / grammar / punctuation, much less a sentence structure that even remotely makes sense. And, you know, the right information to begin with.

So why are there 2 mutilate guides and 0 combat guides?

Yes, we all know combat is simple but it'd still be nice to have a guide.

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Q u o t e:
So why are there 2 mutilate guides and 0 combat guides?

Yes, we all know combat is simple but it'd still be nice to have a guide.

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I'd help out but my experience with combat was never good. It's a solid raid spec, no doubt, it just bores me to absolute tears.

Assassination pretty much replaced it because weapons for PvE get carried over to PvP. Combat is a dead end (as weapons are mostly only PvE useful).

I've also gotten enough flak from people about THIS guide so I'm not going to try anytime soon to come up with combat.

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Q u o t e:

Also, without Omen, other players cannot see your place on the threat meters. Many guild leaders consider this a must have so that they can keep an eye on you.

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Quick fix here: This is no longer true. With wow's build in threat on boss statistics, omen isn't required for others to see your threat.

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Q u o t e:


Quick fix here: This is no longer true. With wow's build in threat on boss statistics, omen isn't required for others to see your threat.

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ah... thank you for the information about that.