Scott Helfand

As we wander aimlessly through this slowly widening chasm between the announcement of Legion and the first major release of information about what new changes the game has in store for Rogues, now feels like a good time to stop, take a step back and look at the adjustments that Warlords of Draenor brought to our class.

You've all clearly coated your keyboards with Feedback Poison, because the conversation in the comments section of the last Encrypted Text column was outstanding.

Suddenly, one day, a new melee DPS class sauntered into WoWville.

What if every Rogue spec could only wield swords?

Ah, Hellfire Citadel!

If you play a Rogue, and if you raid on that Rogue at any difficulty level, then sheath your poison-tipped weapons, grab a steaming mug of Thistle Tea and pull up a chair, my friends.

You can feel it in the air, like a scent on the breeze.

Rogue poisons. What are they good for? Obviously, poison design has changed a lot throughout WoW's history. The evolution of poisons over the years highlights a lot of trial and error on the part of WoW's game designers, and plenty of cases in which poisons had to be redesigned (or removed entirely) after players figured out ways to exploit them.

Recently, some asked me a question that drove directly to one of the key aspects of playing a rogue that I've long found dissonant: That leveling a rogue feels completely different than raiding as one.

The past few weeks have given us our first look at the changes in store for rogues in the next major content patch of the expansion. Join me, won't you, for a quick jaunt down patch 6.2 lane?