Hello!
Rogue tank, tanked my way through the levels. I’ve been rogue tanking all content apart from P3 where I took a break.
Wanted to raise some concerns with p5 and the tanking direction blizzard apparently wants rogues to tank. I have some concerns with it.
Main gauche - looking at the T2 set bonuses it looks very much like you’re pushing for rogue tanks to be using main gauche. This move makes very little sense even with the buffs you’ve added to sinister strike threat. Even napkin maths shows that saber slash is going to outperform MG in both damage and threat. Saber slash stacks to 100% increased damage on all abilities that affects sinister strike (including sinister strike) and has a huge bleed strapped to it.
MG makes sinister strike cost half. But if saber slash is making it hit 100% harder that bonus is a 0 change other than combo point which we are already super rich in. I thought of a fairly solid alteration to main guache that would make it balanced for tanking, and make it much more appealing to tanks (which at the moment I can assure it it isn’t appealing to anyone other than people spamming dungeons.)
Main Gauche - hits with off hand for 100%, lowers the cost of sinister strike and abilities that are linked to sinister strike but 20 and increases threat by all abilities whilst the effect is active by 50% (not just sinister strike). ADDITIONALLY, lowers the chance for the rogues target to parry by 14%
The -parry works as both a damage reduction as you lose parry haste, and a damage boost as it increases the chance to hit the mobs by 14%, and greatly lowers the amount of wasted energy a rogue tank has when using a finisher that can be parried/dodged.
I have spoken to the rogue discord and the general consensus is that this would be huge in altering our perspective on main gauche.
Secondly I want to address the T2 set bonuses, which I’m sorry but are entirely ignorant of the rogue tank spec and it’s really quite painful to see.
2 set, rolling with the punches now gains with combo points. - just make this baseline? Same as T1 set bonus. Come on .
4 set bonus - 100% more armor from armor when you stack rwtp - what are you thinking here? Because rogues are already avoiding almost all physical damage. This bonus basically works out to NOTHING on a physical fight?
6 set bonus - now this is the most out of touch bonus I’ve seen yet. There is almost no rogues using main gauche in a raiding environment because (even with the buffs coming) it’s worse than every other tanking build. Main guache is a dungeon ability to pick up adds with cheap sinister strikes. It’s basically useless in a raid. So please please PLEASE do not link dungeon ability bonuses to a raid set. This set bonus is utterly ridiculous. I would expect only the most ignorant rogue tanks to go up to 6 set with these new bonuses.
I don’t particularly know what to suggest as a better alternative but my thoughts go along the lines of. “Bloodfang” make the set bonuses something like if you’re keeping this bonus that should be baseline anyways in my eyes go
2 set. Rolling with the punches now stacks using combo points AND increases armor contributed by armor buy 20% per stack
4 set. - rupture and crimson tempest cause additional threat and the ticks can now crit.
6 set - whilst a target is affected by rupture or crimson tempest you gain blood drenched shielding you against magic damage, this affect absorbs a % of magic damage equal to your chance to parry
Alot more in line with the set name. Moves away from this silly main gauche design. I feel like this would be much more welcomed by the rogue tank community.