Why are Rogues the least popular class in WoW atm?

[Ron Burgundy]

I played a Rogue back in Vanilla during arguably the height of its popularity. What happened since then? Why are Rogues the least popular class in WoW at the moment?


If I had to guess, I would say it's because of Combat. A lot of players play(ed) a rogue solely for this spec to be able to duel-wield Swords, Maces, and Axes. That isn't the case anymore, a dagger is pretty much required in the OH.

[Synexlol]

We're not OP, we can't tank or heal and we haven't changed much since Vanilla. If you play a Rogue now-a-days, it's probably because you love the class and can't imagine playing something else, not because we're particularly strong. On the other hand, if you played a Rogue in Vanilla it was because you were essentially invincible in 1v1.

[Deleted]

Where are you even geting these numbers? Im not sure rogue is less played than some of the other pure dps classes. If you believe wow census warlock is least played...
And rogue is in a good spot both pve and pvp wise. With 3 great pve specs and a more than viable pvp spec, they have nothing to complain about. They are definitly one of the strongest pve dps classes.

[JaoStar]

I thought warlocks were the least played class.

[Iyarashii]

Where are you even geting these numbers? Im not sure rogue is less played than some of the other pure dps classes. If you believe wow census warlock is least played...
And rouge is in a good spot both pve and pvp wise. With 3 great pve specs and a more than viable pvp spec, they have nothing to complain about. They are definitly one of the stronges pve dps classes.

Because blizzard has said that we are over and over, and we are not the strongest pve dps spec.

[Deleted]

Because blizzard has said that we are over and over, and we are not the strongest pve dps spec.

One of the strongest, learn to read please.

[Domiku]

Because they do it from behind!


p.s silly question silly answer rogues are not in a bad place at all right now.

[Iyarashii]

One of the strongest, learn to read please.

We are 7th on a patchwerk fight with everything executed to perfection, that's not one of the strongest.

[Deleted]

Because it isnt the same anymore, the game simply sucks, so does the weird rogue developement...

[Gnull]

I think Rogue popularity is primarily to do with PvP.

When world PvP was still a thing, being able to stealth into enemy areas and gank people was amusing. It also provided you with some safety from being stalked by the opposing faction while trying to quest.

Now, you have two semi-viable PvP specs: Assassination, which has good damage but poor mobility, and Sub, which has good control and mobility but lags on damage outside of SD. Very few people seem to play anything other than Sub at high-level PvP- which could mean only Sub is good, but definitely means it will be harder to find a team that will take you as something else. If you don't particularly like Sub's playstyle, your options for PvP are pretty limited.

Over the years there have been 1) nerfs to Rogue damage and control, 2) specs that were non-viable for PvE or PvP for extended periods of time, 3) ongoing complaints about the fact that Rogues bring less group synergy/raid utility to a group while not doing any more damage than a hybrid class or a pure DPS class that can provide some kind of a group buff or swap roles on different fights, 4) irritating bugs with Stealth and Vanish that made core defensive and offensive abilities unreliable in random situations, and 5) continual complaints about the high cost of switching targets because of combo point loss and poison stacking. All these things tend to discourage new and existing rogues.

Rogues were also arguably OP in Vanilla- one reason why they were so popular- and then got the stunlock style of play nerfbatted hard, along with damage for some specs falling off the chart. They really haven't been FotM since. Most other classes have had at least a few FotM runs, at least on certain specs- Paladins, DK's, Mages probably racking up the most.

Rogues also have a pretty high skill cap. There are a lot of cooldowns to manage, and a lot of success as a PvP Rogue lies in very carefully timing stuns, interrupts, and cooldowns.

[Vanaline]

Rogue does not fit very well into the modern landscape of the game. Classic had a more deliberate pace, it had a strong, open world design and it had more niches and class identity. It's (Rogue's) numerical balance is fine, it's just not paticularly enthralling or appealing taking the former into mind.

[Deleted]

We are 7th on a patchwerk fight with everything executed to perfection, that's not one of the strongest.

Source please.

[Varyk]

Assassination is doing just fine in PVE, I don't know what anyone is complaining about. It's an upper middle tier dps spec, which is about where you'd like to be. Clearly Arcane Mages, Shadow Priests, and MM Hunters don't apply to this rule tho.

[Joodoc]

We are 7th on a patchwerk fight with everything executed to perfection, that's not one of the strongest.

and how many patchwerk fights exist? many people have different specs for different amounts of movement or w/e. some classes are stronger with none, and then plummet if they have to move, while others aren't hurt much. you can sprint back and get back into a fight against a boss, other melee can't necessarily do that.

[Chaoslux]

Also, i don't remember patchwerk fights existing in the game. Unless you are on Baleroc, and the raid leader let you not care about shards, even if it should be a melee job to do shards because they spawn in melee.

[Clame]

They rerolled to frost mage.

[Iyarashii]

Source please.

http://simulationcraft.org/420/Raid_T12H.html
And yes I believe that it is because of pvp changes.

[Joodoc]

I think Rogue popularity is primarily to do with PvP.

When world PvP was still a thing, being able to stealth into enemy areas and gank people was amusing. It also provided you with some safety from being stalked by the opposing faction while trying to quest.

Now, you have two semi-viable PvP specs: Assassination, which has good damage but poor mobility, and Sub, which has good control and mobility but lags on damage outside of SD. Very few people seem to play anything other than Sub at high-level PvP- which could mean only Sub is good, but definitely means it will be harder to find a team that will take you as something else. If you don't particularly like Sub's playstyle, your options for PvP are pretty limited.

Over the years there have been 1) nerfs to Rogue damage and control, 2) specs that were non-viable for PvE or PvP for extended periods of time, 3) ongoing complaints about the fact that Rogues bring less group synergy/raid utility to a group while not doing any more damage than a hybrid class or a pure DPS class that can provide some kind of a group buff or swap roles on different fights, 4) irritating bugs with Stealth and Vanish that made core defensive and offensive abilities unreliable in random situations, and 5) continual complaints about the high cost of switching targets because of combo point loss and poison stacking. All these things tend to discourage new and existing rogues.

Rogues were also arguably OP in Vanilla- one reason why they were so popular- and then got the stunlock style of play nerfbatted hard, along with damage for some specs falling off the chart. They really haven't been FotM since. Most other classes have had at least a few FotM runs, at least on certain specs- Paladins, DK's, Mages probably racking up the most.

Rogues also have a pretty high skill cap. There are a lot of cooldowns to manage, and a lot of success as a PvP Rogue lies in very carefully timing stuns, interrupts, and cooldowns.

Rogues have had a bunch of runs, just not during cata. I remember plenty of times where nerfs for rogues were called for hardcore

[NotValidAnymore]

No idea. Personally I like Assassination in PvE. And even though Subtlety is weird, it works just fine in PvP, if not a bit over the top.

Rogues' "loss in popularity" can't be in relation to PvP at least, they're not worse than they were back then.

[Judge Malthred]

I think Rogue popularity is primarily to do with PvP.

When world PvP was still a thing, being able to stealth into enemy areas and gank people was amusing. It also provided you with some safety from being stalked by the opposing faction while trying to quest.

Now, you have two semi-viable PvP specs: Assassination, which has good damage but poor mobility, and Sub, which has good control and mobility but lags on damage outside of SD. Very few people seem to play anything other than Sub at high-level PvP- which could mean only Sub is good, but definitely means it will be harder to find a team that will take you as something else. If you don't particularly like Sub's playstyle, your options for PvP are pretty limited.

Over the years there have been 1) nerfs to Rogue damage and control, 2) specs that were non-viable for PvE or PvP for extended periods of time, 3) ongoing complaints about the fact that Rogues bring less group synergy/raid utility to a group while not doing any more damage than a hybrid class or a pure DPS class that can provide some kind of a group buff or swap roles on different fights, 4) irritating bugs with Stealth and Vanish that made core defensive and offensive abilities unreliable in random situations, and 5) continual complaints about the high cost of switching targets because of combo point loss and poison stacking. All these things tend to discourage new and existing rogues.

Rogues were also arguably OP in Vanilla- one reason why they were so popular- and then got the stunlock style of play nerfbatted hard, along with damage for some specs falling off the chart. They really haven't been FotM since. Most other classes have had at least a few FotM runs, at least on certain specs- Paladins, DK's, Mages probably racking up the most.

Rogues also have a pretty high skill cap. There are a lot of cooldowns to manage, and a lot of success as a PvP Rogue lies in very carefully timing stuns, interrupts, and cooldowns.

This is an awesome response! I played a rogue back in vanilla, he is 85 now and I enjoy pvping with him. The play-style is a lot different now though so I can see a large portion of rogues that were used to the easy of killing someone now having to totally relearn it, simply getting disinterested and trying another class.