So I've been thinking about Tricks of The Trade in raid situations, regarding which classes and specs benefit the most from Tricks in the sense that they have some damage over time ability that's able to be snapshotted and constantly refreshed throughout the entirety/majority of a boss fight, making full use of the 15% damage bonus from Tricks.
I started thinking about this during a raid with some scuffed Affliction Warlocks who were doing less DPS than the Shadow Priest and some other people. I was like, hm, the raid leader keeps saying to Tricks the Affliction Warlocks (after the tank on pull of course). I realized I've literally never heard a raid leader call out Tricks on any other targets, only Affliction Warlocks.
Think about it - have you ever heard anyone say "Tricks Shadow Priest", or "Okay Rogues after you Tricks Warlocks, Tricks the MM Hunters", etc? I doubt it.
Now I know what you're thinking, obviously raid leaders are too busy calling out more important things like boss mechanics, Divine Sacs, battle resses, and so on. Of course I wouldn't expect raid leaders to be constantly coordinating Rogues to Tricks specific targets, just like how they shouldn't have to shout at people (looking at you Paladins) to re-buff players who have been battle ressed.
Think about how many times you've heard your raid leader call out 'rebuff X class' etc. It should be automatic, as soon as it happens, the responsible players should be re-buffing as soon as possible.
Yet, still, I very often hear the typical "Tricks Warlocks" from raid leaders as if it's a core gameplay mechanic for Rogues to always Tricks Warlocks, and Warlocks only.
From what I've gathered, these are the specs with abilities that gain full benefit from Tricks, again in the sense that they have something that's able to be refreshed for the entirety or majority of the fight;
Affliction Lock - Corruption with Shadow Bolt/Drain Life.
Shadow Priest - Shadow Word: Pain with Mind Flay
Marksmanship Hunter - Serpent Sting with Chimera Shot.
Elemental Shaman (Tier 10 only) - Flame Shock with Lava Burst(?).
I'm not sure if there are any others, please let me know if there are.
While I was writing all of this down to some players that I raid with to get their opinions, my mind tripped over the part about raid leaders having to call out re-buffs on battle ressed targets. I was reminded of my distaste for the AddOn "Pally Power", and how many Paladins rely on it as more than just an extra tool to assist with buffing, and more as a replacement for their brain because they can't figure out for themselves which buffs are the most efficient for any given raid composition. I was thinking... What if there was an AddOn like Pally Power, but for Rogues, that would help them manage Tricks of the Trade on targets like the classes/specs listed above?
So I got the idea for 'Rogue Power' (could use a better name lol) - Imagine if there was an AddOn that would have a list of targets in the raid that will be receiving Tricks of The Trade, and once they have been Tricksed by any Rogue, it would check if those targets' DoTs are being kept up... And if someone lets their DoT which has been buffed by Tricks fall off, or if there is a target swap in the fight, the AddOn would notify you that they need a new Tricks of the Trade. I'm thinking that it could include settings that would display the name of the Rogue who is assigned to Tricks a certain target under that target's name & class icon, which would light up or otherwise clarify that this Rogue (or another) had used their Tricks, and show the snapshotted ability in question was in motion, with that DoT timer next to it.
I have no idea if an AddOn like this or one similar to this exists, but I imagine it would be extremely useful. I'm not a Rogue player, but from what I've gathered, not many Rogues are aware of what or who to Tricks and when, besides the obvious first Tricks going to the tank to stabilize aggro. I would assume that some Rogues know to Tricks Affliction Warlocks, but after that, then what? I suppose they either Tricks each other like how Mages Focus Magic each other for personal DPS gains (regardless of other players' performance) or don't Tricks at all to save energy pre tier-10.
I would love to hear more opinions on this, and if anyone who reads this is an AddOn developer or knows anyone who is, hopefully I could perhaps with my rough ideas, have inspired them to create an AddOn like 'Rogue Power'. Also, feel free to call me out if you think my logic is flawed. I didn't think about this more than a little brainstorming.
Cheers!
Smegmatotemx, Frostmourne (season 2), Horde side.