Combat Spec PVP

[biggiemoney]

Is combat rogue viable in Lordaeron?

[Drkwispurr]

In my opinion there are only two viable speccs in PvP - Envenom 44/2/25 or so and full sub

Else is crap

[4321molten]

Drkwispurr combat can more or less own every class in duels, and with a ench it can go top rating.

[Drkwispurr]

Duels ok
World PvP not so good
BGs trash
Arena hmm well if you say it can go top rating then tell me why the top 20 pages of arena junkies were covered with full sub or env, I'm curious now

[Stepmom]

Drkwispurr combat can more or less own every class in duels, and with a ench it can go top rating.

This is true for MoP and MAYBE Cata, but I'm not 100% sure about Cata. The two main reasons the spec is "viable" here is because of Killing Spree giving immunity to CC and Revealing Strike affecting Kidney Shot.

However, for WotLK, combat isn't necessarily a competitive spec partly due to Revealing Strike not being added yet but also due to the fact that you need A LOT of armor penetration (capped or really close to it) to do significant damage with Killing Spree (kill something 100-0 in a Cheap Shot or Kidney Shot). Frankly, the trade off of ARP capping is being really low on resilience. This makes you EXTREMELY squishy, especially since you don't have the survival that a 44/2/25 or Subtlety rogue would have (preparation for both, cheat death for sub).

It is possible to nuke something in the opener using Killing Spree with BiS ICC gear (including trinkets) as long as the other team isn't expecting it, but you'll be a lot less likely to do this the higher rating you get. And it's worth noting that if this doesn't work that you'll have really low resilience and little to no survival and mobility, basically making you a sitting duck.

If you consider yourself experienced at the game and have good situational awareness, I would recommend subtlety (11/3/57 or something similar). If not, envenom spec is really easy to pick up (44/2/25).

Hope this helps!