Feint: The Long Lost Skill
Posted by 
Admin on Monday, June 8, 2009 - 34 Comments Tags: Rogue, Ulduar, raid strategy, raiding, skills
Admin on Monday, June 8, 2009 - 34 Comments Tags: Rogue, Ulduar, raid strategy, raiding, skills 
Feint, the forgotten skillMy fellow raiding Rogues, we've been neglecting one of the biggest buffs to our beloved class that we've had in a while. No it doesn't improve DPS, directly at least, but falls in line with the number one rule of being a raiding rogue, staying alive so you can still DPS! Patch 3.0.8 released on January 20th which is coming up on six months old now. The buff (or change depending on your view) on this skill that generally has been laughable, has now been made a very viable skill, especially in high-end raiding.
Feint: Rank 8 now reduces the damage taken from area of effect attacks by 50% for 6 seconds in addition to its existing effects.
Now, go back and read that again; reduces damage of AoE attacks by HALF for 6 seconds. To be honest I had forgotten about this skill until a few weeks ago, it has been on my bar of course but has been on the further side of the keyboard away from more important skills. Now while this may not be a huge deal even in heroic Ulduar, once you start hitting the hard modes this redone skill really shines and a really great example of great use is on XT-002 Deconstructor.
I was running normal Ulduar (10 man) with my guild and we went for the hard version of XT-002 Deconstructor. Basically once you activate the hard mode the damage put on the raid (and thus stress on the healers) is increased by 40%! The spell from XT you should be most be worried about is the Tympanic Tantrum, which everyone in the raid needs to be healed from; if you can cut this in half you reduce the stress on your healers and they can worry about getting other people (tanks, other healers) topped off before you (and if you have healing potions and healthstones, you should be using those too). Giving your healers an extra 4-6 seconds to worry about others before you, can be invaluble in a healing intensive fight such as hard mode XT. The skill only has a 10 second cooldown which is very nice as it's only four seconds that you are without the 50% damage reduction, although it is highly recommended to NOT put this into your rotation as it is merely a situation skill at this point.
With that said though, am I the only one who forgot about this spell? Have you raiding rogues been using it for a while? Or did it take something drastic like not wanting to stress out your healers during a hard mode? What other fights do you find this to be a good fit for?
Reader Comments (34)
@Wittgenstein
I think Pallys and DKs have a better chance than Hunters, Mages, and Locks. They have to channel shit, Pallys and DK's don't. And plate beats cloth, etc.
I've killed rogues before, but it was through knowing what to do and when to do it. Not based on luck. If it was based on luck (and some semblance of skill)....rogues would have a high win ratio.
I longer use it in my rotation forgot about it !!!! O.O
I always forgot bout Feint when i played WoW... (2 months ago)
1 month*
Kind of random but @ Mike at the top. Do you have an 80 rogue? If not then stfu.
All classes require skill to play well. Yes, all classes. There are some classes that can be played very poorly and get by without too much notice, but those situations are rare. It is very easy to see who are the players that are very skilled at their class, and those that are just mediocre.
All of the "X class takes no skill, try playing Y class, now that takes skill" talk is simply fail.
Anyway, back on topic. I hate to admit it, but since I pulled feint off my G13 I continually forget to use it. Thanks for the reminder! I'll make it's place on an action bar a little more apparent.
~Ril
I agree with a few posts, however I also disagree.
The 2 roles in a raid group that take the most about of "skill," and I use that term lightly, are healing and tanking. Many encounters in UD-25 and UD-25 hardmodes require a lot of planning and coordination by tanks/healers. This leaves the final role, DPS.
DPS will forever be replaceable. If a hunter drops, you bring a warlock. If a DK drops you bring a shaman. Every class in the game can be a DPS role, but not all can be a tank/healer.
That doesn't mean that DPS doesn't require any "skill" either.
As a rogue, I have used countless spreadsheets/gear optimizers/nights on target dummies to become as "skilled" in the art of DPS as I can. A rogue is rather tricky to play, and situations usually call for different tactics.
If you are mutilate, you will often guess as to how many CP you will generate with each "rotation" and know when to use your separate finishers for your sequence. Combat, you must maintain SnD at all times as well as rupture, throwing in Evis when possible and popping CDs as soon as they are available (A lot more straight forward). HAT (deep sub), is always up in the air and based on group composition, however it usually follows combat in a sequence, with no CDs to blow.
ALL of these require a decent amount of "skill," no matter how you look at it, or how much you may hate the rogue class.
~Amusing, gnome rogue - Executus US
Since I pulled feint off my G13 I keep forgetting to use it.
Anyone that's level 80 and get killed from one stunlock cycle, need to uninstall the game and just play Halo.
Any decent players will have more than 20k health and if you don't.. go run heroic and get yourself some epic.
Every class now has stun and most class have more burst DPS than Rogue to take you out while you are stun..
Ya, you just got stun and killed by a Rogue.. GG - go get some epic and some being pathetic.