Rogue / Rogue Vs. Druid / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

Rogue / Rogue vs. Druid / Rogue is no easy match, typically any team with a druid is going to be a tough match for a double rogue team. That said, using systemic decision making and quick reflexes we can learn how to effectively counter these 2v2 teams.

Ideal Strategy, Jump the Druid in Stealth

Ideally what we’re going to try and do is find the druid in stealth and immediately open on him. This serves 2 purposes.

1. Gets you into combat and prevents you from being sapped
2. Puts immediate pressure on the druid

If everything goes as planned you’ll kill the druid straight up, but for any of you who have played double rogue for any stretch of time you know this is rarely how it happens.

The Druid is in Bear form, what do I do?

Often times druids are wise to double DPS teams and will immediately exit stealth as soon as they realize there are rogues and enter bear form. This is when this combo can be very difficult.

Let’s be frank, you probably aren’t going to burst a druid in bear form out. So you have a few options. First, and probably the most effective is going to be attack the open and drop a bomb on the rogue. If you get a solid opener and / or if the druid is out of position you can immediately red line the rogue. Make sure you have your rupture up on the rogue as you know he’ll be going for a vanish.

Once you’ve got the opener going on the rogue you need to be looking to crowd control the druid. Either via gouge, kick, or if the druid is dumb enough a blind / sap combo. Most games the druid is still going to get a few HoTs and the NS off, but this doesn’t mean you lose. Keep up the damage, evasion tank the rogue and keep working to get the druid out of the fight. You’ve got 2 blinds, a potential sap combo, kick and gouge to punish the druid with.

Is Switching Targets a Good Strategy?

I think many double DPS teams really are reluctant to try a target switch, in some cases this fear is rational. However, if a switch is handled in the proper way it can be very effective. For example, many rogues may panic when they see a two other rogues attacking them. In the event he trinkets a CS or  KS you’ve got him right where you want him.

What if the rogue trinkets my blind?

At this point you should throw the blind, which you’re going to transition into at least 1, probably 2 saps. This will give you a minimum of 20 seconds to have unrestricted damage on the druid. Even if the druid is sitting in bear form 20 seconds is a long period of time, especially if you can evasion tank the rogue for an additional 15 seconds after your crowd controls have ended.

Final Points on Avoiding Crowd Control

On a double DPS team every second counts, it is absolutely crucial you avoid being crowd controlled at all times. In the case of this team you are going to want to save your trinket for a blind, the only scenario you wouldn’t want to use your trinket on blind is if the rogue was just reeling on you and caught you medium / low health in a KS.

It’s very helpful to set the druid as your focus target, this will allow you to watch incoming crowd control on you so you can take the appropriate action to avoid being taken out of the fight. These actions include:

• Preemptive Cloak of Shadows on cyclone / root
  
• Vanish immune on cyclone / root
• Vanish immune on feral charge
• Preemptive evasion if you believe the druid may attempt to bash you
• Preemptive evasion if you believe the rogue is about to blind you (if your trinket is down, note: This is very hard to watch for, especially if you don’t have your focus on the rogue)

Looking for more rogue / rogue strategies? Check out the complete rogue / rogue 2v2 arena guide!

Mage / Rogue vs. Warlock / Priest 2v2 Arena Strategy

Rogue Arena Tactics

The strategy for the rogue is pretty basic here. If at all possible you want to sap the priest. This will allow you to get a solid start on the warlock and in many cases fill him outright. If you must use shadowstep to pull off the sap, it’s crucial you get it off quickly and cleanly.

Once you’re on the lock you need to be very watchful for fears. The mage cannot afford to burn his CS on the lock, so it’s up to you to kick / kidney shot any single target fear or howl of terror. Additionally, be ready to use your blind on the priest to assist the mage in his crowd control rotation.

I highly suggest using a focus blind macro to make this cc transition as seamless as possible. In an ideal game your rotation might look something like this. Sap –> Sheep –> Trinkets the sheep. Blind –> Sap –> CS — Sheep. While this always isn’t going to work out perfectly like this knowing your CC rotation from the beginning will be a huge aid to your success.

Mage Arena Tactics

While the mage is certainly going to be adding damage your primary role is still to crowd control the healer. Most mages are very confident in their own sheep / CS rotation, but don’t forget the fact you have a rogue. It will be very important for you and your rogue to successfully communicate through the match to maximize your collective crowd control.

Just like with the rogue’s blind, using focus sheep or focus CS macros can be very helpful. Not only do they allow you to quickly pull off your various forms of CS, but many times they can catch your opponents off guard. Many players watch for you as the mage to target them, often this is a dead give away to an incoming sheep or blind. Using focus macros you never actually have to target them, so they have zero idea what’s coming!

Looking for more strategies? Check out the complete rogue / mage 2v2 arena strategy guide!

Zul’Aman Bear Boss Strategy

Nalorakk is the first boss of Zul’Aman and is known as the bear avatar of the dungeon. While it is the first encounter it is by no means an easy fight. More than anything is encounter requires both very attentive tanks and healers with quick reaction.

Bear Boss Strategy

Nalorakk has two forms, troll and bear. These two forms will alternate throughout the fight and require a separate tank for each stage. For simplicity purposes let’s go through all of the attacks you’ll be dealing with in each stage.

Troll Form

Brutal Swipe - This is a physical damage attack that deals 28,500-31,500 in a 180 degree cone in front of the boss. Now obviously this would be too much damage for even the best geared tanks, so it’s of utmost importance that both tanks stand on top of each other. This will split the damage between the tanks, making it a manageable amount for your healers to handle

Surge - The bear boss will charge a target, knocking them back and doing 3,700 to 4,300 damage. Nalorakk periodically will use this ability, typically on the ranged classes standing furthest away from him. For this reason it’s important healers stand between tanks and ranged DPS, so they can continue to heal without interruption.

Mangle - Causes all bleed effects to do 100% damage for 60 seconds. Only a factor between transitions, not much you can do it avoid this. If a tank gets mangled they should make certain to call it out in raid chat or on your voice communication server. This way healers can increase healing on that target in the event he gets hit by a lacerating slash or rend flesh.

Bear Form

Lacerating Slash - Causes the target to bleed for 1735 damage, ticks ever 2 seconds for a duration of 18 seconds.

Rend Flesh - Deals 5,525 to 7,475 physical damage and also applies a 2335 damage bleed, the bleed ticks every 1 second for 5 seconds. As I mentioned above, you need to be very aware of both of these bleed attacks. If you take a mangle and a bleed immediately after you’re going to be feeling it. Informing your healers immediately of these debuffs is crucial.

Deafening Roar - This ability will deal 1235 to 1365 to all members of your raid. Additionally, it also casts a 2 second silence on your raid. This is the major make or break point for the healers in your raid. Granted, 2 seconds is quite short, if a tank isn’t properly HoT’d up and is taking large amounts of damage they could easily die. The bear boss will roar twice during his bear phase, be aware of this and plan ahead.

Bear Boss Tanking Strategy

In order to properly tank the bear boss you will need two tanks, one of each of Nalorakk’s two phases. While any tanking class is capable of doing either phase it is preferential not to have a protection paladin tank the bear phase. This is due to the deafening roar ability, which will silence the paladin, preventing him from using his most potent threat producing abilities.

The most important aspect of this encounter revolves around the tanks maintaining proper positioning. If both tanks are not standing in front of the bear boss during a brutal swipe then the damage will not be split, likely killing the tank in one shot.

General Bear Boss Mechanics

The only other major point you’ll want to be aware of is the engage timer. Nalorakk will enrage after 10 minutes, that said, the only way you’d hit this timer is if your damage dealers were severely lacking. Just maintain the raid’s focus, settle in, and get done what has to be done.

Now, enough boring mechanics…onto the loot!

Bear Boss Loot

Badge of Justice (Drops 100% of the time, everyone in the raid gets one)
Fury
Fury of the Ursine
Bladeangel’s Money belt
Jungle stompers
Robes of Heavenly Purpose
Pauldrons of Primal Fury
Mask of Introspection
Formula: Enchant Weapon - Executioner

Shadow Priest / Rogue vs. Mage / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

In my opinion this team much scarier than Warlock/Rogue. Sure the lock has chain fears, but when it comes down to the burst ability of mage/rogue you’re really under pressure to be smart about not being taken out of the game by CC. I’ve put here two strategies you may apply and it really comes down to what you’re comfortable with.

Strategy One
Rogue Arena Strategy
Be patient at the beginning of the match. Even if you see the mage don’t attack him set a focus target on him if you have a focus casting bar mod, as this will come in handy for evading sheeps. The second you see the other rogue open up on your shadow priest partner open up on him and lock him down with CS straight into a KS. Continue to stick to the rogue and bring him down. Chances are you can probably down him 1 on 1 as he’ll be so obsessed over killing your partner.
Priest Arena Strategy
Hit the mage with a few dots and keep your shield up as the rogue is going to try and bring you down. While your rogue is busy with the other rogue you can go ahead and try and nuke him, or you can try to solo the mage. If going 1 on 1 is out of the question atleast try to help interfere CC from him.

Strategy Two
Rogue Arena Strategy
Move fast on the mage, and sap the rogue if you happen to see him. Move fast because if you get sapped you just lowered your chances of winning to slim(if not just plain none.) Use a garrote opener on the mage as CS’ing if you don’t know by now will simply be a waste of energy. Zerg down the mage with everything you’ve got and try to save trinket for the blind as it turn a good game to a bad one VERY QUICKLY!
Priest Arena Strategy
Just like strategy number one the rogue is probably going for you, so just start dispel spamming and dealing damage whilst keeping yourself alive. Pressure is going to be on this match, so keep a cool head and try to create a blind/sap opening for your rogue.

Again apply what you feel comfortable with, and I hope this helps.

Need more strategies? Check out the full shadow priest / rogue 2v2 arena guide!

Strategy courtesy of S-Scythe