Rogue ganking

Often a flagged player in the non-Battleground world will find themselves the ganking victim of a surprise attack by a Rogue. Although all classes gank at all level differences, people take exceptional note of Rogues due to their stealth, high damage output and escape abilities.
=== A Rogue's Perspective on Ganking ===
For 80 levels of the game, a Rogue learns to strike at the most opportune time. This often entails waiting for enemies to path away from a desired mob, or tediously tiptoeing through a cave of elites to assassinate a heavily guarded target and sap their bodyguards. Against players who attack and succeed at killing a Rogue, the same mentality will come into play. Be wary of performing an excessive act in PvP - repeated emoting, corpse-camping or reinforcement overkill will only serve to help the Rogue remember who you are and what you did to them.
Though this emotional response is not unique to a Rogue, however, they have a strong advantage with their class mechanics to lie in wait and prepare an ambush unaided.
=== Methodology ===
There is much satisfaction in harbouring a grudge and patiently waiting for an enemy to become vulnerable, killing them, then repeating, after waiting sufficient time for them to let their guard down again. In many situations, a Rogue can wait for you and escape from you if they suspect a trap. Stealth allows a Rogue to enter and exit most safe refuges of their enemies (capital cities, towns and groups) while remaining undetected and where others would require an entire raid to assault. Deterrents, such as class abilities or the size of your defense can often be negated by patient observation.
For example, some common class-specific wisdom is:
* Shadowmeld is negated by simply watching where a player stands.
* A non-stealthing pet alerts to a Hunter in the area, but not necessarily next to the pet.
* Perception cast by an unflagged player is negated by monitoring the combat log.
* An unflagged player's flare or AoE will not unstealth a Rogue.
* Enemy guards will aid a flagged player under attack if that player runs into them. A patient Rogue will wait until their prey is in a secluded area.
* A message on LocalDefense or a dead NPC may only be a ruse to draw enemies to a certain area, or keep them away from another.
* Just because there is a enemy visible does not mean a Rogue will attack them. They have time to scout the area or simply wait for reinforcements to become bored and abandon the player.
* A Rogue will rarely face impossible odds, even as a matter of pride. If you cannot imagine yourself attacking eight flagged people clustered in a group, why should a solitary Rogue?
* If a Rogue finds themselves in a situation where death is highly undesirable (a long graveyard run, slain players respawning while the Rogue is dead, et al.), expect them to avoid dying at all costs. Rogues are used to escaping where others cannot, and there is a certain sense of failure if they are hampered.
* For the above reasons and more, setting an obvious trap for a Rogue may not work as you expect. A Rogue has time to scout, confer with other players or simply wait until the situation is in their favour. The Rogue most certainly wants to kill someone and will wait for it, but you may not have the patience or the motivation to do so yourself.
Keep in mind that what may anger you in a fight depends heavily upon the class that you play. A Warlock may detest being stunned or kicked, but fail to realize that a Rogue loathes being Deathcoiled out of stealth just as much, since stealth is as major component in most Rogues' PvP playstyles as fear is in a Warlock's.
To this effect, a Rogue (or any class for that matter) may expect you to cast certain abilities or play in a certain style based on your emotions. An angry hunter might immediately activate The Beast Within or line up for an Aimed Shot, the latter being vulnerable to a long cast time. An angry paladin may blow Divine Protection and Hammer of Justice at the same, leaving them vulnerable to heal interrupts and Evasion after the effects have worn off, and so on.
=== Why am I being camped? ===
Some people will find themselves being camped for an inordinate amount of time, or in some manner of perceived injustice. The victims often post threads on the offical Blizzard forums, detailing the encounter; the core question often being "Why me? And why in excess?".
Players on a PvP server should expect to be killed at any time.
Playing on a PvP server entails that most leveling spots will leave you flagged and open to combat. Choosing the most heavily populated areas, such as Stranglethorn Vale and the Western Plaguelands, will almost certainly result in someone higher level killing you. A player who creates and levels a Rogue on a PvP server mostly like does so for a reason: they wish to kill the opposite faction at any time they please. Isolated low-level players should especially be wary.
An unprepared Rogue is the most vulnerable player in the game.
(writeup later)
==See Also==
* Rogue Lifestyle
Category:Rogues