Originally Posted by Dimachaeri

Hello all,

My warlock friend and I just reached 70 two weeks ago, and have been unable to play much due to our conflicting schedules. We have however managed to play a bit of arenas and reach a rating of 1700 yesterday, despite our dismal gear. Once our finals are over, we plan to finally gear up and give arenas a good go.

This all brings me to my two very important questions:
1) How worth it is for me to rely so much on stamina gems after I get geared up in BG and gladiator gear? I already have 70,000 honor saved up until the next patch, so I'll be buying some good gear that I intend to socket. However, I'm conflicted in regards to if I should follow the norm and get +12 stamina gems, or if maybe I could go a little more offensive? I'm all for survivability and I do plan to get every epic BG and Arena item; however, as a rogue, will I really always be the one to get attacked after my warlock ally (he is affliction spec, btw.) It would logic that as a mutilate rogue, perhaps crit gems might suit me better if the trend continues that I'm always attacked last. I'm still very conflicted on this point and really don't know how to proceed.

2) My second question is actually more daunting. I'm currently 41/20/0, however, I'm strongly considering either 41/13/7 or 41/0/20. Dirtry tricks can be really helpful, since the name of our game is control; we can't heal, but we can sap/fear/blind/coil them. I've been using sap a lot more lately, and both the increased range and reduced energy cost would have been very useful. However, I worry about the damage lost of DWS when compared to opportunity. How big of a hit in damage do you guys think that is? Also, how much DPS does serrated blades add when compared to +5% hit?

Thanks in advance for any replies! ^_^