So what should PvE rogues do when they hit 80?

Understandably, I've been asking myself that over the past couple of days. The simple answer is, of course, "get out there and raid". Ah, if only it were that simple...

To raid, even in a very tolerant guild, one needs gear. To get Naxx-suitable gear, one needs to do heroics. One also needs enchants and gems to maximise the value from the gear. That means gold. We will get to all of this, but first: stats.

You've probably heard a lot about the Hit Cap and Expertise Cap. There is a lot of very comprehensive info out there on these topics, but comprehensive often equals long. So here it is in a nutshell.

• You need 99+ hit rating (the Yellow Hit Cap) or your special attacks might not hit. Gear for this first. Unless you're a complete wally and have been stacking druid gear, you're probably at this point. Don't ever let it go.
• You need 26 Expertise/214 Expertise Rating (the Expertise Cap) or bosses might dodge you. Gear for this next. Don't ever let it go once you've got it. Any more is wasted, so don't go nuts.
• With that sorted, start stacking more +hit. For guild raiding, you want 210-237. For pugs and heroics, you might need closer to 315. This is the Poison Hit Cap, which ensures that your poisons always hit. If you want more details, it's out there. Just trust me.
• Now you can stack Attack Power, Crit and Haste.

So now you know what stats to go for. Where do you get them? Heroics and gems, my stabby friend. Shadowpanther (armour and weapons) and guides such as Encrypted Text are your friend here.

My key criteria for grinding gear is: "how long will I keep this item?" Given that the aim is to get into Naxx and move on to Ulduar, spending ages grinding Exalted rep for an epic item that will be replaced in one's first Naxx25 run seems a waste to me when there are other more easily accessible items of suitable, if not equal, quality. Go for "bang for buck", where the "buck" is your time.

There is some rep that is worth grinding though: Knights of the Ebon Blade revered for the Arcanum of Torment head enchant, and Sons of Hodir exalted for the Greater Inscription of the Axe (unless you're a 450 Scribe). Both of these are best in slot enchants that will be used over and over as you upgrade gear in those slots. Grinding those dailies will get you gold as well. The Ebon Blade rep can also be brought up by wearing their tabard on your heroic runs.

Enchant everything, even placeholders. Get what you can afford. Use the recommendations from be.imba.hu, checked against Shadowpanther. Weapon enchants are a sticky one, as you certainly want good ones on your longer term weapons. I quite like Greater Potency on placeholders. The mats are cheap and it's about half of the MAEP of a Mongoose for a tenth of the price. If you've got the gold, go for Berserking on everything. I don't, but I've got a couple of Mongoose scrolls in my bag for when those really nice raid daggers drop. Again the diminishing returns: Mongoose is 80% of the MAEP of Berserking, for about 1/3 the cost on my server.

Gem around your hit and expertise caps. Once you've got a pool of swapsie gear, you might for example trade some excess hit for some haste etc. Spreadsheets are your friend.

On gear swapping, I have a golden rule about gear retention. I won't vendor any gear if:

• It is similar in quality to an equipped item, but with different stats, and/or
  
• I really like it.
  

So yes, I still have my Hanzo Sword and Ebon Mask. Sue me. If I ever get a figureprint, they will come in handy.

The point of the golden rule is this: let's say you have 2 chest pieces: 1 with +hit and 1 with +expertise. You're at the EC, so you wear the first to get closer to the PHC. Now some awesome head piece drops, with so much +hit it's just crazy. Problem is, your existing head piece has +expertise, and you're now below the EC. If you had vendored the chest with +expertise, you're stuffed. Because you're following the golden rule, you simply swap chests and party like it's 1985.

Finally on Emblems: there are some very good items to spend your EOH on. I'm going for the Mirror of Truth first, then the Pendant of the Outcast Hero. Of course, if something better drops in the meantime, I'll happily spend them elsewhere.

So here are my final tips:

• If be.imba.hu says you're not yet at the Naxx stage, do all the above until you are. Focus on the YHC and EC with easily obtainable gear, gems and enchants.
• If you're ready for Naxx, do Naxx. Meanwhile, keep the gold and select rep coming in. Don't worry too much about grinding for gear, do the daily Heroic and store up those Emblems. You'll get the gear in Naxx.

And read up on Naxx! Good luck.