Welcome to the second in the series Interview in the Underbelly. We’re going to be talking with Alaizabel. I previously raided with Alaizabel in Hellfire Citadel in eXample, and he’s re-rolled to Rogue this expansion so I thought it would be great to hear from him.
Tell everyone about yourself
My name is Alaizabel and I’m playing Rogue in eXample on EU-Kazzak. Previously, I played Death Knight in Warlords of Draenor. I’ve been playing in eXample for two years, and I enjoy our semi-hardcore atmosphere a ton. I used to spend a lot of time and resources on Death Knight, and Death Knight gameplay, and I was very visible in #Acherus (back when it was an IRC-channel). I no longer have a lot of extra time besides university to delve deep into theorycrafting, unfortunately.
When and how did you start playing World of Warcraft?
I started playing the game back in the beginning of The Burning Crusade when I was 11 or 12 years old. I remember spending a copious amount of time convincing my parents that paying monthly fees for a game wasn’t completely insane. I played through TBC and WOTLK with no breaks, and then quit when MoP came out, because of IRL commitments.
How did you choose the name for your Rogue?
It is originally the name of my Death Knight on EU-Ravencrest, when I played there through Warlords of Draenor. I decided to rename the Rogue from Alaizqt to Alaizabel, since it would be my new main, after we came to EU-Kazzak. It’s origin is from the book “A Haunting of Alaizabel Cray” by Chris Wooding. A brilliant book, by the way.
What do you enjoy most about playing Rogue?
I enjoy being able to do a lot of jobs on a fight: always being useful, basically. Secondly, I enjoy doing a lot of damage, and Rogues do a lot of damage in this expansion.
What do you dislike most about playing a Rogue?
My main dislike is not about Rogue specifically, but playing Rogue in this specific expansion. The fact that you “have to” farm legendaries and AP for 3 specializations is a lot of work. I dislike that a lot about playing Rogue in legion.
Tell everyone an interesting situation that has happened while playing a Rogue
Hmm… Well, playing Outlaw Rogue on Cenarius, and re-rolling for TB to clear brambles, while ranged players are screaming soak at the top of their lungs, was pretty interesting. And then there is obviously all the Death from Above situations, where it either takes you to another galaxy, casually displaces you 1284 degrees and puts you on a mechanic, or puts you through the floor. All of them interesting and hysterical first time they happen. It’s like all the memes with driving vehicles in PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) but in WoW.
What would you play instead of the Rogue, and why?
I would probably play Mage if Rogue somehow was unavailable. It has similar cheese capabilities with Invis and Ice Block to the Rogue. My second and third option would probably be DH (pretty close to mage), and Shadow Priest (because I just like the play style).
Which expansion has been your favourite?
Even with all it’s flaws, I must say that it’s a toss-up between Legion and WotLK, Legion for the gameplay, WotLK for the nostalgia.
Which expansion has been your least favourite?
Probably Warlords of Draenor, of the ones I’ve played, even though I liked just raid-logging. There was simply absolutely nothing to do outside raids. The last tier of the raid (HFC) was also 13 months long, which was super unbearable.
You previously played Death Knight, why the change to Rogue for Legion?
Death Knight simply seemed super legendary-dependent with Unholy Bracers being like the only crutch carrying Death Knight DPS to any meaningful level. Rogue was my main alt, and I swapped to it as main 6 or 7 days into the expansion because of anticipated soaking jobs, better DPS etc.
What has been your favourite boss in Tomb of Sargeras for Subtlety Rogue?
Even though this boss has been completely and utterly destroying raid morale, Kil’jaeden is a super high-skill boss for subtlety Rogue. You have a butt-load of mechanics to do, while keeping your priority target DPS high.
What changes would you like to see for Assassination or Outlaw Rogue?
Assassination needs to have better AOE, or at least comparable single-target damage to the other specializations. I think Assassination was in a really good spot, tuning-wise in Nighthold. It would have been interesting debating what specialization to play if Shuriken Combo was a thing at that point.
Do you think it’s possible to remain loyal to a spec and still succeed in Mythic raiding?
Yes, definitely. The Mythic raiding spectrum is super wide, and you can easily play whatever spec you prefer in a Mythic environment that is relatively casual at the same time.
Thank you Alaizabel!
Thank you Alaizabel for taking the time to answer our questions. If you would like to follow Alaizabel on Twitter or follow his stream on Twitch, I’m sure he would appreciate it.
Next interview, we’re going to look at having an interview with a member of the Rogue theorycrafting community.
