My Rogue Feels Like a Cow

I have been playing my rogue a bit more often lately. So far, it feels like before.  But there's a difference.  I cant really put my finger on it.  It seems more... fun.  I think it is because im doing more damge.  actually contributing to kills, things like that.  when i first entered outland i put away my old rogue for something better, something more fun.  i leveled everything else besides the rogue.  she was just a placeholder then.  today, she has more gear and much better dps.  she started off subtlety years ago and changed to combat when a friend suggested that it would give me more dps. at that time, say level 60, i was in groups where everyone had a friggin AoE except for me.  actually, its still true.  I still do not have any AoE abilities, and im 66 now.  So since patch 4.0.1, and the forced reset of all my talent specs, i decided to abandon combat and return to sub.  after all, it was one of those assassin-like specs, more so than assassination. 

Then i remembered why i like my rogue to begin with.  it was because i was sneaky.  i would pop up out of nowhere and attack something.  it would be dead before other mobs would notice me.  going stealth and sneaking my way to a quest objective was quite fun, even if i get almost zero experience from killing mobs.  i would get the experience from turning in quests, and at a faster rate than someone who had to kill through an entire camp of, say, trolls in order to get to a box, or the head of a boss, or something like that.  and if the boss has goons with him? ignore them and kill the boss. vanish after you loot the head.  like those ninja movies, for sure.

anyway, it reminded me of when i first leveled my tauren druid.  she was somewhat of a bulky character.  she had hooves so being sneaky was a little difficult to do.  but when she turned into a cat, she sneaked around better than most rogues.  cats have this innate nature in them. they take each step with care and caution.  they make sure they cannot be heard and lie in wait.  patiently.  unmoving.  then at the right moment, they pounce on their victims.   that's how cats play.  that's how my druid was able to level her clumsy self to 80 with little difficulties. 

and as i play my rogue, i am reminded of my druid.  then i realized just how similar the two classes are.  it made me felt like i was back on my cat, playing my first level 70 character (also my first level 80 when wrath came out).  i was back to sneaking around and killing things.  i was back to doing single target dps madness.  it was fun, but i realize it will have its niche and one day i will leave it for a different character.  but playing a druid cat did teach me a few things about myself. 

1. I preferred the safety of stealth (even though sometimes i do get caught).
2. I like the feel of questing as a stealthed assassin.  It makes me feel like im playing Metal Gear Solid, or Socom, or Tenchu.
3. I like to see big numbers. Coming out of stealth with an Ambush that takes most of the enemy's health away? that's awesome. doing a finishing move with an overkill of several thousand health? awesome still.
4. I like having emergency buttons.  being able to incapacitate people even during a fight? awesome to the awesome. having abilities on my druid like maim helps buy me time.  having sprint is awesome when i just need to run away.  blinding opponents is wonderful.  vanish is even more awesome.  all of these things help me to survive when my blade just cant kill them fast enough. 

It is sneaky.  it is stealthy.  it is more a mind game than outright dps. a sneaky cow.  that's what i was.