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Video version of this text guide:

There’s a lot of new gear coming so let’s have an in-depth look at AQ loot and which pieces you should prio getting first.
Firstly, if you haven’t seen the Darkmantle guide, I posted the P5 bis lists at the bottom of that guide, but I’ll quickly go over them again here for quick reference before we go over the rogue loot prio for AQ/Phase 5 items.
There are 2 main gear sets for lategame bis. One uses darkmantle and the other uses full tier 2.5. Both are viable and dps is close-ish, with Tier 2.5 pulling ahead a little more for swords, particular alliance sword rogues due to ZG+King’s buff multiplying gear stats.
Is darkmantle or full tier 2.5 better?
Personally, I value full tier 2.5 a tad higher due to 400 more hp and less rng reliance, even as dagger rogue. That’s not to say Darkmantle is bad or that you can’t top dps meters with Darkmantle, just that you have to keep in mind it has less hp and there’s some rng in the proc luck.
Darkmantle is estimated to have a proc rate of 1 ppm (this is the base proc rate that gets modified afterwards by attack speed, weapons etc etc) since it uses the same proc effect as Shadowcraft, just moved to a 4 piece bonus instead of 6. So while it’s not guaranteed to be the same, it’s highly likely due to how Blizzard typically tends to copy/paste proc effects like this in the past.
I’ll still be getting both sets of gear, since Darkmantle is bis for easy early transition gear and gear upgrade flexibility. This allows me to prio non armor p5 pieces first, then eventually I can transition to full tier 2.5 once I have the full set later in the phase.
Here are the bis lists if you missed them in my Darkmantle guide:
Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj (AQ 20) Rogue Loot Prio
AQ 20 is similar to ZG in that it has some solid items, but most items are overshadowed by better items from the other raids like AQ 40. That said there are a few items that are fairly good or even upgrades over P4 BIS.
There is one set of items in particular that are very good as transition gear. The veiled shadows 3 piece set, so let’s cover that first.
Okay now let’s talk the rest of the AQ 20 loot. I’ll only cover the purple gear because the blue gear drops are pretty much only used as pre-bis gear.
Temple of Ahn’Qiraj (AQ 40) Rogue Loot Prio
Alright, here’s what everyone wants to know. What should you prio in AQ 40 as a rogue?
First, let’s cover tier 2.5 pieces, then we’ll move on to the other items afterwards.
Alright onwards to the rest of the fun loot now! I’ve added rough dps gains for a 90 sec fight (full buffs) for the following items as I think dps gains is more important for figuring out prio on offset items (vs. tier 2.5 where you’re practically guaranteed to get all the tokens eventually).
Note: There’s going to be some shifting of your Darkmantle 4 piece usage based on drop rng and what you upgrade first, so I compared the items below to p4 bis instead and if you want Darkmantle vs p5 bis sims you can find those in the rogue Darkmantle guide.
What BIS gear should I prio first?
That depends on your gear going into AQ 40 of course, but here’s a rough list of how I’d prio my p5 bis gear.
Note: I personally would put all tier 2.5 last in my prio as it drops 100% of the time, has low overall competition and every rogue should end up with a full set eventually even without prioing it.
Darkmantle enables you to not worry much about tier 2.5 and just focus on offset upgrades first. This would be my top prio focus:
- Weapons first (of course)
- Belt of Never-ending Agony (but possible drops 1-2 slot lower in prio if alliance)
- Gloves of Enforcement (sword rogues first unless dagger rogue has Death’s Sting)
- Cloak of Concentrated Hatred
- Jom Gabbar (debatable prio due to losing possible Phase 6 prio on better trinkets)
Good luck and may the RNG gods favour you!
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