Complete Guide to Weaponry in Cataclysm

There has been some confusion over weapons in Patch 4.0.1 and beyond including speeds and main hand versus off hand decisions. So I trawled through the interwebs, had some painkillers for the resulting headache and then sat down to share with you what I have learned so far about weapon speeds and weapon choices in Cataclysm.

The Basics
Nothing much has changed in terms of weapon speeds but the amount of choice and variety has increased specifically for combat rogues. Do not expect to need a complete weapon overhaul at all, it's actually pretty much the same so far.


Combat Weapons
Combat rogues can now use any type of weapon at all in either hand. However there is still a recommended weapon type for combat rogues. First of all weapon speed is still very important for a combat rogue and the weapon speed in either hand will predominantly affect the weapon type. Main hand selections are easy, Combat has always benefited more from a slow main hand than a fast one to yield more ability damage. The main hand weapon can be anything you like but remember that you won't find any slow enough daggers so that rules daggers out for the MH.

What will probably change is your off hand weapon. Combat rogues will still require a fast off hand weapon speed in order to maximise their talent [Combat Potency] which provides extra energy for each off hand weapon swing. That means you want as many off hand weapon swings as possible. Aside from this we also still want plenty of Deadly Poison procs as well so we need at least one fast weapon for both of these requirements. This therefore forces a fast weapon into our off hand.

So if the weapon speed hasn't changed what's the difference? Well, as our friends the Mutilate rogues will tell you, daggers are the fastest weapon in the game. Our beloved axes will only go down to a weapon speed of 1.5 at their best but a dagger can go down to a 1.4 speed. For those combat rogues out there with a mutilate off spec or a general weapon storage now is the time to sort through your weapons and do some swapping around. It is also now though that Instant Poisons and Deadly Poison are the top DPS for all three specs, combat included.

Mutilate Weapons
Mutilate rogues are still restricted by their weapons. The ability [Mutilate] still requires daggers in order to be used and so Mutilate rogues will continue to only roll on daggers for their weapons. It's also important to note that Mutilate rogues will also still use Instant Poison at the moment despite the removal of Improved Poisons in the talent tree because it now a "specialisation". That means all Mutilate rogues will get [Improved Poisons] automatically.

So the question with Mutilate remains, which weapon should I have in my main hand and which weapon should I have my poison on? It's important to remember that depending on the weapon speed of the weapon in your hands, the position of your poisons will change and the weapon speed itself does not affect what hand your weapon goes into. I've seen a lot of people get confused over this matter so I'm going to clarify this in a way that will hopefully be a bit clearer.

When mutilate rogues are trying to decide what weapons to put in which hands they should first look at:

1. Weapon Damage. The weapon with the highest DPS always goes in the Main Hand.
2. Weapon Speed. If both of your weapons are equal DPS you should place the fastest weapon in your off hand.

In most scenarios this means your slowest weapon will be in your main hand and your fastest in your offhand which is perfect. However in some cases it does mean that your fastest weapon could end up in your main hand. This is not a perfect solution but if the weapon damage of your fastest weapon is superior to the weapon damage of your  slowest weapon the highest damage weapon should still be placed in your main hand. This will vary so beware and use a spreadsheet to confirm! Depending on your actual weapons it may be that in some cases your energy gains form a fast offhand outweighs the muti damage from your main hand. So always double check your weapons if your highest damage weapon is not your slowest.


We also know that we will be using Deadly Poison still and this is on our Fastest Weapon. So in terms of poisons your DP will always go on your fastest weapon whatever hand it is in.

Subtlety Weapons
I am a bit more sketchy on Subtlety weapons but basically Subtlety rogues want to use two daggers. Sub rogues also need a quick off hand weapon. It also looks like sub rogues will be using Instant MH Deadly OH as per combat but using Wound on fiddly/multiple mob fights.To quote Aldriana:

Q: What weapons should I use?
A: A slow dagger MH, a fast weapon (type doesn't matter) OH. Currently this means a dagger.

Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons should now only be thrown weapons. Leave the bows and the guns to other classes to roll on. This is because Blizzard wanted our ranged weapon to mean more to us than just a stats boost. So, with that in mind they changed Fan of Knives to become reliant on having a thrown weapon. This means you cannot use Fan of Knives (FoK) without a thrown ranged weapon equipped. Poison wise (oh yes you can now put poisons on your thrown weapons!), you should follow your non-periodic poison choices according to your build. You can also use Crippling poison for example on your thrown to avoid reducing damage during single target combat but apply helpful slowing affects to mobs such as the Val'kyr in LK fight when needed. This makes our non damage poisons tremendously more useful.

Summary

• Combat weapon speed is Slow MH, Fast OH (1.4). 
• Combat weapon type is any except dagger MH, dagger OH.
• Combat poisons are Deadly OH, Instant MH.
• Combat Ranged Weapon: Thrown with IP.
• Mutilate weapon speed is 1.8 and 1.4.
• Mutilate weapon type is dagger MH, dagger OH.
• Mutilate poisons are Deadly Fast, Instant Slow.
• Mutilate MH is weapon with highest damage.
• Mutilate Ranged Weapon: Thrown with IP.
• Subtlety weapon speed is Slow MH, Fast OH (1.5/1.4)
• Subtlety weapon type is dagger MH, dagger OH.
• Subtlety poisons are Deadly OH, Instant MH.
• Subtlety Ranged Weapon: Thrown with IP.