I just started a new rogue and I was glancing at the tool tip for Ambush and the way the tool tip is worded it makes it sound like you can have the dagger as either the off hand or the main hand to receive the extra amount of damage. After doing some tests in game I can't really see if having it as your main hand or off hand really alters your damage bonus.
My question is, does having your dagger in the main hand or off hand make the damage bonus apply? If it does actually matter is there any chart or stats someone could provide that would show me actual proof? Thank you.
Best Answer
Yes, you need to use a dagger if you want the bonus damage. Unless otherwise stated, all Rogue abilities use the weapon in your mainhand.
The only two that break from this are Mutilate (uses both hands, simultaneously) and Shiv (which uses only the off-hand)
But -- You're barking up the wrong tree if you're thinking Daggers will cause more damage than other weapons - daggers are unique in having a different (i.e., lower) damage bonus for instant attacks (this is why you don't want to Sinister Strike with a dagger - it'll do less damage than an equivalent iLvl sword, mace, or axe).
Ambush used to be dagger specific. When the ability was updated to be more useful to other specs, they had to do something to make sure ambush wasn't suddenly worst for the dagger specs, hence the extra bonus.
This constant is called the Normalized Weapon speed. WoWpedia has more.