Rogue Leveling - Everything you need to know

If you want the smoothest Rogue leveling experience in the WoW Forever Beta, Combat is the way to go. While Rogue has three damage-focused trees, Combat offers the best mix of damage, survivability, and multi-target capability for both solo and group play. Rogue is also naturally efficient while leveling thanks to Energy regeneration, meaning there’s very little downtime between fights.

The core gameplay loop is very simple. We use skills, like Sinister Strike or Backstab, that generate Combo Points, which are spent on finishing moves like Eviscerate or Slice and Dice or Rupture.

Our damage mainly comes from three sources:

#1 - Auto attacks. Yes, these make up a large portion of our total damage. This makes Slice and Dice a good finishing move in fights that will last long enough to benefit from most of the buff’s duration.

#2 - Sinister Strike - This skill generates Combo Points and doesn’t require Stealth or positioning behind the target.

#3 - Eviscerate - This is a finishing move that deals more damage based on how many Combo Points you have. Use this when the enemy will die soon or when Slice and Dice is already active.

Almost every race can play as a Rogue, except Tauren, and each race has something special they bring to the table.

For The Alliance

Human

Will to Survive and Perception are good for PvP, especially when fighting other rogues! Sword Specialization provides a 2% crit when using swords.

Overall a solid option for both PvE and PvP. Possibly the best Alliance PvE option if Swords are the strongest weapons, as they were in Classic. (Note that rogues have gained the ability to use Axes in Forever which might replace Swords as the peak weapon)

Dwarf

Mace Specialization is a weaker version of Human's Sword Specialization.
Stoneform is a helpful PvP tool for removing bleeds and poisons, allowing you to get a clean. Vanish against Rogues, Druids, and Warriors.

Decent PvP choice but there are better PvE options.

Night Elf

Elune's Light provides a powerful crit cooldown skill.
Quickness gives more dodge and movement speed while also making your Stealth more effective.
Shadowmeld can help you drop threat in groups or do some tricky plays in PvP.

Overall great for PvE and PvP.

Gnome

Eureka! helps reduce energy costs while increasing damage of your next three skills, which can help you burst more damage in a shorter window of time.
Expansive Mind increases your baseline energy to 105 which is noticeable at the start of combat and if you want to use @Thistle Tea for a boost of energy.
Escape Artist is an incredible tool in PvP to help you get back into combat and to counter a Mage's opening Frost Nova.

Overall great for both PvE and PvP and my preferred race for PvP on the Alliance.

Skyborne

Wind Blessed provides 1% Haste which may be a relatively rare stat in Forever.
Walk on Air has limited combat potential.
Read Ley Line doesn't do much for Rogues outside of serving as a quick recovery boost outside of combat.
Elemental Insight is only going to be good when fighting Elementals.

Probably the weakest of the Alliance Rogue options

For The Horde

Orc

Blood Fury gives an Attack Power boost.
Shatter Curse has some PvP utility.
Axe Specialization could potentially be strong if Axes are among the best endgame weapons.
Hardiness now reduces stun durations, which is helpful in PvP.

Decent overall choice.

Forsaken

Will of the Forsaken can get you out of Charm, Fear, and Sleep, which are common PvP and PvE crowd controls.
Cannibalize is useful for an emergency heal in combat but requires a corpse.
Underwater Breathing is somewhat of a meme.
Touch of the Grave seems like it could potentially be powerful for damage and healing.

One of the most popular PvP races and an okay choice for PvE.

Troll

Berserking provides attack speed and is somewhat weaker than the Orc’s Blood Fury.Regeneration provides some regen in combat.
Rapid Regeneration is a stronger version of Forsaken's Cannibalize and doesn't require a corpse.
Beast Slaying is good when fighting beasts.

Orc or Forsaken are probably better choices for PvE or PvP.

Skyborne

Wind Blessed provides 1% Haste which may be a relatively rare stat in Forever.
Walk on Air has limited combat potential.
Skysight can give you a decent speed boost.
Elemental Insight is only going to be good when fighting Elementals.

Probably the weakest of the Horde Rogue options

In WoW Forever, Rogues can use one-handed Swords, Axes, Daggers, Maces, and Fist Weapons for melee combat. They can also use Throwing Weapons, Bows, Crossbows, and Guns for ranged weapons.

As an attack-focused class, your weapon damage is extremely important, and finding good upgrades is key to a smooth leveling experience. We ideally want a slow weapon in the Main Hand and a faster weapon in the Off Hand. This is because Sinister Strike uses the weapon damage range to calculate its damage, and slower weapons have higher weapon damage. For the Off Hand, a faster weapon will proc Instant Poison more often, but will also exhaust charges faster, so generally the highest DPS option is best.

For example, in Deadmines you can find the Cruel Barb and Thief's Blade. Since Cruel Barb has a damage range of 30-57 versus Thief's 17-32, it will do a lot more damage with Sinister Strike and should be in your Main Hand. You can still use a slow weapon in your Off Hand if it has much higher DPS than your other options.

Weapon Training Locations

Alliance

Iron Forge (61.6, 89.6): Axes, Crossbows, First Weapons, Guns, and Maces (note there are two trainers here)

Stormwind (63.8, 69): Crossbows and Swords

Darnassus (57.6, 46.6): Bows and Fist Weapons

Horde

Orgrimmar (81.6, 19.6): Axes, Bows, and First Weapons (note there are two trainers here)

Undercity (57, 32.8): Crossbows and Swords

Thunder Bluff (41.2, 61.4): Guns and Maces

Dungeon Weapons List

There are a host of rare weapons available from dungeons, including new options in the new dungeons.

Hall of Thanes 13 - 18 (Alliance)

Durgen's Crescent Axe from Durgen Dirgehammer

Ragefire Chasm 13 - 18 (Horde)

Bone Knuckles from Oggleflint

Cursed Felblade from Taragaman the Hungerer

Chanting Blade from Jergosh the Invoker

Hammer of Orgrimmar from Horde exclusive quest

Ruins of Lordaeron 16 - 20

Meathook Slicer from The Baron

Vileblood Scimitar from Viktor the Vile

Plaguefang and Edwards' Knife from Horde exclusive quests

Wailing Caverns

Stinging Viper from Lord Pythas

Tail Spike from Skum

Wingblade from Horde exclusive quest

The Deadmnes

Buzz Saw and Dull Sawblade from Sneed's Shredder

Goblin Hammer from Gilnid

Thief's Blade from Mr. Smite

Cruel Barb from Edwin VanCleef

Cookie's Tenderizer from Cookie

Shadowfang Keep 22 - 30

Butcher's Cleaver and Butcher's Slicer from Razorclaw the Butcher

Baron's Scepter from Baron Silverlaine

Meteor Shard from Archmage Arugal

Excavation Site 24 - 29

<unknown yet>

Blackfathom Deeps 24 - 32

Darkwater Talwar from Lady Sarevess

Bite of Serra'kis from Old Serra'kis

The Stockade 24 - 32

Prison Shank from Bruegal Ironknuckle

Hamhock's Cleaver from Hamhock

City of Dalaran 28 - 33

<unknown yet>

Gnomeregan 29 - 38

Toxic Revenger from Viscous Fallout

Electrocutioner Leg from Electrocutioner 6000

General Stats

As a Rogue, we care about Agility, Strength, Stamina, and Spirit. Hit Chance, Critical Strike Chance, and Attack Power are also powerful secondary stats to look out for.

Agility provides Attack Power at a 1:1 ratio, Crit Chance, Armor, and Dodge.

Strength provides Attack Power at a 1:1 ratio.

Stamina provides Life, which is important for staying alive! A dead Rogue does zero damage!

Spirit provides some Life regen, but only out of combat, unless you are a Troll.

Intellect only helps with learning new weapon skills.

Note: You can also get percentage-based stat increases from Blessing of Kings or the camping buff from Fish Bowl. This makes your main stats even stronger by allowing them to scale slightly higher.

Attack Power: Increases your overall damage.

Hit Chance: 5% for same-level enemies, 8% for raid bosses, and 27% for Off Hand attacks.

Crit Chance: Crits deal 100% increased damage.

Weapon Skill: This appears on gear as something like "Increases Daggers +1" and is reportedly extremely limited now. Weapon Skill helps reduce your chance to miss and the enemy's chance to dodge or parry, while also increasing your Critical Strike Chance. Additionally, against raid bosses, Weapon Skill reduces the chance that your auto attacks become Glancing Blows, which cannot crit. It is extremely unlikely that you will come across any Weapon Skill while leveling, but if you do, it is likely very useful.

How to Compare

Early on, getting to 5-8% hit chance is is quite important but can be difficult to find on most gear. As a general rule of thumb I recommend the following weighting for each stat.

Comparing two cloaks:

Grave Shroud (from Ruins of Lordaeron) -> 3 (STR) + 3.6 (AGI) = 6.6

vs

Catacomb Cloak (from Hall of Thanes) -> 6 (AP) + 4 (AP vs Humanoids) = 6 to 10

Grave Shroud would have a score of ~6.6, while Catacomb Cloak comes in at 6-10 depending on whether you’re fighting Humanoids. When two items are relatively close, I let Stamina be the difference maker, so I would choose Grave Shroud in this situation.

For weapons, generally go with the highest DPS, using a slower Main Hand and a faster Off Hand.

Starting at level 20, after completing a class quest, Rogues get access to Poisons. These are temporary buffs that are applied directly to your weapons by clicking the poison and then selecting the weapon you want to coat. After a short application channel, your weapon will be buffed for 30 minutes or until all of the poison’s charges are consumed.

Damage

Instant Poison deals instant damage, making it good for short fights, and won’t break Gouge. When leveling, you generally want to use double Instant Poison.

Deadly Poison deals about the same damage as Instant Poison, but over 12 seconds. This effect can stack up to five times, making it a great damage option for longer fights. Typically, this is used on the Off Hand weapon in dungeons.

Utility

Crippling Poison slows enemies, making it useful in PvP or situations where you don’t want enemies to run away.

Wound Poison reduces healing received by affected enemies, making it useful against healers and in PvP.

Mind-numbing Poison causes casters to cast significantly slower, making it useful against caster enemies or non-healing casters in PvP.

Poisons gain increased damage or effectiveness with each rank, along with more total charges.

Thistle Tea

While not a poison, Thistle Tea is a great consumable for both PvP and PvE that gives you a burst of 100 Energy. Ideally, you want to use this when you are as close to 0 Energy as possible and then immediately spend that Energy. It works especially well with temporary buffs like the Orc’s Blood Fury.

Every two levels, you will be able to train new skills at your Rogue Trainer. However, you may not always be near one. Here is a breakdown of which skills you get at each level and how important they are for progression. Note that Gouge and Kick only gain damage with each rank, so you could potentially skip training them if you are tight on gold.

Macros are custom-made buttons that you can create and manage by typing /macro. Clicking ‘New’ and providing a name will open a text field where you can enter your code. Once you're happy with the macro, you can drag the new button from the macro book onto your action bar. Below are some useful macros. Copy only the text inside each box.

Attempts to use Riposte if it is available otherwise uses Sinister Strike. This will also start your auto attack.

Pick Pocket

Adding Pick Pocket after every stealth opener can help you gain some extra loot because you will pick the enemy's pocket after using your skill. Note that Pick Pocket can miss, which removes you from stealth.

Cheap Shot and Pick Pocket

Garrote and Pick Pocket

Ambush and Pick Pocket

Sap macro that constantly looks for hidden stealth targets, good for pvp vs rogues