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COMBAT LEVELING BUILD
See further below for Alternative Leveling Talent Specs (Mutilate, Hemo, Ambush, etc.) A Combat Build (Swords/Maces/Axes) is usually going to be your best build for leveling because it has superior sustained damage, it can handle multiple enemies very effectively and the spec does not rely on positional attacks. Dagger builds, while effective at higher levels, suffer from several disadvantages in the early stages of leveling. At lower levels, daggers can be useful for frontloading your damage with Ambush. However, after your initial stealth attack, it can be tricky to pull off multiple Backstabs when mobs are always trying to face you (and you shouldn't Sinister Strike with daggers because they deal significantly less damage than non-daggers.) Another disadvantage of using daggers is that as mobs gain more armor & health, Ambush starts losing its burst damage potential. Also, Dagger builds have trouble handling multiple enemies simultaneously, which is compounded by positioning issues. With swords/maces/axes, you aren't concerned with positioning issues. Just run up and smash away with Sinister Strike. Fist builds work much the same way. Unfortunately, when leveling, good fist weapons can be hard to find. The best advice for new Rogues is to set aside those daggers and get training for swords/maces/axes. When you reach level 50 (Mutilate), daggers become viable again. Until then, sword/mace/axe trainers can be found below:
WHERE TO LEVEL
For a list of optimized quest circuits, I highly recommend Jame's Leveling Guides. They're free and well-designed. WEAPONS Regardless of your weapons or talent spec, you should get a slow, high DPS, hard hitting main hand weapon with high average damage for increased special attack damage. For your offhand weapon, look for good stats and high DPS. In the past, fast weapons were preferred for your offhand, but ever since the 3.1 patch, Instant and Wound Poisons now operate on a proc per minute (PPM) basis. So, that means that offhand weapon speed won't matter as much until you pick up Hack and Slash and/or Combat Potency. Also, while you're leveling, I recommend that you enchant your weapons with the fairly inexpensive Fiery Weapon enchantment to provide some extra damage.
BIND ON ACCOUNT HEIRLOOM LEVELING GEAR
As more and more players get access to Bind on Account (BoA) Heirloom items, they often ask which items are the best choices for leveling as a Rogue. This can be a tricky question, since your choice of spec could change as you get to higher levels. Combat is usually your best option for the earlier levels, but you may wish to switch to a Mutilate spec later. Assuming Combat, Venerable Dal'Rend's Sacred Charge and Venerable Mass of McGowan are strong main hand weapons. Battleworn Thrash Blade is a good OH in the earlier levels, before you get Hack and Slash (30) & Combat Potency (45). That is when you'll want to have a faster offhand sword/axe, to enhance the power of those proc effects. Sharpened Scarlet Kris is a nice, fast, offhand weapon, but it's not a sword/axe. After level 30, look for Knightly Longsword->Rune Sword->Dimensional Blade->Whistling Sword->Fiery Prod as your fast Combat offhand weapons to get the full benefit of your Combat Potency and Hack and Slash talents. If you enjoy dagger specs and feel pretty confident that you'll be playing a Mutilate build after level 50, then you'll want to pick up a set of Balanced Heartseekers. These hard hitting daggers are effective at pretty much all levels. After selecting your heirloom weapons, the next most important BoA items you'll want to get are the armor items that provide experience bonuses. If you plan to PVP as you level, then you might want Exceptional Stormshroud Shoulders. Otherwise, you'll probably want to get the Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders. After you have purchased your BoA weapons and experience gear, if you have an overabundance of Stone Keeper's Shards, Emblems of Heroism and now Champion's Seals (as of the 3.2 patch) burning a hole in your pocket, then go pick up a pair of heirloom trinkets as well as one of those ranged weapons to put that finishing touch on your heirloom leveling set. COMBAT LEVELING TALENT SPEC Here is a sample Sword/Axe/Mace Combat talent tree with key talents in each level range:
This talent spec focuses on pure damage and excels in toe-to-toe PVE combat. At higher levels, this build shines in
its ability to handle multiple mobs effectively with the burst potential of Adrenaline Rush + Blade Flurry. Those two
talents are especially useful when leveling, since they give you the unique ability to power your way through groups
of mobs or a tough boss mob that might otherwise prevent you from completing a quest. That is why I recommend
going straight up the Combat tree before switching to a different tree, so you can pick up those vital talents ASAP.
COMBAT ATTACK ROTATIONS Your attack sequence will vary, depending upon the circumstances, but will generally go something like this: Garrote/Cheap Shot/Sinister Strike > Slice and Dice > Sinister Strike x 5 > Eviscerate/Rupture/Kidney Shot Here are some sample attack routines to use for different scenarios (more mobs require higher level abilities):
Spend most of your time fighting Humanoids whenever possible because they can be pickpocketed (level up that
Lockpicking skill!), they can be Garroted/Ruptured and they drop lots of cloth (bandages are great for leveling.)
ALTERNATIVE LEVELING TALENT SPECS If Combat starts to become boring, then you might consider switching to an alternative leveling spec that focuses on another talent tree. Assassination builds are good for dealing impressive amounts of single-target damage while Subtlety specs give you added versatility for PVP, which helps if you are leveling on a PVP server. Listed below are alternative leveling specs for Dagger and Non-Dagger builds using the Assassination and Subtlety talent trees.
GLYPHS
As you're leveling, you'll gain access to Glyphs which can be used to enhance the power of your skills and talents. Listed below are some Glyphs I recommend picking up, depending upon your spec, to help you as you're leveling:
POISONS Wound Poison is the most effective poison for leveling unless you've taken points in the Improved Poisons talent. It does more average damage than Instant Poison and also stays on your enemy, giving you the full benefit of Savage Combat (or Mutilate if you pick an Assassination spec.) So, after you reach level 32, you should switch from dual Instant Poisons to dual Wound Poisons (unless you have Improved Poisons) to maximize your damage. If you start to have trouble with mobs running off and bringing back friends, you might also want to consider Crippling Poison. RACES Each race has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages for PVP/PVE. You can find comparisons of each here:
PROFESSIONS When it comes to leveling professions, I recommend Skinning/Mining. Send all of the mats to an alt, then you'll have just about everything you need for many of the crafting professions. Once you reach 80, drop one or both gathering professions to pick up your crafting professions. You can find PVP and PVE comparisons of each profession here:
If you choose Blacksmithing, Engineering or Leatherworking, then these powerleveling guides should help you out:
GEAR When picking up gear, you'll want to use "of the Monkey" or equivalent items that contain both Agility and Stamina. Other stats like AP, Crit Rating & Hit Rating are also good to have. Strength, on the other hand, is a fairly mediocre stat for Rogues, because it gives only 1 AP, whereas Agility gives 1 AP in addition to Crit Rating, Dodge & Armor. After reaching level 57, you can start wearing "of the Bandit" items (although "of the Beast" gear is also acceptable.) Whether you're twinking or leveling, you can find the best gear listed in my Rogue Powerleveling Chart and Rogue Twink charts:
For more leveling guides and information, check out my Rogue Links page.
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