| Quicklinks to Sections Listed Below | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons | Heirloom Gear | Combat Spec | Combat Rotations | Mutilate Spec | Hemo Spec |
| Ambush Spec | Leveling Glyphs | Leveling Poisons | Ideal Races | Ideal Professions | Leveling Gear |
COMBAT LEVELING BUILD
See further below for Alternative Leveling Talent Specs (Mutilate, Hemo, Ambush/Backstab, etc.)
A Combat Build (Swords/Maces/Axes) is usually going to be your best build for general leveling purposes because it puts out consistent damage, it can handle multiple enemies very effectively and the spec does not rely on positional attacks. Combat specs are as good at solo PVE farming/grinding as they are at running 5-man dungeons. The only situation where Combat tends to be lackluster is PVP.
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 enemies 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 only 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.
Usually, the best advice for new Rogues is to set aside those daggers and get training for swords/maces/axes. However, with the recent buffs to Hemorrhage and Ghostly Strike in Patch 3.3.3, daggers have become a much better option in the level 30-50 range than they had previously been. Once you reach level 50, Mutilate will become your dagger attack of choice. Until then, sword/mace/axe trainers can be found below:
| Alliance | Horde | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swords | Maces | Axes | Swords | Maces | Axes |
| Stormwind Woo Ping Exodar Handiir |
Ironforge Buliwyf Stonehand Exodar Handiir |
Ironforge Buliwyf Stonehand |
Undercity Archibald Eversong Woods Duelist Larenis Silvermoon Ileda |
Thunder Bluff Ansekhwa |
Orgrimmar Hanashi Orgrimmar Sayoc |
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 operate on a proc per minute (PPM) basis. So, that means that offhand weapon speed won't matter as much in the earlier levels 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 Hemo or Mutilate spec later on. Assuming Combat, Venerable Dal'Rend's Sacred Charge and Venerable Mass of McGowan are the best choices for your main hand weapon.
As far as an offhand weapon is concerned, there isn't one specific heirloom weapon that's optimal for Combat offhand purposes. Ideally, a Combat Rogue wants a fast offhand weapon that matches the weapon type of his main hand weapon, to maximize weapon specialization benefits while powering Combat Potency (and certain offhand poisons). Unfortunately, there just aren't any offhand BoA weapons that fit the bill. Therefore, you'll have to make a compromise. Here are your options:
- Wield Sharpened Scarlet Kris, which is a good, all-around fast offhand weapon, but it doesn't help with your weapon specialization.
- Wield a slower BoA offhand weapon like Battleworn Thrash Blade which benefits from Hack and Slash, but is suboptimal for use with Combat Potency and, to a lesser extent, Crippling Poison or Deadly Poison (if you have a need to use either of those poisons in your offhand), both of which benefit from a faster offhand weapon.
- Wield a fast, non-BoA weapon that matches your main weapon type. These can sometimes be difficult to find (especially fast maces), only last 5-10 levels, and will usually have inferior stats to BoA weapons. For some players, the faster speed and weapon specialization benefits may make it worth their while to go this route.
For instance, a Hack and Slash Rogue may prefer to go with the following offhand weapons for levels 30-80:
Knightly Longsword -> Rune Sword ->
Dimensional Blade -> Whistling Sword ->
Fiery Prod
Those are all relatively fast offhand swords that can help you benefit from both Hack and Slash and
Combat Potency.
If you enjoy dagger specs and feel pretty confident that you'd rather play a Mutilate or Hemo build, then you'll probably want to pick up a set of Balanced Heartseekers. These hard hitting daggers are effective at pretty much all levels. Or, consider getting a MH Balanced Heartseeker and an OH Sharpened Scarlet Kris to maximize your offhand poison effectiveness.
As far as enchantments are concerned, the only real disadvantage to heirloom weapons is that you can't upgrade their enchants as you're leveling, although the weapons themselves increase in power with each level. For heirloom weapon enchantments, your best choices are usually going to be Crusader or Agility. Crusader can provide more burst damage (and healing), but then again, you can also waste a lot of that burst damage potential in between enemies. Agility, on the other hand, is always on and always useful.
After selecting your heirloom weapons, the next most important BoA items you'll want to get are the armor items that provide an experience bonus - - chestpiece, shoulders and ring (if possible). For the shoulders, get Exceptional Stormshroud Shoulders if you plan to PVP as you level. Otherwise, you'll probably want to get the Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders. After you've purchased your BoA weapons and experience gear, if you have an overabundance of Stone Keeper's Shards, Emblems of Heroism and Champion's Seals 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 optimized for leveling:
| Combat Leveling Talent Spec | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A sustained DPS build which excels at Solo/Group PVE and handling multiple enemies - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-80 | |||||
| Level 20 Build Level 30 Build |
Lvl 40 Sword/Axe Level 40 Mace |
Lvl 50 Sword/Axe Level 50 Mace |
Lvl 60 Sword/Axe Level 60 Mace |
Lvl 70 Sword/Axe Level 70 Mace |
Lvl 80 Sword/Axe Level 80 Mace |
| Combat Leveling Talent Progression | |||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 12: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 13: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 14: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 15: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 16: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 17: Precision 1/5 18: Precision 2/5 19: Precision 3/5 20: Precision 4/5 21: Precision 5/5 22: Improved Slice and Dice 1/2 23: Improved Slice and Dice 2/2 24: Endurance 1/2 25: Aggression 1/5 26: Aggression 2/5 27: Aggression 3/5 28: Aggression 4/5 29: Aggression 5/5 30: Blade Flurry 1/1 31: Lightning Reflexes 1/3 32: Lightning Reflexes 2/3 33: Lightning Reflexes 3/3 |
34: Weapon Specialization 1/5 35: Weapon Expertise 1/2 36: Weapon Expertise 2/2 37: Blade Twisting 1/2 38: Blade Twisting 2/2 39: Weapon Specialization 2/5 40: Adrenaline Rush 1/1 41: Vitality 1/3 42: Vitality 2/3 43: Vitality 3/3 44: Weapon Specialization 3/5 45: Combat Potency 1/5 46: Combat Potency 2/5 47: Combat Potency 3/5 48: Combat Potency 4/5 49: Combat Potency 5/5 50: Surprise Attacks 1/1 51: Unfair Advantage 1/2 52: Unfair Advantage 2/2 53: Savage Combat 1/2 54: Savage Combat 2/2 55: Prey on the Weak 1/5 56: Prey on the Weak 2/5 57: Prey on the Weak 3/5 |
58: Prey on the Weak 4/5 59: Prey on the Weak 5/5 60: Killing Spree 1/1 61: Relentless Strikes 1/5 62: Relentless Strikes 2/5 63: Relentless Strikes 3/5 64: Relentless Strikes 4/5 65: Relentless Strikes 5/5 66: Malice 1/5 67: Malice 2/5 68: Malice 3/5 69: Malice 4/5 70: Malice 5/5 71: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 72: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 73: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 74: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 75: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 76: Vigor 1/1 77: Weapon Specialization 4/5 78: Weapon Specialization 5/5 79: Lethality 1/5 80: Lethality 2/5 |
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This talent spec focuses on pure damage and excels in toe-to-toe PVE combat. This build performs equally well at solo PVE and 5-man LFD (Looking For Dungeon) leveling using the Dungeon Finder system. 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's 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):
| Targets | Sample Attack Routines |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sinister Strike x 5 then Evis (or Sinister Strike, SnD, SSx5, Evis for tougher mobs) |
| 2 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, SSx5, Evis, switch back to mob #1, SSx5, Evis |
| 3 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, BF, KSp, SSx5, Evis |
| 4 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, BF, KSp, Evasion, AR, SSx5, Evis, SnD, SSx5, Evis, repeat until all unsapped mobs are dead, kill the Sapped mob |
| 5 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, BF, KSp, Evasion, AR, SSx5, Evis, repeat until only 1 unsapped mob remains, Blind the unsapped mob, bandage, kill the Blinded mob, kill the Sapped mob |
| 6+ | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, BF, KSp, Evasion, AR, SSx5, Evis, SnD, SSx5, Evis, finish off any mob about to die, Sprint, CloS, Vanish, eat/bandage, return and mop up the rest |
| Abbreviations: SnD: Slice and Dice, SS: Sinister Strike, Evis: Eviscerate, BF: Blade Flurry, KSp: Killing Spree, AR: Adrenaline Rush, CloS: Cloak of Shadows | |
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're BG leveling and/or on a PVP server. Listed below are alternative leveling specs for Dagger and Non-Dagger builds using the Assassination and Subtlety talent trees.
| Assassination Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A burst damage dagger build maximized for PVE - Primary Attack: Backstab Levels 4-49, Mutilate Levels 50-80 | ||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 |
| Assassination Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | ||||||
|
10: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 11: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 12: Malice 1/5 13: Malice 2/5 14: Malice 3/5 15: Puncturing Wounds 1/3 16: Puncturing Wounds 2/3 17: Puncturing Wounds 3/3 18: Malice 4/5 19: Malice 5/5 20: Vigor 1/1 21: Lethality 1/5 22: Lethality 2/5 23: Lethality 3/5 24: Lethality 4/5 25: Improved Poisons 1/5 26: Improved Poisons 2/5 27: Improved Poisons 3/5 28: Improved Poisons 4/5 29: Improved Poisons 5/5 30: Cold Blood 1/1 31: Fleet Footed 1/2 32: Fleet Footed 2/2 33: Quick Recovery 1/2 |
34: Quick Recovery 2/2 35: Seal Fate 1/5 36: Seal Fate 2/5 37: Seal Fate 3/5 38: Seal Fate 4/5 39: Seal Fate 5/5 40: Overkill 1/1 41: Murder 1/2 42: Murder 2/2 43: Vile Poisons 1/3 44: Vile Poisons 2/3 45: Focused Attacks 1/3 46: Focused Attacks 2/3 47: Focused Attacks 3/3 48: Find Weakness 1/3 49: Find Weakness 2/3 50: Mutilate 1/1 51: Opportunity 1/2 52: Opportunity 2/2 53: Relentless Strikes 1/5 54: Relentless Strikes 2/5 55: Relentless Strikes 3/5 56: Relentless Strikes 4/5 57: Relentless Strikes 5/5 |
58: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 59: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 60: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 61: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 62: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 63: Precision 1/5 64: Precision 2/5 65: Precision 3/5 66: Precision 4/5 67: Precision 5/5 68: Close Quarters Combat 1/5 69: Close Quarters Combat 2/5 70: Close Quarters Combat 3/5 71: Close Quarters Combat 4/5 72: Close Quarters Combat 5/5 73: Lightning Reflexes 1/3 74: Lightning Reflexes 2/3 75: Lightning Reflexes 3/3 76: Find Weakness 3/3 77: Lethality 5/5 78: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 79: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 80: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 |
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| Assassination Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A burst damage non-dagger build maximized for PVE - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-80 | ||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 |
| Assassination Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | ||||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 12: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 13: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 14: Malice 1/5 15: Malice 2/5 16: Malice 3/5 17: Malice 4/5 18: Malice 5/5 19: Ruthlessness 1/3 20: Ruthlessness 2/3 21: Ruthlessness 3/3 22: Vigor 1/1 23: Lethality 1/5 24: Lethality 2/5 25: Lethality 3/5 26: Lethality 4/5 27: Improved Poisons 1/5 28: Improved Poisons 2/5 29: Improved Poisons 3/5 30: Improved Poisons 4/5 31: Improved Poisons 5/5 32: Cold Blood 1/1 33: Fleet Footed 1/2 |
34: Fleet Footed 2/2 35: Quick Recovery 1/2 36: Quick Recovery 2/2 37: Seal Fate 1/5 38: Seal Fate 2/5 39: Seal Fate 3/5 40: Seal Fate 4/5 41: Seal Fate 5/5 42: Overkill 1/1 43: Murder 1/2 44: Murder 2/2 45: Vile Poisons 1/3 46: Vile Poisons 2/3 47: Focused Attacks 1/3 48: Focused Attacks 2/3 49: Focused Attacks 3/3 50: Find Weakness 1/3 51: Find Weakness 2/3 52: Find Weakness 3/3 53: Master Poisoner 1/3 54: Master Poisoner 2/3 55: Master Poisoner 3/3 56: Vile Poisons 3/3 57: Cut to the Chase 1/5 |
58: Cut to the Chase 2/5 59: Cut to the Chase 3/5 60: Cut to the Chase 4/5 61: Cut to the Chase 5/5 62: Hunger for Blood 1/1 63: Relentless Strikes 1/5 64: Relentless Strikes 2/5 65: Relentless Strikes 3/5 66: Relentless Strikes 4/5 67: Relentless Strikes 5/5 68: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 69: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 70: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 71: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 72: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 73: Precision 1/5 74: Precision 2/5 75: Precision 3/5 76: Precision 4/5 77: Precision 5/5 78: Turn the Tables 1/3 79: Turn the Tables 2/3 80: Turn the Tables 3/3 |
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| Subtlety Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A non-dagger PVP leveling build - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-29, Hemorrhage Levels 30-80) | ||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 |
| Subtlety Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | ||||||
| (Respec at level 30 for Hemo, dropping Improved Sinister Strike for Relentless Strikes) | ||||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 (RS 1/5) 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 (RS 2/5) 12: Relentless Strikes 3/5 13: Relentless Strikes 4/5 14: Relentless Strikes 5/5 15: Dirty Tricks 1/2 16: Dirty Tricks 2/2 17: Master of Deception 1/3 18: Master of Deception 2/3 19: Master of Deception 3/3 20: Serrated Blades 1/3 21: Serrated Blades 2/3 22: Serrated Blades 3/3 23: Elusiveness 1/2 24: Elusiveness 2/2 25: Initiative 1/3 26: Initiative 2/3 27: Initiative 3/3 28: Camouflage 1/3 29: Camouflage 2/3 30: Hemorrhage 1/1 31: Preparation 1/1 32: Dirty Deeds 1/2 33: Dirty Deeds 2/2 |
34: Heightened Senses 1/2 35: Deadliness 1/5 36: Deadliness 2/5 37: Deadliness 3/5 38: Deadliness 4/5 39: Deadliness 5/5 40: Premeditation 1/1 41: Heightened Senses 2/2 42: Master of Subtlety 1/3 43: Master of Subtlety 2/3 44: Master of Subtlety 3/3 45: Sinister Calling 1/5 46: Sinister Calling 2/5 47: Sinister Calling 3/5 48: Sinister Calling 4/5 49: Sinister Calling 5/5 50: Shadowstep 1/1 51: Honor Among Thieves 1/3 52: Honor Among Thieves 2/3 53: Honor Among Thieves 3/3 54: Malice 1/5 55: Malice 2/5 56: Malice 3/5 57: Malice 4/5 |
58: Malice 5/5 59: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 60: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 61: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 62: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 63: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 64: Vigor 1/1 65: Ruthlessness 1/3 66: Ruthlessness 2/3 67: Ruthlessness 3/3 68: Lethality 1/5 69: Lethality 2/5 70: Lethality 3/5 71: Lethality 4/5 72: Lethality 5/5 73: Blood Spatter 1/2 74: Cold Blood 1/1 75: Fleet Footed 1/2 76: Fleet Footed 2/2 77: Quick Recovery 1/2 78: Quick Recovery 2/2 79: Murder 1/2 80: Murder 2/2 |
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| Subtlety Dagger "Ambush PVP" Leveling Talent Spec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A "fun" dagger leveling build maximized for BG PVP leveling - Primary Attack: Backstab Levels 4-29, Hemorrhage Levels 30-80) | ||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 |
| Subtlety Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | ||||||
|
10: Opportunity 1/2 11: Opportunity 2/2 12: Relentless Strikes 1/5 13: Relentless Strikes 2/5 14: Relentless Strikes 3/5 15: Relentless Strikes 4/5 16 Relentless Strikes 5/5 17: Master of Deception 1/3 18: Master of Deception 2/3 19: Master of Deception 3/3 20: Serrated Blades 1/3 21: Serrated Blades 2/3 22: Serrated Blades 3/3 23: Dirty Tricks 1/2 24: Dirty Tricks 2/2 25: Improved Ambush 1/2 26: Improved Ambush 2/2 27: Initiative 1/3 28: Initiative 2/3 29: Initiative 3/3 30: Hemorrhage 1/1 31: Preparation 1/1 32: Dirty Deeds 1/2 33: Dirty Deeds 2/2 |
34: Elusiveness 1/2 35: Elusiveness 2/2 36: Deadliness 1/5 37: Deadliness 2/5 38: Deadliness 3/5 39: Deadliness 4/5 40: Premeditation 1/1 41: Deadliness 5/5 42: Master of Subtlety 1/3 43: Master of Subtlety 2/3 44: Master of Subtlety 3/3 45: Heightened Senses 1/2 46: Sinister Calling 1/5 47: Sinister Calling 2/5 48: Sinister Calling 3/5 49: Sinister Calling 4/5 50: Shadowstep 1/1 51: Sinister Calling 5/5 52: Honor Among Thieves 1/3 53: Honor Among Thieves 2/3 54: Honor Among Thieves 3/3 55: Slaughter from the Shadows 1/5 56: Slaughter from the Shadows 2/5 57: Slaughter from the Shadows 3/5 |
58: Slaughter from the Shadows 4/5 59: Slaughter from the Shadows 5/5 60: Shadow Dance 1/1 61: Malice 1/5 62: Malice 2/5 63: Malice 3/5 64: Malice 4/5 65: Malice 5/5 66: Puncturing Wounds 1/3 67: Puncturing Wounds 2/3 68: Puncturing Wounds 3/3 69: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 70: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 71: Vigor 1/1 72: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 73: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 74: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 75: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 76: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 77: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 78: 1/3 Cheat Death 79: 2/3 Cheat Death 80: 3/3 Cheat Death |
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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:
| Glyphs by Level | ||
|---|---|---|
| Level | Minor | Major |
| 15 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | 1 | 2 |
| 50 | 2 | 2 |
| 70 | 3 | 2 |
| 80 | 3 | 3 |
| Recommended Rogue Leveling Glyphs | |
|---|---|
| Minor Glyphs | Major Glyphs |
| Glyph of Blurred Speed Glyph of Pick Pocket Glyph of Vanish Glyph of Safe Fall |
Glyph of Sinister Strike Glyph of Slice and Dice Glyph of Eviscerate Glyph of Ambush Glyph of Hemorrhage Glyph of Adrenaline Rush Glyph of Mutilate Glyph of Killing Spree |
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:
| Rogue Races Chart |
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:
| Rogue Professions Chart |
If you choose Blacksmithing, Engineering or Leatherworking, then these powerleveling guides should help you out:
| Profession Powerleveling Guides | ||
|---|---|---|
| Blacksmithing | Engineering | Leatherworking |
AREA OF AFFECT (AOE) DAMAGE
Players who are used to playing classes where AoE damage is plentiful often find it difficult to transition to a Rogue, a class that doesn't offer much in the way of AoE-style damage other than Blade Flurry and eventually Fan of Knives at level 80. Here are some AoE options available to non-Engineer Rogues as you're leveling:
| AoE Options for Non-Engineers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Levels 1-9 | Levels 10-29 | Levels 30-46 | Levels 47-80 |
| Explosive Rocket | Ez-Thro Dynamite | Ez-Thro Dynamite II | Crystal Charge |
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:
| Twink Armor Charts | Twink Weapons Charts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 | Levels 70-79 | Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 | Levels 70-79 |
For more leveling guides and information, check out my Rogue Links page.
