3.6.1 Basics
Rogues in World of Warcraft are a very fast-paced class. If you mess up, you tend to
mess up big-time and wind up dead. Rogues are very micromanagement-intensive, but
can kill most enemies before they have a chance to do any significant damage.
Daggers are a Rogue’s best friend. Daggers allow for the best damage in most cases.
Some other Rogues swear by wearing a sword in one hand, which reduces the number
of abilities you can use (some require daggers) in a trade-off for higher damage from
Sinister Strike. In the end it’s two different play styles that work out equally well.
Rogues got powerful attacks when they can locate themselves behind an enemy, just
like in most other roleplaying games. Their speciality in WoW is the so-called stun-lock:
A variety of different stuns allows them to keep an enemy immobilized and unable to
fight back for an extended period of time – a deadly PvP treat.
Rogues also have the advantage of being able to create poisons. Poisons are rogueonly
weapon enchantments and are useful for a variety of reasons. Each poison has a
number of charges and last about 30 minutes. You should usually keep a different
poison on each blade unless you’re a fan of only using deadly or instant poison.
Remember that weapons on the off hand don’t strike as often as weapons on the main
hand.
Poison Name Effect
Crippling Poison Slows target’s movement.
Deadly Poison DOT Poison that stacks up to 5 times.
Instant Poison Instant poison that deals direct damage.
Mind-Numbing Poison Increases casting time of enemies. Good for PvP.
Use crippling poison on monsters that tend to run away and get their friends. This is
good in instances and when fighting humanoids.
Groupability 5
Rogues in groups will find themselves to be the damage dealers. They are very good
pullers when fighting humanoids since one of their skills allows them to disable an
enemy for 45 seconds if it hasn’t entered the combat yet. Due to so many people playing
a rogue, things can become difficult when you try to find a group.
Fun Factor 6
Rogues are able to kill most enemies in under twenty seconds - very, very appealing. In
standard PvP situations (not duels) they are the most deadly class since you will
practically always catch your enemies unaware.
Rogues should base their talents around what they enjoy doing best. If you like to sneak
around the shadows, invest in the subtlety tree. If you like to just get down and dirty,
invest in combat. Sword-Rogues tend to invest in combat to maximize their damage.
A full run down on talent builds and rogue specific strategies can be found in “The Secret
World of Warcraft Rogue Guide”:
http://www.killerguides.com/wow/guides/world-of-warcraft-rogue-guide.htm
3.6.2 Recommended Tradeskills:
Rogues have three professions they can consider looking into:
? Alchemy is a very handy skill for Rogues. Alchemy can reduce downtime,
increase armor, agility, regeneration, and has a bunch of other nifty
effects. You may want to seriously consider this branch. It also allows
them to gather swiftthistle which is needed for thistle tea. Thistle Tea is a
quest objective that allows you to restore yourself to full energy,
EXTREMELY useful in some fights.
? Rogues die very, very, easily, so you may want to consider taking up
leatherworking. With leatherworking, you can make your own armors
which boost agility and sell the rest on the market for gold.
? Smithing isn’t common on Rogues, but should be considered. A Rogue
relies on damage above all else, so going smithing for the ability to make
the latest daggers shouldn’t be ignored.
3.6.3 Spells and Abilities
Do’s
? Kick
? Gouge
? Ambush
? Parry
? Poisons
? Distract
Don’t
? Expose Armor
? Backstab (When soloing)
Players who like their action fast and furious will enjoy the Rogue. Those who tend to
like paced combat and security will probably go for other classes. Consider the fact that
Rogues can die very easily if not handled correctly before you chose this class, this
class is not a newbie-friendly one.
Dwarf Gnom
e
Human Night-Elf Orc Troll Undead
Agility 16 26 23 28 20 25 21
Intelligenc
e
19 23 20 20 17 16 18
Spirit 19 20 20 20 23 21 25
Stamina 25 20 21 20 23 22 22
Strength 25 16 21 18 24 22 20
Total 104 105 105 106 107 106 106
Useable Weapons: Bows, Crossbows, Dagger, Fist Weapons, Maces, Thrown,
& Swords
Useable Weapons: Daggers, Staves, Swords, & Wands
3.6.4 Tips:
?? Rogues have some lag-levels around mid-20’s and again in the early-
40’s, don’t give up, keep plugging.
?? If you find yourself dying very easily, try changing your attack scheme.
Instead of sinister striking, try another attack. Also buy armor a few levels
above you. One of the most motivational tools is when you have
something you are looking forward to. Whenever you have extra cash as
a Rogue, start buying things a few levels ahead of you so you have
something to look forward to, to get you over the humps. If you do this
consistently, you’ll always have new gear waiting for you.
?? Upping your agility or getting a new dagger can help you kill things much
more quickly. If you feel yourself in a real slump, pick up a new dagger.
?? If you have the ability to choose between an item with 8 agility, or 5 agility
and 4 stamina, take the agility. The one point sacrifice isn’t much, but
agility for the Rogue is much better than any other stat.
3.6.5 Suggested Items
Blackvenom Blade – Dagger – Level 21- (18.9 DPS)(One Hand) +1 Agility, COH:
5 nature damage every 3 seconds for 15 seconds.
Drops off Rohh the Silent (Rare Enemy) in Redridge Mountains.
Prison Shank – Dagger – Level 21 – (16.7 DPS)(One Hand) +5 Agility, +2
Stamina.
Drops off Bruegal Ironknuckle in the Stockade.
Meteor Shard – Dagger – Level 24 – (18.3 DPS)(One Hand) COH 35 Fire Dmg.
Drops off Archmage Arugal in Shadowfang Keep.
Toxic Revenger – Dagger – Level 27 – (20.5 DPS)(One Hand) COH: 5 Damage
to every enemy in 8 yard radius for 15 seconds.
Drops off Viscous Fallout in Gnomeregan.
Sandstalker Ankleguards – Feet – Level 46 - +6 Strength, +17 Agility, +3 Spirit.
Drops off Zerillis in Zul’Farrak.
Phytoskin Spaulders – Shoulders – Level 46 - +16 Agility, +10 Stamina, + 10
Nature Resist.
Drops off Razorlash in Maraudon.
Barman Shanker – Dagger – Level 50 – (36.5 DPS) COH: 100 dmg over 3
seconds.
Drops off Plugger Spazzring in Blackrock Depths.
Ragefury Eyepatch – Head – Level 52 - +6 Strength, +9 Stamina, Crit Strike
+2%.
Drops off Hurley Blackbreath in Blackrock Depths.
Truestrike Shoulders – Shoulders – Level 56 – Chance to hit +2%, +24 Attack
Power.
Drops off Pyroguard Emberseer in Blackrock Spire.