Seeing as how the rogue has such a large amount of skills available to them it is best to explain how they work in actual combat situations. Some skills are more effective than others and some only really become truly effective with talents. Let’s go through the skill trees as they are shown in game.
Assassination
Ambush – This is an Opener that can only be used in stealth and from behind. It can only be used with daggers. This means you’re only going to use it once per fight. With the proper talent allocation and an Agility character, this skill can have a critical chance near 75%. It can also give 3 combo points if luck and talents are with you. At level 70, you’re looking at over 1000 damage, critical to 2000. The problem is that this skill can only be used once per fight. In a group that constantly fights, you can’t get back into stealth during combat so this skill might not be used all that much. You’ll find the most use out of this skill when you’re in your 20s, then again post 60. The main problem is that there are so few daggers with high damage available pre-BC expansion that other skills like Sinister Strike are more effective.
Cheap Shot (CS)Cheap Shot (CS)Cheap Shot (CS)Cheap Shot (CS)Cheap Shot (CS) – This is an Opener that can only be used from stealth. Again, it faces the same limitations of use as Ambush. With the proper talents you can reduce the cost of this skill to a measly 40 Energy and have a 75% chance of getting 3 combo points per hit. Once you acquire this skill you will be using it religiously in combat. There is rarely going to be a reason not to use this skill as it stuns the opponent for 4 seconds. Why stun instead of get a crit with Ambush? Well, in the 4 seconds you have the stun, you’re more than likely going to do that 1000 damage with Sinister Strike and auto-attack. Best part is that you won’t get hit at all during that time, increasing your effectiveness. With this skill you can be soloing creatures 1 level over you with ease and only healing every 5 fights or so. This is also the bread and butter of many PvP fights.

Envenmon – Uses up existing Deadly Poison charges on a target to do Instant Poison damage. At first glance, this is greatly overshadowed by Eviscerate. You will rarely use Deadly Poison in a solo build so not much use their either. Where this skill truly

shines however is on elites with high armor. Nearly every boss in BC is succeptible to Deadly Poison and this skill really puts a dent in their hit points. Over a long fight where you notice Eviscerate is really doing low numbers, switch to this skill and get back on top.
Eviscerate (Evis)Eviscerate (Evis)Eviscerate (Evis)Eviscerate (Evis) – Your standard Finisher. A 5 point Eviscerate at level 70 with the proper talents will be hitting for well over 1500 damage, criticals approaching 2800. There really isn’t any point in using this skill with less than 3 combo points as the damage below that investment is the same as Sinister Strike. The major issue people have with this skill is that its miss rate seems rather high compared to all our other skills. When solo, you’ll be using this finisher 90% of the time. In groups, you’ll use it when you don’t need to worry about runners. Unfortunately (or not depending on your view set) this skill does not scale with gear. You’re going to be doing the same damage with a crappy level 2 dagger as you would with a lvl 60 dagger. However, the more Attack Power you have, the more damage you do.
Expose ArmorExpose ArmorExpose ArmorExpose Armor – A Finisher that you won’t see much use of. Sure, it sounds good and when you first get it you really will see a difference when using it. The problem is that armor scales very differently than this skill allows. If you use the talent that increases its use, you’re looking at about 3075 armor loss. I know a fair amount of players at 70 who easily pass 10000 armor. Elites PCs are at least double that. Combo points can be spent here if you wish but considering there are much better Finishers (such as Kidney Shot) you best leave this skill alone once you hit level 30. The worst part is that this skill does NOT stack with Sunder Armor, a warrior skill that does the same and allows a warrior to keep aggro. Once you start grouping with warriors, you will be reminded each and every time you accidentally use this skill. Without the talent, this puts cloth wearers to 0 armor and with the talent, leather goes to 0 as well.

GarotteGarotte – A great Opener. When you first get this skill you’ll be using it all the time. The way damage over time (DoT) skills work is that they ignore armor. What you see listed as damage is the actual damage inflicted. To top it off, it also silences the target for 3 seconds. For a long time there really isn’t a better opening move than this one. Even when you acquire Cheap Shot, some elites will be completely immune to

stun effects. If you encounter one, throw on a Garotte. Guaranteed to be more effective than any other move you can open with. This skill is great for DoT builds.
Kidney ShotKidney ShotKidney ShotKidney Shot – One of the most powerful grouped and PvP Finishers you have. This one stuns an enemy for at least 5 seconds with a 5 combo point investment. It can break early and in my experience it happens more often when DoTs are applied. You won’t use this skill much while solo, unless you need to stop to use a bandage. 6 seconds means you’re getting 75% of the use of your bandage, and at 70, that can be 3400hp healed. A group setting is where this skill shines. Most instances have creatures that like to run around. Problem is that they usually start running before the group can get those last hits in. The solution is simple. Kidney Shot. 6 seconds where the enemy cannot attack you and the other people in your group can attack without worry of a counter-attack. You can see how this is better than Expose Armor, which simply reduces armor but still allows your group to get hit. Combine with Cheap Shot; you’re looking at a total of 10 seconds of stun in combat. In large group settings, a rogue that does nothing but stun makes combat nearly foolproof.
Mutiliate – Available only through talents and requiring 2 daggers, this is a skill that not a lot of people put a lot of thought into. Pre-BC, daggers were fairly rare and Maces/Swords were just the best option available. Post-BC, daggers are plentiful and a Mutilate build truly shines. A critical strike will give 3 combo points, which is great. 2 Mutilates will give you at worst 4 combo points, meaning in 2 strikes, you’re ready for a finisher, 100% of the time. No other skill can boast this. As for damage, it depends highly on your weapons and if the target is poisoned or not (99.9% of the time, it should be). It’s not uncommon to see criticals well above 1200. Similar to Backstab, it is semi-diffcult to use solo but shines in a group. You just need to watch the Hate generation.
Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD)Slice and Dice(SnD) – A Finisher than increases melee speed. You won’t be using this during solo play, that’s for sure. It can take too long to move from one opponent to the next and you lose those seconds of haste. In a group however, where the enemy hit points are low and they will not wander with extra enemies waiting to be killed, it is a very good choice. Many a time you’ll get an enemy to a sliver of health and rather than waste 5 combo points on an Eviscerate that will only do 100 of it’s 2000 possible damage, slip on SnD and get ready for the

next fight. Quite useful in groups, especially if you use poisons and you’re attacking non-stop. Once you reach 70 and start doing group work and high level raids, this skill becomes the best thing since sliced toast. Bosses have enormous amounts of armor, making Eviscerate do pitiful damage. A 30% haste is 30% more white damage (this means regular attacks) and more poisons that can hit the target. Good thing. It is the core skill of a Combat rogue as melee skill can be up to 40% of all damage output.
Combat
Backstab (BS)Backstab (BS)Backstab (BS) – A decent opening move that dual dagger rogues prefer. Can only be used with daggers. You can do a fair chunk of damage with this skill with the proper talents. The main issue is that it’s hard to find good daggers that increase this skill’s damage. You won’t be using this skill much in solo play since you need to be behind your target to get it to work, meaning you need to get a stun off first. You’re either going to need Cheap Shot, Gouge or Kidney Shot to get this attack off. In a group this is a very damaging attack that can easily remove the hate off a cloth wearer (priest, mage, warlock). I personally don’t use this attack since swords are a lot more common and combined with Sinister Strike; it is a lot more efficient than Backstab. Once you hit 60 howerver and raid a bit, I’m sure you’ll fall back on this skill. It can do devastating damage (2000 crit) with the proper talents. On a Damage/Energy scale, this is more effective than Sinister Strike since it uses a % increase while SS uses a +damage. Percentages, as a general rule, are better than static increases.
Evasion – Increases your dodge rate by 50%. This skill was often debated in its use in game. What Evasion does is increase your numerical dodge rate by 50. Let’s say you have a base Dodge value of 15%. By enabling Evasion, you are adding 50 to that number, bringing you to 65%. I tend to only use it when I have a boss that targets me or in solo work where things are going poorly. Doesn’t hurt and doesn’t cost anything other than the cooldown timer. Essential for Off-Tanking, explained further on.
Feint – This move lowers the aggro you have against you. Useless solo but in groups can save your life. I choose to use it after Evasion. If you have a good warrior, it will work very quickly. If you have a bad warrior in the group, even turning off auto attack will not save you. If you wanted to, you could create a macro that enabled Evasion, waited 1.5 seconds, then enabled Feint. This

would save the hassle of having to keep it on the skill bar taking up a slot. Until you learn to manage hate and even afterwards, this skill will be the difference between looting a corpse and getting a res. Some people spam this skill in combat to ensure they don’t get hit but I would advise against it. Learning when to use this skill is part and parcel of being a good rogue.
GougeGouge – This is one of your tools to kill mages. A 4 second stun might not sound like much, but it does allow you to move behind for a BS if you want to. Personally I don’t use this skill unless I want to stop a caster. Your kick missed or perhaps the mage is casting another spell line? Gouge will stop them. In PvP this can make your opponent freak out if you just move behind them so they can’t see you. Not terribly useful in a group unless you want to take on the extra mage that wanders in to your group. With Kick and Gouge you can take out elite casters at your level, but it won’t be easy. Worst case, you have 4 seconds to bandage up.
KickKick – A spell stopping boot to the gut. This is an essential skill for solo work. You will be fighting casters and kick will put a stop to 80% of their potential damage. Casters usually have very weak physical attacks so stopping their casting is essential, especially for those annoying ones who can heal themselves. Kicking a Paladin or Priest while they are healing is always fun as some plan their combat around that spell. Use Gouge if this move fails. Some people would prefer to simply use Gouge as it stuns them for 4 seconds. I prefer kick because one Gouge breaks, they start casting right away, while with Kick you can beat them while they hit you with their weak attack. Talents can impose a silence trait on your target, completely devasting some casters.
Shiv – Applies off-hand poison instantly. It’s a quick way to get a combo point, can be more effective than Hemorrhage by a fair chunk and does more damage if you consider the poison applied. Slow weapons benefit the most as a fast weapon (ie dagger)_can potentially use ~50energy. A slow mace would use closer to 30energy. Less useful in PvE than in PvP, where you really need to manage every ounce of energy.

Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS)Sinister Strike(SS) – The skill you will be spamming for your entire career. This move is based off your weapon damage, regardless of the weapon. At maximum level, it’s weapon damage plus 98 damage. With a dagger that does 130 base damage, you’re at 228damage to start for SS. With a sword that does 200 damage, you’re looking at 298

damage to start. That’s a 25% increase in damage and no decrease in delay since it’s skill based and not weapon based delay. Think of it as DPS. The skill takes 4 seconds to reuse. With a dagger, that’s 57dps and with a sword, that’s 75dps. That damage is then multiplied by other percentages, such as critical chance and power boost. If you don’t believe me, try it out. Get a dagger and run half a level with it. For the second half, use a sword. The damage will be more than likely doubled from SS. The Improved Sinister Strike talent is something nearly every rogue will get at levels 10 and 11. Please see the next section on the debate of Sinister Strike vs Hemorrhage.
SprintSprintSprint – Use this skill to get out of a tight spot. Until you get the Vanish ability, I would not use this skill unless you’re in a low level zone or in town as its main use is to save your hide. It’s one of your only “get out of death free” skills, so keep it available.
Subtlety
BlindBlind – An interesting attack. It requires blinding poison, which isn’t terribly easy to make since you need fadeleaf, an herbalism only item. Using it during solo/group PvE doesn’t make much sense since any attack will awake the opponent. Using it in PvP however can turn a fight as it gives you time to acquire more energy and perhaps get a Vanish off. Vanish will make NPCs get full health; so don’t use it when in PvE combat.
Cloak of ShadowsCloak of ShadowsCloak of ShadowsCloak of ShadowsCloak of ShadowsCloak of ShadowsCloak of Shadows – Your “get out of spell damage” skill. This skill makes you practically immune to spell damage for 5 seconds. In PvP it’s great when you know a potentially devastating attack is coming, very deadly against mages who can chain cast. They’ll blow all their mana, you’ll resist it all. In PvE, I use this for pulling casters or against bosses. You learn when to use this best, such as when you’re about to get feared or an AE blast is coming. With a 1 minute timer and some fights lasting 5-10 minutes with blasts that go for 8000dmg, you can imagine the usefulness of this skill. Consider it the same as evasion but for spells.
Detect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm TrapsDetect Traps and Disarm – Not much use for these skills. Blackwing Lair has a suppression room where you will use it though.

DistractDistract – You’ll use this skill 95% of the time you’re in stealth mode. It keeps an enemy from moving around, giving you the chance to get positioned for a Pick Pocket, Ambush or Garotte. It costs 30 Energy but with its range, by the time you get to the

opponent, your Energy will have regenerated. This is useful when trying to get through a heavily trafficked area. Pop a Distract on the ground away from your path and you can walk behind the enemies with ease. Use it to break a spawn or stop an opponent in their tracks. This also works great in PvP to stop someone who is running and not in combat.
Hemorrhage(Talent)Hemorrhage(Talent)Hemorrhage(Talent)Hemorrhage(Talent) – An instant attack that costs 35 energy and gives 1 combo point as well as inflicts a nice debuff on the target. The debuff can last for 15 seconds or 30 combat strikes, whichever comes first. Each hit gains up to 10 base damage, ie your weapon that does 30-35dmg now does 40-45dmg. It does not stack. This skill is not affected by attack speed normalization as it uses a normal attack swing. This means that the damage calculations use your actual weapon speed and not the static 1.7/2.4 as with other skills. The main benefits are in PvP and large group events. Please see the next section on the debate of Sinister Strike vs Hemorrhage.
Pick Pocket (PP)Pick Pocket (PP)Pick Pocket (PP)Pick Pocket (PP)Pick Pocket (PP) – Pick Pocketing humanoids has a 10% chance of giving you a lockbox. This is a good way to train lockpicking and not become bored. You can get gems, food and potions from this skill as well. It can double your cash income easily. This is the one of the reason you’ll be hunting humanoids.
Safe FallSafe FallSafe FallSafe Fall – Unless you plan on falling in Darnassus, there’s yet to be a whole lot of use to this skill. Still, as a passive skill you can’t go wrong.
Sap – Amazing skill. The perfect tool for splitting a spawn when solo. It gives you 25-45 seconds to kill one target, get a bandage on and get ready for the second target. With talents, you have a 100% chance of returning to Stealth. Main issue is that it does not work on non-humanoids or on creatures already in combat. It basically makes you the “puller” for a group if you do use it. If it fails, you’re hitting Evasion and hoping your priest is quick on their heals. In 5 man groups at 70, this talent is practically required entry.
StealthStealth – Live it, love it. So many powerful skills are based off Stealth. It lets you get incredibly close to opponents without danger. Makes leaving some instances VERY easy instead of using your Hearth Stone. The Master of Deception talent increased your Stealth skill by 3 levels. So at level 70, you’re really at level 73 Stealth-wise. Learn quickly where you can and cannot move to while

Stealth based on your target’s level. Know the telltale sign