Throughout your travels you’ll come across a ton of trade skill items available to you, either through your guild, friends or your own manufacture. It’s important to understand how professions affect you as a rogue and what best fits. There are professions and secondary schools of trade. You can only select 2 professions and as many secondaries as you want. The professions are: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, Herbalism, Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Mining, Skinning, and Tailoring. The secondary schools are First Aid, Cooking and Fishing.
For a power leveling rogue, you will select Skinning and Mining as your two professions as they generate the most money by far. The only problem with skinning is that you need to hunt beasts, and they do not drop money or items. This simply means you’ll need to spend a lot of time in the Auction House selling and buying to keep equipped and perhaps spend some time pick pocketing humanoids for junkboxes.
Profession Details
Aside from Fishing, Cooking and First Aid, you can only select a combination of 2 of the following professions. Every rogue should get First Aid. Cooking and Fishing can be raised together at a later date and can provide some significant boosts at level 60.
Alchemy – Used to make potions. Requires Herbalism to actually be useful though. Many potions are used in different trade skill but you’ll find the most use from the Agility potions and healing potions.
Blacksmithing – You can use about 4 items total in this profession. Requires Mining as well. Not suggested at all.
Enchanting – Enchant your equipment and others with some pretty amazing bonuses. Requires green or better items to disenchant to increase skill though and therefore the most expensive and difficult skill to raise.
Engineering – The only skill where 90% of the items can only be used by fellow engineers with enough skill. Can make bombs (which can stun your opponent for 3 seconds, so great for PvP) and a large variety of unique items. Jumper Cables can resurrect someone, Shrink Ray reduces attack

power by 250, and Death Ray inflicts a ton of damage. Can also create pets to help you out in battle. Requires Mining to increase the skill. This should be the profession you select at 60 as well as enchanting. The major reason for being an engineer is that you can buy 99% of all the craftable items from every other tradeskill BUT engineering. You need to be an engineer to use engineering items.
Herbalism – Used to collect herbs. They can be sold to others or used with the Alchemy skill. The hardest skill to raise as herbs are difficult to find.
Jewelcrafting – The art of cutting gems. A fair amount of items between 60-70 have gem slots and you need this skill to cut them. You don’t need the skill to put them in your gear though and none are bind on pickup. Having 1 or 2 Jewelcrafters in a guild is sufficient for most. If you’re interested in starting the skill, it costs about 500g to get to 300 skill, the point where you actually start to cut gems. Still another 75 skill to go after and it’s a long road.
Leatherworking – Can make some amazing gear. If you were not to take mining, you should take this skill and make your own gear from level 35 on up. Armor patches can add 160 armor, which is like a new chest piece. Requires Skinning to raise the skill. This is a close second to Engineering.
Mining – Great to make cash. Used with Blacksmithing and Engineering as well. Can be a pain to raise at certain points, but finding ore is not a big issue.
Skinning – The best skill to make money from. Leather is used in a lot of professions and sells for a ton of cash. Best used with Leatherworking, though with Mining you make even more money.
Tailoring – Used mainly by mages because the gear is cloth only. Can make bags however, which everyone needs. Not suggested for a rogue though.
First Aid – Take this skill. Live it, love it. Since you will be killing humanoids, they will drop the items required to raise this skill. This nearly eliminates any downtime. Hunting Humanoids gives all the items necessary to use this skill. If you are skinning, you won’t find any First Aid items and would switch over to Cooking instead.

Cooking – Get this skill to 60 at least. You can make Thistle Tea (+100 Energy, 5 min cool down) at that skill level which is a great rogue item. Going past this skill level requires the hunting of beasts (which you would be doing if a skinner) and can save some downtime later on. Can also give stat boosts to stamina and spirit. The easiest way to raise this skill to 60 is simply to take Fishing and cool all the fish you catch. The reason I don’t expect you to put a whole lot of thought into raising this skill is for the fact that you will be hunting Humanoids and getting bandages that are much more effective than food. As you level however, keep all the recipes you acquire. At max level, you can make some pretty amazing items, one such gives 30 stamina or another that gives 20 agility.
Fishing – A time sink if there ever was one but my favourite nonetheless. If you’ve got nothing to do, just plop your line in and start fishing. Combined with cooking, this is a good way to keep a buff on you during combat as you can simply cook the fish you catch.
Suggested Professions:
From 1-40 I highly suggest you get 2 gathering professions. Personally, I enjoy herbalism and mining as I don’t hunt beasts with my rogue. I say gathering because you want to get as much cash as possible for your mount at 40. All other professions cost money to increase.
At 70, you have a few options. I don’t suggest Enchanting if you’re in a guild. Someone else will have it already. Leatherworking has some amazing patterns that you can make a few gold with or equip, but once someone buys something, they won’t necessarily come back. Engineering is a great profession to have as the high end trinkets can do some cool tricks and you NEED the skill to use the items. Alchemy is just an amazing thing to have. Everyone uses potions and uses them a lot and will always bring money in. Having herbalism just increases profits by a ridiculous amount. Personally, I have mining/engineering on my rogue and herbalism/alchemy on my alt.