** The information on this page comes as the result of a lot of trial and error, working with different techniques and talent tree setups, conversations with other rogues, lots and lots of experience with different equipment and many years of playing rogues back to the days of D&D on paper. While ultimately the information contained herein is my opinion, leaving the reader to accept, reject or ignore any or all of it, it is the result of a lot of effort and observation and I, as well as others, have found much success as a rogue using these techniques. I offer it to you and hope you find it useful **
This guide is being updated to support version 2.x and the expansion.
The updated guide will be posted soon
There are few character classes as deadly and yet as misunderstood as the Rogue. Some view the rogue as a warrior who can stealth which is far from the rogue's true purpose. Rogues are limited in weapon selection and armor, have no magic abilities, have no healing abilities and are vulnerable to damage and death when attacked. So how can such a seemingly weak character be considered a death machine? Read on and you'll shall see.
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Stealth/Hiding
The most obvious unique skill for this class is stealth, the ability to essentially become invisible and truck around unseen. Rather than thinking of this ability as the rogue's main purpose, it should rather be considered one of the rogue's many tools in his/her toolbox. The goal for the rogue is not to hide, the goal is to lay waste to an opponent. Stealth is one of the vehicles. The very helpful and proably one of the best assets the rogue has is the Vanish ability. A rogue doesn't have to die. While there are always some circumstances that can't be avoided, for the most part a rogue who knows when failure is emminent will know when to use vanish and return to the shadows to recoup, and plan a new strategy. Vanish also grants the rogue a higher degree of stealth rendering them invisible even to those that can sense invisibility for a brief time. These abilities give the rogue some important tools through which to launch some devistating attacks including ambush, sap, cheap shot and more.
Pickpocket
The rogue alone has the ability to steal loot from humanoid enemies. One item that is relatively rare to find but equally frequent for a rogue to pickpocket are various gems. Along with money and an occasional goodie box, gems can fetch some good $$ at the auction house.
On a side note, I'd like to point out that oddly enough Oozes can be pickpocketed. This is very useful during the lvl 51 rogue quest that sends you to azhara to collect from a bunch of forest oozes which are few in number and frequency.
Lockpicking
We don't need no stinkin' keys! Many of the higher lvl instances require a key to get in the door. A good rogue doesn't need a key, they go where they may key or not!
While it can be an arduous task, you should strive to get your lvl to the max. I can think no other situation to make a rogue feel worse than being in an instance where the group comes upon a nice big chest full of goodies that's locked and they look to you to pop it and.....you're lvl isn't high enough and it has to be passed over.
There are plenty of places to build up lockpicking, though finding the right places in the right order can be a task. I suggest the following locations in this order:
1) Alther's Mill just north of Lakeshire
2) The bottom of the lake around Lakeshire
3) The Zoram Strand in Ahenvale
4) The Murloc camps just outside of Menethil harbor
5) Under the water near Shadowprey Villiage in Desolace.
6) Angor Fortress in the Badlands
7) Pirate camp at Lost Rigger Cove in Tanaris
8) Tyr's Hand in Eastern Plaguelands (you may wnat to bring some help at this location).
9) Feralfen Villiage (BC) SW of Telredor in Zangermarsh.
Another popular way to build up your lockpicking skills is to offer free lockpicking services near an auction house where many players are gathered. Some will tip you for the effort which is an added benefit of doing this.
Poisons
Starting at level 20, the rogue can learn the unique ability to mix and administer poisons to his/her blades to great effect. One skill a rogue will want to master is knowing which poisons to use and when. There are five different kinds of poison, each having a unique effect.
Instant Poison
Instant poison adds an addional 19 to 148 nature damage instantly to the target, depending on the poison's level, in addion to the damage by the hit itself. Basically this increases the damage per hit with the coated weapon.
Crippling Poison
Crippling Poison reduces the enemy's speed by 30% to 50% for 12 seconds depending on the poison's level. This poison is extremely valuable in situations where mobs like to run away when they are close to death which often results in additional mobs rushing to wipe you out. With their speed reduced, these mobs will still attempt to run, but they will walk, slowly, away giving you ample time to finish them off before they can alert others to your presence.
Deadly Poison
Deadly Poison inflicts 36 to 108 damage over 12 seconds depending on the poison's level. The real benefit of this poison is the fact that it stacks as many as 5 times which of course multiplies the poisons effect. A five stack of this poison's effect is a great asset in bringing down an enemy quickly.
Mind Numbing Poison
This poison effects casters and increases the casting time of their spells by 40% to 60% for 14 seconds as the poisons level increases. The uses for it are obvious, as rogues can be particularly suceptable to magic attacks, increasing the cast time of harmful spells can buy the rogue and his friends the time they need to drop enemy casters before they manage to do too much damage.
Wound Poison
Wound Poison reduces the effects of healing on the target for 55 to 135 for 15 seconds depending on the poison's level. Like Deadly Poison, this effect stacks up to 5 times on a target which can render an enemy's attempts to heal themselves futile.
A rogue carrying some of each of these poisons is prepared to handle any situation that may come up. Knowing the right combinations of poisons to use (a different poison on each weapon) for the right circumstances is a valuable asset to any group.
The Rogue's Secret Weapon: Agility
The Rogue's main and most important attribute is agility. Agility counts toward attack power, damage and evasion. Since the rogue is weak where armor is concerned, the best way to counter this is by striving to obtain as high an agility rating as possible - the higher the agility, the harder it is for an enemy to land a hit. If a rogue can get his/her agility high enough, he/she can more than make up for the lack of armor with physical attackers and deal out some insanely deadly attacks of their own.
To make the most effective rogue, the best plan is to use high-speed, high dps daggers. Matched with a high agility, dps is more important to a rogue than the weapon's actual damage range. Matched with a well structured skill set and poisons the rogue can rail off dagger hits like machinegun fire that simply shred an enemy where they stand.
Swords vs. Daggers
Many who play a rogue do not understand fully the true function of a rogue. The rogue is not a warrior and regardless of the level of leather armor being worn, is trash compared to what the plate warriors wear. Drawing hate is the last thing a rogue wants to do. Rogues deal out their damage in DPS which comes into greatest effect when attacking an enemy continuously while its attention is on others. A weapon's flat weapon damage draws aggro more quickly than dps. That bieng said, a good dagger usually has a lower weap damage rating but a high dps and a high speed if it's a good one. If you get yourself a good dagger with a high speed and a high dps, and you have a good agility rating, you will deal out far more damage with daggers than you will with swords. In WOW, the real key difference between daggers and swords is speed. While a sword might have higher outright damage than a dagger, they are inherantly slow. A dagger with a high dps and a high speed, not to mention loaded with poison, can often land twice as many hits as a slower sword dealing much more damage in the same amount of time, but because each individual hit typically does less weapon damage than a sword, the aggro draw is much less. I like to call this the 'machine gun effect'. There are exceptions to this which are covered later. A rogue should look do to as much damage in as short a time as possible without being so excessive about it that they take aggro from the tank.
Group/Raid Tactics
Rogues are deadly however depending on how they are set up, prone to quick death if not careful. Rogues should lay low at the start of an attack and assess where enemies are gathering. The rogue should never attack a main opponent that is being handled by the warrior until the warrior has held the aggro for a few seconds. If the warrior is using Sunder Armor, wait until you see a couple stack-up before striking as this is the standard marker for when the warrior has sufficient hate upon him to hold the mob's attention. Rogues, along with mages, are excellent crowd control with their use of sap and various stun abilities. Saps are important in that they are the only crowd control method that doesn't aggro the mob once enacted (90% of the time with full imp sap that is). If you have multiple rogues in the group, you can multisap before sheeps or shackles reducing the number of incoming greatly. Leaving the core enemy to the warrior, the rogue should look to thin the enemy numbers, starting with mages and also focusing on any enemies that trail back to the healers and casters. Once the mob is under control, the rogue can help the warrior finish off the rest. While a rogue can be an effective puller, when in a high end dungeon, it is not recommended due to their low armor.
ROGUES ARE NOT WARRIORS.....In case you missed that I'll repeat, rogues are NOT warriors. So many want to use a rogue to tank. While rogues can do very well on their own, especially in earlier levels, once they start getting into places like scholomance, strat or places requiring raid groups of 10 or more, the last thing you want to do with a rogue is tank. Rogues simply can not handle aggro. Rogues historically follow the same strategies of the ancient ninja. Rogues do not run out and scream I AM HERE, BRING IT ON! The rogue remains unseen, unknown and strikes at just the right time, when the odds are in his/her favor with such precision and speed that by the time the enemy realizes he's beeing hit by the rogue...he's dead. In a raid or group the rogue should remain stealthed even after the onset of the battle and observe the situation, determine the target and strike appropriately. When aggro is not on the rogue, dps shredding is quick. If the rogue takes on aggro, damage dealt is reduced, so it can't be stated enough to do everything possible to keep aggro elsewhere. If the rogue does end up with aggro, he/she can use feign to reduce his/her threat. Using feign can be trickey but can work almost every time if done properly. If you are going to use fein, the best time is when someone else is also pounding on the enemy, so that once you hit the feign, the enemy will be instantly aware that someone else is plinking on him and will turn his attention. Stop attacking that enemy for a moment to allow the other teammate to get more aggro, then you can resume, preferably with a couple backstabs to yank some big HP at the onset.
PVP/Battlegrounds
When running against the horde (or alliance if you are on the horde side), the rogue must setup a little differently than in a raid group. In pvp weapon damage is more pertinent than dps. That is not to say dps isn't necessary, you still want a high speed and dps, but you likely won't have as much opportunity to beat on a living enemy while they stand still for you like enemies in a raid. You need to bring HP down quickly and most likely you will have opponents all around you. Real live human opponents do not have aggro, they are driven by determined individuals like yourself who are determined to kill all over and over again. These real opponents won't stand still like most of the enemies in raids and do not always follow a set of established behaviors. They can adapt to your tecnhique if you're not careful and they can predict your next move if you let them. The rogue will need to use more warrior-like tactics once he/she comes out of stealth. And you will want to stay stealthed at all times when you are not actively attacking someone. You must equip items that boost your stamina but you wont want to sacrifice too much agility for it so you must find a good balance. Remember, agility is used in a rogue's damage calculation so the rogue will want lots of it. Equipping a Cloak of Warding will give you a good armor boost, be sure to get an agility enchant on it. Here is the place where the rogue may want to opt for a sword. You'll want to find a sword with a good damage rating and as high a speed as possible. Finding one with a good status effect is best also, crippling effects are always a good thing. A good sword coupled with a good high speed dagger can make the rogue a deadly opponent in PVP. Personally I use a Frostguard sword and a Felstriker dagger for PVP and have had excellent results. The right poisons coupled with well timed skill moves will make short work of your opponent.
There are many possible combinations of armor and weaponry for effectivness in PVP. Be sure to try different things to find what works for you. The advice here should help you find the right equipment. Most of all in PVP, do NOT stand still. As in any FPS or player vs player game, standing still is a deathwish. Always stealth and keep moving!
Talent Tree
If you plan to do a lot of PVP, you'll want to spec your rogue with a good bit of the assassination tree which is geared toward increased critical strikes. However, critical strikes draw aggro from enemies when working in a raid group, which for a rogue played properly is a bad idea. Very important for any rogue is to max out Master of Deception and Elusiveness in the Subtlety tree and Lightning Reflexes, Improved Evasion and Deflection on the Combat tree. Paired with a high agility these talents make it just that much more difficult for an enemy to land a strike. You'll want to max out Improved Sap, especially once you start going in raids to the higher instances. You'll find a rogue without Imp Sap is like a Hunter without a pet. My personal preference is to load up mostly on the Combat/Subtlety trees. High agility also counts toward criticals (current level/2) and dodge (current level/4)so if you can get your agility up, you'll land criticals anyway, but since the goal of the rogue is to do damage without gaining aggro, putting many points on the Assassination tree is countereffective toward those ends.
(Click Here to see the melee damage calculation table).
You will want to load up on the Combat side. Max out Dual Wield spec and Daggers. You definately want Riposte which instantly does 150% damage and disarms the opponent. This move is avialable after a successful parry which happens very frequently if you max out Deflection on the same tree.
Blade Flurry is an excellent talent to have and since it allows the rogue to hit multiple enemies, is great in the middle of chaos. Used in the right situation it is a devistatingly effective 15-second AOE. And ultimately having that point on Adrenaline Rush is invaluable when it looks like things are taking a sour turn. This talent for 15 seconds makes your rogue the most deadly char in the game by increasing energy regeneration by 100% for fifteen seconds. With this enabled the rogue can pretty much unload skill after skill after skill and litterally watch that hp bar on the enemy drain like water in a sieve, often saving the day.
You want to be comfortable with the character and talent trees are a highly personal customization, but the key is to remember what the rogue's true position is. You must not only be aware of the rogue's strengths but also the weaknesses. You want to exploit the strengths exponentially and counter or eliminate the weaknesses just as ambiguously. Know your own limitations and find ways to overcome them.
Lastly I'd like to mention a drink called Thistle Tea. It seems there are a large number of rogues who've either never heard of it or don't know what it is for. Thistle tea is a drink that instantly restores the energy bar to full capacity. This is another emergency item that can make the difference between life and death (or vanishing and going someplace safe) when it's use is timed right.
Thistle tea is a cooking recipe that is obtainable from the fellow in the basement of Ravenholdt Manor. 60 points in cooking is required to be able to learn the recipe which also can be reached quickly. The materials needed are 1 swiftthistle and 1 spring water to make 1 tea. Swiftthistle is an herb which is often coupled with other herbs when gathering. If you know an herbalist or are one, this is an easy material to get. Occasionally you can find it in the Iron Forge Auction House also. Cooking is a secondary profession and is beneficial to learn as a rogue for thistle tea alone if nothing else. Having a good supply of Thistle Tea at the ready along with the other measures mentioned above make the rogue true to form and will allow him/her to live up to the high damage deadliness the character's reputation suggests.
And always remember the rogue's motto "Flash Powder...Never leave home without it!"
