Rogue leveling in WoW Forever: weapons, abilities by level and rotation

The short answer

Level Combat for solo play: it is the build that uses any weapon, has the smoothest Energy and is the one we recommend on the class page. Subtlety is better in groups, and Assassination is not a good starter but has big power spikes later, with Mutilate at level 40. Dual wield comes early, at level 10, so Rogues have two weapons almost from the start.

Get rid of the starting weapon as soon as you can: Sinister Strike scales with weapon damage, so each upgrade makes every hit bigger.

Weapons to level with

Rogues can use daggers, one-handed swords, maces, axes (new in Forever) and fist weapons, plus bows, crossbows, guns and thrown weapons. They train Dual Wield at level 10, and Dual Wield Specialization is a Combat talent. Weapon skills are trained at weapon masters in the capitals.

Daggers are required in the main hand for Backstab, which you learn at level 4, and for Ambush. Combat can avoid them: with Hack and Slash at level 30 you can use any weapon and Sinister Strike does more with swords, maces or axes. Assassination and Subtlety keep daggers in the main hand. The class quest at level 10 gives a dagger, and the level 30 quest a sword; see the class weapon quests.

• Dual Wield
• Backstab
• Sinister Strike

Abilities by level

These levels come from the game data. 1: Sinister Strike, Eviscerate and Stealth. 4: Backstab and Pick Pocket. 6: Gouge. 8: Evasion. 10: Dual Wield, Slice and Dice, Sap and Sprint. 12: Kick. 14: Expose Armor and Garrote. 16: Feint. 18: Ambush. 20: Rupture and the poisons class quest. 22: Vanish and Distract.

24: Shank, a new builder that gives Energy. 26: Cheap Shot. 30: Kidney Shot, Hemorrhage and Hack and Slash. 34: Blind. 40: Mutilate, Death Mark and dual talent specialization.

• Sinister Strike
• Eviscerate
• Stealth
• Backstab
• Pick Pocket
• Gouge

Openers, finishers and rotation

Open from Stealth with Ambush, Garrote if the target will live for the whole bleed, or Cheap Shot. Walking up without stealth is fine early on, since stealth slows you down. Build combo points with Sinister Strike, Backstab or Mutilate, keep Slice and Dice up and finish with Eviscerate at 3 to 5 points. Combo points do not carry over to another target.

Use Shank whenever it is ready, Kick to interrupt, and Gouge plus Kick on a caster. Use Expose Armor only if the target will live for the full duration. Poisons can crit and stack with other weapon enhancements, so apply them before the pull. Skinning and Mining are the usual professions, and the professions guide has the rest.

The full level 60 talent split is in the talents guide and on the Rogue page.

• Stealth
• Ambush
• Garrote
• Cheap Shot
• Sinister Strike
• Backstab