Level a Rogue in World of Warcraft: Forever as Combat with a sword, axe or mace in each hand: Sinister Strike to build combo points, Eviscerate to finish, and the new Shank at level 24 for extra Energy every 10 seconds. Forever also adds Poised at level 18, which makes your first ability after resting cheaper, so every opener hits harder than it did in the original game.
Below is why Combat wins for leveling, the talents to take first, the new abilities and when they arrive, the poison changes and how to cut the downtime Rogues are known for. It is checked against Blizzard’s Rogue and Warlock class deep dive and its beta development notes up to the November 2 launch notes, as of November 7.
Which Spec to Level a Rogue As
Blizzard calls Rogues “the masters of Stealth” with “the highest potential single-target melee damage in the game.” It splits the specs clearly: Assassination “specializes in daggers,” while Combat and Subtlety “have support for all weapon types.”
| Spec | Weapons | Why level as it | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combat (our pick) | Any one-handers, including axes now | Steady damage, Energy savings, Blade Flurry | Less burst from Stealth |
| Assassination | Daggers | Poison-focused damage, Mutilate | Needs two daggers for Mutilate |
| Subtlety | Any | Stealth tricks, Death Mark | Slowest kills while leveling |
Combat is our pick because it does not care what weapons drop for you, and Forever made that even easier: Rogues can now equip one-handed axes, and the new Hack and Slash talent rolls the old sword, mace, dagger and fist weapon specializations into one, with axes getting the same extra-attack chance as swords. Most Combat talents also cut Energy costs, which is what leveling a Rogue is really about.
Assassination is strong once you have two daggers. Mutilate strikes with both, is boosted against Poisoned targets and awards 2 combo points, and Cold Blood is now the 16-point talent.
Rogue Talents to Take First
Talents start at level 10, and the milestone talents open at 11, 16, 21 and 31 points, which is levels 20, 25, 30 and 40 if every point goes into Combat. Our order, using talents Blizzard has confirmed in Forever’s Combat tree:
- Levels 10 to 19: Coup de Grace (formerly Improved Eviscerate, now in the first row, worth up to 20% more Eviscerate damage), Efficient Strikes (formerly Improved Sinister Strike, it now also discounts Hemorrhage) and Precision, which now raises your hit chance with all attacks and Poisons.
- Levels 20 to 24: Improved Sprint, now in the second row, and Composure, a new 2-point third-row talent that adds 5 or 10 more Energy savings to Poised.
- Level 25: Flawless Execution, the 16-point talent, which cuts Eviscerate’s Energy cost by 15 after the launch notes.
- Levels 26 to 30: Aggression (now on the fourth row, up to 15% more Sinister Strike and Eviscerate damage) and Weapon Expertise, which now lowers the target’s chance to Dodge or Parry. Blizzard’s deep dive confirms Blade Flurry is still part of Combat.
- Levels 31 to 39: Dual Wield Specialization, now 2 points for 25 or 50% more off-hand damage, Hack and Slash on the same row, and Flash of Steel (sixth row), which makes Shank generate more Energy on a shorter cooldown.
- Level 40: the 31-point talent. In the original game that was Adrenaline Rush, and Blizzard’s notes do not list a change to it.
Our talent reset guide covers the trainer and the fee if you switch to daggers later.
New Rogue Abilities by Level
| Level | What you get |
|---|---|
| 10 | Your first talent point |
| 18 | Poised: when you are out of combat at full Energy, your next Energy ability costs 10 less |
| 24 | Shank: 5 Energy, 10-second cooldown, an off-hand strike for 50% weapon damage that gives you 15 Energy and cannot miss |
| 40 | Dual Specialization, plus riding |
| 44 | Shank rank 2, which gives 25 Energy |
Shank is a big deal for leveling. Use it on cooldown: it pays for itself many times over, and Subtlety and Assassination build talents around it too (Boot Knife and Venom).
Other changes worth knowing: Sap no longer breaks Stealth, Feint drops twice as much threat, Distract now also lowers enemies’ Stealth detection, and Expose Armor now matches five stacks of Sunder Armor.
Poisons and Rogue Class Quests
Poisons are better in Forever. They have more charges, they can sit on a weapon alongside a Sharpening Stone or Weightstone, and the launch notes doubled the Attack Power scaling of Deadly Poison and Instant Poison. In the original game, Rogues unlocked poisons with a class quest at level 20, and Blizzard has not announced a change, so visit your Rogue trainer at 20. Blizzard’s October 8 notes also added map markers to “Plundering the Plunderers,” which they list among Rogue quests.
Where to Level a Rogue
Rogues can be Orc, Troll, Undead or Horde Skyborne, and Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf or Alliance Skyborne; our best Rogue race guide covers the racials. From your starting zone, follow your faction’s route: Westfall, Loch Modan or Darkshore for the Alliance from level 10, The Barrens or Silverpine Forest for the Horde. Camps of Humanoids are worth seeking out, since Pick Pocket turns every pull into extra coin.
How to Cut Rogue Downtime
- Open from Stealth and wait for Poised. Coming into a fight at full Energy with Poised up gives you a cheaper first ability, and Composure makes it cheaper still.
- Use Shank on cooldown from level 24 for free Energy.
- Carry bandages. Rogues have no self-heal, so First Aid saves a lot of eating.
- Rest at a campfire for rested experience and buffs; our camping guide explains how.
- Train every time. Blizzard’s launch notes put class training from 1 to 60 at about 206 to 207 gold for every class.
- Drag new abilities onto your bars. Since launch, learning a spell no longer adds it to your action bars.
- Keep weapon skills up after switching to axes; our guide to where to train weapon skills has the trainers.
Every WoW Forever guide we have is on our World of Warcraft hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Rogue spec for leveling in WoW Forever? Combat, in our view. It works with any one-handed weapon, its talents cut Energy costs, and Flawless Execution makes Eviscerate cheaper at level 25.
Can Rogues use axes in WoW Forever? Yes. Rogues can now equip one-handed axes, and the Hack and Slash talent gives axes the same extra-attack chance as swords.
What is Shank? A new Rogue ability learned at level 24: a 5-Energy off-hand strike on a 10-second cooldown that gives you 15 Energy and cannot miss. Rank 2 at level 44 gives 25 Energy.
What does Poised do? When you are out of combat at full Energy, Poised makes your next Energy ability cost 10 less. Rogues learn it at level 18.
Does Sap break Stealth in WoW Forever? No. Using Sap no longer breaks Stealth, so you can Sap one enemy and still open on another.