WoW Forever Rogue Leveling Guide (1–60)

Level your Rogue as Combat. It's the smoothest path from 10 to 60: cheaper Sinister Strikes and bigger Eviscerates from your first points, Evasion and Sprint every 2 minutes from level 21, and Blade Flurry at 30 to kill two mobs at once. Combat works with any weapon type in Forever, so you never pass on an upgrade because it's an axe or a mace.

Assassination is the alternative for players who want burst and poisons. It levels on Sinister Strike until 30, then Mutilate replaces it: 2 Combo Points per press, 20% more damage against a Poisoned target, and it requires daggers. By 40 you have Seal Fate and Venom, and big mobs melt.

Power spikes

• 10–14: your first talents make Sinister Strike cheaper (Combat) or add 5% crit (Assassination).
• 20: Poisons and Rupture. Instant Poison on both weapons is a flat damage increase on every mob you fight from 20 to 30.
• 21: Combat finishes Endurance. Evasion and Sprint every 2 minutes change how many mobs you can take at once.
• 26: Cheap Shot. Every pull now opens with a 4-second stun and 2 Combo Points.
• 30: Blade Flurry for Combat, Mutilate for Assassination, Deadly Poison and Coup de Grace for both, and Kidney Shot to stop a mob from hitting back.
• 40: Venom for Assassination.
• 42: Slice and Dice rank 2 (30% attack speed) for everyone, and Adrenaline Rush for Combat.
• 50: Kidney Shot rank 2, a 6-second stun at 5 points.

What changed from Classic leveling

• Poisons are trained at level 20 from your Rogue trainer. The level-24 Rogue quests still exist: see Class quests below.
• Mutilate and Venom are new Assassination talents, and every Rogue learns Coup de Grace at 30: Eviscerate deals 2% more damage per stack of your Deadly Poison on the target.
• Combat doesn't need swords. Hack and Slash gives swords and axes extra attacks, daggers and fist weapons crit, and maces armor penetration.
• Puncturing Wounds is a new Combat talent that makes Backstab a real Combat builder: +30% crit and a 45% chance at a second Combo Point.
• Endurance now cuts Sprint and Evasion to a 2-minute cooldown.
• Lethality tops out at +20% crit damage instead of 30%, and Murder only works on Humanoids and Giants, at 2% per rank.
• Poisons hit for less per application than in Classic, but each coating carries far more charges.
• Dual Wield Specialization gives +25% off-hand damage at 5/5, half of Classic's value.
• Crafted food grants bonus experience on top of its buff.

Train at every even level. Rogue ranks come almost every level, and most of them are straight damage.

Levels 1–10

• 1: Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Stealth and Pick Lock.
• 4: Backstab (needs a dagger in your main hand) and Pick Pocket.
• 6: Gouge and Sinister Strike rank 2.
• 8: Evasion and Eviscerate rank 2.
• 10: Slice and Dice, Sprint and Sap.

Levels 12–20

• 12: Kick and Backstab rank 2.
• 14: Garrote, Expose Armor and Sinister Strike rank 3.
• 16: Feint and Eviscerate rank 3.
• 18: Ambush (dagger, from Stealth, from behind) and Gouge rank 2.
• 20: Poisons, Instant Poison, Crippling Poison, Rupture, Stealth rank 2 and Backstab rank 3.

Levels 22–30

• 22: Vanish, Distract, Sinister Strike rank 4 and Garrote rank 2.
• 24: Mind-numbing Poison, Eviscerate rank 4, and Detect Traps (passive).
• 26: Cheap Shot, Ambush rank 2, Kick rank 2 and Expose Armor rank 2.
• 28: Instant Poison II, Backstab rank 4, Rupture rank 2, Sap rank 2 and Feint rank 2.
• 30: Kidney Shot, Deadly Poison, Coup de Grace (passive), Disarm Trap, Sinister Strike rank 5 and Garrote rank 3.

Levels 32–40

• 32: Wound Poison, Eviscerate rank 5 and Gouge rank 3.
• 34: Blind, Blinding Powder, Sprint rank 2 and Ambush rank 3.
• 36: Instant Poison III, Backstab rank 5, Rupture rank 3 and Expose Armor rank 3.
• 38: Deadly Poison II, Mind-numbing Poison II, Sinister Strike rank 6 and Garrote rank 4.
• 40: Mutilate rank 2 (Assassination), Eviscerate rank 6, Stealth rank 3, Feint rank 3, Wound Poison II and Safe Fall (passive).

Levels 42–50

• 42: Slice and Dice (30% attack speed instead of 20%), Vanish rank 2, Kick rank 3 and Ambush rank 4.
• 44: Instant Poison IV, Backstab rank 6 and Rupture rank 4.
• 46: Deadly Poison III, Sinister Strike rank 7, Gouge rank 4, Garrote rank 5 and Expose Armor rank 4.
• 48: Eviscerate rank 7, Sap rank 3 and Wound Poison III.
• 50: Kidney Shot (a 6-second stun at 5 points), Crippling Poison II, Mutilate rank 3 and Ambush rank 5.

Levels 52–60

• 52: Instant Poison V, Mind-numbing Poison III, Backstab rank 7, Rupture rank 5 and Feint rank 4.
• 54: Deadly Poison IV, Sinister Strike rank 8 and Garrote rank 6.
• 56: Eviscerate rank 8, Expose Armor rank 5 and Wound Poison IV.
• 58: Sprint (+70% speed), Kick rank 4 and Ambush rank 6.
• 60: Eviscerate, Mutilate, Backstab, Instant Poison VI, Deadly Poison V, Rupture, Gouge rank 5, Feint rank 5 and Stealth rank 4.

What to skip

• Garrote as a Combat Rogue. Cheap Shot opens better from 26. Assassination and dagger users keep it for mobs that take long to kill.
• Expose Armor ranks while solo. You'll want the top rank only if a raid assigns it to you.
• Feint ranks while solo. It does nothing when you're the only one a mob can attack.
• Mind-numbing Poison unless you're questing among casters, and Wound Poison outside PvP.

Alliance: Human. Sword Specialization adds +2% crit chance while you hold a sword, and Combat levels happily with two. Will to Survive breaks a stun every 3 minutes, which saves the pull where a second mob stuns you.

Alliance alternative: Night Elf. Quickness adds 1% dodge and 2% movement speed, and makes you harder to spot in Stealth. Elune's Light adds 10% crit for 15 seconds every 3 minutes.

Horde: Orc. Blood Fury is +10% Attack Power for 15 seconds every 2 minutes, and Axe Specialization adds +1% crit with an axe. Axes get the same Hack and Slash bonus as swords.

Horde alternative: Troll. Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts, a large share of leveling mobs. Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your health over 6 seconds, standing still, every 3 minutes. That's less time eating.

Skyborne Rogues of both factions start on Zephras Isle, levels 1–12. Wind Blessed gives 1% Haste and Elemental Insight 5% damage against Elementals. High Order Skyborne also get Read Ley Line, which doubles your health regeneration, and Windshaper Skyborne get Skysight for 10% movement speed.

Also playable: Dwarf (Big Game Hunter for 5% against Beasts), Gnome (Eureka! and 5% more Energy), and Undead (Cannibalize to heal off Humanoid and Undead corpses).

Your main-hand weapon is most of your damage from 1 to 60, so a weapon upgrade beats any piece of armor. Agility gives Attack Power, crit and dodge. Stamina keeps the pull that goes wrong survivable.

Weapon path

• Combat: the slowest, highest-damage one-hand weapon you can find in your main hand, and a faster one in your off hand for poison procs. Swords and axes are best from 32, when Hack and Slash gives them extra attacks, but a big damage upgrade of any type wins.
• Assassination: two daggers from 30. Mutilate requires daggers and uses both weapons' damage, so get the pair before you take it. A main-hand dagger also keeps Ambush and Backstab open to you.
• Replace your weapon every time a quest reward or dungeon drop raises its damage per second. Weapon upgrades come before any armor upgrade.

Thrown weapons

A thrown weapon pulls a mob out of a group without Stealth. Plain thrown weapons scale with level: Balanced Throwing Dagger at 3, Keen Throwing Knife at 11 and Heavy Throwing Dagger at 22.

Armor

Leather with Agility and Stamina. Take quest rewards over vendor gear every time.

Poisons

• 20–29: Instant Poison on both weapons. Carry spare doses: each one lasts 30 minutes or 60 charges.
• 30 and up: Deadly Poison on your off hand, Instant Poison on your main hand, for both specs. Coup de Grace makes every Eviscerate 2% stronger per Deadly Poison stack, and Assassination's Mutilate needs a poison that stays on the target. On mobs that die in a few seconds, Instant Poison on both hands is fine.
• Runners and caster quests: Crippling Poison slows a fleeing mob by 50% for 12 seconds, and Mind-numbing Poison makes casters cast 40% slower.
• Instant Poison takes Dust of Decay and an Empty Vial. Buy both in stacks before a long session: a run back to town costs more time than any pull.

Food

Grilled Squid (level 35, Cooking) restores health, gives 1% crit when you're Well Fed, and adds 5% experience from kills. Cook your own. Thistle Tea (Cooking) restores 100 Energy on a 5-minute cooldown.

Skinning and Leatherworking. Skinning makes money from the Beasts you kill anyway, and Leatherworking makes your leather armor at every level, ending with Devilsaur Leggings and Devilsaur Gauntlets for 2% Hit.

Skinning and Mining makes more gold if you'd rather buy your armor.

Train First Aid and Cooking too. First Aid bandages cover the gaps between meals, and in Forever it also makes Major Healing Potion. Cooking makes Grilled Squid and Thistle Tea.

Level Lockpicking as you go. You learn Pick Lock at level 1, and every lockbox you open from a Pick Pocket or a quest chest raises your skill.

Levels are the range Forever recommends for each dungeon. Go at the low end or a little above.

• 13–18: Hall of Thanes beneath Ironforge, new in Forever, and Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar.
• 15–20: Ruins of Lordaeron in Tirisfal Glades, new in Forever.
• 17–24: Wailing Caverns in the Barrens.
• 17–26: The Deadmines in Westfall.
• 22–30: Shadowfang Keep in Silverpine Forest.
• 24–32: Blackfathom Deeps in Ashenvale and The Stockade in Stormwind.
• 29–38: Gnomeregan in Dun Morogh and Razorfen Kraul in the Barrens.
• 30–46: Scarlet Monastery in Tirisfal Glades.
• 37–46: Razorfen Downs in the Barrens.
• 41–51: Uldaman in the Badlands.
• 44–54: Zul'Farrak in Tanaris.
• 46–55: Maraudon in Desolace.
• 50–60: Sunken Temple in the Swamp of Sorrows.
• 52–60: Blackrock Depths in Blackrock Mountain.
• 54–60: Dire Maul in Feralas.
• 55–60: Lower Blackrock Spire in Blackrock Mountain.
• 58–60: Scholomance in the Western Plaguelands and Stratholme in the Eastern Plaguelands.
• 59–60: Upper Blackrock Spire in Blackrock Mountain.

Three new dungeons are in the game files but not open in the beta yet, so you can't run them today: Excavation Site: Wetlands (24–29, in the Wetlands), City of Dalaran (28–33, in the Alterac Mountains) and The Drowned City (35–40, on the coast of Stranglethorn Vale). Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold, Krol'dok Stronghold and Shaper's Terrace are announced, but they have no level range or bosses yet.

In every dungeon, your jobs are Sap before the pull, Kick on casters, and damage on the tank's target. Combat Rogues bring Blade Flurry for packs. Don't use it next to a Sapped mob: the damage breaks the Sap.

• Horde, Valley of Trials: Simple Parchment sends you to Frang.
• Level 24, Alliance: Mathias and the Defias sends you to Agent Kearnen in Westfall, and Klaven's Tower has you break into the Defias Tower and bring what you find back to Mathias Shaw in Stormwind.
• Level 24, Horde: Mission: Possible But Not Probable has you steal a tower key, assassinate Grand Foreman Gallywix, pick the lock on his lockbox, and bring the cache back to Shenthul in Orgrimmar. Hinott's Assistance then takes a sample to Serge Hinott in Tarren Mill.
• Lockpicking, Alliance: Redridge Rendezvous sends you to Lucius in Lakeshire, and Alther's Mill has you open his lockbox and recover the Token of Thievery.
• Horde: Wrenix of Ratchet sends you to Wrenix the Wretched in Ratchet.
• Level 52, both factions: A Simple Request leads to Lord Jorach Ravenholdt, then Sealed Azure Bag and Encoded Fragments in Azshara, ending with The Azure Key.

Train every poison rank. Instant Poison ranks come at 20, 28, 36, 44, 52 and 60, and Deadly Poison at 30, 38, 46, 54 and 60. Each rank hits harder.

Stealth to the quest mob. Walking past packs in Stealth saves more time than killing them.

Use Sprint on every long run. With Endurance, it's back every 2 minutes.

Kidney Shot the casters from 30. A 5-point Kidney Shot stops a caster mob's spell and gives you the stun to close the fight. It has a 20-second cooldown, so it's there for nearly every pull.

Don't chase runners. Humanoids flee at low health. Finish them with an Eviscerate at whatever points you have, or keep Crippling Poison on a weapon in zones full of runners.

Loot the lockboxes you find. Lockpicking levels as you open them, and a high skill opens the chests other classes walk past.

Commit to one order. The Combat and Assassination orders share no points before 30, so switching halfway means a full respec. Pick the spec you'll play to 60 before you spend your first point.

Eat Grilled Squid from 35. The 5% experience bonus pays for the cooking.

Cheap Shot from Stealth, Sinister Strike out of it.

#showtooltip
/cast [stealth] Cheap Shot; Sinister Strike

Pick Pocket then Cheap Shot on one key: press it twice.

#showtooltip Cheap Shot
/castsequence reset=target Pick Pocket, Cheap Shot

Gouge your focus target, so you can Gouge the add without losing your target.

#showtooltip Gouge
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Gouge

Kick your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

#showtooltip Kick
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Kick

Stops your auto attack and vanishes, so your next swing doesn't pull you out.

#showtooltip Vanish
/stopattack
/cast Vanish