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Rogue Class Guide - Basics Class Guides Rogue Guide Hunter Guide Warrior Guide Priest Guide Mage Guide Warlock Guide Shaman Guide Druid Guide Paladin Guide

• Rogue Guide - Main Page
• Rogue Guide - Basics
• Rogue Guide - Talent Builds, Tactics, and U.I.
• Rogue Guide - Quests
• Rogue Guide - Trainers
• Rogue Guide - Weapons and Armor
• Rogue Guide - Abilities, Talents, and Poisons
• Appendix - Where to Adventure

The Basics – Getting off to a Good Start

It’s very important for any class to set the right foot forward when they begin the game. All race and class combinations within World of Warcraft are viable but not for everyone. It’s up to you to pick the right combination of both Race and Class to make the perfect character both visually and playwise.

Be sure to check out our Rogue forum if you ever have any questions about your Rogue or have something to add to this guide!

What is the Rogue class?

The first thing to do is consider, is the Rogue class right for you? There is a lot of great things about the Rogue class but as with any class it’s not for everyone. To get a better idea of what the Rogue class stands for, we’ve compiled a list that describes what the Rogue class is. If that’s what you are looking for, then obviously the Rogue class is for you. If you’re not sure, then try one out! The low levels don’t showcase everything about a class, but it’s a good way to get a basic idea of how a class will work.

• Rogues use pure melee attacks to deal the majority of their damage. This means that they will always be in the face of the enemy and at the front of any line of battle.
• Rogues use poisons and various other abilities to increase their damage output while using a plethora of reactionary abilities to deal devastating amounts of damage.
• Rogues will often use quick successive attacks with a weapon in each hand. Rogues can use their stealth or positional attacks to deal massive amounts of damage at the start, but from there keep up a constant stream of quick attacks.
• Rogues can disable enemy casters with their “kick” ability and can use certain potions to make spellcasting more difficult, increasing their overall utility.
• Certain Rogue attacks will grant you “combo points” that can be used to execute combo attacks. The more combo points you build up the more damage the combo attack (also known as finishing move) will do. These are great for finishing enemies.
• Rogues have the ability to stealth making them great for scouting and getting to areas that would be much more difficult for other classes.
• Rogues can only wear leather, meaning that they lack the defense of a Warrior. Many Rogues relay on their ability to evade (and the skills that increase evasion) to defeat harder enemies.

So in summary, the Rogue class is your fast attacking high damage output class with very low-defense. Their damage isn’t limited to mana, like a Mage, which is an obvious advantage. Simple “white damage” (normal attacks) from a Rogue can be deadly by themselves!

Race Combinations

Every race combination is “perfect” for a Rogue so it really comes down to what racial bonuses you find useful and how you think the various races look. You’ll be spending a lot of time on a character so picking a race simply by looks is “a ok”.

Many players avoid Dwarf and Orc Rogues due to the lack of useful racial abilities. This is true that the Dwarves and Orc abilities are not very helpful for the Rogue class, but racials rarely determine a fight. If you want a Dwarf Rogue go ahead and make one! Starting stats do no matter, unlike some other MMORPGs, so you are free to make whatever you wish!

If you’re looking for the absolute “best” Rogue races, that would be the Night Elf or the Undead. Night Elves have several bonuses that help Rogues like the 1% chance to dodge. Undead have the “Will of the Forsaken” which can greatly help out whenever you are cornered in PvP.

If you are truly unsure of what race to pick then check out our list of races right here. In this list you’ll be able to see the various abilities each race has along with how they look.

The Basics – Getting Started Resources

If you need additional help in leveling up or finding places to level then see these other extremely helpful resources that should aid in getting you started:

• Making Money Guide
• Alliance 1-60 Guide / Horde 1-60 Guide
• PvP Survival
• City and Starting Region Guides
• Weapons Guide
• Where to Adventure
• Must Know WoW Tips

The Basics – Energy

Energy is to Rogues like Mana is to Mages. Energy is different from Mana in that it only has 100 units and can only be increased through either talents or various pieces of rare equipment. There is also a very limited amount of ways to increase Energy in combat.

Energy regens at the rate of 20 units every 2 seconds. It takes 10 seconds for the energy bar to go from 0 to 100 units. The regen rate does not decrease or increase; even in combat it will be 20 units every 2 seconds.

Energy management is the key limiter to combat as a Rogue. As you use each ability your Energy level will decrease. When you run out of Energy you will not be able to use any abilities until enough Energy has regenerated. Many abilities use between 20 and 30 units of Energy while finishing moves will often use more.

Regular melee attacks are not altered by a lack of Energy. A Rogue can always auto-attack.

The Basics – Stealth

The Rogue class is the only class that can stealth, outside of the Druid’s cat form stealth. It’s important to understand how to stealth properly, as it’s key to utilize it for many abilities that require it.

Stealth is an ability that can be activated at any time a Rogue is out of combat. Once stealthed, the Rogue can not be seen by anyone. Stealth will severely decrease the run-speed of a Rogue making it very difficult to move about. Certain talents (and even speed enchantments) can increase the movement speed while stealthed.

As a Rogue moves closer to an enemy, it becomes more likely that they will see a translucent outline of the character. When they see the translucent outline then they can attack the Rogue to bring it out of the shadows. Many factors determine when someone can unstealth a Rogue. Monsters of any level can see a Rogue who walks directly infront of their face.

Some abilities, like Vanish, will allow the Rogue to run away while in combat. It’s important to know that many AoE skills can easily bring a Rogue out of stealth (any damage or action related to combat will bring a Rogue out of stealth).

The Basics – Poisons

At level 20 you can go on a quest to obtain the ability to poison your weapons. Poisoned weapons gain the ability to do additional damage or debuffs on enemies you attack. Poison doesn’t last on log-out or when you zone into Outland or an Instance, so it’s only good for your current playtime.

You can poison your weapons while stealthed. You can view the amount of charges (how many more times the poison will apply itself to an enemy) by placing your mouse over your weapon.

Faster weapons will proc (make the poison go off) poisons more often then slower weapons, which is different then the “on-hit chance” that many weapons have. Although, that shouldn’t affect your decision in choosing a weapon as poisons are rarely a major source of damage or utility.

The Basics – Lockpicking

Rogues eventually gain the ability to unlock various locked boxes and doors. A quest from your main trainer will explain in detail how this works and even lead you to a great beginning lockpicking area. Once you have the lockpicking skill the cap increases like a weapon skill, with each level.

The Basics – Pickpocketing

Rogues have the ability to “pick pocket” from Humanoid enemies. This lets them get additional loot and coin from an enemy. Many Rogues find it as a helpful resource when getting up money for a mount or just getting something extra out of enemies they are about to kill.

The Basics – Choosing a Profession

• Herbalism and Alchemy
  A very good combination for the Rogue as Herbalism can allow for obtaining Swiftthistle for Thistle Tea and Fadeleaf for blinding powder. Alchemy can be used to make an assortment of extremely useful potions that can be sold for cash or used to make combat easier.
• Mining and Blacksmithing
  Many players find early on that creating your own weapons can be very helpful compared to trying to obtain them through quests or the Auction House. The armor created through Blacksmithing isn’t very useful for a Rogue though. Mining can be a great source of income and goes great with Blacksmithing.
• Mining and Engineering
  Engineering is extremely useful for Rogues planning to PvP. Stun grenades and a large assortment of gadgets can be very helpful in stopping escaping enemies. There are also some very good googles and gadgets that can be helpful while leveling up.
• Skinning and Leatherworking
  Skinning can make you a lot of money while you’re leveling up and can even be turned into great armor with Leatherworking.
• Mining & Skinning or Herbalism & Skinning
  A combination of gathering skills is often times the best choice when starting out. Selling everything you gather on the Auction House can create enough money to fund new armor, weapons, and even a mount!

If you would like to see Wraithwulf’s original guide to picking a profession (Herb/Alch) as a Rogue then click here.

The Basics – Important Stats

The 3 most important stats are Agility, Strength, and Stamina. Increases in agility will improve your chance to dodge attacks,and increase your critical hit percent chance. Strength will increase your attack power, and Stamina icreases your amount of hit points. Intellect increases your mana pool, so rogues don't really need this stat, and spirit focus's on mana regeneration, so again rogues don't bother with this.

Agility
Agility points equal to half your level = +1% to critical hit. So at level 60, it takes 30 points in agility to get +1%.

Agility points equal to 1/4 your level = 1% dodge. So a level 60 need 15 agility to get +1% dodge.

Strength
Increases your Attack Power thereby increasing your damage. Strength also increases the damage that you can block with your shield.

1 Strength = 2 Attack Power
14 Attack Power = 1 DPS (Damage per second)
Therefore
7 Strength = 1 DPS

Stamina
Increases your health points.

1 Stamina = 10 Health points

Credits

Contributors to this guide include:

• Vassago - Paladin on server Sargeras (Messiah on TTH site)
• Boomjack - EQ2 Paladin on the Oggok Server for the format of this guide
• Aetaris - Rogue on server Sargeras
• Ratboy - Mage on server Sargeras