Awesome Rogue's Leveling Guide 4.1.0

This FAQ is for new rogues. It is full of oversimplifications and generalizations.

What is the best spec for leveling a rogue?

- You can level fairly well as any spec now. Though Assassination probably pulls ahead because of early access to Deadly Momentum and the lack of a positional attack.

What is the best Combat spec?

- http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fbhZfGfcMf0RMo:okMzRVmcV

- This talent focuses on buffing your combo point builders and increasing survivability.

- This is up to level 80. Some talent changes will most likely be needed from 80-85 because of higher health pools.



What is the best Assassination spec?

- http://www.wowhead.com/talent#ffhfzsGzoGobZ0h:qVkRikmcV

- The point in Deadly Brew for pvp and kiting those particularly difficult enemies while recuperate ticks.

- From 80-85, I expect this spec to pull way ahead of the others.



What is the best Subtlety spec?

- http://www.wowhead.com/talent#fbZbZfhcfdu0RGo:zMmiRkmcV

- Nearly everything is subject to debate on this spec since it is so full of filler talents.

- You kill most things after the initial ambush.

- This is up to level 80. A spec change will be needed from 80-85 most likely because of higher health pools.



What stats should I be looking for?

- Agi > Expertise (to cap) > Hit (to cap) > Haste > Mastery (when you get it) > Crit >> Strength

- You will need to check the tooltip on hit and expertise to know what rating is need to not miss.

- This is different than stat priority for group play because you will be attacking from the front, making expertise more valuable. Maybe as valuable than agility from a dps perspective.



What weapons do I use?

- Combat - Slow Sword, Mace, Axe, or Fist in the mainhand and fast weapons in the offhand.

- Assassination - Slow dagger mainhand, fast dagger offhand.

- Subtlety - Slow Dagger manhand, anything offhand.

What poisons do I use?

- Combat - Wound/Wound

- Assassination - Instant/Deadly (Instant/Instant isn't a bad idea before you get Envenom.)

- Subtlety - Wound/Wound

- This is just for leveling. Things change at higher levels.



Does the Worgen racial work with sprint?

- Yes. But the ability is only a 40% speed buff now.

- http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/BlazeInferno/WoWScrnShot_112110_024825.jpg

- Credit AmorenKaire for the investigation.

Does the goblin jump work with rogues?

- Yes, and it is useable in stealth. (Expect this to get nerfed too.)

What is a good poison macro?

#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift] Deadly Poison; [mod:ctrl] Wound Poison; [mod:alt] Crippling Poison; Instant Poison
/use [button:1] 16; [button :2] 17; [button:3] 18
/click StaticPopup1Button1

Use ctrl, shift, alt to apply different poisons to different slots based on which mouse button is clicked. Left mouse for mainhand, right offhand, and middle for ranged slot. The last line clicks the confirmation dialog for when you already have poisons applied. So be careful, since it will confirm other dialogs too, like dungeon finder and battlegrounds.

What is a good Tricks of the Trade macro?

#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift, @targettarget] [@focus, exists] [] Tricks of the Trade

Casts tricks at your focus target, if you press shift it cast at your target's target. Great for tank switches in raids. If you run with regular tanks, or trade tricks with the same rogues all the time you can put in their names in the macro with @name. Works normally with no focus target.

You can also use the addon TrickorTreat, or you can setup Clique to trick whatever target you want by hovering over their unit window (I use grid).

Why do I do crappy damage in dungeons?

- Rogues do low damage on dungeons because they lack and Area of Effect (aoe) damage ability. At 80, you will get Fan of Knives, which throws your thrown weapon (and poison) in a 360 degree arc at 8 yards. It is awesome and something to look forward too.

- Combat also has Blade Flurry, with attacks the next nearest target also. Use with Adrenaline Rush for full effect.

- Don't worry to much about low level dungeons though, they are quick enough for most groups anyway. You should find that you single target damage is unbeatable though.

Note on Glyphs

- There are a lot of good choices for glyphs. I noted some good ones for each spec on the talent trees, but only a few glyph choices are ever cut and dried especially for leveling and for the major glyphs. With the exception of Eviscerate, all of the finished glyphs are very nice as you can often get your buffs/debuffs up on a target with few combo points for the duration of the fight. Slice and Dice helps keep the buff up between pulls.

What heirlooms should I buy?
Besides the agility leather. You can buy the sword or mace. A dagger would be optimal for leveling as assassination or subtlety. However, daggers will only be really useful for leveling a rogue. Considering the increased cost of heirlooms, from an economy standpoint, it would be a good idea to level as combat with a sword and/or mace to maximize reusability. I would buy one sword or mace and use drops for the offhand slot.

Assassination Guide

As you level, I recommend you buy the talents in order:

Deadly Momentum 2/2
Lethality 3/3
Quickening 2/2
Puncturing Wounds 3/3
Vile Poisons 3/3
Cold Blood 1/1
Deadly Brew 1/2
Seal Fate 2/2
Deadened Nerves 3/3
Master Poisoner 1/1
Overkill 1/1
Coupe de Grace 3/3
Cut to the Chase 3/3
Venomous Wounds 2/2
Vendetta 1/1
Improved Recuperate 2/2
Relentless Strikes 3/3

When you get envenom at level 54, that becomes your main finisher. Rupture and Garrote are used for energy regen, the damage is a bonus. If you are fighting two opponents and one if about to die, it might be a good idea to finish with rupture and let its damage and poisons kill it and start on the next opponent. That way you'll have the energy regen from rupture still ticking to power your mutilates on the next target. When an opponent dies with rupture still going, it will refund all the energy proportional to the energy use and the energy from venomous wounds. If you time it right, you can build your combo points and get the energy return to finish on your next target. Its a great mini-game to play.

Macros:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Mutilate

Useful to start attacking even when you don't have enough energy to do so.

Notes:

You will mainly be finishing with Envenom when it becomes available or, when things are dying too quickly to stack Deadly Poison, use Eviscerate instead. In which case, it "might" be optimal to try Wound instead for the higher proc rate. In fact, judging by how quickly things are dying now at low levels, it will probably work better. Then again, most things are dying in 3 or 4 buttons presses anyway.

Combat Guide

Improved Recuperate 2/2
Improved Sinister Strike 3/3
Precision 3/3
Aggression 3/3
Lightning Reflexes 3/3
Reinforced Leather 2/2
Combat Potency 3/3
Improved Sprint 1/2
Adrenaline Rush 1/1
Savage Combat 2/2
Improved Sprint 2/2
Improve Slice and Dice 2/2
Improved Gouge 2/2
Killing Spree 1/1
Deadly Momentum 2/2
Lethality 3/3

Macros

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Sinister Strike

Useful to start attacking even when you don't have enough energy to do so.

Subtlety Guide

Relentless Strikes 3/3
Night Stalker 2/2
Improved Ambush 3/3
Opportunity 3/3
Hemorrhage 1/1
Find Weakness 2/2
Initiative 2/2
Premeditation 1/1
Honor Among Thieves 3/3
Energetic Recovery 3/3
Sanguinary Vein 2/2
Slaughter from the Shadows 3/3
Serrated Blades 2/2
Shadow Dance 1/1
Deadly Momentum 2/2
Improved Recuperate 2/2
Lethality 1/3

Notes:

Also note that the hemo glyph isn't that useful until you get serrated blades, as it is usualy more benficial to gouge, get some energy, and backstab a mob instead of spamming hemo-wet-noodle. Just something to think about.


Macros:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Hemorrhage

Useful to start attacking even when you don't have enough energy to do so.

#showtooltip Ambush
/cast Premeditation
/cast Ambush

Uses Premeditation (extra 2 combo points) every time you ambush and premeditation is available. (It will still work even if premed is on cooldown.)

General Stategies

These spec aren't designed the same as end game specs, or even 80-85 specs, as I've noted here and there. At cap, and soloing for 80-85, mobs live much longer and you often finish multiple times during a fight including buffs. At lower levels, finishing is a rarity. A typical fight usually involves spamming a combo point builder until it dies. Use the leftover points to buff up SnD or Recuperate and move on.

Don't underestimate Slice and Dice it is a very strong buff, every spec does large amounts of physical damage. Your weakest finisher is a competition between expose armor and rupture because of the energy investment those finishers require versus the duration of the fight.

It is not as hard to level now as it once was, but try and practice your CC abilities. It possible to take on 3-4 opponents at once with most having been CC'd. I also encourage every rogue to try PvP. It really teaches you how to play your class more than any PvE encounter ever could.


Taken from http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1083749119