Rogue

Classes
Class races	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Ev	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Quests	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Abilities	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Trainers	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Armor sets	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Useful macros	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Class Halls	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior

For related articles, see Category:Rogues.

Rogues are World of Warcraft's premiere melee damage dealer and especially effective in PvP. They have access to a wide range of special abilities, which depend on their constantly refilling pool of energy. Unlike other classes, such as the hunter who has the ability to deal physical damage from a distance, rogues must be in close.

The primary rogue class advantage is their ability to [Stealth], preventing other players from seeing them unless the rogue is very close and in a 180 degree arc in front of them or much lower level.

The primary rogue attribute is agility. For PvP rogues, stamina is needed for staying alive. For a rogue, agility is always preferable to strength. A rogue uses no mana, so intellect and spirit are nearly useless. Spirit also contributes to health restoration, but even with spirit, you won't want to rely on just normal healing. Whichever method you use, food, bandages, potions, or a healer makes having a lot of spirit unnecessary.

At later levels, most rogue-oriented gear will also include a lot of Attack Power. Other gear bonuses sought by rogues are Crit, Hit, Haste, and Resilience. High Crit gives burst damage, High Hit increases chance to hit, mitigating dual wield penalty and enhancing dps, high Haste enhances an already high dps, and Resilience, which is almost only desirable for PvP, gives the rogue more ability to survive.

Rogues can only wear leather or cloth armor, are unable to use shields, and can only wield one-handed weapons (daggers, swords, maces, fist weapons and more recently, axes) and ranged weapons. They can dual wield one-handed weapons upon creation, in a way compensating for their lack of ability to use two-handed weapons. At level 20, they gain access to poisons that can be purchased from poison vendors. It is no longer required to complete a quest to gain the use of poisons.

Rogues are best suited for players who like to sneak up on enemies and dish out large amounts of burst damage.

In Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, it is a rank you can achieve.

Background

Human rogue

Rogues are Azeroth’s legerdemains. They possess a wide range of skills that allow them to accomplish feats from disarming traps to finding secret doors to smacking a magic item until it works. They are decent in a fight, and if they can strike quickly or unseen — or are flanking an enemy with the help of a thoughtful ally — they can be truly deadly. Of course, they also excel at stealth.

The rogues of Azeroth are the masters of subterfuge, skilled and cunning adversaries of those who dare not look into the shadows to see what lurks there. Roguery is a profession for those who seek the adventures of stalking and silent forests, dimly lit halls and heavily guarded strongholds. Using trickery in combat and able to vanish at the slightest distraction, the rogue is a welcome addition to any group of adventurers. Ideal spies, deadly to those they can catch unaware, rogues have no problem finding a place in the world. Deadly masters of stealth, rogues are the whispers in shadowy corners and the hooded figures crossing dark fields. Skilled with daggers and the art of silent death, these vagabonds and bandits skulk about Azeroth seeking targets and profit. A member of almost any race can learn the tricks necessary to become a skilled rogue. Still, for the tauren and draenei, such a profession is an alien concept and therefore rare (if not non-existent) among those peoples. Rogues can be found among all races on Azeroth. Whether they are diplomats, spies, thieves, scoundrels, entertainers, or simply adventurers, you can find them plying just about any trade from Mount Hyjal to Ratchet.

For as long as there were dark alleys and needs for dark services, there have been rogues, and thus they are one of the oldest professions in Azeroth. Rogues are a diverse class, and they are typically made up from the dregs of society — cutthroats, pirates, robbers, and low-lifes. The only code rogues live by is the contract, and their word is only as good as the money their services are bought for. The diverse aspects of their trade requires rogues to be well versed in lockpicking, toxicology, rudimentary alchemy and brawling. In combat, rogues rely on the element of surprise, and tactics which are regarded by most as vile and cowardly. They are rarely seen entering a fight without weapons laced in poisons and ample supplies of everything from bombs to elixirs in their backpacks. Their attacks concentrate on weak points in the body in an attempt to finish fights brutally and quickly. Rogues play prominent roles in every aspect of society — albeit, they will rarely be written in history books because their involvements will be largely unknown to the common person, but they are always there, greatly affecting the flow of events from the shadows.

From the high-contract assassin hired in secret by respected noblemen to the lowly street mugger, rogues are the ones called upon when maintaining the status quo requires a questionable solution — and by fulfilling it, are branded as outcasts by the very society that calls upon their service.

In Azeroth several rogues are free agents, though most prefer to join a guild for safety and ease of employment. Ravenholdt and the Syndicate are examples of said guilds. Other recognized rogue organizations include the Shattered Hand, the Deathstalkers and SI:7.

Notable rogues

• Garona Halforcen
• Valeera Sanguinar
• Maiev Shadowsong
• Mathias Shaw
• Edwin VanCleef

Races

Main article: Rogue races

A male undead rogue.

The rogue class can be played by the following races:

Race		Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health
	Dwarf	26	19	22	19	19	38	65
	Gnome	16	25	21	24	20	50	55
	Human	21	23	21	20	20	46	55
	Night elf	17	27	21	20	20	54	55
	Worgen	23	25	21	16	19	?	?
	Blood elf	18	25	21	23	18	50	55
	Forsaken	20	21	21	18	25	42	55
	Goblin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	Orc	24	20	22	17	22	40	65
	Troll	22	25	21	16	21	50	55

Tauren and draenei races are the only races that do not have rogues because they believe that the methods of the rogues are "dishonorable," and it is difficult to be stealthy when you have hooves. However in the game files, both draenei and tauren both have stealthing animations, and as such, Eredar and Broken have such motions, some people believe the reason of this is because the item [Orb of Deception] and/or GM command testing.

Of course, there's also the Invisibility Potions.

Weapons

Although rogues excel at melee combat, they may only learn to use five types of melee weapons: daggers, fist weapons, one-handed maces, one-handed swords and one-handed axes. For ranged weapons, rogues may learn to use bows, crossbows, guns and throwing weapons.

As with warriors, a rogue's choice of weapon typically affects distribution of talent points, and vice versa. For example: since rogues may specialize in any of the five melee weapons available to them, a rogue who primarily or exclusively uses daggers/fist weapons is likely to spend talent points in [Close Quarters Combat]. Similarly, a rogue who relies on one-handed maces, swords, and axes will probably not spend points on [Improved Ambush], since the [Ambush] ability requires use of a dagger in the rogue's main hand.

The choice of what ranged weapon is usually easier to figure out than that of the melee ones. Often, a Rogue will pick any ranged weapon which gives the better stats, whether it be a bow or a gun. Still, some Rogues prefer to use throwing weapons as the ability [Deadly Throw] requires it. This is so far the only Rogue-ability requesting a specific ranged weapon.

A rogue's most fundamental abilities, such as [Sinister Strike] and [Mutilate] and are instant attacks which inflict damage based on the weapon damage of the rogue's main-hand weapon. Rogues therefore find it desirable to use a weapon with the best average damage to maximize their DPS.

Weapon speed does not affect the damage bonus provided by a rogue's attack power. Instead, damage is calculated according to the following formula:

Normalized Damage = Base Weapon Damage + (Base Multiplier × Attack Power ÷ 14)

The "base multiplier" depends on weapon type: 1.7 for daggers, and 2.4 for fist weapons, swords and maces. Although weapon speed for normalized attacks does not contribute to the bonus damage from attack power, if you have 2 weapons of equal DPS, the slower weapon will have a higher base damage (average damage) and thus cause more damage overall. The exception to this rule involves Riposte and [Ghostly Strike]. Neither ability is normalized, meaning that slow weapons with high damage ranges will inflict greater overall damage than fast weapons with low damage ranges.

Weapons held in the off hand have only two instant attacks: [Shiv] and the off-hand component of Mutilate. Otherwise their damage contribution is reasonably straightforward. Off-hand attacks suffer a standard damage penalty. Fast off-hand weapons increase the application rate of poisons, since they will hit more frequently than a slow weapon and therefore increase the chances of applying poison to a target. Most players choose to use the same type of off-hand as the main hand (or vice versa) in order to benefit from weapon specialization (if they are combat specced), but some prefer to use the fastest weapon available in order to quickly apply poisons and interrupt spellcasters. Faster weapons are also sometimes favored for by those rogues who rely heavily on [Combat Potency], since that talent affords the opportunity to regain up to 15 energy on a successful off-hand hit.

To summarize, the common rogue prefers a slow weapon in the main-hand and a fast weapon in the off-hand. This goal is easiest to reach as a combat rogue, as assassination and subtlety rogues usually need a dagger in their main-hand to perform their abilities (daggers usable by rogues with a speed slower than 2.0 are rather unusual). Some rogues prefer fast weapons in both hands in order to apply more poison, but the final gain from using a fast main-hand is debated since weapon enchantments, such as rogue poisons, usually have a "fixed" system for proccing (see proc, poisons and normalization). That, plus the extra damage from the special attacks performed with a slow main-hand and the normal damage itself, implies that there is little or nothing to win with choosing a fast main-hand when attempting to produce more damage.

Finally, whether a rogue is using a fast main-hand or a slow main-hand, it is taken as common knowledge among rogues that the OH should always be a fast weapon. This is because the off-hand, unlike the main-hand, does not have any crucial "duty" when performing abilities, thus its role consists nearly entirely of applying poisons. The only exception where a slow off-hand is preferable is when using a few spells which contribute more from slow weapons than from fast, like [Killing Spree] and [Mutilate].

Notable weapons

See Rogue equipment

Abilities

This section provides a brief overview of the abilities of the rogue. For more a detailed assessment of rogue abilities, see the "Rogue abilities" article.

Stealth

Main article: Stealth

A gnome rogue in art.

Stealth is the first major class ability a rogue can get. They have the ability to stealth and become essentially invisible to their level and lower, while moving at slower speed. Stealthed rogues are detectable at close range, though will remain stealthed and appear translucent. Be aware that higher level characters and mobs can more easily see through your stealth, and it does not take many levels to make your stealth worthless.

Many rogue abilities require stealth, and others require being behind the target, which is often achievable (while solo) only in stealth. Other rogue abilities, notably [Sprint] and [Distract], interact well with stealth, although some actions, like lockpicking, will break stealth.

Stealth opens up a range of tactics and roles for rogues. Groups often rely on a rogue's stealth ability to scout dungeons, and to use [Sap] for added crowd control. In PvP, stealth combined with burst damage gives an element of surprise that can be especially effective against cloth-wearers.

Stealth can be improved through talents, items, and enchantments, both to decrease the chance of being detected, and to increase movement speed.

Dual wield

Main article: Dual wield

A rogue starts off with the dual wielding skill upon creation. Dual wielding is a trade-off with an increased chance to miss with each weapon and reduced damage on the off-hand, but it is a good ability for a rogue. A rogue cannot use a two-handed weapon (which have bigger stat buffs), cannot carry a shield, and has few good offhand choices (offhand items tend to all have caster stats). A second wielded weapon is the only way to reliably get two hands worth of rogue stat buffs. Any weapon held in the offhand slot only deals 50% damage untalented. Also, dual wielding weapons incurs an additional 19% miss chance to balance the extra damage; so alongside a base miss chance of 5%, dual wielding results in a base miss chance of 24%.

Roughly, with no tweaking, dual wield grants .76 + (.5 x .76) = 1.14 damage.

The first tier rogue talent, [Dual Wield Specialization] removes the off-hand damage penalty in increments of 10%. Note that this is multiplicative, not additive, so at maximum rank (5/5) it grants 50% increased damage. So, 50% increased by 50% = 75% damage for offhand weapons.

So, with Dual Wield Specialization maxed, dual wield grants .76 + (.75 x .76) = 1.33 damage.

Real results, with a weapon chosen for good benefits, will be better.

Bottom line is, in spite of the to-hit penalty, as a rogue you will want to dual wield.

Poisons

Main article: Poisons

The Alliance's poison quest can be obtained at level 20 in Westfall from Agent Kearnen called  [24] Klaven's Tower; if you drop by S1:7 in Stormwind, Master Mathias will send you to Kearnen when the time is right by giving you the  [20] Mathias and the Defias quest.
The Horde's version is in Orgrimmar from Shenthul called  [20] Deep Cover; which sends you to The Barrens to talk to Taskmaster Fizzule for a quest called  [24] Mission: Possible But Not Probable.

The poisons skills allows the rogue to use poisons, which can then be applied to their weapons. Poisons generally either cause damage to the target (either instantly or as damage over time) or cause other effects (slowing the target, removing the effectiveness of healing on the target, etc.). The ability to use each type of poison and level of the type of poison is a separate rogue skill. Different weapons can have different poisons applied, and faster weapons cause the poison to proc more often.

Poisons are a temporary weapon buff, and as such do not stack with other enhancements such as sharpening stones.

All poisons have a timer, which formerly lasted 30 minutes but as of patch 2.3.0 was raised to 60 minutes. As of patch 2.1.0 a rogue's poisons no longer have multiple charges; each now has one charge and stacks up to 20 units. The poison timer is displayed on the weapons properties when you mouse over the weapon. As of patch 1.10.0 applying poison will not break [Stealth] or [Shadowmeld]; previously to this, applying poisons would break these states. As of Patch 2.0.1, poisons remain on weapons through zoning between continents or into instances.

A variety of talents in the assassination tree enhance the use of poisons. Wearing three or more pieces of the Bloodfang Armor set increases the chance to apply poisons by 5%.

Prior to patch 3.0.2 and Wrath of the Lich King, the Poisons skill, the ability to brew poisons from ingredients, was a secondary skill, similar to Cooking or First Aid, but available only to rogues. As of the 3.0.2 patch and Wrath of the Lich King, the Poisons skill is no longer available in the game. Poisons may still be used by rogues, but are no longer brewed. Poisons can now be purchased from any Poison Vendor or Shady Dealer. Different ranks of Mind-numbing Poison have also been removed as of this patch.

Lockpicking

Main article: Lockpicking

Rogues have the ability to obtain the important skill Lockpicking. This ability allows them to open locked chests, lockboxes, and doors, depending on the rogue's skill in lockpicking and the level of the locked object (note that blacksmiths can create keys to open locked chests and engineers can manufacture explosive charges that can open locked doors, in the case that a skilled rogue is unavailable.) Lockboxes can be pickpocketed from mobs or found as loot and are essential to rogues trying to level their lockpicking skill — their color (grey - red) represents the skill necessary to open them (red means the rogue's lockpicking skill is too low to open the object and must increase his/her skill level before attempting again.) Your lockpicking increases at the same rate as weapon skills (5 * Level) to a maximum skill of 400 at level 80.

Early training in lockpicking for Alliance rogues can be obtained at level 16 by completing the Alther's Mill quest, obtained from Lucius, who skulks around the docks of Lakeshore in the Redridge Mountains; Keryn Silvius in the Goldshire Inn will send you to see Renzik at SI:7 in Stormwind who will send you to see Lucius (however, you can probably go direct to Lucius...)

Some high-level dungeons (like the Arcatraz in Tempest Keep or the Shattered Halls in Hellfire Citadel) can be opened by a rogue with a skill level of 350 in lockpicking. This can be a real time-saver for a group since the alternative to picking the locks to these dungeons is to complete several long quest chains resulting in a key reward.

Stuns, incapacitates, and/or disorients

Goblin rogue

• [Cheap Shot]

Stuns a target for 4 seconds and awards 2 combo points for use on a finishing move. This is a very useful opener that requires [Stealth] and usually allows the rogue to get 1 or 2 instant attacks off in addition to auto-attacks before an opponent can recover. Cheap Shot has its own diminishing returns category, and can therefore be used with Kidney Shot to stunlock a foe.

• [Kidney Shot]

Kidney shot is an excellent finishing move which stuns for up to 6 seconds depending on skill rank and number of combo points. It can keep an opponent stunned long enough for you to kill them (especially if you master stunlocking). This skill is most useful in PvP. In PvE it's also a great ability to help keep your group mates alive or to interrupt a spell being cast.

• [Gouge]

Gouge is not a stun, but is a very important skill that incapacitates your target. This is used frequently to stall an opponent allowing you time to regenerate energy and get behind your opponent to allow a [Backstab]. Since it is considered an incapacitating effect, any damage caused afterward breaks the Gouge. This ability turns off auto-attack when used. Also, speccing in [Improved Gouge] will add .5 seconds per point up to a maximum of 1.5 seconds to your Gouge. This adds just enough time for you to gouge someone and get out of combat to re-Stealth. Gouge can also be used to interrupt a spell being cast.

• [Blind]

Disorients an opponent for 10 seconds, causing them to wander around in a very small area while they are unable to act. More than enough time to bandage and re-Stealth in PvP. Any damage will remove the disorient effect. Blind can also be used to interrupt a spell being cast.

• [Sap]

This move must be performed while Stealthed and your opponent cannot be in combat. However sapping will allow you 1 minute (or 10 seconds on a PvP target) of freedom. Feel free to use this to bandage AND return back to Stealth. Sap and Gouge share the same diminishing return timer.

Diminishing returns

Please note that diminishing returns apply to all effects that cause players to lose control of their character (stun, incapacitate, fear, etc.). The abilities of a rogue end up in five different categories of diminishing returns. [Cheap Shot] is in a separate category from [Kidney Shot] and therefore both can be used to stun an opponent for full ten seconds. [Sap] and [Gouge] are on the same diminishing returns, while [Blind] and [Dismantle] are each on their own.

Passive threat reduction

All rogues generate reduced threat, compared to most classes. While attacks from most classes generate 1.0x threat per damage, rogues generate 0.71x threat per damage.

Prior to patch 1.12, the rogues' threat reduction was 0.8x, but was additive with other threat modifiers. The reduction was increased because threat modifiers are now multiplicative.

Ignore armor

Unlike a caster's magic attacks, a rogue's melee attacks are reduced by the target's armor. The rogue has a few tricks to mitigate the armor.

Poisons, [Rupture], and [Garrote] bypass armor. [Expose Armor] is a finishing move that reduces the target's armor for a short period which can be extended with the talent [Improved Expose Armor]. Maces ignore up to 15% of an enemy's armor when specced for Mace Specialization. The subtlety talent [Serrated Blades] ignore 3% armor per point, up to 9% at third rank.

Fleeing

Rogues are adept at running away. [Sprint] allows a rogue a temporary running speed boost, and  [Glyph of Blurred Speed] allows a Sprinting rogue to run across water.  [Glyph of Sprint] increases Sprint's speed boost by 30%. [Vanish] allows a rogue to disappear from combat and enter an improved Stealth mode. With  [Glyph of Vanish], a rogue gains 30% movement speed while under the Vanish effect.

Talents

Rogue talents are split into 3 categories:

• Assassination
• Combat
• Subtlety

Some builds to consider are :
Mutilate/Preparation (AKA 41/5/25)
Combat swords/axes
Combat maces
Combat fists/daggers
Cold Blood/Prep/Seal Fate (AKA CB/Prep)
Shadowstep with assassination

These are just general outlines. Please see the rogue builds section for a little more in depth explanation.

Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, ThottBot, and Wowhead.

See the rogue talents page for further details.

Suggested professions

Leatherworking and Skinning

Leatherworking and Skinning are always a good choice. The items crafted tend to be better than other items you can loot at the same level. This is a very balanced profession choice for performance and money. It is recommended that you go Elemental Specialization because the gear is more suited for rogues and feral druids as it provides Agility and Stamina.

Herbalism and Alchemy

Herbalism and Alchemy are a pretty viable option. The Alchemy profession allows the rogue to manufacture powerful potions, elixirs, and flasks. Healing potions are the Endless Rage.

• Alchemy also opens up the ability to craft an [Assassin's Alchemist Stone], which adds a decent amount of attack power in addition to the 40% bonus to healing potions.
• Note that this profession is not only beneficial to the rogue in performance, it can be an excellent money maker.
• Herbalism is also a very good way to obtain  [Swiftthistle], which is needed to make  [Thistle Tea].
• [Mixology] became available with Patch 3.0.2 which doubled the duration of Elixirs and Flasks for the Alchemist who learns the skill. This is beneficial in a raid.

Engineering and Mining

Engineering is arguably the best (and most fun) profession for a rogue (with Mining being the most beneficial complementary profession). It allows for a very distinct edge in combat. It can, however, be expensive, for while you usually only have to craft items once in engineering, the items tend to be a bit expensive at times. There are a few engineering items that require components crafted by other professions, from blacksmiths to tailors to alchemists. Picking up mining with Engineering will save you a lot of money indeed, however, still be prepared to spend a solid amount of gold. Also, don't expect to be able to compensate your money with this profession, as Engineers make little to no money from their profession and still spend large amounts of money on items they still use at end game.

Some very notable items would be:

• [Adamantite Grenade] & [Frost Grenade] - Can allow for an easy long range silence or just to stop someone from fleeing.
• [Gnomish Death Ray] - Knock-down power at the cost of some of your own health.
• [Parachute Cloak] - To ease sneaking from above and save your life once in a while.
• [Catseye Ultra Goggles] - These give you a very distinct advantage against other rogues.
• [Gnomish Rocket Boots], [Goblin Rocket Boots], and eventually [Rocket Boots Xtreme] provide 50%, 70% and 300% run speed increase (respectively).
• [Gnomish Army Knife] - Great for keeping a group from having to rez. Vanish from a losing fight and then rez the rezzer. And this is good for every profession.
• [Weakness Spectralizers] - One of the best headpieces in the game for a rogue. Not to be underestimated.
• [Jeeves] is great for raiders. Sometimes a place to repair isn't close. In those cases, drop one of these and have the raid restock on reagents and repair gear. And also gives the engineer bank acces to deposit newly got gear or materials.

With the release of WotLK, some engineering item enhancements were added (These are only usable by engineers):

• [Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket] - ~1800 fire damage once every 45 seconds. This item does not trigger Global Cooldown. Takes up enchant spot on gloves. Usable in arenas.
• [Frag Belt] - Allows you to throw one grenade every 6 minutes and incapacitate targets for 3 seconds, also deals about 700 damage. Can not be used in arenas.
• [Flexweave Underlay] - Grants you a 30 second parachute effect once a minute. Also adds 23 agility to your cloak. Usable in arenas but without much use.
• [Nitro Boosts] - Five second speed increase(150%), can be used every 3 minutes. It also adds +24 critical strike rating. This can not be used in arenas.
• [Hyperspeed Accelerators] - Increases Haste by 340 for 12 seconds. It can only be activated every minute and does not trigger Global Cooldown Takes up enchant spot on gloves. Usable in arenas.

Jewelcrafting and Mining

Jewelcrafting is a very good profession for a rogue.

• Crafted rings and necklaces. (every level, stating at 10)
• Stone statues, an extra self-heal that works in combat:

(low level)

[Rough Stone Statue]

[Coarse Stone Statue]

[Heavy Stone Statue]

[Solid Stone Statue]

[Dense Stone Statue]

• A diverse array of BoP trinkets some of which enhance rogue special abilities:

(mid level)

[Figurine - Golden Hare]

[Figurine - Black Pearl Panther]

[Figurine - Truesilver Crab]

[Figurine - Truesilver Boar]

[Figurine - Black Diamond Crab]

[Figurine - Dark Iron Scorpid]

(high level)

[Figurine - Emerald Boar]

[Figurine - Ruby Hare]

• Ability to cut gems for sockets for high level gear.

Enchanting

Enchanting is a very profitable profession if you know how to use it. As a rogue it's possible to solo run some lower level dungeons and head straight for the boss of each then disenchant their loot. At level 70 Scholomance, Blackrock Depths, UBRS, Dire maul and even Stratholme are very doable and most certainly profitable. Enchanting provides no utility or combat usage for PvP or PvE whatsoever other than the self-only invaluable ring enchants.

Inscription

Inscription is a new profession introduced with the 3.0.2 Patch. This profession is easy to learn, quick to level, and can be very profitable. It utilizes Pigments from milled herbs and allows the rogue to make Glyphs for themselves and others. See rogue glyphs for a list of glyphs the Scribe could make for themselves. Herbalism complements this profession. Inscription, much like Enchanting, is mainly only picked up for money; this is because Glyphs are not replaced or changed often if at all, once you have you're glyphs thats usually set and done, so it is preferred by many to just buy the Glyphs. The money making aspect such as making cards and glyphs for others though is quite appealing to the rogue who doesn't want any extra combat utility that other profession could offer.

Blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is a viable choice for rogues looking to min/max as much as possible. At the blacksmithing skill of 400, you can use [Socket Gloves] and [Socket Bracer] to add an extra socket to your gloves and bracers respectively. Weaponsmiths can make the [Corroded Saronite Edge] and [Corroded Saronite Woundbringer], both decent weapons for the 78-80 push and the early part of your time at 80. Other rogue friendly weapons include the [Titansteel Bonecrusher] and [Titansteel Shanker]. As leveling blacksmithing to it's highest is an expensive and time consuming task, you may be better served to level mining and ask someone else to make the Titansteel items for you. Finally, Blacksmith's can make [Eternal Belt Buckle] for themselves and others.

Summary

In short, each profession has different benefits. You have to decide what you want. Would you prefer making some desent cash over combat and survivability utilities in PvP and PvE that is offered by Engineering and Alchemy. Or would you prefer to have some profits comming out of you're profession with less personal combat benefits such as Enchanting, Inscription, and possibly blacksmithing (not reccomended for rogues as they cannot use ANY of the gear made, and there are no WotLK weapons out there for any of the specializations.

While some people personally like engineering, be prepared to drop a lot of money on the profession, as it's not a strong money-making profession.

None of this makes any one profession the "right answer." Experiment with the different professions to find the one you enjoy, it's a compromise between what you want (profit or utility) and you're budget. Play around with you're choices and try to find where that line is and how fine it is.

Useful Add-ons

This section lists some of the more helpful mods specifically for the rogue class.

EnergyWatch v2

Displays a progress bar that fills, empties, and refills in time with your energy recharge tick. This can be extremely useful for timing that Cheap Shot or Ambush so you tick immediately and have extra energy for a Gouge, etc. This may be considered obsolete now that a rogue's energy is now constantly refilling, as opposed to ticking up.

RogueFocusClassic

An all in one addon that keeps track of energy ticks, combo points, AND total energy. As much as I loved EnergyWatch, this is a much better addon.

Poisoner

This mod allows for extremely easy application of poisons. It creates a small minimap icon that can be hovered over to display all the poisons you currently have. Just left click the desired poison to apply to the main hand weapon, or right click to apply to the offhand.

Natur Enemy Cast Bars (NECB)

Notifies the player when someone begins to cast a spell. This is great since it lets you know when to kick, blind or stun the opponent; quite handy if you prefer not to be polymorphed.

Addons can be found at Curse Gaming, WoW UI, and WoW Interface
For rogue specific addons, check out Curse-Rogue Addons and WoWUI-Rogue Addons

End-game expectations

Your main priority in raiding is maximizing melee DPS, while staying alive. Put your threat reducing abilities (namely, [Feint], [Vanish] and [Tricks of the Trade]) to good use, use them before you gain aggro. As with all melee DPS classes, rogues are expected to come to raids with ample supplies of Flasks, Potion of Speeds, food, poisons and bandages. Depending on particular situation, rogues may not get many heals. If that's the case, rogues should use potions or health stones or bandages.

Since the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, most raid instances were built to accommodate rogue poisons and the immunity to them has all but been removed. All WotLK bosses are susceptible to rogue poisons.

Also rogues are wanted be utilized as interrupters at some bosses such as Kel'Thuzad and General Vezax, and can be asked to [Dismantle] in instances like Onyxia's Lair.

Patch changes

Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): Extended applied poison effects from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Brought several changes to rogues.

• [Pick Lock] and [Disarm Trap] no longer require  [Thieves' Tools].
• [Vanish] no longer requires the reagent  [Flash Powder].
• Poisons are no longer created from ingredients by rogue. The vendors that sold poison ingredients now sell ready to use poisons.
• [Mace Specialization] no longer gives a chance to stun the target, instead bypasses armor.

Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08): Dual Wield added to level one skills, and starting kit changed to include two daggers.

Wrath of the Lich King changes

Sap

Sap now works on more targets, humanoids, beasts, dragonkins, demons. "Anything with a skull and a brain inside of it".

Mutilate

With the improvements in the assassination tree, Mutilate builds are now viable in both PvE and PvP. This is in particular good news for the dagger-loving rogues out there.

Cataclysm changes

General preview

Cataclysm Class Preview: Priest | 2010-04-09 06:57 |  Bashiok

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we'll be making several changes to class talents and abilities across the board. Here, you'll get a glimpse at what's in store for the rogue class, including a look the new high-level abilities and an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the rogue's different talent specs.

New Rogue Abilities

 [Redirect] (available at level 81): Rogues will be getting a new ability to help them deal with changing targets. Redirect will transfer any active combo points to the rogue's current target, helping to ensure combo points aren't wasted when swapping targets or when targets die. In addition, self-buff abilities like  [Slice and Dice] will no longer require a target, so rogues can spend extra combo points on those types of abilities (more on this below). Redirect will have a 1-minute cooldown and no other costs.

 [Combat Readiness] (level 83): Combat Readiness is a new ability that we intend rogues to trigger defensively. While this ability is active, whenever the rogue is struck by a melee or ranged attack, he or she will gain a stacking buff called Combat Insight that results in a 10% reduction in damage taken. Combat Insight will stack up to 5 times and the timer will be refreshed whenever a new stack is applied. Our goal is to make rogues better equipped to go toe-to-toe with other melee classes when  [Evasion] or stuns are not in play. This ability lasts 6 seconds and has a 2-minute cooldown.

 [Smoke Bomb] (level 85): The rogue drops a Smoke Bomb, creating a cloud that interferes with enemy targeting. Enemies who are outside the cloud will find themselves unable to target units inside the cloud with single-target abilities. Enemies can move inside the cloud to attack, or they can use area-of-effect (AoE) abilities at any time to attack opponents in a cloud. In PvP, this will open up new dimensions of tactical positional gameplay, as the ability offers a variety of offensive and defensive uses. In PvE, Smoke Cloud can serve to shield your group from hostile ranged attacks, while also drawing enemies closer without the need to rely on conventional line-of-sight obstructions. Smoke Cloud lasts 10 seconds and has a 3-minute cooldown.

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

We're also planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you're already familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we want for each spec.

• In PvP, we want to reduce the rogue's dependency on binary cooldowns and "stun-locks," and give them more passive survivability in return. One major change is that we'll put  [Cheap Shot] on the same diminishing return as other stuns. The increase to Armor and Stamina on cloth, leather, and mail gear will help with this goal as well.
• In PvE, even accounting for active modifiers like Slice and Dice and  [Envenom], a very large portion of the rogue's damage is attributable to passive sources of damage. Yes, they are using abilities for the entire duration of a fight, but we want to reduce the percentage of rogue damage that comes from auto-attacks and poisons. More of their damage will be coming from active abilities and special attacks.
• We would like to improve the rogue leveling experience. Positional attacks and DoT-ramping mechanics will be de-emphasized at low levels and then re-introduced at higher levels for group gameplay. We are also providing rogues with a new low-level ability,  [Recuperate], to convert combo points into a small heal-over-time (HoT).
• To complement the change to combo points, non-damage abilities such as Recuperate and Slice and Dice will no longer have target requirements and can be used with any of the rogue's existing combo points, including combo points remaining on recently killed targets. This will not affect damage abilities, which will still require combo points to be present on the specific target you want to damage. To coincide with this, the UI will be updated so that rogues know how many combo points they have active.
•  [Ambush] will now work with all weapons, but will have a reduced coefficient when not using a dagger. When opening from Stealth, all rogues will be able to choose from burst damage, DoT abilities, or a stun.
• As we've done recently with some of the Subtlety abilities, we want to make sure more rogue abilities aren't overly penalized by weapon choice. With a few exceptions (like Backstab), you should be able to use a dagger, axe, mace, sword, or fist weapon without being penalized for most attacks.
•  [Deadly Throw] and  [Fan of Knives] will now use the weapon in the ranged slot. In addition, we hope to allow rogues to apply poisons to their throwing weapons.
• We are very happy with  [Tricks of the Trade] as a general mechanic and as a way to give rogues more group utility, but we don't want it to account for as much threat transfer as it does now.

New Talents and Talent Changes

In Cataclysm, the overall feel of each of the rogue's talent trees will change, as we would like each tree to have a clearly defined niche and purpose. The talent details below are meant to give you an idea of what we're going for.

• Assassination will be more about daggers, poisons, and burst damage.
• Combat will be all about swords, maces, fist weapons, axes, and being engaged toe-to-toe with your enemies. A Combat rogue will be able to survive longer without needing to rely on Stealth and evasion mechanics.
• The Subtlety tree will primarily be based around utilizing Stealth, openers, finishers, and survivability. It'll be about daggers, too, but less so than Assassination.
• In general, Subtlety rogues needs to do more damage than they do today, and the other trees need to have more tools.
• Weapon-specialization talents (for all classes, not just rogues) are going away. We do not want you to have to respec when you get a different weapon. Interesting talents, such as Hack and Slash, will work with all weapons. Boring talents, such as Mace Specialization and Close Quarters Combat, will be going away.
• The Assassination and Combat talent trees currently have a lot of passive bonuses. We plan to dial back the amount of Critical Strike Rating provided by these trees so that rogues still want it on their gear.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Assassination

1. Melee damage
2. Melee critical damage
3. Poison damage

Combat

1. Melee damage
2. Melee Haste
3. Harder-hitting combo-point generators

Subtlety

1. Melee damage
2. Armor Penetration
3. Harder-hitting finishers

The initial tier of rogue Mastery bonuses will be very similar between the trees. However, the deeper that a player goes into any tree, the more specialized and beneficial the Masteries will be to the play style for that spec. Assassination will have better poisons than the other two specs. Combat will have very steady and consistent overall damage. Subtlety will have strong finishers.

We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we're looking forward to hearing your initial thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.

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See also

• Lockpicking - Guide to getting that lockpicking skill up.
• Rogue sets - Discussion of set items for rogues.
• Rogue gear guide - Information about choice of rogue equipment.
• Stealth run - Solo or duo-able dungeons.
• Stealth chests - Soloable chests in instances.
• List of rogues - List of important NPC rogues and rogues from lore.

External links

Wikipedia 

RogueDPS.com Maximizing Rogue DPS - Guide/Tips

Elitist Jerks Rogue Pocket Guide

License to Kill Raid gear guide

Rogue Builds Talent builds and guides

Rogue PvP Guide Rogue Discussion (mainly PvP tactics)

ShadowPanther Charts, Articles and Guides

WowInsider Encrypted Text — Rogue weekly feature

Rogue Leveling Guide Rogue Leveling Guide

WowInsider Guides