Zodar's Rogue Leveling Tips
LEVELING BUILD
Sword or Mace Combat/Assassination is usually considered to be the best build for leveling because it has superior
sustained damage and does not rely on positional attacks. It's also a respectable build for PVP, although it really
isn't optimized for that purpose. Dagger builds, on the other hand, suffer from several disadvantages when it comes
to leveling. At low levels, daggers can be useful for frontloading your damage with Ambush. However, after your
initial stealth attack, it can be tricky to pull off multiple Backstabs when mobs are always trying to face you (and
you shouldn't Sinister Strike with daggers because they deal significantly less damage than non-daggers.) Another
disadvantage of using daggers is that as mobs gain more armor and health, Ambush starts to lose its effectiveness.
With swords and maces you don't have to worry about positioning - - just run up and smash away with Sinister
Strike. Fist builds work much the same way. Unfortunately, when leveling, good fist weapons can be hard to find.
The best advice for new Rogues is drop daggers and get training for swords/maces. Trainers can be found here:
| Alliance | Horde | ||||||
| Swords | Maces | Swords | Maces | ||||
| Stormwind: Woo Ping Exodar: Handiir |
Ironforge: Buliwyf Stonehand Exodar: Handiir |
Undercity: Archibald Eversong Woods: Duelist Larenis Silvermoon: Ileda |
Thunder Bluff: Ansekhwa |
||||
WEAPONS
Regardless of your choice of weapon or spec, you want a hard hitting main hand weapon (high average damage) for
maximum special attack damage and a fast offhand for increased proc effects like poisons, weapon specialization,
Combat Potency, etc. At lower levels, you won't have access to weapon specializations or Combat Potency, so the
DPS of the weapon will be more important than the speed of your offhand. However, after level 20, having a fast
offhand weapon will give more DPS through application of poisons. Until you get a weapon specialization (level 30+),
use a fast offhand dagger. After level 30, try to match weapon types to get the most use out of your weapon spec.
If you have the gold to spare, Fiery Weapon is a good, inexpensive enchant to put on your weapons while leveling.
TALENT SPECS
Here are some sample Sword/Mace Combat/Assassination talent trees with key talents in each level range:
| Talent Specs | |||||
| Level 20 Swords/Maces |
Level 30 Swords/Maces |
Level 40 Sword Level 40 Mace |
Level 50 Sword Level 50 Mace |
Level 61 Sword Level 61 Mace |
Level 70 Sword Level 70 Mace |
| Talent Progression | |||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 12: Improved Gouge 1/3 13: Improved Gouge 2/3 14: Improved Gouge 3/3 15: Deflection 1/5 16: Deflection 2/5 17: Deflection 3/5 18: Deflection 4/5 19: Deflection 5/5 20: Riposte 1/1 21: Precision 1/5 22: Precision 2/5 23: Precision 3/5 24: Precision 4/5 25: Precision 5/5 26: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 27: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 28: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 29: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 30: Blade Flurry 1/1 |
31: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 32: Weapon Expertise 1/2 33: Weapon Expertise 2/2 34: Improved Slice and Dice 1/3 35: Improved Slice and Dice 2/3 36: Improved Slice and Dice 3/3 37: Sword/Mace Specialization 1/5 38: Sword/Mace Specialization 2/5 39: Sword/Mace Specialization 3/5 40: Adrenaline Rush 1/1 41: Sword/Mace Specialization 4/5 42: Sword/Mace Specialization 5/5 43: Aggression 1/3 44: Aggression 2/3 45: Combat Potency 1/5 46: Combat Potency 2/5 47: Combat Potency 3/5 48: Combat Potency 4/5 49: Combat Potency 5/5 50: Surprise Attacks 1/1 |
51: Malice 1/5 52: Malice 2/5 53: Malice 3/5 54: Malice 4/5 55: Malice 5/5 56: Ruthlessness 1/3 57: Ruthlessness 2/3 58: Ruthlessness 3/3 59: Murder 1/2 60: Murder 2/2 61: Relentless Strikes 62: Lethality 1/5 63: Lethality 2/5 64: Lethality 3/5 65: Lethality 4/5 66: Lethality 5/5 67: Vile Poisons 1/5 68: Vile Poisons 2/5 69: Vile Poisons 3/5 70: Respec for PVE or PVP |
|||
This talent build focuses on pure damage and excels in toe-to-toe PVE combat. At higher levels, this build shines in
its ability to handle multiple mobs effectively with the burst potential of Adrenaline Rush + Blade Flurry. Those two
talents are especially useful when leveling, since they give you the unique ability to power your way through groups of
mobs or tough boss mobs that might otherwise prevent you from completing a quest. That's why I recommend going
straight up the Combat tree before switching to the Assassination tree, so you can pick up those key talents ASAP.
ATTACKS
Your attack sequence will vary, depending upon the circumstances, but will generally go something like this:
Garrote/Cheap Shot > Slice and Dice > Sinister Strike x 5 > Eviscerate/Rupture/Kidney Shot
Here are some sample attack routines to use for different scenarios (more mobs require higher level abilities):
| Targets | Sample Attack Routines |
| 1 | Garrote, SnD, SSx5, Evis |
| 2 | Garrote mob #1, SnD, switch to mob #2, BF, SSx5, Evis |
| 3 | Garrote mob #1, SnD, switch to mob #2, AR, BF, Evasion, SSx5, Evis, SnD, SSx5, Evis |
| 4 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, AR, BF, Evasion, SSx5, Evis, SnD, SSx5, Evis, repeat until all unsapped mobs are dead, kill the Sapped mob |
| 5 | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, AR, BF, Evasion, SSx5, Evis, repeat until only 1 unsapped mob remains, Blind the unsapped mob, bandage, kill the Blinded mob, kill the Sapped mob |
| 6+ | Sap mob #1, wait for energy regen, Garrote mob #2, SnD, switch to mob #3, AR, BF, Evasion, SSx5, Evis, SnD, SSx5, Evis, finish off any mob about to die, Sprint, CloS, Vanish, eat/bandage, return and mop up the rest | Abbreviations: SnD: Slice and Dice, SS: Sinister Strike, Evis: Eviscerate, BF: Blade Flurry, AR: Adrenaline Rush, CloS: Cloak of Shadows |
If you're mostly fighting mobs that are easy to kill and don't live very long, you should be using dual Instant Poisons
However, if you're fighting against mobs that take longer to kill, try switching your main hand to Deadly Poison to get
some more DPS. Focus on fighting Humanoids whenever possible because they can be pickpocketed (level up that
Lockpicking skill!), they can be disarmed (Riposte minimizes damage you receive, reducing downtime), and they drop
plenty of cloth (bandages are great for leveling.) They can also be Garroted/Ruptured, unlike some types of mobs.
Here are some simple attack macros that you may find useful while leveling:
| Stealth Opener: Pick Pocket + Garrote | Main Attack with Automatic Riposte |
|
/cast Pick Pocket /stopcasting /cast Garrote |
/startattack /castrandom Sinister Strike, Riposte |
PROFESSIONS
When it comes to leveling professions, I recommend Skinning/Mining. Send all of the mats to an alt, then you'll have
just about everything you need for any crafting profession you choose (Leatherworking, Engineering, Jewelcrafting
or Blacksmithing.). Once you reach 70, drop one or both gathering professions to pick up your crafting professions.
GEAR
As far as gear is concerned, look for any "of the Monkey" or equivalent items that have both Agility and Stamina.
Other stats like Attack Power, Crit Rating & Hit Rating are also good to have. Strength, on the other hand, is a fairly
mediocre stat for Rogues, providing only 1 AP, whereas Agility gives 1 AP in addition to Crit, Dodge and Armor.
Whether you're twinking or leveling, you can find the best gear listed in my Twink/Leveling charts:
| Rogue Powerleveling Chart |
| Twink Armor Charts | Twink Weapons Charts | ||
| Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 | Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 |
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