Zodar's Rogue Leveling Tips
| Quicklinks to Sections Listed Below | |||||
| Weapons | Heirloom Gear | Combat Spec | Combat Rotations | Mutilate Spec | Hemo Spec |
| Ambush Spec | Leveling Glyphs | Leveling Poisons | Ideal Races | Ideal Professions | Leveling Gear |
COMBAT LEVELING BUILD
See further below for Alternative Leveling Talent Specs (Mutilate, Hemo, Ambush, etc.)
A Combat Build (Swords/Maces/Axes) is usually going to be your best build for leveling because it has superior
sustained damage, it can handle multiple enemies very effectively and the spec does not rely on positional attacks.
Dagger builds, while effective at higher levels, suffer from several disadvantages in the early stages of leveling. At
lower 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 & health, Ambush starts losing its burst damage potential. Also,
Dagger builds have trouble handling multiple enemies simultaneously, which is compounded by positioning issues.
With swords/maces/axes, you aren't concerned with positioning issues. 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 to set aside those daggers and get training for swords/maces/axes. When you
reach level 50 (Mutilate), daggers become viable again. Until then, sword/mace/axe trainers can be found below:
| Alliance | Horde | ||||||||||
| Swords | Maces | Axes | Swords | Maces | Axes | ||||||
| Stormwind Woo Ping Exodar Handiir |
Ironforge Buliwyf Stonehand Exodar Handiir |
Ironforge Buliwyf Stonehand |
Undercity Archibald Eversong Woods Duelist Larenis Silvermoon Ileda |
Thunder Bluff Ansekhwa |
Orgrimmar Hanashi Orgrimmar Sayoc |
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WHERE TO LEVEL
For a list of optimized quest circuits, I highly recommend Jame's Leveling Guides. They're free and well-designed.
WEAPONS
Regardless of your weapons or talent spec, you should get a slow, high DPS, hard hitting main hand weapon with
high average damage for increased special attack damage. For your offhand weapon, look for good stats and high
DPS. In the past, fast weapons were preferred for your offhand, but ever since the 3.1 patch, Instant and Wound
Poisons now operate on a proc per minute (PPM) basis. So, that means that offhand weapon speed won't matter
as much until you pick up Hack and Slash and/or Combat Potency. Also, while you're leveling, I recommend that
you enchant your weapons with the fairly inexpensive Fiery Weapon enchantment to provide some extra damage.
BIND ON ACCOUNT HEIRLOOM LEVELING GEAR
As more and more players get access to Bind on Account (BoA) Heirloom items, they often ask which items are
the best choices for leveling as a Rogue. This can be a tricky question, since your choice of spec could change as
you get to higher levels. Combat is usually your best option for the earlier levels, but you may wish to switch to a
Mutilate spec later. Assuming Combat, Venerable Dal'Rend's Sacred Charge and Venerable Mass of McGowan
are strong main hand weapons. Battleworn Thrash Blade is a good OH in the earlier levels, before you get Hack
and Slash (30) & Combat Potency (45). That is when you'll want to have a faster offhand sword/axe, to enhance
the power of those proc effects. Sharpened Scarlet Kris is a nice, fast, offhand weapon, although it isn't a sword.
After level 30, look for Knightly Longsword->Rune Sword->Dimensional Blade->Whistling Sword->Fiery Prod
as your fast Combat offhand weapons to get the full benefit of your Combat Potency and Hack and Slash talents.
If you enjoy dagger specs and feel pretty confident that you'll be playing a Mutilate build after level 50, then you'll
want to pick up a set of Balanced Heartseekers. These hard hitting daggers are effective at pretty much all levels.
After selecting your heirloom weapons, the next most important BoA item you'll want to get are the shoulders and
chest for the 20% EXP bonus. If you plan to PVP as you level, then you should get the Exceptional Stormshroud
Shoulders. Otherwise, you'll probably want to get the Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders. After you have purchased
your weapons and experience gear, if you have a massive overabundance of Stone Keeper's Shards, Emblems of
Heroism and now Champion's Seals (as of the 3.2 patch) burning a hole in your pocket, then go pick up a pair of
heirloom trinkets as well as one of those ranged weapons to put that finishing touch on your heirloom leveling set.
COMBAT LEVELING TALENT SPEC
Here is a sample Sword/Axe/Mace Combat talent tree with key talents in each level range:
| Combat Leveling Talent Spec | |||||
| A sustained DPS build which excels at handling multiple enemies - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-80 | |||||
| Level 20 Build Level 30 Build |
Lvl 40 Sword/Axe Level 40 Mace |
Lvl 50 Sword/Axe Level 50 Mace |
Lvl 60 Sword/Axe Level 60 Mace |
Lvl 70 Sword/Axe Level 70 Mace |
Lvl 80 Sword/Axe Level 80 Mace |
| Combat Leveling Talent Progression | |||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 12: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 13: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 14: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 15: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 16: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 17: Precision 1/5 18: Precision 2/5 19: Precision 3/5 20: Precision 4/5 21: Precision 5/5 22: Improved Slice and Dice 1/2 23: Improved Slice and Dice 2/2 24: Endurance 1/2 25: Aggression 1/5 26: Aggression 2/5 27: Aggression 3/5 28: Aggression 4/5 29: Aggression 5/5 30: Blade Flurry 1/1 31: Lightning Reflexes 1/3 31: Lightning Reflexes 2/3 33: Lightning Reflexes 3/3 |
34: Weapon Specialization 1/5 35: Weapon Expertise 1/2 36: Weapon Expertise 2/2 37: Blade Twisting 1/2 38: Blade Twisting 2/2 39: Weapon Specialization 2/5 40: Adrenaline Rush 1/1 41: Vitality 1/3 42: Vitality 2/3 43: Vitality 3/3 44: Weapon Specialization 3/5 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: Unfair Advantage 1/2 52: Unfair Advantage 2/2 53: Savage Combat 1/2 54: Savage Combat 2/2 55: Prey on the Weak 1/5 56: Prey on the Weak 2/5 57: Prey on the Weak 3/5 |
58: Prey on the Weak 4/5 59: Prey on the Weak 5/5 60: Killing Spree 1/1 61: Relentless Strikes 1/5 62: Relentless Strikes 2/5 63: Relentless Strikes 3/5 64: Relentless Strikes 4/5 65: Relentless Strikes 5/5 66: Malice 1/5 67: Malice 2/5 68: Malice 3/5 69: Malice 4/5 70: Malice 5/5 71: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 72: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 73: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 74: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 75: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 76: Vigor 1/1 77: Weapon Specialization 4/5 78: Weapon Specialization 5/5 79: Lethality 1/5 80: Lethality 2/5 |
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This talent spec 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 a tough boss mob that might otherwise prevent you from completing a quest. That is why I recommend
going straight up the Combat tree before switching to a different tree, so you can pick up those vital talents ASAP.
COMBAT ATTACK ROTATIONS
Your attack sequence will vary, depending upon the circumstances, but will generally go something like this:
Garrote/Cheap Shot/Sinister Strike > 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 | Sinister Strike, 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 |
Spend most of your time fighting Humanoids whenever possible because they can be pickpocketed (level up that
Lockpicking skill!), they can be Garroted/Ruptured and they drop lots of cloth (bandages are great for leveling.)
ALTERNATIVE LEVELING TALENT SPECS
If Combat starts to become boring, then you might consider switching to an alternative leveling spec that focuses
on another talent tree. Assassination builds are good for dealing impressive amounts of single-target damage while
Subtlety specs give you added versatility for PVP, which helps if you are leveling on a PVP server. Listed below
are alternative leveling specs for Dagger and Non-Dagger builds using the Assassination and Subtlety talent trees.
| Assassination Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | |||||||
| A burst damage dagger build maximized for PVE - Primary Attack: Backstab Levels 4-49, Mutilate Levels 50-80 | |||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 | |
| Assassination Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | |||||||
|
10: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 11: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 12: Malice 1/5 13: Malice 2/5 14: Malice 3/5 15: Puncturing Wounds 1/3 16: Puncturing Wounds 2/3 17: Puncturing Wounds 3/3 18: Malice 4/5 19: Malice 5/5 20: Vigor 1/1 21: Lethality 1/5 22: Lethality 2/5 23: Lethality 3/5 24: Lethality 4/5 25: Improved Poisons 1/5 26: Improved Poisons 2/5 27: Improved Poisons 3/5 28: Improved Poisons 4/5 29: Improved Poisons 5/5 30: Cold Blood 1/1 31: Fleet Footed 1/2 32: Fleet Footed 2/2 33: Quick Recovery 1/2 |
34: Quick Recovery 2/2 35: Seal Fate 1/5 36: Seal Fate 2/5 37: Seal Fate 3/5 38: Seal Fate 4/5 39: Seal Fate 5/5 40: Overkill 1/1 41: Murder 1/2 42: Murder 2/2 43: Vile Poisons 1/3 44: Vile Poisons 2/3 45: Focused Attacks 1/3 46: Focused Attacks 2/3 47: Focused Attacks 3/3 48: Find Weakness 1/3 49: Find Weakness 2/3 50: Mutilate 1/1 51: Opportunity 1/2 52: Opportunity 2/2 53: Relentless Strikes 1/5 54: Relentless Strikes 2/5 55: Relentless Strikes 3/5 56: Relentless Strikes 4/5 57: Relentless Strikes 5/5 |
58: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 59: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 60: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 61: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 62: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 63: Precision 1/5 64: Precision 2/5 65: Precision 3/5 66: Precision 4/5 67: Precision 5/5 68: Close Quarters Combat 1/5 69: Close Quarters Combat 2/5 70: Close Quarters Combat 3/5 71: Close Quarters Combat 4/5 72: Close Quarters Combat 5/5 73: Lightning Reflexes 1/3 74: Lightning Reflexes 2/3 75: Lightning Reflexes 3/3 76: Find Weakness 3/3 77: Lethality 5/5 78: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 79: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 80: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 |
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| Assassination Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | |||||||
| A burst damage non-dagger build maximized for PVE - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-80 | |||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 | |
| Assassination Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | |||||||
|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 12: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 13: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 14: Malice 1/5 15: Malice 2/5 16: Malice 3/5 17: Malice 4/5 18: Malice 5/5 19: Ruthlessness 1/3 20: Ruthlessness 2/3 21: Ruthlessness 3/3 22: Vigor 1/1 23: Lethality 1/5 24: Lethality 2/5 25: Lethality 3/5 26: Lethality 4/5 27: Improved Poisons 1/5 28: Improved Poisons 2/5 29: Improved Poisons 3/5 30: Improved Poisons 4/5 31: Improved Poisons 5/5 32: Cold Blood 1/1 33: Fleet Footed 1/2 |
34: Fleet Footed 2/2 35: Quick Recovery 1/2 36: Quick Recovery 2/2 37: Seal Fate 1/5 38: Seal Fate 2/5 39: Seal Fate 3/5 40: Seal Fate 4/5 41: Seal Fate 5/5 42: Overkill 1/1 43: Murder 1/2 44: Murder 2/2 45: Vile Poisons 1/3 46: Vile Poisons 2/3 47: Focused Attacks 1/3 48: Focused Attacks 2/3 49: Focused Attacks 3/3 50: Find Weakness 1/3 51: Find Weakness 2/3 52: Find Weakness 3/3 53: Master Poisoner 1/3 54: Master Poisoner 2/3 55: Master Poisoner 3/3 56: Vile Poisons 3/3 57: Cut to the Chase 1/5 |
58: Cut to the Chase 2/5 59: Cut to the Chase 3/5 60: Cut to the Chase 4/5 61: Cut to the Chase 5/5 62: Hunger for Blood 1/1 63: Relentless Strikes 1/5 64: Relentless Strikes 2/5 65: Relentless Strikes 3/5 66: Relentless Strikes 4/5 67: Relentless Strikes 5/5 68: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 69: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 70: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 71: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 72: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 73: Precision 1/5 74: Precision 2/5 75: Precision 3/5 76: Precision 4/5 77: Precision 5/5 78: Turn the Tables 1/3 79: Turn the Tables 2/3 80: Turn the Tables 3/3 |
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| Subtlety Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Spec | |||||||
| A non-dagger PVP leveling build - Primary Attack: Sinister Strike Levels 1-29, Hemorrhage Levels 30-80) | |||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 | |
| Subtlety Non-Dagger Leveling Talent Progression (Respec at level 30 for Hemo, dropping Improved Sinister Strike for Relentless Strikes) |
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|
10: Improved Sinister Strike 1/2 (RS 1/5) 11: Improved Sinister Strike 2/2 (RS 2/5) 12: Relentless Strikes 3/5 13: Relentless Strikes 4/5 14 Relentless Strikes 5/5 15: Dirty Tricks 1/2 16: Dirty Tricks 2/2 17: Master of Deception 1/3 18: Master of Deception 2/3 19: Master of Deception 3/3 20: Serrated Blades 1/3 21: Serrated Blades 2/3 22: Serrated Blades 3/3 23: Elusiveness 1/2 24: Elusiveness 2/2 25: Initiative 1/3 26: Initiative 2/3 27: Initiative 3/3 28: Camouflage 1/3 29: Camouflage 2/3 30: Hemorrhage 1/1 31: Preparation 1/1 32: Dirty Deeds 1/2 33: Dirty Deeds 2/2 |
34: Heightened Senses 1/2 35: Deadliness 1/5 36: Deadliness 2/5 37: Deadliness 3/5 38: Deadliness 4/5 39: Deadliness 5/5 40: Premeditation 1/1 41: Heightened Senses 2/2 42: Master of Subtlety 1/3 43: Master of Subtlety 2/3 44: Master of Subtlety 3/3 45: Sinister Calling 1/5 46: Sinister Calling 2/5 47: Sinister Calling 3/5 48: Sinister Calling 4/5 49: Sinister Calling 5/5 50: Shadowstep 1/1 51: Honor Among Thieves 1/3 52: Honor Among Thieves 2/3 53: Honor Among Thieves 3/3 54: Malice 1/5 55: Malice 2/5 56: Malice 3/5 57: Malice 4/5 |
58: Malice 5/5 59: Remorseless Attacks 1/1 60: Remorseless Attacks 2/2 61: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 62: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 63: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 64: Vigor 1/1 65: Ruthlessness 1/3 66: Ruthlessness 2/3 67: Ruthlessness 3/3 68: Lethality 1/5 69: Lethality 2/5 70: Lethality 3/5 71: Lethality 4/5 72: Lethality 5/5 73: Blood Spatter 1/2 74: Cold Blood 1/1 75: Fleet Footed 1/2 76: Fleet Footed 2/2 77: Quick Recovery 1/2 78: Quick Recovery 2/2 79: Murder 1/2 80: Murder 2/2 |
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| Subtlety Dagger "Ambush PVP" Leveling Talent Spec |
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| A "fun" dagger leveling build maximized for BG PVP and/or group leveling - Primary Attack: Backstab Levels 4-80) | |||||||
| Level 20 | Level 30 | Level 40 | Level 50 | Level 60 | Level 70 | Level 80 | |
| Subtlety Dagger Leveling Talent Progression | |||||||
|
10: Opportunity 1/2 11: Opportunity 2/2 12: Relentless Strikes 1/5 13: Relentless Strikes 2/5 14: Relentless Strikes 3/5 15: Relentless Strikes 4/5 16 Relentless Strikes 5/5 17: Master of Deception 1/3 18: Master of Deception 2/3 19: Master of Deception 3/3 20: Serrated Blades 1/3 21: Serrated Blades 2/3 22: Serrated Blades 3/3 23: Dirty Tricks 1/2 24: Dirty Tricks 2/2 25: Improved Ambush 1/2 26: Improved Ambush 2/2 27: Initiative 1/3 28: Initiative 2/3 29: Initiative 3/3 30: Preparation 1/1 31: Dirty Deeds 1/2 32: Dirty Deeds 2/2 33: Elusiveness 1/2 |
34: Elusiveness 2/2 35: Deadliness 1/5 36: Deadliness 2/5 37: Deadliness 3/5 38: Deadliness 4/5 39: Deadliness 5/5 40: Premeditation 1/1 41: Master of Subtlety 1/3 42: Master of Subtlety 2/3 43: Master of Subtlety 3/3 44: Heightened Senses 1/2 45: Sinister Calling 1/5 46: Sinister Calling 2/5 47: Sinister Calling 3/5 48: Sinister Calling 4/5 49: Sinister Calling 5/5 50: Shadowstep 1/1 51: Honor Among Thieves 1/3 52: Honor Among Thieves 2/3 53: Honor Among Thieves 3/3 54: Heightened Senses 2/2 55: Slaughter from the Shadows 1/5 56: Slaughter from the Shadows 2/5 57: Slaughter from the Shadows 3/5 |
58: Slaughter from the Shadows 4/5
59: Slaughter from the Shadows 5/5
60: Shadow Dance 1/1 61: Malice 1/5 62: Malice 2/5 63: Malice 3/5 64: Malice 4/5 65: Malice 5/5 66: Puncturing Wounds 1/3 67: Puncturing Wounds 2/3 68: Puncturing Wounds 3/3 69: Improved Eviscerate 1/3 70: Improved Eviscerate 2/3 71: Vigor 1/1 72: Dual Wield Specialization 1/5 73: Dual Wield Specialization 2/5 74: Dual Wield Specialization 3/5 75: Dual Wield Specialization 4/5 76: Dual Wield Specialization 5/5 77: Improved Eviscerate 3/3 78: 1/3 Cheat Death 79: 2/3 Cheat Death 80: 3/3 Cheat Death |
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GLYPHS
As you're leveling, you'll gain access to Glyphs which can be used to enhance the power of your skills and talents.
Listed below are some Glyphs I recommend picking up, depending upon your spec, to help you as you're leveling:
| Glyphs by Level | ||
| Level | Minor | Major |
| 15 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | 1 | 2 |
| 50 | 2 | 2 |
| 70 | 3 | 2 |
| 80 | 3 | 3 |
| Recommended Rogue Leveling Glyphs | |
| Minor Glyphs | Major Glyphs (depends on spec) |
| Glyph of Blurred Speed Glyph of Pick Pocket Glyph of Vanish Glyph of Safe Fall |
Glyph of Sinister Strike Glyph of Slice and Dice Glyph of Eviscerate Glyph of Ambush Glyph of Hemorrhage Glyph of Adrenaline Rush Glyph of Mutilate Glyph of Killing Spree |
POISONS
Wound Poison is the most effective poison for leveling unless you've taken points in the Improved Poisons talent. It
does more average damage than Instant Poison and also stays on your enemy, giving you the full benefit of Savage
Combat (or Mutilate if you pick an Assassination spec.) So, after you reach level 32, you should switch from dual
Instant Poisons to dual Wound Poisons (unless you have Improved Poisons) to maximize your damage. If you start
to have trouble with mobs running off and bringing back friends, you might also want to consider Crippling Poison.
RACES
Each race has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages for PVP/PVE. You can find comparisons of each here:
| Rogue Races Chart |
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 many of the crafting professions. Once you reach 80, drop one or both gathering
professions to pick up your crafting professions. You can find PVP and PVE comparisons of each profession here:
| Rogue Professions Chart |
If you choose Leatherworking (armor) or Blacksmithing (weapons) then these powerleveling guides should help out:
| Powerleveling Guides | |
| Leatherworking | Blacksmithing |
GEAR
When picking up gear, you'll want to use "of the Monkey" or equivalent items that contain both Agility and Stamina.
Other stats like AP, Crit Rating & Hit Rating are also good to have. Strength, on the other hand, is a fairly mediocre
stat for Rogues, because it gives only 1 AP, whereas Agility gives 1 AP in addition to Crit Rating, Dodge & Armor.
After reaching level 57, you can start wearing "of the Bandit" items (although "of the Beast" gear is also acceptable.)
Whether you are twinking or leveling, you can find the best gear for your Rogue listed in my Twink/Leveling charts:
| Rogue Powerleveling Chart |
| Twink Armor Charts | Twink Weapons Charts | ||||
| Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 | Levels 70-79 | Levels 19-59 | Levels 60-69 | Levels 70-79 |
For more leveling guides and information, check out my Rogue Links page.
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