Rogue Class Overview

Rogues are a great class to bring to a raid, with a surprisingly high amount of utility. Rogues are a sneaky class with an immense amount of tools for solo gameplay, while still having raid utility worth bringing. Through the use of Cloak of Shadows, Evasion, Vanish, and many other abilities, they are extremely hard to kill. With such talents as Improved Expose Armor and high single-target DPS, they can easily justify a raid spot.

In TBC Classic, Rogues have many options for races. For Horde you can play Troll, Orc, Undead, and Blood Elf. Alliance players can play Human, Dwarf, Gnome, or Night Elf.

Rogues can choose from 3 specializations: Combat, Subtlety, and Assasination.

• Combat is by far the strongest spec for PvE DPS. You deal damage through Sinister Strike and Rupture, with a heavy focus on Slice and Dice uptime. They also can bring Improved Expose Armor as a huge raid DPS tool as well.
• Subtlety is the go-to PvP Spec for rogues in TBC. With Shadowstep and Cheat Death, they are very hard to kill and have insane mobility. Due to the lack of offensive talents,this is not a viable PvE specialization.
• Assassination is by far the weakest spec for Rogues in TBC. Combat deals much more damage on a single target and in cleave fights. The toolkit for PvP is also much weaker. Due to this, it is recommended you play Combat or Subtlety for PvE and PvP respectively.

Rogues are generally quite difficult to gear, as you will have some tough time fitting into optimal 5-man groups due to lack of utility for Heroics. Be prepared to make your own groups or party with friends for gearing. You will face gear competition between Feral Druids, Enhancement Shamans, Hunters, Warriors and Retribution Paladins when gearing up.

Rogues can use a large number of one-handed weapons. They can use swords, maces, fist weapons, and daggers. Your focus will be most likely on Swords, as they are the strongest choice for optimal DPS.

Every build should aim to use a slow main-hand weapon with a fast off-hand weapon.

Fast off-hand weapon speed plays a large role in your DPS, due to Combat Potency for Combat rogues and Shiv, as well as poison procs for Assassination and Subtlety. A slower main-hand weapon will result in higher weapon damage overall per hit, giving extra benefit to Sword Specialization, Windfury attacks, and your main Combo Point building abilities that use instant weapon swings. Ideally, your off-hand speed should be a 1.4 or 1.5 speed weapon, while your main-hand should be a 2.6-2.8 speed weapon for Combat or Subtlety - if you are playing daggers, then aim for a 1.8-2.0 speed main-hand and a 1.3-1.4 speed off-hand.

The links below will take you to our leveling guides for the various Rogue specializations, allowing you to level in the most efficient way in The Burning Crusade Classic.

• Rogue Leveling Guide
• Combat Rogue Leveling Guide
• Combat Rogue Level 58 Boost Guide
• Subtlety Rogue Leveling Guide

You might also want to check out our full class guides, which teach you how to play your class at the new Level 70 cap!

• Combat Rogue DPS Guide