Combat Rogue Pre-Patch Guide for WotLK Classic

Rogues in general have some amazing changes coming their way in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, but 2 of the 3 most important changes only take effect after the expansion releases. For the pre-patch, all Rogue specs can enjoy the implementation of their poisons now scaling with Attack Power.

Combat brings the Savage Combat talent to the party and raid, which grants 4% increased physical damage taken to all enemies you have poisoned. While this is a massively useful debuff, it is shared with Arms Warriors, so if you know that you will be consistently playing with one, you should adjust your talent choices.

Overall, Combat Rogues bring high burst damage, a useful debuff, and are a good addition to most parties.

Combat Rogues would normally like to go deeper into the Assassination tree and get Improved Poisons, but you simply do not have enough points to get both this and Killing Spree, so instead, you should use those extra 5 points to grab Relentless Strikes.

At Level 70, you will only have access to 2 of your 3 major glyph slots. Combat Rogues do not have access to any of their preferred glyphs at Level 70, so instead we have the take the "best-worst" options available to us.

You should use the Sinister Strike and Slice and Dice glyphs for your major slots.

1. Hit Rating to cap;
2. Expertise;
3. Agility.

For Combat Rogues, the majority of secondary stats are fairly similar in their priority, with Hit, Expertise, and Agility taking priority over the others. Point-for-point, these 3 are the strongest stats for Combat in the pre-patch.

The rotation as an Combat Rogue is slightly more complicated than that of Assassination, but there is far less reliance on a proper opener. It is almost entirely based on the uptime of your Slice and Dice, Rupture, and, if there are no Warriors in your group, Expose Armor.

You should aim to only use your finishing moves with 4 or 5 combo points, however there may be instances when you have to refresh a buff with fewer.

1. Maintain Slice and Dice;
2. Maintain Rupture;
3. If you have spare combo points, you can use these on Eviscerate.
4. Generate combo points with Sinister Strike.

1. Maintain Expose Armor*;
2. Maintain Slice and Dice;
3. If you have spare combo points, you can use these on Rupture.
4. Generate combo points with Sinister Strike.

*If you have the Expose Armor glyph, you will only need to use Expose Armor with 1 or 2 combo points. If you do not, you will need to use it with 4 or 5 combo points.

The best weapon for Combat is the legendary Warglaive of Azzinoth, but if you do not have it, your main-hand choice will depend on the race you play.

• Orc: Brutal Gladiator's Cleaver
• Human: Brutal Gladiator's Slicer
• Other races can choose whichever option they like.

For your offhand, if you do not have the Warglaive, your options are:

1. Blade of Savagery is the best choice behind the Warglaive. If you cannot get it, then:
   • Orc: Brutal Gladiator's Hacker
   • Human: Brutal Gladiator's Slicer or Dragonscale-Encrusted Longblade
   • Other races can choose whichever option they like.

The gems you choose to use will depend on the gear you have, but for the most part, you should aim to fill the slots with the following:

• Meta: Relentless Earthstorm Diamond
• Red or Blue: Shifting Shadowsong Amethyst
• Red or Yellow: Glinting Pyrestone
• Yellow: Rigid Lionseye

The gems you choose to use should never "waste" Hit Rating by overcapping you. You should also only aim to use a minimum of 2 purple gems to activate your meta gem, but beyond that, you should be using red/orange gems for the highest DPS per stat increase.

For your enchants, you should use the following:

Slot	Enchantment
Head	Arcanum of Ferocity
Shoulders	Might of the Scourge
Back	Enchant Cloak - Greater Agility
Chest	Enchant Chest - Exceptional Stats
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Assault
Gloves	Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility
Legs	Nethercobra Leg Armor
Feet	Enchant Boots - Cat's Swiftness
Ring	Enchant Ring - Striking
Melee Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Mongoose

Spicy Hot Talbuk is your best well-fed buff if you are not hit-capped, Grilled Mudfish if you are hit capped, to give you as much Agility as possible.

Flask of Relentless Assault is your typical go-to flask of choice.

Elixir of Major Agility is our best choice for your in-fight potion.