Subtlety Rogue Leveling Guide From 1 to 80 for WotLK Classic

You can use the slider below to move between levels and change the information displayed on this page accordingly.

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

After reaching Level 10, you will get your first talent point to assign. For Levels 10 to 19, you should assign your talent points as follows:

1. — 2 points in Improved Sinister Strike (Combat)
2. — 5 points in Relentless Strikes
3. — 3 points in Camouflage

Once you get Ghostly Strike, you will want to start using it whenever it is ready, as it deals a large amount of damage. For your points between Levels 20 and 29, you should allocate them as follows:

1. — 2 points in Opportunity
2. — 1 point in Ghostly Strike
3. — 3 points in Serrated Blades
4. — 2 points in Elusiveness
5. — 2 points in Initiative

At Level 30, you will want to reset your talents so that you can get Hemorrhage and get rid of the Improved SS talent, as you will no longer use Sinister Strike. After resetting, follow the same priority, but exclude Improved Sinister Strike, instead opting to fill Initiative and take 1 point in Improved Ambush. For Levels 30 to 39, you should assign your talent points as follows:

1. — 1 point in Hemorrhage
2. — 2 points in Dirty Deeds
3. — 1 point in Preparation
4. — 1 point in Improved Ambush
5. — 5 points in Deadliness

At Level 40, you will get a strong cooldown in the form of Premeditation, which will allow for you to generate 2 CPs on each enemy you engage from Stealth. For Levels 40 to 49, you should assign your talent points as follows:

1. — 1 point in Premeditation
2. — 3 points in Master of Subtlety
3. — 1 point in Cheat Death
4. — 5 points in Sinister Calling

At Level 50, picking up Shadowstep is a nice quality of life boost, allowing you to jump to enemies, as well as giving a solid damage increase to your next attack. For Level 50 to 59, you should assign your talent points as follows:

1. — 1 point in Shadowstep
2. — 3 points in Honor Among Thieves
3. — 1 point in Cheat Death
4. — 5 points in Slaughter from the Shadows

At Level 60, you will pick up Shadow Dance, an excellent tool for helping to burst down priority targets. Beyond Level 60, your talent points can be allocated as you wish. You can either go back and grab talents from the Subtlety tree that you missed or expand into other trees.

Subtlety benefits the most from starting fights from Stealth. You should aim to open with Backstab at lower levels, eventually changing to Ambush or Cheap Shot, depending on the situation.

At lower levels, you will use Sinister Strike as your CP generator and Eviscerate as your spender. Make sure to maintain your Slice and Dice buff at all times.

After taking Hemorrhage in the Subtlety tree, you will use it as your CP generator and Eviscerate as your spender. Make sure to maintain your Slice and Dice buff at all times.

It is important to buy all abilities as you level as they are cheap and Rogues have quite a few abilities that are extremely powerful in certain situations.

Setting up an user interface and macros early on you will greatly improve the quality of your leveling experience. Check out the Rogue Macros and Addons guides in the links below for the full list.

Once you achieve Level 80, we suggest checking out our Subtlety Rogue Guide, which goes more in detail of how to play your Level 80 Rogue.