WoW Classic Dagger Rogue Leveling Talent Build from 1 to 60

Last updated on Nov 16, 2021 at 11:04 by Sellin 44 comments

On this page, you will find our Level by Level Dagger Combat Rogue leveling guide for WoW Classic. Make sure to use the slider to make the guide adapt to your level. For more general leveling information, please refer to our Rogue leveling guide. We also have a Sword Rogue leveling guide.

If you were looking for TBC Classic advice, please refer to our TBC Classic Combat Rogue leveling guide.

1.

Dagger Rogue Leveling Rotation, Talents, and Trainer Skills

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

Level: 60
1.1.

Talent Tree

Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Dagger Rogue Talents Level 10 to 19
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 10 to 19
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 20 to 29
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 20 to 29
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 30 to 39
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 30 to 39
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 40 to 49
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 40 to 49
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 50 to 60
Dagger Rogue Talents Level 50 to 60
  1. Levels 10 & 11 — 2 points in Remorseless Attacks Icon Remorseless Attacks
  2. Levels 12 to 16 — 5 points in Opportunity Icon Opportunity
  3. Levels 17 to 19 — 3 points in Improved Gouge Icon Improved Gouge

Remorseless Attacks Icon Remorseless Attacks is one of the best leveling talents you can have as a dagger Rogue and a must-pick talent. Improved Gouge Icon Improved Gouge increases your Gouge Icon Gouge duration from 4 seconds to 5.5, which is fantastic when you want to stun the target and bandage yourself or pool Energy while maintaining a healthy life amount. Opportunity Icon Opportunity is a major damage increase for Dagger Rogue since you will be opening on targets with Ambush Icon Ambush and trying to Backstab Icon Backstab as much as you can.

  1. Levels 20 to 21 — 2 points in Improved Sinister Strike Icon Improved Sinister Strike
  2. Levels 22 to 24 — 3 points in Improved Backstab Icon Improved Backstab
  3. Levels 25 & 26 — 2 points in Precision Icon Precision
  4. Levels 27 & 28 — 2 points in Improved Sprint Icon Improved Sprint
  5. Levels 29 — 1 point in Precision Icon Precision

Improved Sinister Strike Icon Improved Sinister Strike makes solo questing a lot easier since you will not always be able to use Backstab Icon Backstab. Improved Backstab Icon Improved Backstab buffs your main combo point generator (except when solo questing where you are unable to get behind the target). Precision Icon Precision is a staple in nearly all Rogue builds since Hit is one of your strongest stats. Improved Sprint Icon Improved Sprint makes your Sprint Icon Sprint remove all movement impairing effects when it has 2 points in the talent. This can be very helpful when questing, especially when you are playing on a PvP server and have to deal with the other faction.

  1. Levels 30 & 31 — 2 points in Precision Icon Precision
  2. Levels 32 & 33 — 2 points in Endurance Icon Endurance
  3. Levels 34 to 38 — 5 points in Dagger Specialization Icon Dagger Specialization
  4. Levels 39 — 1 point in Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry

Endurance Icon Endurance is a solid all-around option offering you good movement as well as higher uptime on your major defensive cooldown. Dagger Specialization Icon Dagger Specialization synergizes well with Lethality Icon Lethality, which you will be picking up later. Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry is your only form of cleave damage as a dagger Rogue, while also being a very strong single target cooldown.

  1. Level 40 & 41 — 2 points in Dual Wield Specialization Icon Dual Wield Specialization
  2. Levels 42 & 43 — 2 points in Weapon Expertise Icon Weapon Expertise
  3. Levels 44 to 46 — 3 points in Dual Wield Specialization Icon Dual Wield Specialization
  4. Levels 47 — 1 point in Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush
  5. Levels 48 & 49 — 2 points in Malice Icon Malice

Dual Wield Specialization Icon Dual Wield Specialization significantly increases the damage of your auto attacks which make up a large amount of your damage. Weapon Expertise Icon Weapon Expertise is a staple in both the Sword and Dagger builds for Rogue since Weapon Skill is very important for hitting targets consistently. Endurance Icon Endurance is a strong talent but also a means to unlock the talent Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush increases your Energy generation rate from 20 to 40 Energy every 2 seconds. This is your strongest DPS cooldown and something that you want to utilize with Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry and multiple mobs for maximum damage. We also start putting points into Malice Icon Malice here so we can start working towards Ruthlessness Icon Ruthlessness, Relentless Strikes Icon Relentless Strikes and Lethality Icon Lethality later on.

  1. Level 50 — 1 point in Malice Icon Malice
  2. Levels 51 to 53 — 3 points in Ruthlessness Icon Ruthlessness
  3. Levels 54 & 55 — 2 points in Malice Icon Malice
  4. Levels 56 — 1 point in Relentless Strikes Icon Relentless Strikes
  5. Levels 57 to 60 — 4 points in Lethality Icon Lethality

We will start by putting 1 point into Malice Icon Malice in order to get to Ruthlessness Icon Ruthlessness then we finish off Malice Icon Malice afterwards. We will put 1 point into Relentless Strikes Icon Relentless Strikes and then you will finish out the tree by putting the rest of your points into Lethality Icon Lethality, since it is incredibly powerful.

2.

Leveling Rotation

The main difference in the Dagger Rotation is the fact that Backstab Icon Backstab and Ambush Icon Ambush require a Dagger, meaning you have access to these two abilities.

You start with Sinister Strike Icon Sinister Strike, Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate, and Throw Icon Throw, with the ability to buy Stealth Icon Stealth from your class trainer when you get 10 Copper (which you can choose to wait with until Level 4).

  1. Use Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate at 5 combo points.
  2. Use Ambush Icon Ambush to initiate combat whenever possible and you are stealthed.
  3. Use Backstab Icon Backstab to initiate combat if you cannot stealth and to build combo points.
  4. Use Gouge Icon Gouge whenever you can in order to minimize the damage that you will take. You can pool Energy, use Gouge, then go behind your target to Backstab Icon Backstab them.
  5. Use Vanish Icon Vanish if your threat is too high and you are in danger of pulling aggro.
  6. Use Sinister Strike Icon Sinister Strike to build combo points if you cannot get behind your target.
  7. Use Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice if the target is about to die and you will be switching to a different target.

For the cooldowns Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush, use them as often as possible and, if you can, try to gain as much benefit from the cleave effect of Blade Flurry by pulling an extra mob.

2.1.

Multi-Target Rotation

As a Rogue, you have limited AoE. Your 2 ways to do AoE are either the talent Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry or the explosives from the Engineering skill.

3.

Summary of Trainer Skills

Using abilities like Gouge Icon Gouge, Cheap Shot Icon Cheap Shot, and Kidney Shot Icon Kidney Shot is useful on mobs as well as players. It is highly recommended that you buy these abilities if you are on a PvP server.

At level 16 your class trainer will offer you a quest to unlock the Pick Lock Icon Pick Lock skill.

4.

Rogue Quest Guide

While leveling, Rogue gains a huge power spike when they complete their level 20 class quest and get access to Poisons and Thistle Tea. Below are links to our guide Class Quests for Rogues.

5.

How to Advance as a Rogue at Level 60

Well done on hitting maximum level in WoW Classic! Now that leveling is over, you can learn more about level 60 gameplay by reading our DPS Rogue Guide, which covers every facet of gameplay at 60 in detail.

The best individual pages to read through are as follows.

  • The DPS Rogue Talent builds guide has the best builds for Level 60 covered. We propose builds for all specializations, with a focus on Combat for raiding.
  • Our PvP Rogue guide is where you can find the best PvP builds for Rogue.
  • Goldmaking Guide for Rogues is a page with details on where / how to farm gold quickly as a Rogue when you are Level 60.
  • The DPS Rogue Rotation guide is where you can read on how to optimize your PvE damage and how to prioritize your abilities.
  • DPS Rogue Stats guide contains detailed information on all Rogue stats, including a list of their priority for damage dealing.
  • Our Gear guide for DPS Rogues lists all the optimal pieces of gear that you will want to farm at Level 60, in order to optimize your damage with a pre-BiS list for those trying to gear up for raiding.
6.

Changelog

  • 16 Nov. 2024: Updated for Classic re-release.
  • 02 Apr. 2021: Revamped the leveling build for Dagger Rogue.
  • 28 Feb. 2021: Set the level slider to start at level 60.
  • 05 Nov. 2019: Typo fixes in the rotation.
  • 23 Oct. 2019: Added further notes on Improved Sprint.
  • 02 Oct. 2019: Page added.
Show more
Show less