Rogue overview
The rogue is a melee damage dealer that moves in stealth, chooses when a fight starts and finishes targets with combo point attacks. It brings some of the highest damage in groups and the most control in PvP.
At a glance
| Roles | Melee damage |
| Resource | Energy and combo points |
| Armor | Leather |
| Difficulty | Medium to level, high skill ceiling |
| Talent calculator | Rogue talents |
Who can be a rogue
Almost everyone: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Gnome for the Alliance, Orc, Undead and Troll for the Horde, and both Skyborne lines. Tauren are the only race without rogues.
How the class plays
Energy refills quickly and evenly, so rogues are never out of resources for long. Builder attacks add combo points to the target, and finishers spend them: big damage, a stun, or a buff to your attack speed. Stealth lets you skip enemies, open with an ambush or a stun, and leave fights with Vanish. Poisons, bought from a rogue vendor and applied to the weapons, are a large part of your damage once you can make them.
Talent trees
Assassination improves finishers and critical strikes. Its top talent is 
Vigor, more maximum energy, and 
Seal Fate one tier below turns critical strikes into extra combo points.
Combat is the sustained damage tree and the usual leveling choice. It ends in 
Adrenaline Rush, a burst of faster energy regeneration, with 
Aggression and 
Weapon Expertise below it.
Subtlety is the stealth and control tree, popular in PvP. It ends in 
Premeditation, which adds combo points before you attack, with 
Deadliness for more attack power.
Leveling
Level as Combat with swords or maces. Open with a builder from behind, use finishers at three to five points, and eat while still in stealth between fights. Pick pockets on humanoids for extra money. Rogues have no self-healing, so pull one enemy at a time and keep bandages ready.
In a group
Your job is single-target damage, interrupts with Kick, and crowd control with Sap before a pull. Attack from behind so the target cannot parry, and watch your threat: rogue damage pulls enemies off the tank easily.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strong: high damage, full control over when fights start, excellent in PvP, cheap to play.
- Weak: no healing and light armor, poor at fighting several enemies at once while leveling, needs good weapons.
Races and talents come from the Forever client files (build 1.60.1.70790); play advice follows the original game and will be checked against Forever’s changes.