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World of Warcraft
Rogue FAQ Version 1.5
Handle: Zotmaster
Copyright 2006 Dan "Zotmaster" Christler
Contact: zotmaster(at)mindless(dot)com
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Table of Contents
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1. Version History
2. Reasons to Roll a Rogue
3. It's Roguenomics: Skills and Talent Builds
4. Poisons and You: An Excuse to Have More DPS
5. Questing and Loot
6. Professions
7. Picking Locks: No Shirt, No Key, No Problem
8. PvP Tactics
9. High Gear: Enchants and Boring Stuff
10. Closing and Thanks
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1. Version History
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1.5 - 11.16.06 - A whole bunch of updates, including me learning to spell
"Subtlety" correctly. This guide now accomodates the most recent patch
and features more...stuff. For those looking for the insanely nitty-gritty,
you'll find that here too. There may or may not be more coming, depending
on what I feel is needed. If not, it's been fun.
1.35 - 06.14.06 - An update? No wai! Fixed a few more ridiculously stupid
mistakes, finally got around to adding Kenny's art in, and even included
two new talent builds! I spoil you. Updated the sites that can carry this
guide.
1.25 - 03.30.06 - Cleaned up a few more mistakes, including one ridiculously
stupid one that, thankfully, only one person ever caught. Updated my
character information since I changed servers (albeit over a month ago).
Updated the sites that can carry this guide.
1.2 - 01.25.06 - Cleaned up a few typos or omissions, added Gem-Studded
Leather Belt to the Loot section, and organized all the loot presented in
a more logical manner. Also included a PvP section with tips on how to
fight any class.
1.0 - 01.24.06 - Started this FAQ. There's lots to read. I'll get to
posting a PvP guide at some point for those interested. Expect at least
one more update.
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2. Reasons to Roll a Rogue
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You do know what I mean by "roll", don't you? This guide is going to assume
you know such basic terminology as that. Anyway...
To Rogues, the best defense is not to be able to suck up hits, but rather
to simply not be hit at all. At the risk of stating the obvious, this is
the most important thing to remember when it comes to Rogues: you're not
there to take hits!
Due to natural stealth abilities, Rogues are far better at getting to places
and into things they shouldn't be able to than other classes. A chest
tucked away behind an army of mobs? Slip past them, grab it, and get out!
A lock with no key getting you down? Simply pick the lock! Real men don't
use keys.
Rogues are all about hitting hard and often. Sure, each hit won't do that
much damage, but their melee DPS is exceptionally high. Sure, you won't hit
as hard as a Mage or souped-up Warlock, but you'll make up for it with the
fact that you can handle a mob up close and personal.
Simply put, roll a Rogue if you want to hit hard, hit often, sneak around
and pick locks. Not wanting to get hit is important, too.
As for the race, it honestly doesn't matter which one you choose. Each has
its own advantages, which you can read when you go to create your character.
It's your character: make it be what you want it to be.
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3. It's Roguenomics: Skills and Talent Builds
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Here I'm going to list each skill by what talent "tree" it comes from,
describe briefly what it does - you can check any class trainer outside your
starting area for exact numbers and the like - and describe when it is
useful, if it is at all. After that, I'll show you ideal Rogue talent
builds, which is also known as "why I'm right and you aren't".
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Skills
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ASSASSINATION:
Ambush: If you're not using daggers, then you don't even need to worry about
this skill since, well, you can't use it without daggers. Since you have
to be stealthed, it's an ideal way to start a fight. The big problem with
the skill is that you can only use it with daggers, and you will probably
only be using it once per fight. This means that although your first hit
will hit awfully hard, you won't use it after that when you're raiding.
Cheap Shot: Fall in love with this skill, since you'll be using it often.
You get a four-second stun, which rocks, and two combo points to boot, which
rocks even more. Remember, Rogues do not like getting hit. This allows you
to do just that for four full seconds, during which you can shell out a lot
of damage, not to mention fire off your finishing moves more quickly since
you already have two combo points. Under ideal circumstances, you can start
off every fight with a Cheap Shot.
Cold Blood (Talent): This guarantees your next Sinister Strike, Backstab,
Ambush, or Eviscerate will crit. In general, your Sinister Strikes and
Backstabs will crit often enough, and there is a talent that you cannot get
if you get this one, and that particular talent is much, much better than
Cold Blood. Cold Blood is useful for PvP, but that's about it. As shocking
as it sounds, do not get this talent.
Eviscerate: Your bread-and-butter finishing move. Unfortunately, critical
hits notwithstanding, you'll never do as much damage as the tooltip will
list, simply due to the fact that mobs and players have varying degrees of
armor. That said, you should still use this finishing move more often than
not due to the fact that it is normally your highest-damage attack,
especially if it crits. Build up your combo points quickly and Eviscerate
to finish your enemy off even more quickly.
Expose Armor: Quite possibly the most worthless skill any class has, but
it definitely is the most worthless Rogue skill. It's a finishing move that,
get this, lowers the armor class of the mob you hit with it. Unfortunately,
high level mobs and players generally have so much armor that even a 2000
point armor loss is fairly trivial, not to mention a waste of your
hard-earned combo points. This skill has somewhat of a use while soloing
high-level elites, but you will very, very rarely need it.
Garrote: Sort of the poor-man's Ambush or Cheap Shot, this skill is used
when in stealth to deliver damage over time, in addition to giving you one
combo point. That said, Ambush hits a lot harder right away, and Cheap Shot
gives you two combo points and a stun right away. The only time you'll use
this skill is when you don't use daggers and the mob in question is immune
to stuns. Take your time before purchasing this skill, but do make sure
you get it. Garrote now scales with Attack Power, meaning it isn't quite
as crappy as it used to be. Regardless, stick with Cheap Shot if the mob
in question can be stunned.
Kidney Shot: Another essential finisher, this skill trades combo points for
stun duration. Remember, time a mob spends stunned is time a mob spends not
hitting you. A few decent uses for this skill are stopping mobs who run
away - many Humanoids fall into this category - spell interruption on players
and mobs alike, or to finish off a mob that has low health but has a high
block/dodge rate, high damage output, or all of the above. You won't use
this nearly as often as Eviscerate, but you'll be missing it if you don't
buy it, so get it as soon as you can.
Relentless Strikes (Talent): This talent allows you to potentially gain
back some Energy whenever you deliver a finishing move. Unfortunately, the
game only checks once to see if you gain Energy or not, so this can't
trigger more than once on a finishing move. That said, one way of looking
at the ability is to say it essentially makes Eviscerate only cost 10
Energy to activate, and Kidney Shot and Slice and Dice effectively free.
That sounds like a much better deal, and indeed, so is this talent.
Rupture: Instead of dealing immediate damage, Rupture deals damage over time.
It's easier to power up Eviscerate damage than Rupture, plus Eviscerate can
crit. Sure, Rupture won't miss, but again, it doesn't crit. About the
only use for this skill is in PvP to keep players from stealthing/bandaging
or what have you. You're much better off killing them quickly, though,
so once you start getting talents that increase Eviscerate's damage output,
you can stop using Rupture.
Slice and Dice: Instead of dealing damage at all, Slice and Dice simply
increases your attack speed. At first glance, that sounds immensely
worthless, and at lower levels, it is. Slice and Dice is mostly for when
you need to take on more than one mob, especially if you're using Blade
Flurry, since the attack speed bonuses stack. It lasts for a goodly duration,
and as an added bonus, more attacks means more crits and more chances to
poison. Though its use is even more limited than Kidney Shot, you'll miss
not having this skill, so pick it up.
COMBAT:
Adrenaline Rush (Talent): Or "Why Non-Combat Builds Suck". (At least
outside of PvP anyway) Read the ability carefully: "Increases your Energy
regeneration rate by 100% for 15 seconds". What you need to keep in mind
is that Energy regenerates fairly quickly, at least compared to Hit Points
or Mana. What Adrenaline Rush essentially does is give you more or less
INFINITE Energy for 15 full seconds. That's enough time for a five point
Sinister Strike/Eviscerate combo, with some time left over to beat down. This
ability allows you to kill mobs you normally wouldn't have a prayer of
killing, including higher level Elites and bosses. There is not a better
skill for PvE, end game raiding, you name it. Just don't use it in PvP
until you're certain a player can't get away from you.
Backstab: Well, if you aren't using Ambush, you aren't using Backstab. While
this ability doesn't hit as hard, you can use it while not stealthed.
Not terribly useful while soloing, since you'd have to Gouge to use it, but
it's a little more useful in PvP, where circle strafing might reveal your
opponent's back. Of course, if you still wanna be a dagger kind of guy,
you will get a lot of mileage out of this in raids, especially with its
ridiculously high critical rate.
Blade Flurry (Talent): Another amazing skill. Not only does it increase
your attack speed by 20% for 15 seconds, but it also allows you to hit a
second nearby enemy in combat! This is the closest thing to AoE as a Rogue
gets, and allows you to dispatch multiple mobs both safely and quickly.
Also great for farming instances, since, again, you can fight multiple mobs
at a time, especially combined with Slice and Dice. Much more useful than
you think. An awesome PvE talent.
Evasion: For 15 seconds, your dodge ability goes through the roof! Dodge rates
over 70% are easily attainable with this skill, giving it a variety of uses.
Combined with Adrenaline Rush, this skill allows you to take on challenges
that others wouldn't have a prayer of completing. Just don't ever, EVER
use this in PvP against a Warrior, unless you like getting your face
smashed in. Also good to use if you're about to die. Turn it on and run.
Feint: Only useful in instances, but extremely useful in instances. The
higher ranks of this allow you to continually beat on mobs without worrying
about drawing aggro. Feint is very essential for keeping you alive (and
your group, since your job is to kill things quickly).
Gouge: The damage it deals is irrelevant. It's a 4-second Incapacitate
effect that allows you time to Backstab or run away. The only other real
use it has is for interrupting spells, but the Energy cost is kind of steep.
Since leveling is a bit simpler without daggers, the only other real use for
this skill is running away. Outside of PvP, you really don't need it.
Kick: Now here's a much more useful skill than Gouge. Again, the damage
doesn't matter, but it's another way a Rogue can interrupt spellcasting.
You won't use it all the time, but it deserves a place on any hotbar,
because spells can really wreck your day.
Riposte (Talent): At first glance, it really doesn't seem like that much.
However, Riposte is arguably THE best overall combat skill in the game, for
ANY class. For a measly 10 Energy, you get to strike back at your opponent
for 150% of your main hand weapon damage after a successful Parry.
Unmodified, your Parry chance is about 10%, so you'll have a chance to use
this skill 10% of the time. In addition to the very large chunk of damage
this skill deals, you get a 6 second disarm, which is EXTREMELY powerful.
Many Humanoid mobs use weapons, and disarming them greatly reduces both the
number of times you get hit and the amount of damage you take. In PvP, a
Rogue without a main hand weapon is worthless, and it is the only way you
can take down a good Warrior or Shaman. Use it a few times and you'll turn
into a believer.
Sinister Strike: Learn to love this skill, as you'll be using it about
95% of the time. Now here's why slow weapons, and in particular non-daggers,
are so useful for Rogues: Sinister Strike is an instant attack. What that
means is the speed of the weapon in question has no bearing on when
Sinister Strike hits or how much damage it deals. It depends entirely on
your damage range. If you have two 40 DPS weapons, with one attacking at
1.8 speed, and one attacking at 2.5 speed, the 2.5 speed weapon will deal
a lot more damage. Imagine that attack crits and the damage spread is even
wider. Due to the fact that you will be using Sinister Strike so often,
a slow main hand is by far your best choice.
Sprint: Simply put, a brief run speed buff. Lowbies will probably use this
skill a lot simply as a means to get around the world more quickly, but
other than that, it makes for a good escape move, although most mobs will
Daze you, drastically reducing or negating the run speed boost you get.
The usefulness is very limited, but again, you need this skill for those few
times that you will need to run away.
SUBTLETY:
Blind: An attack that briefly causes the victim to wander around like a moron
for a few seconds, giving you time to either bandage, run away, or ignore it.
Blind only has a few uses, such as getting away, short-term crowd control
(although if you're only dealing with two mobs, Blade Flurry will probably
be more than sufficient to dispatch them both), or holding a player in place
long enough for multiple buddies to gather around and gank him to kingdom
come.
Disarm Trap: You have to be able to see the trap to disarm it. Very rarely
useful, but if you're going to raid or PvP, it's a skill you can't possibly
do without.
Distract: Useful, but not overly so. This gives a chance that mobs in
the area of effect will look at the target area for a few seconds, which
may allow you to sneak by or behind the mob(s) in question. It is also
potentially useful to draw a mob away from a crowd, since Distracted enemies
will not move while they are distracted.
Ghostly Strike (Talent): At first glance, this sounds pretty good. 125%
weapon damage? Good. A combo point? Good. A 7 second dodge buff? Cool!
Where do I sign? Unfortunately, this is a talent, one, it has a 20-second
cooldown, two, and it costs 50 Energy, three. All-in-all, it's drastically
overshadowed by other skills. Don't bother with it.
Hemorrhage (Talent): With the latest talent changes, this one is actually
worth a second look. Due to the Attack Power normalization - read, "Nerf" -
at higher Attack Power numbers, you get a higher output out of this than
you will with Sinister Strike. However, the talents required to get to
Hemo aren't as useful in raiding as, say, the entirety of the Combat tree.
The damage bonus is more important for everyone else than it is for you,
since 30 strikes go pretty quickly with 40 people. At least one rogue in
your raiding crew ought to spec Hemo. If that's not you, pass on it.
Pick Pocket: Rip coins and occasionally some junky items from unsuspecting
Humanoid mobs, no muss, no fuss. Fortunately, you don't have to split your
spoils with groups, but other than getting some Junkboxes for picking locks,
or for a Ravenholdt quest, Pick Pocket isn't really all that necessary.
You'll also look really stupid if you get caught, which breaks your stealth.
Premeditation (Talent): A now Instant cast that adds two combo points to your
target. I'd much rather just spend that time smashing face. Add in the
fact that getting this talent means you definitely cannot get Adrenaline
Rush and it seems pretty clear that you don't need this talent. It does
have interesting uses, just not great uses.
Preparation (Talent): Any talent that immediately ends all your cooldowns
can't immediately be ignored, but in PvE, Adrenaline Rush is much, much
better. If you want to respec to bash some heads in PvP, I'll go ahead
and say this talent is a must-have. Otherwise, you can safely ignore it.
Safe Fall: Find a high place to jump off and get your non-Rogue friend to
jump too. If you're high enough, you just might survive while he just might
die. For a few minutes, you'll have a good laugh. That said, you can fall
a LOT further before dying with this skill, which means you can take
shortcuts or escape from enemies by jumping off of high places. Since
there's only one rank, go ahead and get it.
Sap: Useful at early levels, semi-useful in PvP, worthless anywhere else.
Once you start hitting instances, you'll be relying on Mages, Hunters,
Priests, and Druids for crowd control, and Warriors, Druids, and occasionally
Paladins or Shamans for tanking, so you rarely need to use this skill.
Stealth: At the risk of stating the obvious, you'll be using this skill
a great deal. Just don't forget you can't Stealth if you're in combat.
Use this to start fights and avoid fights. Just do it!
Vanish: Also critically important to have. Every time you go into a town,
make sure you have a full stack of Flash Powder! You will be very, very
sorry if you're lazy - like me - and find yourself in a life-or-death
situation...and no Flash Powder. Don't let this happen! As for uses,
you can use this skill both offensively (to Cheap Shot or Ambush again) or
defensively (to get away or to break roots and snares). Unlike the Feign
Death ability Hunters get, Vanish has a five-minute cooldown, so use it
when it matters most.
Don't forget to get Dual Wield at level 10! You will ALWAYS be fighting
with two one-handed weapons, since you can't use two-handed weapons.
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TALENTS AND BUILDS
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Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you: you may be playing a Rogue,
but you may not be a rogue in the typically portrayed fantasy sense. Sure,
you will do your fair share of sneaking around, but backstabbing doesn't
necessarily have to be your calling card. Unlike basically every other
class, rogues are about doofus-smacking offense, and that's about it.
People who have followed my guide for a while are reading this for the first
time: since my guide was first written, way back in the day, rogue specs
are pretty close now. I still use swords, however, and here's my choice
build:
What to do with that last point, you ask? There are a few viable options.
One in Murder is worth considering, as raids feature plenty of Humanoids,
Beasts, and Dragonkin for you to beat on. Vile Poisons is also worth
considering: one point adds up to about 600 extra damage on a full use of
Instant Poison VI. For Combat, you could put another point in
Lightning Reflexes, Improved Sprint, or Improved Kick. Use whichever feels
right for your given raiding status.
So now for the burning question:
"Why do you like Swords"?
Remember what I said earlier: you will Sinister Strike 95% of the time.
Most of your battles will be spent mashing whatever key Sinister Strike is
mapped to until you get to five combo points, where you will then most
likely press the Eviscerate key. You want the highest damage range possible,
especially when you add talents into the equation. Let's compare a
Core Hound Tooth to, say, a Brutality Blade. Both are level 60 Epic
weapons found in Molten Core. Now for stats:
I picked these two weapons since their DPS is almost identical, and +9
Strength and +9 Agility are about the same Attack Power bonus (I know they
aren't exactly, so don't email me about it), making that mod essentially
a wash.
Remember, everyone uses Sinister Strike at some point. At Rank 8, it adds
68 to however much damage you end up dealing. Without needlessly gumming
up the problem with things like Armor, let's just assume the mob doesn't have
any. As a base calculation goes, the Core Hound Tooth's Sinister Strike
will deal between 125 and 175 damage, or a 150 average. The Brutality Blade,
on the other hand, will deal between 158 and 236 damage, or 197, on average.
Since the Sinister Strike will hit at the exact same time with either weapon,
the Brutality Blade is clearly in the lead, by 47 damage, on average.
But wait! Aggressiveness adds 6% to Sinister Strike's damage. All of sudden,
the Core Hound Tooth deals between 132.5 and 185.5 damage, while the
Brutality Blade hits for between 167.48 and 250.16 damage. The averages
pan out to 159 versus 208.82 damage. Adding that 6% in means the Brutality
Blade is dealing, on average, 49.82 more damage per Sinister Strike.
Also consider the fact that five points in Lethality adds another 30% to
the critical strike damage of a Sinister Strike, and you see that in this
simple but fairly accurate model, non-daggers are CLEARLY your best choice
for leveling and the endgame.
Of course, you could use maces. However, there are very few good one-handed
maces Rogues would use that drop in ANY high end instance, and besides,
look at Sword Specialization: you have a 5% chance of getting an extra
attack with your sword! That's serious carnage! You just can't do that
with a mace. The first mace you could possibly use comes from Blackwing
Lair, and even then, there are quite a few swords you could pick up in the
mean time. Come Naxxramas, though, maces are worth another look...
Even dagger users have to Sinister Strike at some point in their lives.
The above example is listed to show the merits of slower main hand weapons
versus faster ones, and let's face it, swords are slower. A quite possibly
more boring analysis will follow later.
Like Adrenaline Rush but hate to drop your dagger? Jake Des has a slightly
different take on the Combat build:
Pretty basic and effective. If you want to fire off Backstabs even more
quickly, then this would be the build for you.
Don't see your build anymore? More than likely, one of a few things happened:
1. It's outdated because of the patch! Feel free to send updated builds
my way and if I like what I see, I'll add it here. What I would like to
see most would be a PvP build and some kind of Hemorrhage build
(which may or may not also be a PvP build).
2. Whoops. I lost it. I get a fair amount of email, and some of it I
either forget about or delete entirely. If you don't see your build and
it wasn't outdated, it's quite possible I simply messed up. Feel free to
send it again, and if I tell you I will put it up, I promise you, I will.
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4. Poisons and You: An Excuse to Have More DPS
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First off, it doesn't do any good to tell you about poisons unless you have
the ability to use them! So here goes.
For the Alliance, once you're level 20, speak to Master Mathias Shaw.
He's the leader of SI:7 in Stormwind City. You can find SI:7's headquarters
in Old Town. He'll direct you to speak with Agent Kearnen in Westfall,
who can be found (stealthed) in the southeast of Westfall, by a tree just
north of the large tower. You'll get a book that you really don't need.
Sneak up behind the Level 24 Malformed Defias guard and
pickpocket him for the key. If he aggros you, run far, far away. Stealth
your way up the tower and you'll find a chest on the ground with a boss
standing by it. Sap him, loot the chest, and run out as fast as you can.
Instead of running down the tower, jump all the way to the bottom and beat
a hasty retreat out of there. Yes, you're now poisoned, don't worry about
that. Head back to Mathias. He'll direct you to talk to Doctor Mixilpixil.
He's in the basement of SI:7. Do a /lay in front of him, he'll do his thing,
then he'll direct you to find a cure. The easiest way to cure the poison
is to have a high level character do it for you. If you can't, or if you
have to get it done yourself, all of the items you need can be found in
Stormwind.
Simple Wildflowers can be found at the Fragrant Flowers shop in the Canal
District. A Leaded Vial can be bought from Shady Dealers, or from
Pestle's Apothecary in the Trade District. Engineers can make you Bronze
Tubes, or the Engineering Supplies vendor in the Dwarven District sometimes
carries one. Spools of Light Chartreuse Thread can be had in the Finest
Thread in Cathedral Square. Once you have all these goodies, talk to
Mixilpixil again, then go to a class trainer, and voila, you can learn
to use poisons! Yay!
For you Hordies, again, starting at level 20, speak to Taskmaster Fizzule.
He's in the Sludge Fen in the Barrens, which is way north, and take his
quest. When you catch up to Silixz, distract him while stealthed, and
pickpocket his key. If it's not there, you'll have to kill him, wait for
him to respawn, then pickpocket him again. Inside the tower, there are
some level 25s there. If you can't sneak past them, they're amazingly
weak to Ambushes, so don't rule that out. Keep on going up, past the
mobs, until you get to the Goblin Lookouts. Fight them one at a time and
keep going. Once you're at the top of the tower, you'll find Grand
Foreman Gallywix. Ambushes work well in dispatching him. Don't forget
to loot his head once you kill him. Finally, pick the lock on the chest.
The exact skill level for picking the chest is beyond me, but I'm told you
can do it at 80. Bam, you're now poisoned. Turn in the quest in Orgrimmar,
then just follow instructions. You'll end up in Tarren Mill, where you will
learn to use poisons. Vanish, learned at level 22, makes doing this quest
a whole lot easier, but it's definitely doable at 20.
Whew! Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at each
poison:
Crippling Poison: A godsend in PvP, this is your best bet for keeping
players in melee range with you. Rank 2 is a 70% snare, which is the
equivalent of a Tendon Rip. Unfortunately, like any poisons, it can be
cured, so it's of less use to classes that can cure it. Crippling Poison
is also good in instances, which often feature Humanoid mobs who like to
run away. You can't get too far at 30% speed. Best of all, Crippling
Poison has no charges, so it will last a full 30 minutes.
Deadly Poison: Honestly, this is way better than Instant Poison, if not
for the fact that the highest rank Instant Poison does more damage. A 30%
proc rate is amazing, and you'll be firing off charges like nobody's
business. This is at least worth considering in PvP since damage over
time can break bandages and stealth, but you're probably better off with
Crippling and Mind-Numbing Poison instead. Supposedly we'll be getting
a new rank of Deadly Poison when the level cap goes up. While leveling,
switch back and forth between Instant and Deadly, using whichever is
currently doing more damage.
Instant Poison: If not for the fact that the highest rank does more damage
than Deadly Poison, this would be more or less worthless. It only poisons
20% of the time, which often leaves you with wasted charges on your offhand
(which, regardless of attack speed, will not trigger as often). That said,
in PvE, it's still really useful since it's a bunch of extra damage with
zero effort on your part.
Mind-Numbing Poison: There's only limited usefulness in PvE since you can
interrupt spells while soloing and other classes can do it for you while
you're grouped. That said, it's perfect for PvP. Watch Warlocks cringe as
that Fear takes 60% longer to cast, and you Kick them to interrupt it anyway.
In PvP, I usually use Crippling Poison in my main hand and Mind-Numbing in
my offhand, but feel free to switch them if you think it'll work better.
Wound Poison: The other worthless Rogue skill. You're better off dealing
damage with your poisons while soloing, and Warriors can Mortal Strike for
you in groups, and you have much more useful options available to you in
PvP, so by all means, don't waste your money.
ALWAYS carry poison with you. It makes your job MUCH easier!
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5. Questing and Loot
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First of all, I'll cover good places for you to level. As a general rule,
hit every Instance you can. In addition to having good loot, you usually
get a bundle of quests that can be done fairly easily, which give you lots
of experience points in a short period of time. I'm going to assume that
you can survive, even on a PvP server. Use the "buddy system" if you must.
It will be broken down in ten-level chunks, since most zones are good for
about ten levels anyway.
Levels 1-10: Seriously, stay in your starting zone. You can get to Level
10 in a very short period of time, and the quests there are more than enough
to enable you to do so relatively painlessly.
Levels 10-20: For the Alliance, even if you're a Night Elf, get yourself
over to Westfall. In addition to being a somewhat small, quest-happy zone,
you'll want to go here anyway so you can get ready to hit the Deadmines. You
can also try Blackfathom Depths if you want, but you may find it a bit
lacking and also frustratingly difficult to get through without wipes.
For you Hordies, you have two options. Most people opt to go to The Barrens,
but if you're like me, The Barrens will utterly bore you to death, especially
since you really have to spend some time in here anyway to get ready for
the Wailing Caverns at some point. If you're like me, you'll find
Silverpine Forest much more to your liking. As an added bonus, Shadowfang
Keep is yours for the exploring when you're ready, and don't forget
Ragefire Chasm either.
Levels 20-30: For the Alliance, Duskwood simply can't be beat, and you just
may find it a lot of fun. If you don't, try the Redridge Mountains on for
size. Make sure you get ready to hit the Stockades in the mid-20s. There
isn't a whole lot in the way of loot there necessarily, but a lot of quests
means good experience. For the Hordies, suck up the ganking and go to
Hillsbrad Foothills. There are some great quests there, just don't go
alone if you're on a PvP server. Don't forget to hit the lower instances
if you haven't already.
Levels 30-40: Here is where things start to merge. There is no better early
leveling spot than the Shimmering Flats in Thousand Needles. There are lots
of good quests there and the mobs are incredibly wimpy. You'll hit the
mid-30s there easily. After that, consider heading over to Desolace. While
there are lots of great quests in Stranglethorn Vale, to say you'll get
ganked is an incredible understatement. You can still go, but be prepared
to die a lot. Desolace has some nice quests and is much more densely
populated. Besides, you get to rip through centaurs like Roseanne through
a box of Waffle Crisp. How cool is that? Don't forget to hit Gnomeregan
at least once during this time. As frustrating as that instance can be,
you should still do it. For both sides, also consider Razorfen Kraul and
Razorfen Downs, both of which are in The Barrens. If one is too tough for
you, put it off for a bit and come back.
Levels 40-50: Hit Scarlet Monastery really hard, with your head if you can.
You'll do plenty of farming here, so learn to love it. There's a great
sword to be had in particular as well, so definitely don't pass it up.
The Hinterlands is not a bad choice, although it's a little
more Alliance-centered than Horde. There are still good quests for both
sides to do. Also consider The Badlands, which can be frustrating but offers
good items to farm and mobs to grind, and is the site of the next instance
you should do, which is Uldaman. If you don't like Uldaman, I will beat you
up. It's one of the more fun instances in the game. In the later 40s,
Zul'Farrak is THE most fun instance in the game, and you should quest
there long enough to get the Carrot on a Stick trinket and the Masons
Fraternity Ring. For the Horde, the Swamp of Sorrows is another option.
Levels 50-60: You have a few choices here. Before you make any, though,
run Maraudon. It can be tricky but you should know more than just the basics
by now. You can try Western Plaguelands, but the lowest stuff is so
heavily farmed that you probably won't be able to level very efficiently.
You can gain a few levels in Blasted Lands, Searing Gorge, Burning Steppes,
Azshara, Felwood (you might want to beat up Furbolgs anyway), Feralas,
or, my personal favorite, Un'Goro Crater. It's like Jurassic Park all over
again! That should put you into the mid-50s easily, at which point you can
return to Western Plaguelands and grind undead in the northern farms pretty
efficiently and effectively. Once you're almost there, see about getting
as many quests done for Stratholme as you can, since there's some great
loot and great experience to be had. Do this in the Eastern Plaguelands.
Stop in Silithus if you must, but race your way to 60 and start tackling
the endgame dungeons! Hopefully you've gained enough friends, or a good
guild, to really sink your teeth into the endgame!
----
LOOT
----
There's some great stuff to help you level more quickly, live longer, hit
harder, that sort of thing. Get as much of this stuff as you can! Most of
the stuff listed is going to be blues and above, since those typically last
longer, unless there is a particularly awesome green, which is pretty rare.
Also, I'm going to leave out PvP reward items, since that's a whole different
world unto itself. There's some good stuff, but you have to PvP forever
to get any of it. I'll also leave out end-game raid items, since all I have
to say is "Raid in the endgame! There is a lot of loot! I am stating the
obvious!" Weapons will be sorted by type, then level, leather armor will be
sorted by level then area covered, rings will be sorted by level, as will
amulets, then trinkets. Got it? Good.
Levels 1-10: Seriously, wear anything.
Levels 10-20: The most essential stuff comes out of the low instances and
are generally levels 16-20. Here are some highlights:
WEAPONS:
Assassin's Blade
One-Hand Dagger, 1.9 Speed
20-39 Damage (15.5 DPS)
+3 Strength
+4 Agility
Requires Level 19
Found: Shadowfang Keep
Comment: Not a bad choice, but somewhat difficult to get. Grab it up
if you can't find anything else as a Hordie.
Doomspike
One-Hand Dagger, 1.5 Speed
17-32 Damage (16.3 DPS)
+3 Strength
+3 Stamina
Requires Level 20
Found: Blackfathom Deeps
Comment: Useful if you can't find anything else. High speed and low damage
range makes it a much better offhand than main hand weapon, and if you're
getting this, you're probably Alliance. Get at least one Cruel Barb
instead, if at all possible.
Wingblade
Main Hand Sword, 2.2 Speed
24-45 Damage (15.7 DPS)
+5 Agility
+2 Stamina
Requires Level 18
Found: Quest reward, Leaders of the Fang, Wailing Caverns (Horde)
Comment: Simply the best sword you can get at this level, Horde or otherwise.
Since it's a quest reward, you have no excuse not to get this, so make
sure you complete the chain before running Wailing Caverns.
Cruel Barb
One-Hand Sword, 2.8 Speed
30-57 Damage (15.5 DPS)
Equip: +12 Attack Power
Requires Level 19
Found: Edwin VanCleef, Deadmines
Comment: An awesome weapon. VanCleef has great loot in general, so
almost anything he drops you can use. If you can get two of these, so
much the better.
ARMOR:
Tunic of Westfall
Chest
92 Armor
+11 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 14
Found: Quest reward, The Defias Brotherhood (Part 2), Westfall (Alliance)
Comment: Ridiculously easy to get for its mods. All you have to do is
finish the chain and kill VanCleef, which is easy enough. If you find
the Blackened Defias Armor, it's probably a little bit better, but it
comes down to personal preference. No Alliance Rogue should be wearing
a chestpiece worse than this after clearing The Deadmines.
Glowing Lizardscale Cloak
Back
20 Armor
+6 Agility
+2 Spirit
Requires Level 17
Found: Skum, Wailing Caverns
Comment: Somewhat of a poor man's Cape of the Brotherhood, this one will
none the less do the job, especially for you Hordies, so get it if you can.
Leggings of the Fang
Legs
79 Armor
+5 Strength
+9 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 18
Found: Lord Cobrahn, Wailing Caverns
Comment: Great mods all around for the level. You'd never wear the full set
in a million years as a Rogue, but you really can't go wrong with these
leggings! Unfortunately, it's the only drop that's particularly noteworthy
from him, with the possible exception of the Pattern for Dark Leather Tunic,
which really isn't that good either.
Deviate Scale Belt
Waist
51 Armor
+5 Agility
+6 Stamina
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 18
Found: Quest reward, Deviate Eradication, Wailing Caverns
Comment: It does take a bunch of Deviate and Perfect Deviate Scales to make,
but if you can snag this belt, get it by all means. It will last you
for quite some time. It might be a little out of the way for an Alliance
Rogue, though, so keep that in mind.
Blackened Defias Armor
Chest
92 Armor
+4 Strength
+3 Agility
+11 Stamina
Requires Level 19
Found: Edwin VanCleef, Deadmines
Comment: Another awesome drop off VC. It should be noted that this is part
of a set, but you don't have to bother gathering up the other items if you
don't want to: this is the only piece that will last you for a while. I
personally prefer it over the Tunic of Westfall due to the Stamina bonuses,
but in all honesty, it's up to you. You should grab this up anyway.
Feet of the Lynx
Feet
63 Armor
+3 Strength
+8 Agility
Requires Level 19
Found: Random drop in Duskwood, The Stockades, Redridge Mountains, Wetlands,
probably other places too of similar levels
Comment: These add to your damage nicely. Unfortunately, you're relying on
getting these from a random drop in the world, so don't count on getting it.
If you really want it, try an Auction House.
Sentry Cloak
Back
21 Armor
+4 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 19
Found: Random drop, Stonetalon Mountains, Hillsbrad Foothills, Shadowfang
Keep, Wetlands, probably other similar level zones
Comment: Like Feet of the Lynx, you're probably better off finding this on
the Auction House if you really want it. On the off chance you do get it,
don't be afraid to auction it yourself: drops like this can sell for quite
a bit of gold, so don't overlook it.
Cape of the Brotherhood
Back
21 Armor
+6 Agility
+3 Stamina
Requires Level 20
Found: Edwin VanCleef, Deadmines
Comment: Yet another ridiculously good drop off VanCleef. As a Rogue, you
should get at least one of the three awesome blues he drops. If you can,
try for all three! Again, this cloak can last you for quite some time, so
don't pass it up if you can help it!
Seal of Sylvanas
Finger
+3 Strength
+8 Stamina
Requires Level 18
Found: Quest Reward, Arugal Must Die, Shadowfang Keep (Horde)
Comment: A pretty easy to get ring that will last you for quite a while. If
you play on the Horde, you should be clearing SFK anyway, so make sure you
pick this ring up. Arugal himself is no slouch though, so make sure you
have a decent group with you.
Ring of Precision (Unique)
Finger
+6 Agility
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 20
Found: Random drop, Blackfathom Deeps
Comment: Well...it's a ring, and it's better than any greens you could get
at that level. Since it's BoE, if you want, you could probably get away
with auctioning it off: people have been quoted as paying 25-30g(!) for it.
Levels 20-30: At these levels, there are more good daggers than swords, so
keep that in mind when it comes to outfitting your character. That will
change shortly, but don't be afraid to get a dagger to help you along, if
not for your main hand, your offhand.
WEAPONS:
Prison Shank
One-Hand Dagger, 1.8 Speed
21-39 Damage (16.7 DPS)
+5 Agility
+2 Stamina
Requires Level 21
Found: Bruegal Ironknuckle (Rare spawn), The Stockade
Comment: A nifty little dagger with a cool name. Speed could still stand
to be slower, but it's not a bad offhand. However, the rare spawns in
The Stockade are pretty rare, so don't hold your breath for getting one.
Talon of Vultros (Unique)
One-Hand Dagger, 2.0 Speed
23-44 Damage (16.8 DPS)
+5 Agility
+2 Spirit
Requires Level 21
Found: Vultros (Rare spawn), Westfall
Comment: Now this is more like it. It's slow enough to be worth considering
as your main hand weapon until you find something better. Unfortunately,
you are relying on rare spawns once again, but hey, one can dream.
Toxic Revenger (Unique)
One-Hand Dagger, 1.9 Speed
27-51 Damage (20.5 DPS)
Chance on hit: Deals 5 Nature Damage every 5 seconds to any enemy in an
8 yard radius for a total of 15 seconds.
Requires Level 27
Found: Viscous Fallout, Gnomeregan
Comment: Another very nice dagger with a decent AoE. The only problem
with said AoE is that you shouldn't be fighting multiple mobs very often,
but in an instance where single pulls aren't possible, it's nice to add
a little bit more damage with no extra effort on your part. Especially
for a dagger, the top end damage is decent.
Swinetusk Shank (Unique)
One-Hand Dagger, 1.5 Speed
24-45 Damage (23.0 DPS)
+6 Stamina
+4 Spirit
Requires Level 30
Found: Agathelos the Raging, Razorfen Kraul
Comment: A little fast to be a main hand, it is nonetheless a powerful and
reliable offhand, and if you're on the Horde, it's definitely not out of your
way to get, so consider running RFK a few times in the hopes of snagging
this dagger.
The Black Knight
Main Hand Sword, 1.9 Speed
26-49 Damage (19.7 DPS)
Chance on hit: Sends a shadowy bolt at the enemy causing 34 to 35 Shadow
Damage.
Requires Level 26
Found: Random drop, Duskwood, Hillsbrad Foothills, Thousand Needles,
Arathi Highlands, etc
Comment: Easier to buy then get, but expect it to cost you. All in all,
a nice little weapon, with the only quirk that it can only be equipped in
your main hand and that it doesn't have stats.
The Butcher
Main Hand Sword, 2.8 Speed
38-72 Damage (19.6 DPS)
+5 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 26
Found: Random drop, Scarlet Monastery
Comment: Hard to get, but a very, very good sword. It has both a nice
top end damage and decent stats to complement the cool name and art. That
said, you can run Scarlet Monastery dozens of times and not see this sword
drop, so count your lucky stars if you land one.
Nightstalker Bow
Bow, 1.7 Speed
19-36 Damage (16.2 DPS)
+3 Agility
Requires Level 27
Found: Blind Hunter (Rare Spawn), Razorfen Kraul
Comment: Sure, throwing weapons are cheaper and do comparable damage at
lower levels, but you should really be using bows and guns as soon as
possible anyway, since training such weapons at higher levels is tedious
at best and frustrating at worse, since you'll never get more than a couple
of shots on a mob each combat before it jumps into melee with you. If you
can find this, more power to you. Stats on ranged weapons are very
excellent finds.
ARMOR:
Toughened Leather Gloves
Hands
61 Armor
+6 Agility
+3 Stamina
+6 Spirit
Requires Level 22
Found: Profession Trainer, 135 Skill, Leatherworking
Comment: Like the Triprunner Dungarees, these too will last you a while.
If you're not a Leatherworker, look to spend somewhere between 3 and 6 gold,
on average, for these. Even if you are a Leatherworker, you'll still need
to buy or trade for two Elixirs of Defense, which are more expensive than
they should be. Regardless, do whatever it takes to either buy or make
these gloves.
Harbinger Boots
Feet
71 Armor
+2 Strength
+11 Stamina
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 25
Found: Random drop, Scarlet Monastery
Comment: It may not have Agility bonuses, but the Stamina bonus is
excellent and makes these boots pretty useful to have. Again, they're not
the most common of drops, so make the most of the opportunity if it does
drop, or try to find a bargain on the Auction House. Sure, they're probably
better for Druids, but who cares?
Mantle of Thieves
Shoulder
77 Armor
+10 Agility
+4 Stamina
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 25
Found: Random drop, Razorfen Kraul
Comment: An AWESOME grab for your shoulders. Get your hands on it and it
will easily last you into the 30s.
Petrolspill Leggings
Legs
90 Armor
+14 Agility
+6 Stamina
Requires Level 25
"Keep away from fire."
Found: Random drop, Gnomeregan
Comment: Yeah, they're blue. Yeah, they have a nice Agility bonus. But
yeah, they also kind of suck! Why mention it, you ask? See if you can sell
it in the Auction House, then look two entries down for the reason why...
Troll's Bane Leggings
Legs
90 Armor
+14 Agility
+4 Stamina
+4 Spirit
Requires Level 25
Found: Random drop, Gnomeregan, Duskwood, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, etc.
Comment: Is there an echo in the building? See if you can find a gullible
buyer, and look at the next entry for the reason why...
Triprunner Dungarees
Legs
101 Armor
+3 Strength
+18 Agility
+6 Stamina
Requires Level 25
Found: Quest reward, The Grand Betrayal (Alliance), Rig Wars (Horde),
Gnomeregan
Comment: So now do you see why Petrospill Leggins and Troll's Bane Leggings
suck? These leggings will last you seemingly forever. There is NO excuse
not to run through Gnomeregan at least once to get them. None, whatsoever.
Get them, slap an Armor Kit on these and you're set for a while.
Forest Tracker Epaulets
Shoulder
78 Armor
+5 Strength
+11 Agility
Requires Level 26
Found: Random drop, Wetlands, Thousand Needles, Desolace, Arathi Highlands,
so on and so forth
Comment: These will find you before you find them. Be prepared to spend
10g, at least, if you want to buy these off an Auction House.
Barbaric Bracers
Wrist
47 Armor
+4 Agility
+6 Stamina
+4 Spirit
Requires Level 27
Found: Leatherworking Supplies Vendor (Rare), 155 Skill, Leatherworking
Comment: There aren't that many good wrist armors at low levels, so take
these if you can get them. They're a little bit annoying to make, so either
prepare to invest a bunch of time or hope you get lucky in the Auction House.
Emissary Cuffs of Agility, of the Monkey
Wrist
47 Armor
+5 Arcane Resistance
Requires Level 28
Found: Dark Iron Ambassador (Rare), Gnomeregan
Comment: Okay, so there is another good wrist armor at low levels. The
problem is that it's on a rare spawn, and that it has a random enchantment
on it. "Of Agility" will add +8 Agility to the Arcane Resistance, and "of the
Monkey" will add +5 to +6 Agility and Stamina to the item. If you get
any other mods on it, it's not going to be worth your time.
Tigerstrike Mantle
Back
25 Armor
+8 Agility
+7 Stamina
Requires Level 29
Found: Random drop, Stranglethorn Vale, Desolace, Scarlet Monastery, and
so on and so forth
Comment: I actually got this from a locked chest in Scarlet Monastery. It's
like a souped-up version of the Cape of the Brotherhood.
Unearthed Bands of Agility, of the Monkey
Wrist
49 Armor
Equip: +8 Attack Power
Requires Level 30
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: One of a great many awesome Uldaman drops. "Of Agility"
will net you +9 or +10 Agility, while "of the Monkey" will give +6 to both
Agility and Stamina. If you don't get the Emissary Cuffs, these are a fine
replacement.
Ebon Vise
Hands
70 Armor
+4 Strength
+6 Agility
+8 Stamina
Requires Level 30
Found: Fallen Champion (Rare), Scarlet Monastery
Comment: You can find this guy in the graveyard portion of Scarlet Monastery.
I've heard his spawn rate is anywhere from 0.2% to 10%. Since I've never
seen him, I'd believe the former over the latter. Even if he does spawn,
the drop rate for these gloves is less than half, according to Thottbot.
Good luck finding them.
Seal of Wrynn
Finger
+3 Strength
+3 Agility
+4 Stamina
+4 Intellect
+3 Spirit
Requires Level I don't Know, 20s I think
Found: Quest reward, end of the Unsent Letter chain (Alliance)
Comment: Be glad if you're just getting this ring after the 1.9 patch,
because this ring used to suck horribly. As it is, it's pretty decent, though
the quest chain is rather long and involves you going through The Stockades.
Then again, you should have done that anyway, so there you go.
Ironspine's Eye (Unique)
Finger
+4 Strength
+9 Agility
Requires Level 30
Found: Ironspine (Rare), Scarlet Monastery
Comment: Ouch! My eye! Ironspine drops great loot, so make sure you drop
him whenever you see him, which isn't often!
Kaleidoscope Chain
Neck
+4 Strength
+4 Agility
+4 Stamina
+4 Intellect
+4 Spirit
Requires Level 30
Found: Random drop, Level 33+ mobs
Comment: A broad range of stats makes everyone happy. However, it's usually
priced insanely high in the Auction House, so you'd probably be better off
just hoping to farm one. (I'm sorry, I'm not spending 60 gold for a Level
30 item).
Levels 30-40: Swords begin to jump out at you as being very useful. You'll
also finally start seeing rings that aren't all that terrible, and some
leather armors give some crazy Agility bonuses. Here's where the loot gets
a whole lot more fun!
WEAPONS:
Stonevault Shiv (Unique)
One-Hand Dagger, 1.5 Speed
25-47 Damage (24.0 DPS)
+7 Agility
+3 Stamina
Requires Level 31
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: Definitely not worth using in your main hand, but the stats and
the speed make it a pretty decent offhand weapon, especially if you give it
a Fiery Weapon enchant, or just a lot of poison.
Gut Ripper
One-Hand Dagger, 1.8 Speed
42-80 Damage (33.9 DPS)
Chance on hit: Wounds the target for 95 to 121 damage.
Requires Level 40
Found: Random drop, Stranglethorn Vale, Tanaris, Searing Gorge, etc.
(Level 40+ mobs)
Comment: Well, it's Epic. I'd hope it'd be useful. The proc rate, so I'm
told, is only in the neighborhood of 3%, which really isn't all that great.
Should you ever land one, you're probably better off selling it on the
Auction House, as it can easily fetch over 100 gold. Use that money and
buy yourself a mount. Or another weapon. But probably a mount.
Fight Club
One-Hand Mace, 2.2 Speed
41-76 Damage (26.6 DPS)
+6 Strength
+6 Stamina
Requires Level 34
Found: Random drop, Scarlet Monastery
Comment: Rule #1: You do not talk about Fight Club.
Rule #2: You DO NOT talk about Fight Club.
Rule #3: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over.
Rule #4: Only two guys to a fight.
Rule #5: One fight at a time.
Rule #6: No shirts, no shoes.
Rule #7: Fights will go on as long as they have to.
Rule #8: If this is your first night at Fight Club, you HAVE to fight.
Sword of Omen
One-Hand Sword, 1.9 Speed
39-74 Damage (29.7 DPS)
+9 Strength
+3 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 33
Found: Quest reward, Into the Scarlet Monastery, Scarlet Monastery (Horde)
Comment: The Horde's answer to Sword of Serenity. While it's a little faster
and has slightly lower overall DPS, it makes up for it with better stats.
Again, if you're a Hordie, you have no excuse not to complete this quest,
so make sure you pick one up as soon as you can clear the Scarlet Monastery.
Sword of Serenity
One-Hand Sword, 2.2 Speed
46-86 Damage (30.0 DPS)
+9 Stamina
+4 Spirit
Requires Level 34
Found: Quest reward, In the Name of the Light, Scarlet Monastery (Alliance)
Comment: While it would be nice to have it be slightly slower and have a
higher top-end damage, the weapon itself will suit you just fine. Since
it's a quest reward, you have no excuse not to pick one up.
Annealed Blade
One-Hand Sword, 1.8 Speed
34-64 Damage (27.2 DPS)
+6 Strength
+6 Stamina
Requires Level 35
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: A little fast for a main hand, but perfectly suited for offhand
duty, especially with a Fiery Weapon enchant. I enjoyed Uldaman a lot,
so farming for this wouldn't bother me too much.
Ginn-su Sword
One-Hand Sword, 1.7 Speed
33-62 Damage (27.9 DPS)
+4 Strength
+8 Agility
Requires Level 36
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: Yup. More fun in Uldaman. The fast speed makes this a perfect
offhand sword. Strongly consider giving this a Fiery Weapon enchant, in
which case this will last you for quite some time, unless you have insane
luck, which I most certainly don't. The name may be lame, but the sword
itself rocks.
Speedsteel Rapier
One-Hand Sword, 1.8 Speed
35-66 Damage (28.1 DPS)
+8 Agility
+3 Stamina
Requires Level 36
Found: Random drop, Level 39+ mobs
Comment: Way too fast to be anything but an offhand, but it's a pretty good
one. Slap an enchant on it if you do manage to snag one.
Nordic Longshank
One-Hand Sword, 2.2 Speed
45-84 Damage (29.3 DPS)
+8 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 38
Found: Baelog, Uldaman
Comment: Insanely good, no matter where you put it (although it's not quite
as good as an offhand). Baleog is also easily farmed...which is probably
why people have had tons of trouble getting one of these to drop. It took
me a dozen tries to drop one, and I've heard people going at it for much
longer. Keep that in mind. As far as I know, Baelog is Horde only.
Vanquisher's Sword
One-Hand Sword, 2.2 Speed
46-86 Damage (30.0 DPS)
Equip: +28 Attack Power.
Requires Level 39
Found: Quest reward, Razorfen Downs, Bring the End (Horde),
Bring the Light (Alliance)
Comment: If you needed a main hand, here it is. If you needed an off hand,
here it is. Assuming you do Razorfen Downs at any point in your leveling,
don't pass this one up. 28 Attack Power is 2 DPS by itself, making this
sword as good for stats as anything else.
Monolithic Bow
Bow, 2.7 Speed
41-77 Damage (21.9 DPS)
+6 Strength
+3 Agility
Requires Level 36
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: Here we go, a bow that doesn't suck. Nice mods and a slow attack
speed means it's very useful for quite some time. You won't get more than
a few shots off during any fight anyway, so the slower the better, and this
one is just fine if you can get it.
Swiftwind
Crossbow, 2.0 Speed
34-51 Damage (21.2 DPS)
+7 Agility
Requires Level 35
Found: Random drop, Level 38+ mobs
Comment: The first good crossbow you'll find. I actually still use
Crossbows even at 60, so if you want to pick this up, it's as great a time
as any to start building up weapon skill. The Monolithic Bow is strictly
better, but Swiftwind is quite good too, and usually is pretty cheap on
the Auction House.
ARMOR:
Adventurer's Pith Helm
Head
94 Armor
+9 Agility
+14 Stamina
+7 Spirit
Requires Level 32
Found: Random drop, Uldaman
Comment: Yet another great drop - albeit great, rare drop - from Uldaman.
Looks cool, too. Run through capital cities with style!
Swampwalker Boots
Feet
79 Armor
+13 Agility
+6 Stamina
Requires Level 32
Found: Random drop, Stranglethorn Vale, Alterac Mountains, Desolace, blah
blah blah
Comment: Hopefully you'll have better luck getting these than I did. On
Elune, Chinese farmers usually try to sell this for upwards of 90 gold.
All I have to say to that is no thank you. I've heard it mentioned that
these boots are exceedingly ugly. I've never seen them before, but keep
that in mind if you're worried about what your character looks like :P
Gem-studded Leather Belt
Waist
65 Armor
+8 Stamina
+6 Spirit
Use: Heal yourself for 225 to 375.
Requires Level 32:
Found: Rikqiz, Leatherworking Supplies, Stranglethorn Vale, 185 Skill,
Leatherworking
Comment: The Stamina bonus is very nice for a 30s belt. Being able to heal
yourself saves you from having to use healing potions in a tight situation.
The belt is easy enough to get, so make sure you get one when you hit 32,
whether it's making one yourself or buying one.
Flintrock Shoulders
Shoulder
88 Armor
+5 Strength
+10 Agility
+10 Stamina
Requires Level 33
Found: Random drop, Scarlet Monastery
Comment: Yet another exceedingly awesome, but equally rare, drop. If you
do happen upon them, your shoulders will look like they're supporting
boulders, which is pretty cool. As it is, great mods.
Wing of the Whelpling
Back
28 Armor
+4 Agility
+10 Stamina
Requires Level 33
Found: Random drop, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, Razorfen Downs, I'm just
typing things here right now, look in similar areas...'n stuff
Comment: If you can't get a Tigerstrike Mantle, why not dream you can get
this? Lots of Stamina equals more survivability, which is, of course,
a very, very good thing.
Quillward Harness
Chest
120 Armor
+8 Strength
+19 Agility
Requires Level 34
Found: Random drop, Razorfen Downs
Comment: Crazy agility bonus for a level 34 character. It'll last you a
long, long time...unless you come across my best friend, the Blazewind
Breastplate. Read on!
Gloves of Holy Might
Hands
86 Armor
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Equip: +20 Attack Power.
Equip: +30 Attack Power when fighting Undead.
Requires Level 37
Found: Random drop, Level 42+ mobs
Comment: Way too rare to go farming for it. While not stat bonuses per se,
the bonuses themselves are much higher than anything you'd get at that level,
hence the fact that the gloves are Epic. Find a good enchant for these as
soon as you can: they're built to last. Don't they sound like Paladin
gloves, though?
Arachnid Gloves of Agility, of the Monkey
Hands
79 Armor
+10 Nature Resistance
Requires Level 37
Found: Tuten'kash, Razorfen Downs
Comment: "of Agility" tacks on +14 or +15 Agility, while "of the Monkey"
adds on +9 or +10 to both Stamina and Spirit. You get no other witty
comments from me at this time.
Fleshhide Shoulders
Shoulder
95 Armor
+5 Strength
+6 Agility
+15 Stamina
Requires Level 37
Found: Glutton, Razorfen Downs
Comment: Very nice Stamina bonus allows you to take a licking and keep
on ticking. You might have to fight Druids for this item though, so prepare
an essay beforehand or just don't invite one along :)
Basilisk Hide Pants
Legs
113 Armor
+21 Agility
+8 Stamina
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 38
Found: Random drop, Level 43+ mobs
Comment: Amazing, huh? These are only slightly better than Triprunner
Dungarees, which you can get 15 levels earlier. I told you they were good!
At least you can slap better Armor Kits on these.
Blazewind Breastplate
Chest
148 Armor
+3 Strength
+23 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 40
Found: Quest reward, Broken Alliances (Horde), Tremors of the Earth
(Alliance)
Comment: ...you can get this at the lowest possible level, which is 40.
Now, in all honesty, there is absolutely no way you could normally acquire
this any time before your early 50s, if even then. But if you have high
level buddies willing to help you a lot, bring them along and have them kill
the very scary elites you need to kill to finish this quest. This little
green item can easily last you until 60, and it's probably the only green
item I'll mention, other than, say, Carrot on a Stick.
Mark of Kern (Unique)
Finger
+4 Stamina
Equip: +20 Attack Power
Requires Level 31
Found: Random drop, Scarlet Monastery
Comment: There are better rings, but who knows, you just might get one of
these while you're in Scarlet Monastery, so there you go.
Ring of the Underworld (Unique)
Finger
+2 Strength
+10 Agility
+3 Stamina
Requires Level 31
Found: Yet another random drop. Find mobs a few levels above 31.
Comment: Like the Blush Ember Ring, this one would last you quite a while,
except this one is actually a little bit better in my opinion, and you can
wear it a level earlier.
Blush Ember Ring (Unique)
Finger
+4 Strength
+5 Agility
+8 Spirit
Requires Level 32
Found: Random drop, see above
Comment: Seems like quite a catch. Good rings aren't readily available early
on, so this is yet another item to either farm for or buy off the AH.
Charged Gear of Stamina, of Eluding, of the Tiger, of Agility, of the Monkey
Finger
+5 Arcane Resistance
+5 Nature Resistance
Requires Level 32
Found: Mekgineer Thermaplugg, Gnomeregan
Comment: He never seems to drop the one you need. Anyway, "of Stamina" tacks
on +10 Stamina, "of Eluding" adds on +1% Dodge and +5 Agility, and "of the
Tiger" adds +6 or +7 to both Agility and Strength..."of Agility" adds +10
to Agility, and "of the Monkey" does the +6 or +7 thing to both Agility
and Stamina. Thermaplugg is worth farming to get two rings you can use,
so don't rule that out.
Masons Fraternity Ring
Finger
+13 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 40
Found: Quest reward, Divino-matic Rod, Zul'Farrak
Comment: No frills, just thrills. This ring can last you to 60, so make
sure you pick it up. It's just another excuse to go enjoy Zul'Farrak.
Mark of the Chosen
Trinket
Equip: Has a 2% chance when struck in combat of increasing all stats
by 25 for 1 min.
Requires Level 39
Found: Quest reward, The Pariah's Instructions, Maraudon
Comment: Why this starts at 39, I'll never know. You can't even handle
Uldaman at 39. Anyway, it's a decent little green that makes you happy
when it triggers.
Carrot on a Stick
Trinket
Equip: Increases mount speed by 3%.
Requires Level 40
Found: Quest reward, Gahz'rilla, Zul'Farrak
Comment: It's a quest reward, and one of the only items you'll really want
out of the extremely fun Zul'Farrak. Moving a little bit faster is never
a bad thing, so never be without this trinket (even if you don't always
have it equipped).
Levels 40-50: Now it's time for some even better stuff.
WEAPONS:
Shadowblade (Unique)
One-Hand Dagger, 1.4 Speed
38-71 Damage (38.9 DPS)
Chance on Hit: Sends a shadowy bolt at the enemy causing 110 to 140
Shadow Damage.
Requires Level 48
Found: Random drop, Level 51+ mobs
Comment: Again, it's Epic, so it'd better be useful. Unfortunately, even
if you completely ignored my excellent advice and went dagger-spec, this
is still too fast to make a good main hand item. Weapons tend to also
proc less in the offhand, but at least the damage isn't too bad.
Bloodrazor
One-Hand Sword, 2.7 Speed
70-130 Damage (37.0 DPS)
Chance on Hit: Wounds the target causing them to bleed for 120 damage over
30 sec.
Requires Level 45
Found: Random drop, Level 48+ mobs
Comment: Here comes the pain! It may not have stats, but it has high damage
and is nice and slow, so it's perfect for delivering savage beatings. Count
your lucky stars if you get one, or try to trick a Chinese gold farmer into
giving you the money to buy one.
Thrash Blade
One-Hand Sword, 2.7 Speed
66-124 Damage (35.2 DPS)
Chance on Hit: Grants an extra attack on your next swing.
Requires Level 45
Found: Quest reward, Corruption of Earth and Seed, Maraudon (Alliance and
Horde)
Comment: An amazing weapon, and you have no excuse not to get it. Put a
Fiery Weapon enchant on this immediately: it can carry you all the way to 60!
When you do hit 60, though, ditch it for something else if you haven't
already, lest the Thrash Blade feel more like the Trash Blade, a common
name for it in my guild.
Gryphonwing Long Bow
Bow, 2.7 Speed
53-100 Damage (28.3 DPS)
+8 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 50
Found: Random drop, Level 55+ mobs
Comment: Nice and slow, with good stats. If you do manage to get this, it's
highly unlikely you'll need anything else until you hit 60, but keep your
eyes open for other stuff anyway.
Skull Splitting Crossbow
Crossbow, 2.6 Speed
52-79 Damage (25.2 DPS)
+3 Strength
Equip: +14 Attack Power
Requires Level 43
Found: Random drop, Level 48+ mobs
Comment: The stats aren't the best, although the Attack Power does still
increase the damage you deal at any range quite nicely. If you've already
picked up another Level 40+ bow, you don't need this, but if you haven't,
it can usually be had rather cheaply on the Auction House if you can't
get one to drop yourself.
Precisely Calibrated Boomstick
Gun, 1.5 Speed
38-45 Damage (27.7 DPS)
+14 Agility
Requires Level 43
Found: Random drop, Level 48+ mobs
Comment: Clearly a Hunter weapon, but you don't need to tell them that.
Unfortunately, it doesn't do a whole lot of damage, but the Agility bonus
carries over for your melee strikes, which is what makes this gun so
desirable. Don't go out of your way for it, though.
Guttbuster
Gun, 2.7 Speed
49-92 Damage (26.1 DPS)
+3 Strength
+8 Agility
Requires Level 45
Found: Random drop, Level 50+ mobs
Comment: An above average Gun, through and through. The Strength bonus
doesn't help a soloing Rogue as much as Stamina would, but +8 Agility is
nothing to complain about. If you plan on buying it, shop around first.
ARMOR:
Gauntlets of the Sea
Hands
85 Armor
+7 Agility
Use: Heal friendly target for 300 to 500.
Requires Level 41
Found: Sarah Tanner, Searing Gorge, 230 Skill, Elemental Leatherworking
Comment: Forget healing "friendly targets" with this. Heal yourself! It's
another option to keep yourself alive in a tight fight without burning
a healing potion.
Blackmetal Cape
Back
33 Armor
+12 Agility
+5 Stamina
Requires Level 41
Found: Random drop, Zul'Farrak
Comment: Sure, it's not bad, but there's not much else you can farm in
Zul'Farrak while you're at it, so I'd say pass it up.
Sandstalker Ankleguards
Feet
95 Armor
+6 Strength
+17 Agility
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 42
Found: Zerillis (Rare), Zul'Farrak
Comment: Okay, Rogue items do drop in Zul'Farrak. But this one's on a
rare spawn, so there.
Blackflame Cape
Back
35 Armor
+12 Agility
+5 Fire Resistance
+5 Shadow Resistance
Requires Level 44
Found: Random drop, Level 49+ mobs
Comment: Not too shabby, especially with resistances built right in.
Arena Bracers
Wrist
64 Armor
+6 Agility
+14 Stamina
Requires Level 45
Found: Arena Treasure Chest, Stranglethorn Vale
Comment: I really don't understand it, but in the Arena, what often
happens is players stand around until somebody attacks somebody else. I
watched my friend literally run up to the Arena chest and loot it before
anybody lifted a finger to kill him. If you're serious about not buying
these, give it a shot: the only thing you have to lose is a little bit
of time doing a corpse run. There aren't very many good wrist items in
the game, especially before the endgame (or if you just hate Sunken Temple).
Helm of Fire
Head
118 Armor
+17 Agility
+10 Stamina
+5 Fire Resistance
Use: Hurls a fiery ball (also known as a Fireball) that causes 286 to 376
Fire damage and an additional 40 damage over 8 sec.
Requires Level 45
Found: Sarah Tanner, Searing Gorge, 250 Skill, Elemental Leatherworking
Comment: Another reason why I don't favor the Ebon Mask. What, pray tell,
is wrong with +17 Agility, +10 Stamina, and the ability to launch Fireballs
out of your head? Nothing, I say! There are a lot of sneaky uses for this
helmet, so never forget its ability!
Fungus Shroud Armor
Chest
148 Armor
+25 Agility
+10 Stamina
Requires Level 46
Found: Meshlok the Harvester (Rare), Maraudon
Comment: Meshlok is not as rare as some rare spawns, but he isn't always
around. You can usually find him somewhere in Poison Falls. He's a tough
cookie, so if you're trying to farm him by yourself, come when you're
somewhere in the neighborhood of mid-50s. If you have the Blazewind
Breastplate already, you cheaty devil, you won't ever need this.
Phytoskin Spaulders
Shoulder
111 Armor
+16 Agility
+10 Stamina
+10 Nature Resistance
Requires Level 46
Found: Razorlash, Maraudon
Comment: Stats will last you a while, and Nature Resistance might help you
more than you think. Even if you don't wear one while leveling, consider
getting one a little bit later: it just might come in handy (wink, wink).
Atal'ai Spaulders of Agility, of the Monkey
Shoulder
193 Armor
Requires Level 47
Found: Gasher, Zolo, Loro, Zul'Lor, Mijan, Hukku, Sunken Temple (or its
much longer, more boring name, The Temple of Atal'Hakkar)
Comment: Sunken Temple is a frustrating experience for many a player.
If you happen to be a little more masochistic than the rest of us,
"of Agility" will add +19 or +20 Agility, while "of the Monkey" will add
+12 or +13 to both Agility and Stamina. As a rule, I tried to avoid
Sunken Temple whenever possible, though. You might also have a hard time
convincing silly Feral Druids that they really don't want the item.
Good luck :P
Darkwater Bracers of Agility, of the Monkey
Wrist
66 Armor
+7 Shadow Resistance
Requires Level 47
Found: Atal'alarion, Sunken Temple
Comment: "of Agility" adds +14 or +15 Agility, while you Monkey friends
add +9 or +10 to both Agility and Stamina. Man, I hate Sunken Temple.
Albino Crocscale Boots
Feet
105 Armor
+20 Agility
+5 Stamina
+5 Nature Resistance
Requires Level 48
Found: Rotgrip, Maraudon
Comment: You just might like Maraudon more if you pick these up. Chances
are you definitely won't complain about getting another +20 Agility on
your boots. It's about the only decent Rogue item Rotgrip drops, unless
patterns for Big Voodoo items is more up your alley.
Deepfury Bracers
Wrist
69 Armor
+4 Strength
+15 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 50
Found: Random drop, Level 55+ mobs
Comment: Finally, some nice bracers! See if you can get these on the
Auction House: Shadowcraft Bracers can often drop the price of these to
something very, very affordable, so pick them up if you can!
Ebon Mask
Head
122 Armor
+11 Stamina
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Equip: +36 Attack Power.
Requires Level 50
Found: Quest reward, The Azure Key, Sunken Temple
Comment: This item and the two below it are all optional rewards off the
same quest, and you can only get one. All of them have impressive mods,
but I found the Ebon Mask to be more easily replaced than the other two,
which have benefits past vendoring them. The Mask does not, but it does
have the advantage of looking really cool. Overall, the Mask is probably
the worst item to take, even though the mods are excellent.
Whisperwalk Boots
Feet
104 Armor
+18 Agility
+4 Stamina
Equip: Increases your effect stealth level by 1.
Requires Level 50
Found: Quest reward, The Azure Key, Sunken Temple
Comment: Very nice bonuses, and the increase in stealth level actually
gives this some use even if you find some other boots to replace them,
which you won't for a while. Probably your best bet as the quest reward,
unless you're really hurting for a helmet or cloak.
Duskbat Drape
Back
37 Armor
+14 Agility
Equip: Reduces damage from falling.
Requires Level 50
Found: Quest reward, The Azure Key, Sunken Temple
Comment: Let me tell you why I like this item. First of all, one of the
best Pre-Molten Core capes is the Cape of the Black Baron, which, although
it does also boast +20 Attack Power, only adds 1 more Agility than this
cape does. Combined with Safe Fall, you can fall really, really long
distance without dying. +14 Agility is just fine, otherwise. I'd rank
this as the second best of the three rewards, but it's all subjective.
Take this if you need a cloak, or appreciate the humor of cliff diving.
Archaedic Stone of Agility, of Eluding, of the Monkey (Unique)
Finger
50 Armor
Requires Level 42
Found: Archaedas, Uldaman
Comment: Just when you thought I was done listing cool Uldaman drops, here's
another! "of Agility" is +12 or +13 Agility, "of Eluding" is +1% Dodge and
+6 or +7 Agility, and "of the Monkey" is +8 or +9 Agility and Stamina.
Fight Druids for this one! Lie to them and tell them Bears get no Armor bonus!
You will like Uldaman. You will like Uldaman. You will like Uldaman.
Blackstone Ring (Unique)
Finger
+6 Stamina
Equip: +20 Attack Power.
Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 1%.
Requires Level 49
Found: Princess Theradras, Maraudon
Comment: It's everything an Assault Band wishes it could have been. +1%
to hit is very, very nice, because one of the big Rogue weaknesses is the
fact that they miss. A lot. Missing on finishing moves, especially
Kidney Shot, sucks quite a bit. So don't miss on that, and don't miss this
item. Princess farming is a very good idea anyway.
Drakeclaw Band of Agility, of Eluding, of the Monkey
Finger
Equip: Increased Defense +6
Requires Level 49
Found: Weaver, Morphaz, Hazzas, Sunken Temple
Comment: This might be where your Druid fighting luck will run out. You'll
have a hard time convincing them that they don't want whatever Drakeclaw
ring drops. Stupid Druids. Anyway, "of Agility" is +14 or +15 to Agility,
"of Eluding" is +1% Dodge and +7 or +8 Agility, and "of the Monkey" is
+9 or +10 to both Agility and Stamina.
Skibi's Pendant
Neck
+5 Strength
+13 Agility
+3 Spirit
Requires Level 44
Found: Random drop, Level 49+ mobs
Comment: Good luck finding or buying one: the prices are ridiculous usually.
While leveling, I couldn't afford one if my life depended on it.
Woven Ivy Necklace
Neck
+6 Strength
+9 Agility
+10 Stamina
Requires Level 46
Found: Quest reward, Wanted: Vile Priestess Hexx and Her Minions,
The Hinterlands (Horde)
Comment: A nice little necklace in a land where there aren't very many
nice little necklaces. You can't get it as Alliance, so it's your duty
as a Hordie to flaunt the fact that you can.
Heart of Noxxion
Trinket
+10 Nature Resistance
Use: Removes 1 poison effect.
Requires Level 46
Found: Noxxion (duh), Maraudon
Comment: Can't get an Anti-Venom to save your life? This is about your only
option to get rid of annoying scorpion and spider poison. You might want
it, but I was too lazy to farm one for myself.
Levels 50-59 (ha!): You might be too busy grinding levels to reach 60
to really pick up any good non-Raid loot, but in case you aren't like that,
there is still stuff to be had.
WEAPONS:
Hanzo Sword
One-Hand Sword, 1.5 Speed
38-71 Damage (36.3 DPS)
Chance on hit: Wounds the target for 75 damage.
Requires Level 50
Found: Random drop, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: Actually, this sword kind of sucks. Strictly offhand, and really
not all that good anyway. The proc rate is pretty miserable. If you can
get it cheap and NEED an offhand, go get it, but otherwise, I wouldn't
bother. However, since I'm not listing Raid loot, I wanted to put at
least another weapon in here, so there!
Krol Blade
Main Hand Sword, 2.8 Speed
80-149 Damage (40.9 DPS)
+7 Strength
+5 Stamina
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Requires Level 51
Found: Random drop, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: God, I hate this weapon. It's not that it's bad - far from it! -
but if your server is anything like Elune, all you will ever, ever hear
is "WTS Krol Blade 9932470948234g", "WTB Krol Blade 5g", "WTS Krol Blade Krol
Blade Krol Blade Krol Blade", or "Hey, does anyone have a Krol Blade?" in
every channel in any capital city. Don't let it happen to you!
Assassination Blade
One-Hand Sword, 2.7 Speed
71-132 Damage (37.6 DPS)
+3 Strength
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Requires Level 51
Found: Random drop, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: Sure, a poor man's Krol Blade, but a lot more realistic and
cheap to acquire. It's a decent main hand, but it won't last for
all that long.
Heartseeking Crossbow
Crossbow, 3.1 Speed
71-108 Damage, +1-4 Shadow Damage (29.7 DPS)
+9 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 51
Found: Random drop, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: My crossbow of choice, which I'm still currently using. Hits very
hard for its level, and the Agility and Stamina bonuses are always welcome.
Also great for shooting Mages in PvP when they root you: critical strikes
can take off over 500 HP!
ARMOR:
Dark Phantom Cape
Back
39 Armor
+15 Agility
+6 Spirit
Requires Level 50
Found: Random drops, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: If you didn't get a Duskbat Drape, this will suit you just fine
until the endgame. At least for me, it came pretty cheaply on the Auction
House, so get it if it's available.
Serpentine Sash
Waist
92 Armor
+9 Strength
+14 Agility
+14 Stamina
Requires Level 52
Found: Random drops, mid-50s+ mobs
Comment: An excellent belt to set you up for Raiding. Worth buying off
the Auction House.
Dawn Treaders
Feet
114 Armor
+18 Stamina
Equip: Increases your chance to dodge an attack by 1%.
Requires Level 53
Found: Argent Quartermasters Hasana, Lightspark, Miranda Breechlock,
290 Skill, Honored with Argent Dawn, Leatherworking
Comment: Very expensive to make for what it does, so don't expect a
discount if you wanted to buy it off the Auction House, unfortunately.
Devilsaur Gauntlets
Hands
103 Armor
+9 Stamina
Equip: +28 Attack Power.
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Set: Devilsaur Armor (1/2)
Full set bonus (2/2): Improves your chance to hit by 2%.
Requires Level 53
Found: Nergal, Un'Goro Crater, 290 Skill, Tribal Leatherworking
Comment: Even without Agility bonuses, it has great stats all around.
A fine set of gloves to wear before you start Raiding.
Devilsaur Leggings
Legs
148 Armor
+12 Stamina
Equip: +46 Attack Power.
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
Set: Devilsaur Armor (1/2)
Full set bonus (2/2): Improves your chance to hit by 2%.
Requires Level 55
Found: Pattern, various oozes, Un'Goro Crater, 300 Skill,
Tribal Leatherworking
Comment: Exact same deal as the Devilsaur Gauntlets. These are definitely
good leggings to have.
What are you waiting for? Go out and get some items!
+------------+
6. Professions
+------------+
There are a couple combinations that stand out for Rogues. I'll list a few
highlights for each. In the end, choose what you like best. Use this as
a guideline for what you might like.
Engineering
Paired with: Mining
Pros: Bombs for PvP, exploding sheep, jumper cables that (sometimes) can
rez other party members
Cons: Random mats are annoying to get at times, have to compete with farmers
to hit mines, only Engineers can use your items, jumper cables often fail
Pick this combination if: You plan on PvPing a lot (stuns from bombs help
a LOT, and there are a few other random goodies), you like mayhem
Leatherworking
Paired with: Skinning
Pros: Make your own equipment, make armor kits, relatively profitable
Cons: Can't rez with cables after a wipe, most good items have to be found,
rather than bought, only Elemental Leatherworking is decent for Rogues
Pick this combination if: You want to make items with little work, since
you'll be skinning anyway, you'd rather make your own equipment
Alchemy
Paired with: Herbalism
Pros: Picking flowers, cheap as free healing potions, potion buffs, including
the awesome Elixir of the Mongoose (+25 Agility, +2% critical strike chance)
Cons: Farming herbs can be tedious or challenging, as some are hard to find,
buying equipment isn't always cheap or easy
Pick this combination if: You enjoy the versatility of buffing and healing
yourself and don't mind having to pay for equipment
Enchanting
Paired with: Skinning (mitigates cost of enchants somewhat)
Pros: Enchant your own items, saving you some money, disenchanting unwanted
BoPs you get from farming instances
Cons: Extremely expensive, still need to get equipment
Pick this combination if: You don't care about how much money you need to
spend and want to enchant your equipment yourself (obviously)
As for Secondary skills, you will get TONS of mileage out of Cooking and
First Aid. Rogues kill quickly but have little in the way of damage
mitigation. Cooking and First Aid can greatly reduce your downtime, and
some of the Well Fed buffs in Cooking are excellent. Fish if you want to,
but I find it extremely boring.
+--------------------------------------------+
7. Picking Locks: No Shirt, No Key, No Problem
+--------------------------------------------+
One of the best parts about being a Rogue is picking locks. Carrying around
keys is for sissies, not to mention you can get into all those locked
treasure chests you find. Who knows what you will find?
For exact information about where to go to increase your skill, talk to
any class trainer first, they'll point you in the right direction. Past
that, I refer to this excellent FAQ already written for you, which also
happens to be pretty much idiot-proof:
When it comes to picking lockboxes, never ask for a tip. While it's true
that picking locks is something only Rogues can do, it's not very much of
an inconvenience for a Rogue to pick a lock, and for that among other
reasons, there will always be Rogues who pick locks for free. I happen to
be one of them.
Many people will, however, tip you a varying amount of money for the service.
I always leave it up to the player just how much of a tip I get. One thing
I've found that seems to get people to want to tip is to advertise in
funny and unique ways. I have the following macro, which hits the Trade
channel when I'm in Ironforge:
"Acquire" someone's life savings but forget to take the key? Only person in
town who knew the combination mysteriously die? The answer is as easy as
Roguenomics! Opening all lockboxes, no questions asked, by the wagon in
front of the bank!
Wordy? Perhaps. But if you can't read that much, you definitely aren't
reading this guide. I'd go so far as to say as it's a pretty clever,
eye-catching promotion, and others seem to agree too. On a good night
I can AVERAGE 1g per box I open. Imagine getting 1 gold for every box
you opened: you'd never leave town. While the exact cause for why I make
so much money off lockpicking may never be known, I'd have to say the humor
of how I present my service is a big part of it.
+------------+
8. PvP Tactics
+------------+
Sooner or later, you're going to have the itch to beat on other players.
On a PvP server, of course, these same players are going to have the itch to
beat on you, but at least on a PvE server, it's going to happen on your own
terms, whether that be the Arena in Stranglethorn Vale, a random
PvP-flagged player somewhere in the world, or a Battleground. There's one
particularly important point you're going to want to keep in mind for any
PvP encounter, so I'll take the time to list it here:
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS COME IN WITH POISONED WEAPONS! IF AT ALL POSSIBLE,
MAKE THEM CRIPPLING POISON AND MIND-NUMBING POISON!
The reason? Simple. Although several classes can cure poison, all of them
can be hit by it, and the snare effect from the poison is incredible. Also,
everyone but Rogues and Warriors cast some sort of spell (although Hunters
don't really have much that would count as a cast), so just about everyone
can be hit by that, too.
At their best, Rogues are pretty boring to talk about in PvP. Done
correctly, "stunlock" builds can keep an opponent standing around looking
stupid until you finally get around to killing them. Describing such a
fight is redundant: I already did. This writeup, as a general rule,
assumes you aren't using a full stunlock build, but does assume you can
lead with an attack from Stealth (more than likely a Cheap Shot).
------------
Versus Druid
------------
The Druid's path to victory against a Rogue in a PvP fight is to root the
Rogue if at all possible, tank the Rogue in Bear form at melee range, then
pop back to caster form, root, and heal, until he eventually wears you out.
With Leather armor, Druids aren't quite a soft target, but they don't have
the hit points to take a repeated pounding. Stunlocks work quite well if
you can get it going in the beginning. Resign yourself to not getting a
second opportunity at using Stealth since Druids can DoT you with Moonfire
or cast Faerie Fire on you, completely eliminating your Stealth ability.
Should the Druid manage to root you with Entangling Roots, they'll Moonfire
you if they haven't already, back up, then either spam Wrath or use
Starfire/Moonfire spams until the root breaks. While you're rooted, pull
out your ranged weapon and start shooting. They can cure your poisons, but
it still costs them mana to do it. The important thing is to keep combo
points available so you can Kidney Shot the Druid at opportune times. If
Kidney Shot is on a cooldown, wait until their hands glow green, then Kick
them, which shuts out all their healing and Entangling Roots. The important
thing is not to be afraid of fighting a Bear form Druid, since your DPS is
higher and only stun/interrupt at the most opportune times.
-------------
Versus Hunter
-------------
If you can get the jump on a Hunter, take some time to survey the area around
him while Stealthed. If he has a trap, move toward it and disarm it: it
won't break your Stealth. Keep him stunned as long as possible while hitting
him with Crippling Poison. Even if he manages to Wing Clip you and run
away, he'll be snared: same as you. Riposte if your build allows for it,
since it makes Hunters even less dangerous in melee.
If the Hunter gets the jump on you, you can be in serious trouble. Hunter's
Mark keeps you from getting away from them with Stealth, and Aimed Shot can
make your day miserable in a hurry. Evaluate whether or not you can get
to the Hunter before his pet can get to you: if the pet will get to you
first, snare it while you chase the Hunter. If he's trying to kite you and
slips into Aspect of the Cheetah, stop: when he turns to run, hit him with
a ranged attack, at which point he'll be snared as well. If he doesn't
switch Aspects, use Sprint to chase him down. Once he's snared and in melee,
the fight is just about over and you win.
-----------
Versus Mage
-----------
Unfortunately, Mages can Blink right out of stuns, which means stunlocks are
pretty hard to use. However, Blink is on a 15-second cooldown, so if you
can count how long it's been since the Mage last Blinked, you can determine
whether or not to Kidney Shot them.
If you get the jump on the Mage, the fight will more or less always start
out the same: you use Kidney Shot, he Blinks away. If you manage to hit
the Mage with one or both of your poisons before this happens, it'll be
pretty hard for you to lose. Also take careful note of when the Mage
uses his Frost Nova: it has a 25-second cooldown, meaning he will probably
only have one chance to use it. Once you're rooted, the Mage will back up
and probably start throwing Frostbolts at you. As soon as he's out of melee
range, pull out your ranged weapon and start shooting. Mages have very
little HP, and a 500 point crit with a ranged weapon goes a long way toward
winning the fight for you. As soon as Frost Nova breaks, rush forward with
Sprint, as it will outrace any snares the Mage places on you. As long as
you can survive the instant nukes he'll throw in your face, you should be
just fine, since you can easily get back into melee, using Kicks and Kidney
Shots to interrupt any spells the Mage may cast. Surviving, of course,
is easier said than done, and it comes down to your resist rates and whatever
healing capabilities you possess.
--------------
Versus Paladin
--------------
Unfortunately, no matter how you start the fight against a Paladin, you're
going to be in for a long one. The longer you can keep a Paladin stunned,
the better. Hammer of Justice can stun you for up to 6 seconds, but it's
on a 1-minute cooldown timer. However, the fight may very well last that
long, so don't forget about it. A Paladin is always a threat until he runs
out of mana. If you can't stunlock him, you're probably better suited to
running away, since Paladins have two invulnerability shields they can
throw up to heal themselves, while you'll be stuck bandaging. The longer
the fight goes, the more it swings in the Paladin's favor.
-------------
Versus Priest
-------------
Priests are relatively easy to take down. They have one Fear effect to send
you running away, but it's on a 30-second cooldown. There are also various
means to break Fear effects - including Will of the Forsaken or Insignia of
the Alliance/Horde - so you should have a means to break the Fear and
continue beating on them. Should you not have that available to you, you'll
get stuck with Shadow Word: Pain - which can actually break the Fear effect -
Devouring Plague - same deal - and Mind Flay all thrown on your at the same
time. Chug a Free Action Potion before that happens if you're an Alchemist,
or chug a healing potion and use Sprint to run back into his face, since
you'll go at least as fast, if not faster, then normal even with Mind Flay
on you. As soon as you get back in range, stunlock at your leisure and take
the lightly armored Priest down. Don't be afraid to Kick them out of their
Holy spells - look for their hands glowing yellow.
------------
Versus Rogue
------------
Ah, the mirror match. It mostly just comes down to who has the most skill,
but there are a few guidelines you can follow. First, a stunned Rogue is
a helpless Rogue. Second, a disarmed Rogue is nearly worthless in combat, so
if you can Riposte the Rogue, do it. Keep the other Rogue engaged and
snared at all times. If you manage to slip into Stealth via either
Improved Gouge/Stealth or Vanish, come right back in with a Cheap Shot or
else the other Rogue will simply do the same.
-------------
Versus Shaman
-------------
Definitely an opponent to be feared. No matter what you do, the odds are
heavily against you. If the Shaman has a two-handed weapon - and in PvP
they almost always will - a good Windfury proc can kill you instantly. It
is not to your advantage to be playing the odds with that skill. If the
Shaman ever escapes your stunlock, he can cure your poison, Frost Shock you
for an instant direct damage snare, drop a totem, and run around you,
DoTting you to death while you're snared. Worse yet, if they drop an
Earthbind Totem, you pretty much have to change your target to the totem
and crush it, and doing so causes you to lose any combo points you had
on the Shaman. Run and come back with friends.
--------------
Versus Warlock
--------------
Caution and patience are the keys to defeating a Warlock. Before you attack
one, scout around and see if what kind of pet he has. If you don't see one,
make sure he doesn't have a Stealthed Succubus with him. If you find the
Succubus, Sap the Warlock while you crush the Succubus: they aren't very
durable. If you find no pet, or any other pet, hit the Warlock as hard as
you can. Stunlock them for as long as you can, hitting them with both of
your poisons in the process. The Warlock's biggest threat is the ability
to keep you Feared until you die. Don't break any of their spellcasting
unless you see their hands glow black - this is their Shadow line which
contains their Fear spell. If you can keep them from Fearing you away,
you'll win.
--------------
Versus Warrior
--------------
Much like a Shaman, the odds are against you unless you are in the absolute
best Blackwing Lair gear. I'm assuming you aren't. Warriors have an
ability called Overpower which can smack you over the head every time you
dodge. A mere two talent points gives this ability an additional 50%
critical strike chance, and it can be done every five seconds. Keep in mind
Overpower can NOT be dodged, blocked, or parried (though it can miss).
As if that wasn't bad enough, they of course wear extremely heavy armor.
Worst of all, they can merely switch stances and Disarm you. If you get
a lucky parry, you can Riposte the Warrior first, but you can't rely on that.
You only have a few viable options and all of them come with an element
of risk. First, you can try to stunlock the Warrior, which is difficult at
best and especially so when you're fighting an Orc Warrior. The other option
is a little bit crazy but can work as well. Warriors like to stay in melee
with you as much as you like staying in melee with anyone else, so there's a
unique way you can take advantage of that. If you have Adrenaline Rush,
turn on Evasion. Sure, you'll be smacked every five seconds, but if you
turn on Adrenaline Rush, you'll deal an insane amount of damage. If your
weapons are good enough, you can actually beat the Warrior at his own game
since Evasion should keep you from being hit by anything except Overpower.
+-------------------------------------+
9. High Gear: Enchants and Boring Stuff
+-------------------------------------+
The most common question I get as far as all things Rogue goes is this:
"What talent build should I use?"
When this guide was originally drafted and later submitted, no matter what
anyone told you, swords were the best. The extra hit proc was 6%, not 5,
no one had heard of the Attack Power Normalization - "Nerf" - and there
weren't that many crazy daggers in the world. The Subtlety tree also sucked
the big one. Well, in that time, the builds and Attack Power has been
balanced somewhat. My heart wants to believe that swords are still the
best, but differences between the builds are quite moot. The best answer
to this question is "use what you're comfortable with". If you feel you're
doing more damage with swords, stick with it. If you can't let go of your
Backstabby ways, pick up some daggers. There are ups and downs for each
spec. I'll try not to be too boring as I go down the line:
SWORDS (Mostly combat only):
+More attacks (often a result of procs, explained later)
+Adrenaline Rush + Blade Flurry = Huge front load of damage
+Riposte = best skill, though a little less useful in raids
+Get a large benefit from anything that increases speed (30% of 2.8 is a
much bigger difference than 30% of 1.8)
+Require less manuverability (though it's always best to strike from behind,
you aren't shut out if you aren't behind your foe)
-Far fewer critical hits than dagger builds
-Unconventional: against the spirit of the traditional Rogue
-Weak attacks out of Stealth
-Hemo can eventually outrace Sinister Strike (though you still give up
a lot of things to get to this point)
-Ancient Qiraji Ripper drops off the third boss in The Temple of Ahn'Qiraj.
No more good main hand swords drop until Kel'Thuzad, the last boss in
Naxxramas, also known as the ultimate boss as of this writing
DAGGERS (Combat or otherwise):
+Traditional: who hasn't wanted to Backstab someone?
+Lots and lots of critical hits
+High damage potential out of Stealth
+Fast attacks feel more responsive
+More flexible (more than one build can work)
-Low non-special attack damage
-Fewer procs = less potential (though you don't have to play Lady Luck)
-More sensitive to positioning: harder to maintain high output in fights
involving a lot of movement
-In raiding, have to take some fairly useless talents to get to the juicy
stuff (Improved Gouge sucks, and Improved Sinister Strike won't help
you all that much either, for example)
-No Thunderfury for you!
HEMO (Mostly swords and maces):
+Setup + Evasion = Huge front load of damage
+Makes the most of your Attack Power
+Helps the raid deal more damage overall
+Keeps you more active, as your attack only costs 35 Energy
+Allows you to take Misplaced Servo Arms from Warriors, and feel good about
doing it (not that you shouldn't anyway :P)
+Highest Attack Power if you take Deadliness
-In raiding, have to take lots of useless talents to get to Hemo
(neither Master of Deception or Opportunity help that much, and that's
just in your first tier)
-Setup + Evasion = not particularly useful in raiding (kind of an
extension to the first negative point)
-If you're using maces, there is not a lot to choose from early on
-I still hate the Subtlety tree
-Let me check. Yep, more skills that aren't always that helpful
As for enchanting your gear...do it! As far as enchanting your armor goes,
it's simple: increase your Agility and Stamina above all else. This is
fairly straightforward. As far as enchanting your weapon goes, however,
different enchants may produce varying results as far as your build goes.
Here's a quick look at each weapon enchant, including what you need to
provide to get said enchant (note that for enchants with multiple grades,
such as Striking, I will only be looking at the best version of it).
CRUSADER (4 Large Brilliant Shard, 2 Righteous Orb):
Crusader is a 75-125 point heal that also increases your Strength (and,
as a result, your Attack Power) by 100 for 15 seconds. The odds of this
happening is rated at one proc per minute, so the actual percentage chance
you have to get it to proc is 1/(60/X), where X is your weapon speed. It
can proc in both hands, which results in two different buffs. Getting a
Crusader proc while one is already up simply refreshes its duration. The
low proc rate is a little bothersome, especially if it procs for you at the
end of a fight. However, increased Attack Power will power up your main
attack, whether that is Sinister Strike, Backstab, or Hemorrhage. As such,
it is much more useful in PvE raiding than it is in soloing or in PvP.
It's important to note that proc rates are generally lower in the off hand.
VERDICT: Strongly consider using this for your main hand regardless of spec,
although sword Rogues will definitely get more mileage out of this enchant.
Possibly consider it for off hand use.
LIFESTEAL (6 Large Brilliant Shard, 6 Essence of Undeath, 6 Living Essence):
Lifesteal deals 30 Shadow damage to your target and heals you for the same
amount it deals. It's important to note that this proc is affected by
resistance. It's also important to note that this proc can crit. For
those who are worried about the resistance, fear not: in raiding, most mobs
are lowered to zero (or close to zero) Shadow resistance with an application
of Curse of Shadows. Resists are fairly rare. The proc rate is 6 procs per
minute, or 6/(60/X), where X is your weapon speed. This enchant is fairly
universal in its usage.
VERDICT: Good no matter what you're doing, especially if you don't get
healed much in a raid. Worth a look for either main hand or off hand,
although the possibilities are less exciting than Crusader. That doesn't
change the fact that, barring resistances, Fiery Weapon deals more damage.
D'oh!
FIERY WEAPON (4 Small Radiant Shard, 1 Essence of Fire):
Fiery weapon torches your target for 40 Fire damage. Like Lifesteal, this
can crit and is also affected by resistances. Also like Lifesteal, Fiery
procs at 6 procs per minute, or 6/(60/X), where X is your weapon speed.
It's also a fairly cheap enchant to get.
VERDICT: Awesome when you're leveling: put it on both weapons. Damage
potential is arguably the highest. However, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair
throw lots of Fire-resistant or immune enemies at you, so skip it once you
start raiding.
+15 AGILITY (6 Large Brilliant Shard, 6 Greater Eternal Essence,
4 Illusion Dust, 2 Essence of Air):
It, duh, adds 15 Agility. For those following along at home, it adds
15 Attack Power (1.07 DPS main hand, .54 DPS off hand, or .8 DPS off hand
if you have Improved Dual Wield, you smart guy you), .52% chance to crit,
and 1.03% chance to dodge. This enchant can get pricey.
VERDICT: Though boring, constant additions are also nice. Though very
expensive to get, it's extremely useful for anyone's off hand. Since
daggers aren't quite as good for proc rates, constant effects such as this
one are much better for dagger Rogues than they are for sword Rogues. Get a
different main hand enchant if you use swords. Strongly consider this for
your main hand if you use daggers.
+5 DAMAGE (2 Large Brilliant Shard, 10 Greater Eternal Essence):
Ho hum. Adds 5 damage to each attack, so the added DPS is 5/X, where X is,
as always, your weapon speed. It's not as expensive as most of the other
enchants.
VERDICT: You won't even notice the boost as a sword Rogue. If you're using
daggers, consider it for your main hand, but please, dear God, get something
better for your off hand.
+-------------------+
10. Closing and Thanks
+-------------------+
What can I say? WoW is easily the best MMORPG I've ever played, and I'm
a Rogue kind of guy. I wanted to share some wisdom with all of you :)
As of right now, the following sites have been given permission to post
this guide:
Special thanks go to so many people. Hopefully I don't mess this up:
-Blizzard, for creating a game so engrossing that even though it still
frustrates me to no end at times, I always come back.
-People who have helped me along in some way, shape, or form as I've
slowly written this guide: Franz Ziggenhammer, Jack Atkinson,
Kenny Sharman, Jake Des. If I forgot your name, trust me, it's not
personal. I just forgot :(
-Kaas, Magi, and Drazzno from Absolute Chaos, Elune server. You guys rock!
-Insofar, Aleshanee, and Galkaflower for being lovable Hordies.
-Thottbot and Allakhazam for providing more data than I'd ever care to
accumulate myself.
-Tyknee, Laenis from Spirestone, and Navaja from Frostwolf for coming up
with the very wonderful Lockpicking FAQ.
-Cide and TS for CTMod: mods have come a long way.
-Eitrigg, which has some of the nicest people I've ever seen. As lame
and self-indulgent as it may be, I'd like to thank all these people for
making my WoW experience as enjoyable as it has been:
Maccius, Mons, Jesoo, Shadianna, Roguenator, Elshira, Merii, Truth, Denial,
Siku, Nightsteel, Dwendle, Cereal, Lilone, Flolocka, Loknal, Rofflecopter,
Minigorwin, Lassar, Lovebunny, Gorby, Knoxx, Llamachikide, Cgull, Kruniac,
Didikillu, Azlon, Majestic, Lostwind, Randell, Cynix, Ji, Palatinus, Oolaki,
and anyone else I forgot. A great community of people - mostly - and
I'm glad to say I was a part of it.
Should anyone read this and want to go farm or PvP with me, I'm Roguenomics,
Night Elf Rogue, on Eitrigg, when it's not crashing.
