WRITTEN ARTICLE · ROGUE LEVELING
WoW Forever Rogue leveling guide: poisons, Sap and talents to 30
How to level a Rogue in WoW Forever: a Combat talent order to level 30, the poison, Sap and axe changes, the 16-point talents and the level 16 Rogue quests for each faction.
How do you level a Rogue in WoW Forever?
Our suggested plan is Combat with Sinister Strike and Eviscerate, putting every point in the Combat tree up to level 30. That is the highest level the beta allowed, so it is where this guide stops. Rogues can now learn one-handed axes, which gives you more weapon upgrades to choose from while questing.
Blizzard also made several baseline changes that help solo questing. Poisons have more charges and can sit on a weapon alongside a Sharpening Stone or Weightstone. Sap no longer breaks Stealth, so you can Sap one enemy in a group and still open on another.
In this article
Diagram: ForeverWisp Editorial.
Rogue milestones from level 10 to 30
Talent points start at level 10 and you gain one per level, so talent point 11 arrives at level 20, point 16 at level 25 and point 21 at level 30. Blizzard added a new 16-point milestone talent alongside the familiar 11, 21 and 31-point milestones.
| Level | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Talents unlock. To change them later, visit a class trainer in a major city. | Blizzard deep dive |
| 16 | The Rogue class quests open: Redridge Rendezvous for the Alliance and Plundering the Plunderers for the Horde. | Wowhead quest records |
| 25 | The earliest level for a 16-point talent: Cold Blood, Flawless Execution or Premeditation, if every point is in that tree. | Blizzard deep dive |
| 30 | The earliest level for Mutilate, the new Assassination 21-point talent. | Blizzard deep dive |
| 40 | Dual Specialization unlocks. | Blizzard deep dive |
What changed for leveling Rogues
The October 7 deep dive changed several abilities you use every day while questing. Feint now reduces twice as much threat. Distract also lowers the Stealth detection of the enemies it affects for 10 seconds, although enemy players will then know a Rogue is nearby. Expose Armor now matches five applications of Sunder Armor and no longer stops a Warrior from using Sunder Armor.
The beta notes added fixes on top. Since October 1, a missed Expose Armor no longer costs you all your Combo Points, and Setup only adds Combo Points to the target that you dodged or resisted. Since September 24, using Sap on a player flagged for PvP flags you as well.
The October 15 notes fixed two more issues you will meet while questing. Rogue poisons no longer activate incorrectly against targets that are attacking them, and Sap can no longer trigger weapon procs.
Which talents to take while leveling
Our Rogue talent guide uses a Combat plan that finishes at 20 Assassination and 31 Combat at level 60. Up to level 30 every point goes into Combat. The plan is our own theorycraft and has not been tested in the beta.
| Levels | Talent | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 10 to 11 | Improved Sinister Strike | 2 |
| 12 to 14 | Improved Eviscerate | 3 |
| 15 to 17 | Precision | 3 |
| 18 to 20 | Deflection | 3 |
| 21 | Riposte | 1 |
| 22 to 23 | Endurance | 2 |
| 24 | Improved Sprint | 1 |
| 25 to 29 | Dual Wield Specialization | 5 |
| 30 | Blade Flurry | 1 |
How the talent changes affect that plan
Several of these Combat talents changed in Forever. Improved Eviscerate moved to the first row and its damage bonus went up. Precision now raises your chance to hit with all spells and attacks, including poisons, instead of only melee weapon attacks. Deflection gives twice the Parry chance per point, and Endurance now cuts the cooldowns of Sprint and Evasion by a percentage. Blizzard also reduced the off-hand bonus from Dual Wield Specialization.
Flawless Execution, the Combat 16-point talent, makes Eviscerate cost 10 less Energy. Our plan does not take it before level 30, so consider it if you would rather spend fewer points on Dual Wield Specialization.
If you prefer another tree, Assassination now has Cold Blood as its 16-point talent and Mutilate at 21 points. Mutilate costs 60 Energy, strikes with both weapons and awards 2 Combo Points, but both weapons must be daggers. Since October 15, a Mutilate critical strike correctly uses up Cold Blood. Improved Poisons also gives a chance for poisons not to use a charge. Subtlety moved Premeditation from 31 points to its 16-point slot and increased its duration to 20 seconds.
How to play a leveling Rogue
These habits follow from the changes Blizzard has published. They are suggestions to try, not measured results.
- Apply poisons and a Sharpening Stone or Weightstone together before a long questing session. Poisons now have more charges, so you reapply them less often.
- When a camp has too many enemies to fight at once, Sap one of them. You stay in Stealth and can still choose your opener.
- Use Distract to turn enemies away before you move past them. It also lowers their Stealth detection for 10 seconds.
- Keep Sprint and Evasion for pulls that go wrong. Endurance shortens both cooldowns.
- In a group with a Warrior, Expose Armor no longer stops them from using Sunder Armor on your target, so they can still build threat with it.
- Since October 1, the Cooldown Manager supports Rogues, so you can track Sprint, Evasion and your other cooldowns there.
Weapons, axes and Hack and Slash
Rogues can now learn one-handed axes. Combat also replaced the old Dagger, Mace, Sword and Fist Weapon Specialization talents with Hack and Slash, a row 5 talent that adds an axe bonus. Axes and swords get a chance for an extra attack, and maces ignore some of the target’s armour instead of stunning it.
Our plan reaches Hack and Slash at level 31, just past the range this guide covers. Until then, take the best weapon upgrade you find and check where to learn any weapon skill you are missing.
The level 16 Rogue quests
Wowhead’s Forever quest database lists one Rogue chain for each faction from level 16. Alliance Rogues start with Redridge Rendezvous from Renzik “The Shiv”, which sends them to Lucius in Lakeshire. Lucius then gives Alther’s Mill, where you open his lockbox for a Token of Thievery. The listed reward is the Certificate of Thievery.
Horde Rogues get Plundering the Plunderers from Wrenix the Wretched in Ratchet. Wowhead now lists it as the fourth step of a series that starts with Find the Shattered Hand or To Orgrimmar!, followed by Zando’zan and Wrenix of Ratchet. The quest record says to get an E.C.A.C. and Thieves’ Tools from Wrenix’s Gizmotronic Apparatus first. Blizzard added map markers for this quest on October 8.
What is still changing
Blizzard said class abilities and talents could keep changing throughout the beta. The latest notes in this guide are from October 15, so check Blizzard’s patch notes after launch before you spend gold on a respec.
Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40, so you cannot keep a separate dungeon build while leveling to 30. ForeverWisp has not playtested a Rogue, so treat this guide as a plan built from Blizzard’s notes.
Related reading and guides
Sources and review notes
- Blizzard: Rogue and Warlock class deep dive, October 7
- Blizzard: September 24 beta development notes
- Blizzard: October 1 beta development notes
- Blizzard: October 8 beta development notes
- Blizzard: October 15 beta development notes
- Forever quest record: Redridge Rendezvous
- Forever quest record: Alther’s Mill
- Forever quest record: Plundering the Plunderers
Written October 20 from Blizzard’s October 7 Rogue and Warlock class deep dive, the September 24, October 1, October 8 and October 15 beta development notes and Wowhead’s Forever quest records. The talent order comes from our own untested plan. ForeverWisp has not playtested a Rogue in the beta.
