Night Elf and Gnome are the best Rogue races on the Alliance in WoW Forever, and Undead is the best on the Horde, with Orc right behind. Nine races can be Rogues, every one except Tauren, and the Alliance clearly got the stronger Rogue racials this time: Elune's Light, Eureka! and Escape Artist all have no Horde equivalent. Below, we compare all nine races for Combat, Assassination and Subtlety, for PvP and for leveling, and explain how to fit each racial into your openers and cooldowns.
A Rogue gets the most from three kinds of racials: damage windows to stack with Adrenaline Rush and Blade Flurry, extra Energy or cheaper abilities, and escapes that keep you alive when your own Vanish and Evasion are on cooldown. Stealth racials matter too, since every fight you start from Stealth is a fight you choose.
The table grades every race on a simple scale: S is the top pick, A is close behind, B gives up a little more, C has nothing for that role. In raid damage, the top races sit within one or two percent of each other.
| Race | Faction | Key racials for a Rogue | PvE | PvP | Leveling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night Elf | Alliance | Elune's Light, Shadowmeld, Quickness | S | A | A |
| Gnome | Alliance | Eureka!, Expansive Mind, Escape Artist | S | S | B |
| Human | Alliance | Will to Survive, Perception, Ruthless | A | S | B |
| Dwarf | Alliance | Stoneform, Artisan's Precision | B | A | B |
| High Order Skyborne | Alliance | Wind Blessed, Read Leyline | A | C | A |
| Undead | Horde | Will of the Forsaken, Touch of the Grave, Cannibalize | A | S | S |
| Orc | Horde | Blood Fury, Hardiness | A | A | B |
| Troll | Horde | Berserking, Rapid Regeneration, Beast Slaying | A | B | A |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Horde | Wind Blessed, Skysight | A | C | A |
Every race and class combination is in our WoW Forever races and classes chart.
The Alliance has five Rogue races: Night Elf, Gnome, Human, Dwarf and High Order Skyborne. Night Elf is the strongest all-round choice, Gnome wins duels with its burst, and Human and Dwarf each counter a specific PvP threat.
Night Elf is the strongest all-round Rogue race. Elune's Light adds 10% critical strike chance for 15 seconds every 3 minutes, which lines up with Adrenaline Rush and Blade Flurry for the biggest burst a Rogue can get. Quickness makes Night Elf Rogues harder to detect in Stealth, as if they were one level higher, and adds 1% dodge and 2% movement speed that stacks with other speed effects. Shadowmeld drops you back into stealth out of combat every 10 seconds, and in combat it makes enemies stop attacking you at the cost of a 2-minute cooldown.
Gnome ties with Night Elf in raids and wins duels. Eureka! makes your attacks cost 10% less Energy and deal 10% more damage for 8 seconds, and Expansive Mind raises your maximum Energy by 5%, so an opener into a Gnome burst often ends the fight. Escape Artist removes every slow and root and makes you immune to them for 3 seconds, which keeps you on a kiting target. One limit: Eureka! cannot be used while you are in Stealth.
Human is the PvP specialist. Will to Survive removes every stun once per 3 minutes, an answer to the Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot chain of another Rogue, and Perception reveals stealthed enemies for 20 seconds. Ruthless adds 1% crit to every attack with any weapon. Until October 26 it was 2%, which is why older guides put Human first for damage.
Dwarf is a niche PvP pick. Stoneform removes and blocks poisons, bleeds and diseases for 8 seconds and cuts Physical damage taken by 10%, which also clears Blind, since Blind is a poison. Artisan's Precision adds 1% hit, which a dual-wielding Rogue far below the hit cap can always use.
How much hit a Rogue needs is explained in our WoW Forever hit cap guide.
High Order Skyborne brings Wind Blessed, 2% Haste on every swing, and Read Leyline for faster recovery between pulls. It sims close to the top for raids, but none of its actives help in a fight. The race needs the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition.
The Horde has four Rogue races: Undead, Orc, Troll and Windshaper Skyborne. Undead is the overall pick, Orc matches it in raids, and Troll and Windshaper Skyborne fill narrower roles.
Undead is the Horde Rogue pick, and it showed in the beta: most Horde Rogues in the duel tournament qualifier played Undead. Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, charm and sleep, which wins fights against Warlocks, Priests and Druids. Touch of the Grave gives your attacks a 20% chance to drain Health from the target, at most once every 15 seconds since October 27, and it adds a little damage in raids too. While leveling, Cannibalize restores Health on humanoid and undead corpses, so you rest less.
Orc matches Undead in raids. Blood Fury adds 10% Attack Power for 15 seconds on a 2-minute cooldown since October 27, and it fits every Adrenaline Rush window. Orcs lost Savage, their 1% crit passive, on October 26, and Command does nothing for a Rogue, so the race leans fully on Blood Fury. In PvP, Hardiness cuts every stun on you by 20%: take Orc if stuns keep beating you, and Undead if fears do.
Troll is a close third. Berserking adds 10% attack speed for 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds since October 27, and Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts. After a fight, Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your Health over 6 seconds, which saves food while leveling.
Windshaper Skyborne has the same 2% Haste from Wind Blessed as the Alliance branch, and Skysight adds movement speed for 30 seconds, more if you cast it at an elemental convergence. That helps a world PvP Rogue reach targets, but in a fight the race has nothing to press.
Our WoW Forever Skyborne race guide explains both branches and how to unlock them.
The best race shifts with your spec and your plans. This section sums up the picks, so you can go straight to your own.
Combat lives on Sinister Strike, Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush, so cooldown racials shine. Night Elf and Gnome lead the Alliance: Elune's Light and Eureka! both fit into Adrenaline Rush. On the Horde, Orc, Undead and Troll sit within a percent of each other.
Assassination spends most of its Energy on finishers and poisons. Gnome gets the most here, since Eureka! makes every non-periodic attack cheaper and Expansive Mind adds Energy to pool for Cold Blood. On the Horde, Undead and Orc are equal.
Subtlety opens from Stealth with Ambush and Backstab, so stealth racials gain value. Night Elf is the best Subtlety race thanks to Quickness and Shadowmeld, and Orc does its best work here among the Horde races.
Gnome and Human lead the Alliance, with Night Elf and Dwarf right behind. On the Horde, Undead and Orc share the top: pick Undead against fears and Orc against stuns. Both Skyborne branches trail, since their actives do nothing in a fight.
Every class is ranked for open-world fights in our WoW Forever world PvP tier list.
Undead levels fastest on the Horde, thanks to Cannibalize between pulls, with Troll close behind. On the Alliance, Night Elf moves faster with Quickness and sneaks past more mobs, and High Order Skyborne rests less with Read Leyline.
The fastest route to 60 is in our WoW Forever Rogue leveling guide.
Blizzard reworked every race in the October 15 beta build and made a final pass on October 26, with cooldown changes added on October 27. These are the changes that moved the Rogue rankings.
No Rogue racial or ability changed in the class hotfixes of October 30 and 31. Every racial with exact numbers is in the tool below.
All class and racial changes are collected on our WoW Forever patch notes page.
Racials are small, so the gain comes from pressing them at the right moment. These habits come from Rogues who tested every race in the beta.
Your first big weapon upgrade comes from a class quest: our WoW Forever Rogue weapon quest guide shows how to get the Ruby-Adorned Blade.
These guides cover the rest of the Rogue class and race choice for every class.
These are the questions players ask most about choosing a Rogue race.
Night Elf and Gnome on the Alliance, Undead on the Horde with Orc right behind.
Undead. Will of the Forsaken wins fights against fear classes, Cannibalize speeds up leveling, and in raids Undead matches Orc.
Night Elf overall and for Subtlety, Gnome for PvP burst and Assassination, Human against other Rogues.
Yes. Blood Fury is back on a 2-minute cooldown and Hardiness shortens stuns. Orc lost its crit passive, and Command does nothing for a Rogue, so Undead pulled level with it.
No. Tauren is the only race that cannot be a Rogue in Forever.
Partly. Out of combat it puts you in stealth with a 10-second cooldown. In combat it makes enemies stop attacking you, but its cooldown grows to 2 minutes, and it does not remove snares the way Vanish does.
No. The gap between the top races is one or two percent, far less than gear, talents and how well you use your openers.
