The Rogue in WoW Forever is still the master of Stealth, and Blizzard wants it to have the highest potential single-target melee damage in the game. The biggest quality-of-life changes come early: Sap no longer breaks Stealth, Poisons have more charges and stack with sharpening stones and weightstones, and Rogues can now use one-handed axes.
Each spec also gained a clear identity. Assassination becomes a dagger and Poison spec with Mutilate and the new Venom finisher, Combat merges every weapon specialization into Hack and Slash and supports both Sinister Strike and Backstab builds, and Subtlety plays around bleeds with Thousand Cuts. Rogues still cannot heal, tank or attack from range.
This guide sums up every Rogue change, lists the abilities you learn at each level, explains Stealth, combo points and Poisons, compares Assassination, Combat and Subtlety and helps you pick a race before the November 4 launch.
Blizzard's Rogue work gives the class more ways to prepare for a fight and adapt once it starts. The changes fall into three groups: Stealth and crowd control, Poisons and weapons, and group utility.
Rogue control tools got the most attention:
| Ability | Level | What Changed |
|---|---|---|
| Sap | 10 | No longer breaks Stealth, so you can Sap and stay hidden; weapon procs no longer break it early |
| Distract | 22 | Also lowers the Stealth detection of affected enemies for 10 seconds, but warns enemy players that a Rogue is nearby |
| Feint | 16 | Removes twice as much threat |
Blizzard's goal with Sap is a crowd control that only a Rogue can set up in dungeons, useful when a pull has too many enemies to tank. The old Improved Sap talent is gone, since its effect is now baseline.
Expose Armor now reduces armor by as much as 5 stacks of the Warrior's Sunder Armor at about the same level. It no longer blocks Sunder Armor, so Warriors can still use it for threat, but Sunder Armor will not overwrite a stronger Expose Armor.
The October 15 beta build fixed several Rogue bugs: a Mutilate crit now consumes Cold Blood correctly, Sap no longer triggers weapon procs, and Poisons no longer trigger against enemies that attack you. The build also reworked the racials of several Rogue races.
We compare every talent in all three trees with its Classic version in our WoW Forever Rogue talents guide.
A Rogue learns new abilities from the class trainer every two levels and gets Poisons from a class quest at level 20. Rogues wear leather for their whole career, and talent points start at level 10, one per level, for 51 points at 60. Dual Specialization opens at level 40.
The table lists the level at which you learn the first rank of each ability. Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Backstab and most other attacks get new ranks every few levels.
| Level | New Abilities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stealth, Sinister Strike, Eviscerate |
| 4 | Backstab, Pick Pocket |
| 6 | Gouge |
| 8 | Evasion |
| 10 | Sap, Slice and Dice, Sprint |
| 12 | Kick |
| 14 | Garrote, Expose Armor |
| 16 | Feint, Pick Lock |
| 18 | Ambush |
| 20 | Poisons (class quest), Rupture |
| 22 | Distract, Vanish |
| 24 | Detect Traps |
| 26 | Cheap Shot |
| 30 | Kidney Shot, Disarm Trap |
| 34 | Blind |
| 40 | Safe Fall |
Talents add the rest of the toolkit. The key talented abilities are Cold Blood, Mutilate and Venom for Assassination, Riposte, Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush for Combat, and Ghostly Strike, Premeditation, Preparation and Hemorrhage for Subtlety.
Our WoW Forever Rogue leveling guide shows which of these abilities to use at each stage from 1 to 60.
Three systems make up the Rogue toolkit: Stealth decides how a fight starts, combo points decide how hard your finishers hit, and Poisons add damage and control to every swing. Forever improves all three without changing how they work at their core.
Stealth lets you pick the start of every fight. From Stealth you can open with Cheap Shot to stun, Garrote to silence and bleed, or Ambush for a big hit, and use Pick Pocket, Distract and Sap without breaking it. Because Sap keeps you hidden, you can now Sap one target and still open on another. Vanish puts you back into Stealth mid-fight.
Builders like Sinister Strike, Backstab and, for Assassination, Mutilate add combo points to the target, up to 5. Finishers spend them:
Assassination is designed to spend its finishers on Venom and Slice and Dice, while Combat and Subtlety lean on Eviscerate and Rupture.
You learn Poisons through a class quest at level 20 and craft them yourself. In Forever every Poison has more charges and can sit on a weapon together with a sharpening stone or weightstone.
| Poison | Effect | Best Use |
|---|---|---|
| Instant Poison | Instant Nature damage on hit | Main-hand damage while leveling |
| Deadly Poison | Stacking damage over time | Raids and Assassination |
| Crippling Poison | Slows movement | PvP and kiting enemies |
| Mind-numbing Poison | Slows casting | PvP against casters |
| Wound Poison | Reduces healing received | PvP against healers |
Assassination gets the most out of Poisons: Improved Poisons now gives them a chance not to use a charge, and Venom raises their damage by 30%.
All three Rogue specs deal melee damage, but they now differ in weapons and tactics. Assassination is built for daggers and Poisons, Combat supports every weapon type with direct damage and a little cleave, and Subtlety is about combat tricks and bleeds.
| Spec | Weapons | Key New Talents | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assassination | Two daggers | Mutilate, Venom, Improved Poisons | Strong single-target Poison damage, burst with Cold Blood | Needs two daggers |
| Combat | Any weapon, including axes | Hack and Slash, Flawless Execution, Puncturing Wounds | Fast leveling, cleave with Blade Flurry | Less control than Subtlety |
| Subtlety | Any weapon, daggers favored | Quietus, Cutthroat, Thousand Cuts | PvP control, bleeds, Preparation | Weaker on long fights without bleeds up |
Assassination now has its own builder: Mutilate hits with both daggers for 2 combo points and deals 20% more damage to poisoned targets. Cold Blood moved to the 16-point slot and works with Mutilate, Seal Fate no longer requires it, and Malice adds crit to Poisons as well. The 31-point Venom is a cheap finisher that adds 30% Poison damage and 10% Poison chance for up to 21 seconds.
Combat is the most flexible spec. Hack and Slash gives extra attacks with swords and axes, crit with daggers and fist weapons, and armor penetration with maces, so almost any good weapon works. Aggression and Puncturing Wounds now support Backstab as well as Sinister Strike, Flawless Execution makes Eviscerate 10 Energy cheaper, and Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush remain the big cooldowns.
Subtlety builds around Rupture: Hemorrhage increases your Rupture damage on the target, Serrated Blades ignores a percentage of armor, and the 31-point Thousand Cuts makes each Rupture tick cut the cost of your next Hemorrhage or Backstab. Premeditation moved to the 16-point slot and lasts 20 seconds, Dirty Deeds lets you Garrote from the front, and Cutthroat can let you use Ambush in combat.
Our WoW Forever Rogue tier set guide lists the raid set bonuses along with the crafted pieces.
Nine races can be Rogues in Forever: Orc, Undead, Troll and Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde, and Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome and High Order Skyborne for the Alliance. Tauren are the only race that cannot take the class.
| Race | Faction | Key Racials for a Rogue | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orc | Horde | Blood Fury: +10% Attack Power; Hardiness: shorter stuns | PvE and PvP damage |
| Undead | Horde | Will of the Forsaken: breaks Fear, Charm and Sleep | PvP |
| Troll | Horde | Berserking: +10% attack speed; Beast Slaying: +5% vs Beasts | Leveling and raids |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Horde | Wind Blessed: +3% Haste; Walk on Air: glide | Raids and open world |
| Human | Alliance | Will to Survive: breaks stuns; Perception: finds other Rogues; Ruthless: +2% crit | PvP and raids |
| Night Elf | Alliance | Shadowmeld in combat; Quickness: harder-to-detect Stealth; Elune's Light: +10% crit | PvP and leveling |
| Gnome | Alliance | Escape Artist: breaks snares; Eureka!: cheaper, stronger attacks for 8 sec; Expansive Mind: +5% maximum Energy | PvP and raids |
| Dwarf | Alliance | Stoneform: removes bleeds and poisons | PvP against other Rogues |
| High Order Skyborne | Alliance | Wind Blessed: +3% Haste; Read Leyline: faster regeneration | Leveling and raids |
Night Elf has the best Stealth kit, since Quickness makes you harder to spot and Shadowmeld works as a second Vanish. Gnome and Human are the strongest Alliance damage and PvP picks. On the Horde side, Orc brings the most damage and Undead the best answer to Fear in PvP.
Our WoW Forever race tier list ranks every race for every class, and our WoW Forever Skyborne race guide covers the new race in full.
These are the questions players ask most about the Rogue before launch.
Yes. Rogues can now learn one-handed axes, and the Combat talent Hack and Slash gives axes the same extra-attack chance as swords.
Yes. Mutilate is the 21-point Assassination talent. It needs a dagger in each hand, hits with both for 2 combo points and deals 20% more damage to poisoned targets.
Yes. In Forever you can apply a Poison and a temporary enchantment like a sharpening stone or weightstone to the same weapon, and all Poisons have more charges.
Combat. It works with any weapon thanks to Hack and Slash, and Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush handle pulls of two or three enemies.
Orc, Undead, Troll and Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde, and Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome and High Order Skyborne for the Alliance.
These guides take your Rogue from the first level to the first raid:
