All Rogue Guides

Rogue Class Specialization Guides

Combat Rogue Basics in WOTLK

The Combat Rogue in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is considered one of the highest DPS specializations of any class for this expansion. After being considered excellent DPS in Vanilla, then falling short in TBC where only one rogue was needed in raid, they are back on top in Wrath Classic. As a combat rogue in WOTLK, you will focus mainly on Axes or Swords depending on your race. There are some reliable maces if you choose to go with the mace spec, but they are few and far between compared to the abundance of axes and swords.

You benefit greatly from being able to attack from any angle within melee range without needing to use Backstab. This position advantage brings up the skill floor so that you have more freedom while chasing down your enemies and bosses, without risking capping your energy due to poor positioning. Instead, you will focus on Adrenaline Rush, Killing Spree, Sinister Strike, Slice and Dice, and Blade Flurry, among others, to increase attack speed and pound away at your opponents.

As suggested in our non-specialization level Rogue Class Guide, the most picked races for PvE rogues will be Orcs, Trolls, and Humans. As a combat rogue, Orcs will be the best choice for Horde in WotLK and Humans for the alliance, reasons of which are discussed here.

Stat Priority of a Combat Rogue

1. Hit Rating up to 237 Rating Cap - The number one priority as a Combat Rogue in Wrath is to hit the poison hit cap of 17%. In order to achieve this, you will need to obtain 237 hit rating, assuming you go with 5/5 Precision talent, and assuming there is a spell hit debuffer in your raid such as a druid or shadow priest. This should be your main priority.
   1. Exception: 210 Cap if Draenei is in the party

2. Expertise Rating up to 132 Cap - This will take you to the expertise cap of 6.5% assuming you use the talent Weapon Expertise to give you 2.5%.
   1. Exception: 91 Cap for Orcs using Axes
   2. Exception: 107 Cap for Humans using Swords or Maces

3. Armor Penetration up to 1400 Rating Cap
   1. Exception: If using Mace Specialization talent, Cap is 1190.

4. Attack Power
5. Agility
6. Haste Rating
7. Crit Rating
8. Strength

Single Target (Boss) Skill Rotation

Your main rotation can be completed in a few different ways, but our main suggestion is this route:

1. Tricks of the Trade (on cooldown)
2. Adrenaline Rush
3. Sinister Strike (Until 5 Combo Points)
4. Slice and Dice
5. Killing Spree
6. Sinister Strike (Until 5 Combo Points)
7. Rupture
8. Sinister Strike (Until 5 Combo Points) > Eviscerate (Continue this step unless Slice and Dice or Rupture needs to be refreshed)

You may have noticed Blade Flurry was not listed in this rotation. This is because you really should analyze each pull and decide the timing of this skill. You will want to use it when you are sure you will have 2 enemies stacked up long enough to use the full 15 second duration of the skill. If the fight is truly a single target and no adds come to be taken down, you can slot Blade Flurry in between #3 and #4, but it is flexible.

The attack speed bonus will help during any time in your rotation, even more if you have any attack power buffs from other classes that activate or other consumables you may use mid-fight to momentarily increase your damage. The main increase in damage for Blade Flurry comes from hitting a secondary target; remember this and utilize it properly when possible.

To further explain the rotation above, Sinister Strike is essentially your filler attack that will help you gain combo points in order to spend them on more important and stronger skills like Slice and Dice to increase your attack speed, Rupture to cause a long bleed on the target, and Eviscerate to deal a massive amount of damage.

Adrenaline Rush and Killing Spree are two of your main talent skills in the Combat tree and are used on cooldown when you will be in combat for the full duration of the skill. Killing Spree is always more beneficial if used in conjunction with Blade Flurry.

Tricks of the Trade is another excellent buff you will use in raid to help in various situations. You should use this on cooldown on either the top DPS player in your raid, or the main tank. Use on the main tank at the beginning of a pull to help with threat generation. If Tricks of the Trade comes off cooldown mid fight and the tank's threat is very good, use it on the top DPS player to maximize damage.

Multiple Target (AOE) Skill Rotation

When encountering a pack with more than one enemy that will last more than just a few seconds, you will want to capitalize on your newly introduced AOE prowess. If Blade Flurry and Killing Spree are off cooldown, be ready to be the king of the raid.

1. Blade Flurry is used to activate the attack speed bonus but more importantly, allow you to hit a second target for the next 15 seconds.
2. Killing Spree is used to hop around instantly attacking foes while benefiting from Blade Flurry.
3. Adrenaline Rush is then used to regenerate energy extremely fast while you consistently spam Fan of Knives.
4. Fan of Knives is used until there are only one or two enemies left, then you can continue a single target rotation.

If any of the skills above are on cooldown, that's ok, just skip the skill and move onto the next one on the list. The list represents the preferable order in the best case scenario.

Defensive and Utility Abilities and When To Use Them in Combat

• Vanish - Used if you have aggro or high threat on a target to disengage from combat and drop your threat.
• Cloak of Shadows - Use if you have harmful spells on you, or to negate a spell you know is coming within the next 5 seconds.
• Evasion - If you get aggro and vanish is on cooldown, you can use this to mitigate some physical damage.
• Feint - Use this if your tank is having a tough time holding aggro, to wipe some threat from you.
• Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Blind, Gouge - All usable stuns or crowd control you can utilize to interrupt spell casting or sun the target for some time.
• Dismantle - Use this whenever it is off cooldown, on enemies that carry a weapon and are able to be disarmed.

Combat Rogue Wrath Classic Talent and Glyph Choices

The following image uses wowhead.com Talent Calculator

Key Talent Choices

The most common Rogue Combat Spec talents are seen in the above screenshot of the talent calculator. One of the major choices here is Hack and Slash, which mean you should be focusing on Swords or Axes as your weapons. Other notable mentions and reasoning are:

• Killing Spree - To be used for a damage burst, especially while Blade Flurry is activated and multiple enemies are nearby.
• Prey on the Weak - Crit Damage is increase by 20% when the target has a less percentage of health than you. It is important to try to remain a high amount of health to benefit from this.
• Weapon Expertise - Significantly reduces the amount of Hit Rating you need, along with Precision. This is why you will see combat rogues with a lower hit rating cap than other specializations.
• Blade Flurry - Key to increasing attack speed and attacking more than one enemy at a time.
• Blood Spatter - Important to optimize your Rupture skill's damage.

Major Glyph Choices

• Glyph of Sinister Strike is required as a huge bonus, as you will be using this as your main skill.
• Glyph of Killing Spree allows you to use your 51 talent choice as much as possible.
• Glyph of Adrenaline Rush can be chosen to help yourself gain more out of your Adrenaline Rush. An alternate choice is Glyph of Tricks of the Trade, which will help your raid the most, but you will not receive any personal benefit if you are simply looking to top the charts.

Minor Glyph Choices

Minor glyphs are just that: minor. You can select any you'd like and it won't make much of a difference. Personal preference here is to stick with Vanish, Sprint, and Safe Fall as they tend to be a little more useful than alternatives.

BIS Combat Rogue Gear

If you are looking for BIS Combat Rogue Gear for WOTLK, head on over to our BIS guides section. Here is a link to the Rogue BIS Gear Guide.