The Rogue remains one of the deadliest Classes since the launch of World of Warcraft in 2004. Serving as the stereotypical subterfuge Class, the Rogue also continuously transforms the raiding meta depending on its performance as a Class. Through its various Specializations, a World of Warcraft player may be able to dish out immense damage to single targets, focus on invisibility to finish the toughest of foes in a few hits or rely on damage-over-time to secure the kill.
However, players interested in using the Rogue in the Warcraft game’s upcoming Dragonflight expansion may want to learn more about the Class’s evolution through the years. Just how much did the Rogue change over time, and what is its current status compared to its vanilla launch?
Classic: It’s All In The Tempo
Similar to Rogue Classes in other RPGs, the World of Warcraft Class as early as Classic relies on dishing out heavy single-target damage while maintaining relative safety through personal utility. Rogues primarily do this through their Specs, wherein they can use invisibility (Subtlety), nimble dodging (Combat), and even Poisons (Assassination) to do their handiwork.
However, the combat-intense Rogue relies on two (2) major gameplay mechanics to function properly. First are their resources - Energy and Combo Points - that they accumulate throughout combat and across a steady fashion, forcing players to be more calculating with their moves. Likewise, the Rogue makes heavy use of Stealth mechanics to perform unique moves, such as debilitating Bleed attacks (Sap, Garrote, Ambush, Cheap Shot), thieverey (Pick Pocket) or even debuffs (Distract). It’s around these elements that future expansions would evolve the Rogue archetype.
Burning Crusade: Geared For Solo, PVP
When Illidan Stormrage sought to tear Azeroth asunder from the Dark Portal, the World of Warcraft story entered its Burning Crusade era. In here, Rogues have observed a toolkit geared more for solo play, with raid viability not as powerful due to the existence of more practical choices such as Hunters and even Warriors. A lot of this is due to the fact that Rogues tend to be gear-dependent, as well as generally-lower DPS output.
In turn, Combat easily takes the cake as the recommended PVE and leveling Spec for the Class, particularly due to the triple combo of Adrenaline Life, Combat Poteency, and Sword Specialization. Meanwhile, Subtlety is a good PVP choice given how Enveloping Shadows boosts Survivability while Shadowstep grants additional movement options. Sadly, the impractical and slow-burn nature of Assassination doesn’t make it as reliable in th expansion.
Wrath Of The Lich King: Assassination Gets Recognition
With Lich King Arthas Menethil now in play, Rogues and other Classes have to prepare as World of Warcraft gets into its Wrath of the Lich King expansion. In th Warcraft story, Rogues now enjoy much higher damage output as well as decent debuffs. This time around, Assassination takes the spotlight as a go-to raiding Spec, particularly for boosts in its capacity to debilitate enemy forces over time.
Combat Rogues remain a standout in Wrath, courtesy of their straightforward focus on steady damage-building on top of decent survival options. Subtlety remains the PVP choice for its utility and control potential.
Cataclysm: Ability Damage Is In, Poison And Normals Are Down
As Deathwing poses a threat to the whole of Azeroth, players of World of Warcraft enter its Cataclysm expansion. With the current Warcraft story poised to do a shake-up on the lore, so too did Cataclysm. Coming with the streamlining of the Talent trees are vast adjustments and additions to make the Rogue act much faster and more reactive, as well as being more capable of swapping targets more efficiently.
For instance, heavy offensive improvements include Redirect, which now allows players to swap even their combo points to new targets. Switching weapons will become the norm too, with the expansion now focusing on dealing more damage with special attacks and abilities than typical Poisons. The Class will enjoy multiple new defensive abilities as well, with Combat Readiness being able to get up to 50-percent damage reduction buffs, as well as Smoke Bomb that allows the Rogue and their party members to avoid enemy targeting while it exists.
Mists Of Pandaria: Streamlining Combat, Fluid Specs
Similar to the overhaul in the Talents system in Cataclysm, accompanying the discovery of the mystic isle of Pandaria are sweeping changes to streamline the Classes across the board in Mists of Pandaria. In the World of Warcraft expansion, Rogues can enjoy more fluid builds as Talents are now segregated to be used across multiple Specs. Redundant abilities are also either removed or folded into existing abilities, while Thrown Weapons are replaced with a dedicated Thrown attack. Other interesting abilities are also introduced, with execute-phase Dispatch becoming an almost insta-kill for enemies at 35-percent health, Crimson Tempest that translates remaining combos to hit adjacent targets, and Shadow Blades to improve auto-attacks.
Specs-wise, Assassination Rogues will still rely on the Mutilate-Venomous Wounds-Envenoms combo to sustain their Poisons. Meanwhile, Combat Rogues have their Sinister Strike-Rupture/Evicerate as go-to rotations. Lastly, Subtlety enjoys more streamlined combos with Backstab-Hemorrhage, albeit losing out on the exclusivity towards Preparation and Shadowstep.
Warlords Of Draenor: More Tweaking Underway
In the World of Warcraft expansion apty titled Warlords of Draenor, both the Alliance and Horde are thrust back in time to the Outlands back when it was Draenor, with multiple clans and their respective warlords fighting for dominance. Gameplay-wise, Classes also experience a slight shift in terms of their priorities, with the game focusing on further tweaking Classes like the Rogue to be more straightforward and prepared for player tinkering. For instance, Hit and Expertise are removed as stats, while Agility won’t provide boosts to criticals anymore. Rather, Critical Strikes will be an ability that directly adds 10-percent to the 5-percent base chance to crit shared by all Classes. This immediate change is on top of multiple redundant abilities that would be removed.
Other noticeable changes are seen in abilities across the board, such as Redirect being removed in place of combo points being shared across all targets. A lot of abilities also got their costs removed in place of debuffs, making them readily accessible for more player rotations, but still emphasizing care in their combinations.
Legion: Enter The Outlaw Rogue
With Sargeras bringing his Burning Legion to wage war on Azeroth, mortals had no choice but to rely on Illidan Stormrage and his Demon Hunters for assistance. In the World of Warcraft: Legion expansion, fans of the Warcraft story get much-needed overhauls to the Rogue Specializations, giving players more creative freedom in the way they want their subtle combatants to kill their targets.
Front and center to these changes is the Outlaw Rogue, essentially a retooling of the Combat Specializaztion into something more straightforward and perfect for beginners who want to get into the Rogue tempo with consistent damage. Meanwhile, Assassination Rogues maintain the slower route to combat, with Poisons starting to take priority with their damage-over-time potential. Lastly, the Subtlety Rogue gives more emphasis on the timing of stealth to secure single-target damage.
Battle For Azeroth: Even More Focus On Timing
After players finally defeat the Burning Legion, Azeroth is once again thrust in the ever-predictable conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. In the aptly named Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft, players will experience a major overhauling in stats and damage scaling, paving the way for smaller but consistent numbers in the ever-growing landscape of the Warcraft experience. While these changes are majorly experienced by all the Classes, they are felt by the Rogue even more due to how these affect scaling and timing.
For instance, abilities that are affected by global cooldowns aren’t allowed to be used at the same time, further forcing Rogues to put stricter emphasis on their choice of timing. Meanwhile, melee abilities now scale with Weapon Damage and Attack Power, meaning weapon stats now matter for all melee classes. Meanwhile, Poisons and Bleeds from Rogues will now also scale with Haste, which previously wasn’t the case.
Shadowlands: Returns Of Old-Time Favorites
With the end of Battle for Azeroth tearing the fabric between life and death itself, Shadowlands becomes the World of Warcraft expansion focusing on exploring Warcraft lore’s take on the “other side.” In turn, it seems rather apt that it’s this expansion where Classes such as the Rogues would see changes that have less to do with removing features and more about returning them to the fold but in more streamlined manners.
For instance, Lethal Poisons and Non-Lethal Poisons are now usable across all Specs, with subtle differences. Shiv also makes a return, packing a punch with Crippling Poison to slow their movement or Numbing Poison to decreese their attack speed. Ambush returns to Assassination Rogues, giving them more chances of debilitating the enemy’s defense. Meanwhile, Outlaw Rogues can now enjoy directionality with Roll the Bones, while Kidney Stun returns as a decent enemy-stopper. Lastly, Rupture returns for the Subtlety Rogue that dishes out mean damage-over-time.
Dragonflight: Poisons Are Fun Again
When the Dragonflights have to return to Azeroth due to the threat of the Primal Incarnates, Rogues in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight meta also received quite a number of changes to their overall toolkit. A key area of change for the Rogue involves their Poison use. They still maintain the stance of not needing to craft their own Poisons themselves, but their existing Poisons do hurt quite a bit more to emphasize their damage potential.
For instance, whereas Amplifying Poison boosts damage dealt to poisoned foes, Atrophic Poison now reduces the damage poisoned foes deal to Rogues. This works in tandem with boosts existing to other abilities, such as damage of Rupture, Ambush, Wound Poison, Shiv, Sepsis, and Echoinc Reprimand being increased. These add a lot of versatility to the Rogue’s toolkit, as they provide more damage options.
World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight is set for a November 28, 2022 release.