Warcraft Leveling: The Best Rogue Leveling Spec

This is the pilot for a ongoing series I'm doing on various aspects of leveling Warcraft characters.

Some will be just a few broad tips, others will be in-depth spec analysis and the like. So, without further ado, here is

Warcraft Leveling DCC Style: The Best Rogue Leveling Spec

Way too many new Rogue players are woefully incompetent at choosing talents for leveling. This is at least partially Blizzard's fault, as Rogues are suggested to be dagger wielding thief-types that strike from the shadows, leading many players to focus on Assassination and Subtlety specs. The problem is, all these things are sub-optimal for leveling.

Here are a few tips to starting players.

Spec Combat. For a Rogue leveling spec there, there is no other option. I recommend the following order, as of WotLK launch:

2 Imp. Sinister Strike
5 Duel Wield Spec.
5 Precision
2 Imp Slice and Dice
1 Deflection
5 Aggression
1 Blade Flurry

Here, you'll have to decide whether to go Mace or Sword Spec. Maces are almost always better weapons while leveling, but Sword Spec is mathematically superior as a spec.

I actually tend to just put a few points in other talents like Lightning Reflexes, Deflection, Endurance, Riposte, etc., so I can just grab the best weapon I can without overthinking the math. Anyways, as soon as it becomes available, grab

2 Weapon Expertise
2 Blade Twisting
1 more Weapon/Utility Spec
3 Vitality
1 Adrenaline Rush
1 more Weapon/Utility Spec
5 Combat Potency
1 Surprise Attacks
2 Unfair Advantage
2 Savage Combat
5 Prey on the Weak
1 Killing Spree

This covers the Combat talents you will need while leveling.
If your enemies are lasting past your first Eviscerate, I'd grab 5/5 Relentless Strikes from Subtlety. Then get from Assassination get

5 Malice

It then gets vague, depending on your preferred opener, whether they are surviving long enough for Finisher-based talents to be worth getting, etc, etc. Definitely get Vigor and max Lethality. Finally, finish your build with Vile Poisons and Improved Poisons.

That's all. Note that the Assassination talent Malice is probably worth getting far earlier than I mentioned. And cooldown abilities like Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, Killing Spree,etc, are only helpful if you use them as often as possible, and as effectively as possible. So this isn't necessarily the best Rogue leveling spec for YOU, but it should be close. For me, it works.

The last thing to note is that this is the (my) best Rogue leveling spec, and is not the best for any endgame content.

I'll describe the ideal playstyle using this spec for leveling, along with some more beginner rogue tips, in tomorrow's Warcraft Leveling DCC Style entry.



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