Combat Rogue Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade

Sustained weapon damage: weapon specializations, Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush. The usual leveling tree.

A leather-wearing melee fighter who builds combo points with Energy and spends them on finishing moves. Rogues open from stealth, stun and blind enemies, and poison their weapons. More about the rogue

Class: Rogue
Roles: Damage
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player, Leveling
Top talent: Surprise Attacks
Popular builds: 3
Version: WoW Burning Crusade

How to play

Combat is the steady raid spec: Combat Potency gives Energy when your off-hand hits, Surprise Attacks makes finishers undodgeable and strengthens Sinister Strike, and Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush stack for burst. Swords and fist weapons with their specializations are the norm.

Slice and Dice is your biggest damage boost; keep it up and fill with Sinister Strike and Eviscerate, or Rupture on long fights. Use Expose Armor only if your raid has no warrior keeping Sunder Armor up.

Combat is the most forgiving rogue in raids and the safest for leveling.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Burning Crusade.

Rotation and priorities

1Slice and Dice first, and keep it up.
2Sinister Strike to build combo points.
3Rupture or Eviscerate at five points while Slice and Dice has time left.
4Adrenaline Rush and Blade Flurry together, with trinkets and Bloodlust.
5Kick casts; Feint to stay below the tank.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Strong, steady raid damage.
A simple, forgiving priority.
Safe leveling with Riposte and the defensive talents.

Weaknesses

Less burst and control than other rogues in arenas.
Needs good weapons of one type for its specializations.
Damage is capped by Energy.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Hitto 142 rating, less Precision
2
Expertise
3
Agility
4
Haste
5
Attack power
6
Critical strike

What to look for

A slow main-hand sword or fist weapon for Sinister Strike, and a fast off-hand for Combat Potency and poisons.
Hit and expertise first; haste grows with Slice and Dice.
Agility gems.

Items worth chasing

Dragonspine TrophyAttack power and a haste proc in a trinket.
Bloodlust BroochA burst of attack power on use.
Hourglass of the UnravellerHit, and attack power after crits.
DragonmawA crafted one-handed mace with a haste proc.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Assassination
Combat
Subtlety

Combat Swordmaster
DamagePvE
2041
20/41/0
The top raid rogue: Sword Specialization and Combat Potency fuel endless Sinister Strikes, Surprise Attacks stops dodges, and Blade Flurry plus Adrenaline Rush add burst.
- Blade Flurry 1/1
- Vitality 2/2
- Adrenaline Rush 1/1
- Combat Potency 5/5
- Surprise Attacks 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
HArP Skirmisher
DamagePvP
3328
0/33/28
Hemorrhage, Adrenaline Rush and Preparation: Combat's sustained damage plus a Subtlety reset for Vanish, Sprint and Evasion.
- Blade Flurry 1/1
- Vitality 2/2
- Adrenaline Rush 1/1
- Preparation 1/1
- Hemorrhage 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Riposte Wanderer
DamageLeveling
1744
17/44/0
Combat leveling to 70: Riposte keeps fights short and safe, Blade Flurry handles two mobs and Adrenaline Rush doubles your energy.
- Blade Flurry 1/1
- Weapon Expertise 2/2
- Adrenaline Rush 1/1
- Combat Potency 5/5
- Surprise Attacks 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Surprise Attacks · top talent, up to 1
Your finishing moves can no longer be dodged, and the damage dealt by your Sinister Strike, Backstab, Shiv and Gouge abilities is increased by 10%.
Endurance · tier 3, up to 2
Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint and Evasion abilities by 1.5 min.
Dual Wield Specialization · tier 4, up to 5
Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 50%.
Blade Flurry · tier 5, up to 1
Increases your attack speed by 20%. In addition, attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 sec.
Sword Specialization · tier 5, up to 5
Gives you a 5% chance to get an extra attack on the same target after hitting your target with your Sword.
Weapon Expertise · tier 6, up to 2
Increases your expertise by 10.
Aggression · tier 6, up to 3
Increases the damage of your Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Eviscerate abilities by 6%.
Vitality · tier 7, up to 2
Increases your total Stamina by 4% and your total Agility by 2%.
Adrenaline Rush · tier 7, up to 1
Increases your Energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 sec.
Combat Potency · tier 8, up to 5
Gives your successful off-hand melee attacks a 20% chance to generate 15 Energy.

Combat abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.