Proper Leveling-Specced Rogue

Guide to Rogue-ing Successfully

So you think you can be a rogue?
The first thing to know about a rogue is why they exist. The most important reason is crowd control, and of course, DPS. Rogues can dole out some massive DPS, especially with new rogue talents brought about by the expansion such as Mutilate. At MMOEdge, we will be speccing Mutilate (currently 41/0/10) when we reach 60 because of its grinding/PvE utility and potential for damage, and its more recently discovered ability to dominate in PvP. We can't tell you exactly what or how to build your rogue, but we can inform you of certain builds and their proficiencies, as well as how to play a rogue.

Basics
First, we'll cover the basics of being a rogue even before even discussing race choices so you will know whether you truly want to be a rogue or not. Being a rogue, your most valuable tool is and always will be stealth. Not Sinister Strike, not Backstab, and certainly not Expose Armor (expose armor is not actually a candidate for most valuable, it is an example of the worst of a rogue's skills). The simple truth of being invisible is that, as long as you're invisible, you are essentially invincible. You can still take AoE damage and any damage including DoTs but if nobody has seen you yet, they cannot harm you (with the exception of AoE which will affect you if you are within the range of the character that conjures it). Hunters will only lay a trap after they have seen you (this excludes a hunter who has placed a freezing trap anywhere near a flag or base to protect it). The second most valuable tool a rogue can use is his/her stuns. A stun, by definition, is to deprive of consciousness or strength by or as if by a blow, fall, etc. This means that a stun will knock your opponent 'unconscious' for a short period of time. Some stuns last longer than others. To wit, Gouge lasts 4 sec and 5.5 sec with the Improved Gouge talent; whereas Sap lasts 10 sec on players and 30+ sec on NPCs. Similarly, stuns work differently too. For example, cheap shot and kidney shot can stun a player and still allow that player to take damage, but when a player is stunned with gouge, blind, or sap, any damage applied to that target will break the stun. Using stuns and stealth, a rogue is a potent assassin on and off the battlefield.

Being a rogue is not all sneaking through the night stalking your prey. Rogues do die and not all of them die in the spectacular take-everyone-with-you way they might have tried for. Rogues will also die more often if they are not careful, because rogues can wear only leather armor, which is just a small step up from cloth armor. Finally, rogues can be kited like most other characters so it is of the utmost to keep on your guard more than anyone else you may be facing.

Talent Builds
There are a few talent builds out there for a rogue and all of them have their unique uses on the battlefield. The best for PvE is probably Combat; although, Mutilate has shown quite a bit of promise in this area. The Combat build is oriented to sustainable damage with minor bursts in between (eviscerate). The Combat build is centered around Adrenaline Rush and looks something like 20/31/0. There is also the Preparation build which involves whole stun locks and insane burst damage. It is known as 21/8/22. And finally the Seal Fate build which also involves stun locking is 31/8/12. We recommend daggers for the burst damage specs and swords for the combat one. The Mutilate build is unique so far because of its high concentration of talent points in the assassination tree. It is known as 41/0/10. We recommend dual-wielding high-max-damage daggers for this build.