Rogue Leveling 1-20

Race played = Troll
Level obtained = 20
Armor = cloth, leather(use leather when you have a choice)
Weapon of choice = Dagger until lvl 10, then Duel Wield Daggers
Leveling Difficulty = Medium
NOTE: the cost to buy each skill is listed next to its name. The Rouge Leveling 1-15



So you heed the calling of playing the Rogue class. For you DAOC vets this rogue is quite a bit different from the ones used in that MMORPG. The first thing you want to do is open your inventory and right click on the scroll, or other object that will open the quest window on the left side of the screen and give you your first quest, accept the quest and if you look on your minimap you should see a little yellow dot this dot represents the NPC that you talk too to complete your first quest.(You may have to walk a little ways, but just starting off the quest NPC is usually very close to your starting location) For future reference anytime you see a little yellow dot on your minimap this is the location of an NPC that you have completed a quest for. When you get to level 5 you may take a trade skill, which may also show you little yellow dots on the minimap, these will either represent a 'mine node' (if you have the skill 'mining')that can be mined or a 'herb plant'(if you have the skill 'herbalism') that can be harvested. Some notes of interest on playing as a Rouge: You have an 'energy bar' this starts at a value of '100 energy' when you use a 'combat move' this reduces your energy by the amount mentioned in the skill description, if you do not have enough energy to perform the 'combat move' then you will not be able to execute that 'combat move', however you will always be able to do your normal combat melee swings. Certain combat moves 'award combo points' the most combo points you may save up is 5, when doing a 'finishing move' this uses all of your combo points to execute the finishing combat move, obviously the more points you have saved up the more powerful the finishing combat move will be. If you switch targets in mid-combat you will LOSE all the combo points saved up. There is an assassination talent that will permanently raise your cap of 100 energy to a cap of 110 energy.(This might not sound like a big deal now, but trust me it is) Energy is replenished automatically in mid combat at a half decent pace. As a Rouge you should NEVER buy anything to drink, and sell all the drinkable items you find.(Unless the drinkable item has a status effect(s) that your Rogue desires) Rouges do not need drinks as they have no mana...

Leveling 1-4

The skills available to you from 1-4 are:

Eviscerate Level 1(free)
Cost = 35 Energy ----- Range = Melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped
Finishing Move
Finishing move that causes damage per combo point:
1 point: 8-12 damage.
2 points: 14-18 damage.
3 points: 20-24 damage.
4 points: 26-30 damage.
5 points: 32-36 damage.

Stealth Level 1(10 copper)
Cost = 0 ----- Casting time = Instant ----- Cooldown = 10 secs.
Stealth's the Rouge, reduces movement speed to 50% of normal, lasts until canceled by clicking on the 'Stealth button' or Rouge attacks.(With the use of talents, a few skills will instantly restealth the rogue after using specific combat moves)

Sinister Strike Level 1(free)
Cost = 45 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped.
A melee attack that adds 3 damage points to your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.

The rogue class does not use any magic and has no 'buffs'(but will be able to use poisons at higher levels) The Rogue is kind of like a warrior in the aspect of it being a pure melee class.(The Rouge and Warrior are the only 2 classes in WOW that are melee only, although both the Rogue and Warrior can used ranged weps such as bows, guns, and throwing knives, these items are for pulling only and will result in VERY small damage to the target) A little know fact about Rogues is that you may start using thrown weps at level 1, although they are too expensive to buy at level 1, they should be bought as soon as possible as you don't want to run up to an aggressive mob in the middle of other aggressive mobs and 'body pull' it, instead you would wait for one of the mobs to wander away from the rest and chuck a knife at him. As a personal note you may use bows and guns as a Rouge(with training) but to me this is silly as the damage you would cause would be meaningless, although you may want one later for the eye candy of carrying one around or for some other amusing reason. I am strictly a 'play for blood' peep, another words you give me a dress and high heels and if they are better then the equipment I am wearing I will wear them, to me it only matters who is laying dead on the ground, and if it means I wear a dress for teh win then so be it. Also knives fit into your ranged attack ammo slot very nicely even if you are carrying 200 of them :)
For combat at these low levels simply target a mob by left clicking it and click on your weapon in the far left slot of your hotbar, or if you want to do things the easy way just right click a mob to enter combat mode with it. For these levels you would use the combat move 'Sinister Strike', Keep using this move as often as you have enough energy for, if you look at the top of your screen you will see 'combo' points being built up on your target when you get the mob to about 30-40% of its hit points wait until you have enough energy then click on the 'Eviscerate' skill to finish the mob off. If the Eviscerate skill is not on your hotbar open up your abilities window and left click it, and drag it to your hotbar. By the way stealth is not free as you must pay your trainer 10 copper to obtain that skill. You may watch your hotbar and can tell when you are in range of one of your skills when the color of the number in your hotbar turns from red to white, although melee range is pretty obvious as the mob will be right in front of you, when you get your first set of throwing knives this will help you out greatly by letting you know you are in range to throw a knife. Also, later on when you start to face 'caster' mobs or 'bow mobs' remember they will easily out-damage and kill you before your daggers kill them, so for 'casters' and 'bow peeps' you must close the distance to melee before beginning combat.(That is what stealth and backstab are for:)

Leveling 4-6

At level 4 you may buy the following skills:

Backstab Level 1(50 copper)
Cost = 60 Energy - Range = melee - Must have Dagger in main hand equipped.
Backstab the target, hitting for 150% weapon damage plus 15. Must be behind the target.(DOES NOT require Stealth) Awards 1 combo point.

Pick Pocket Level 1(50 copper)
Cost = 0 ----- Range = melee
Attempt to steal from the target, must be stealthed.

Now we have a new skill here 'Backstab' In my opinion you should still body pull or pull with a thrown knife as a mob is never going to let you walk right up to it and backstab it, yes you can stealth and do this, but at this low of a level it is far better to wait until you get 'Gouge' at level 6 to use this effectively. As far as pick pocket goes I only used this once or twice as I would rather spend my time leveling here so I can steal from the much higher level mobs that have much more loot to take :) Continue on to level 6, at level 6 you will most likely leave the 'noob' town and make your way to another town to get new quests and higher level mobs. Up to now when you see a mob it was most likely yellow which means that these will not attack you if you get too close, however if see a mob that is red then this mob will attack you if you get to close, this is commonly called 'agro'. At this level it is probably a good idea to keep an eye open for a second dagger because at level 10 you will get the skill 'Duel Wield' so always keep 1 extra melee dagger in your inventory. When choosing what wep to keep and which wep to sell always judge a wep by its D.P.S.(Damage Per Second), however keep in mind that you do not want a dagger that is 'slow' although I have not seen a 'slow' dagger from lvls1-20. Another thing about pick pocket, no you cannot use it to steal from player characters and the 'pool' that you steal from is separate form the 'pool' that the mob drops when it is killed, so feel free to pick pocket and a mob and then kill it and get even more loot.

Leveling 6-8

At level 6 you may buy the following skills:

Gouge Level 1(1 silver)
Cost = 45 Energy ----- Cooldown = 10 secs. ----- Range = melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped.
Deals 10 damage to the target, stuns the target for 4 seconds and exits you from combat mode. Target must be facing you. If the target takes any damage, it will be pulled out of the 'stunned status' Awards 1 combo point.


Sinister Strike Level 2(1 silver)
Cost = 45 Energy ----- Range = Melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped.
A melee attack that adds 6 damage points to your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.

The Gouge skill and how it works: You may use this skill anytime you are face to face with a mob(cannot do it from the back or side) and you have enough energy to use it. After it hits you will see the little 'stunned effect' above the mobs head, also notice that you are not attacking the mob as this would pull it out of the stunned state. As soon as it is stunned, walk straight through the mob and turn around and click on the backstab skill, after you do this, normal melee combat will continue. You can use this skill as a 'run away' skill simply Gouge it and run, you have 4 seconds before the mob will chase you. Also notice that this skill does not say 'stuns the target for UP TO 4 secs', anotherwords the stunned mob will not become unstunned in less then 4 secs unless damage is caused to the mob. The only problem with this skill is, there are plenty of times I whacked on a mob maybe using a Sinister Strike or 2 and then Gouged it, walked straight through it, turned around and waited... I did not have enough energy to execute the backstab, the 4 secs ran out and the mob started whacking on me again. Notice that the Gouge skill has a 10 sec cooldown this is so you do not endlessly gouge the target, waiting for your energy to build up, remember earlier I said how important that extra 10 energy is, that the talent grants you if you take it? At this level a typical combat would be: Gouge, walk behind, turn around and backstab, Sinister strike, wait for gouge timer to cooldown, gouge, walk behind, turn around and backstab, eviscerate for the kill(if the mob is still alive at this point you are in trouble...) If your dagger is not at your level or the mob is a level or 2 above you, pull it with a thrown knife.(I can usually throw 2 knives at a mob before it can get close enough to me that I must melee it, although to accomplish this you must pull at the max range of your thrown knives) By now you should be pretty familiar with the quest system as well as knowing what level mobs you can handle. It has been my playing experience that you should only kill mobs your level or 1-2 levels higher as anything else is going to cause a you either allot of down time or a possible death, and you will find that the exp is not worth it at all, after you figure in the risk and the downtime needed to recover from the health lost. Also if you are going to take any trade skills get them now, even if you have to take some time to walk to your nearest capitol,(which is pretty close to you now, regardless which race you have chosen) You can get your 2 main tradeskills at lvl 5.

Leveling 8-10


At level 8 you may buy the following skills:


Eviscerate Level 2(2 silver)
Cost = 35 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped.
Finishing Move
Finishing move that causes damage per combo point:
1 point: 16-24 damage.
2 points: 29-37 damage.
3 points: 42-50 damage.
4 points: 53-63 damage.
5 points: 68-76 damage.



Evasion Level 1(2 silver)
Cost = 0 ----- Cooldown = 5 min.
Increases dodge chance by 50%, lasts 15 secs.



The new skill here 'Evasion Level 1' is an emergency skill that dramatically raises your dodge chance for 15 seconds. Level 9 will be your most difficult level yet as you get your 'Duel Wield' skill at 10, although not actually doubling your damage it does help greatly. By now you should have visited your capitol or have a quest that leads you to your capitol for your race. As a side note you cannot sell conjured food or water, yes I already tried... At level 10-11 you will most likely leave the level 5-10 'area' and be sent on a quest to visit a new location, this is also the level at which you may be introduced to your first 'elite' quest. Elite quests are not meant to be done solo and no you cannot solo an 'elite' mob that is your same level in most cases. I believe Bliz did this to encourage 'grouping' after level 10 if you so desire. You can easily tell an 'elite' mob from a normal mob by the word 'elite' in the mobs name or the wreath around the mobs pic when you left click it. You can safely left click a mob to get info however if you right click it then you enter combat mode with that mob.



Leveling 10-12

At level 10 you may buy the following skills:



Sprint Level 1(3 silver)
Cost = 0 ----- Cooldown = 5 min.
Raises movement speed for 15 seconds.

Sap Level 1(3 silver)
Cost = 65 Energy ----- Range = melee - Must have melee wep equipped ----- Must be Stealthed.
Stuns the target for 25 seconds. Only works on Humanoids that are not in combat. If target takes any damage it will come out of the stunned status. You may only 'Sap' 1 target at a time.

Slice And Dice Level 1(3 silver)
Cost = 25 Energy
Finishing Move
Finishing move, Raises melee attack speed by 20%. Time 'hastened' depends on amount of combo points used.
1 point: 9 seconds
2 points: 12 seconds
3 points: 15 seconds
4 points: 18 seconds
5 points: 21 seconds


Duel Wield(3 silver)
Cost = 0 ----- This is a passive skill
Allows the Rouge to equip 2 weapons(see my descript below)






At level 10 its a whole new ball game for the Rouge class. The new Sprint skill lets you quickly run away when things turn ugly, in Open Beta though, I did notice that if you use the sprint skill and have a stun or slow effect put on you, the effect overrides the Sprint ability, I disagree with this, but I am not a Bliz Dev. The Dual Wield skill allows you to wield a '1 handed wep' in your main hand and an 'Off hand ' wep in your off hand, you CANNOT wield a 'main hand' wep in your off hand, even if it is a '1 Handed' wep.(The item will say in the descript if it is a 'Main Hand' or 'Off Hand' wep, if for some reason it does not, simply try to put it in your off hand, if it wont go, then it is not an 'Off Hand' wep. The Dual Wield skill DOES NOT give you full damage from the wep in your off hand, however it does give you considerable additional damage. The Slice and Dice skill increases your combat speed(not running or movement speed), I did use this once or twice but my playing style prefers the Eviscerate as a far better skill to spend my built up combo points on. And I saved the best for last... the Sap skill, although this has limited uses in PvE,(are you really going to come upon 2 mobs and Sap one while you combat the other knowing that in 25 seconds you will be forced to fight the second mob with less hit points and energy? - I solo mostly, so in a group, I guess this skill would be invaluable) but in PvP this skill is deadly, no it does not cause any damage, but how would you like it if you got hit with Sap, which is basically giving you a 'time-out' in the corner, while your friends and buddies are getting whacked on? The only thing worse then dieing in PvP is to be forced to sit there and watch your friends dieing, while you are helpless.(In PvP always Sap or kill the Priest first, but of course you already knew this...) By now you should understand the basics of playing a Rouge, and at the capitol city you should also find your 'bank' as this has numerous 'slots' to store your items, before storing items see if you can 'stack' them by dragging one item over the top of another items of the same type. Stackable items include: potions, food, water, crafting materials, and crafting supplies. Also depending on which type of server you are playing on PvP or PvE you may start to see enemies from the other 'realm.' From level 10-20 the basics of the game and the mobs start to take you out of the 'noobness' and into the full game, expect to fight 'caster' mobs, 'bow and arrow' mobs and mobs that will give you poison, stuns, or other negative status effects. You may also want to open your 'social' window and flag yourself as 'looking for a group' if that is a style of play that you desire.(You also may choose to pick a talent here, see the bottom of this post for a link to a list of the talents available.)

Leveling 12-14

At level 12 you may buy the following skills:



Backstab Level 2(8 silver)
Cost = 60 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must have a Dagger in main hand equipped.
Backstab the target, hitting for 150% weapon damage plus 30. Must be behind the target.(DOES NOT require Stealth) Awards 1 combo point.


Kick Level 1(8 silver)
Cost = 25 Energy ----- Cooldown = 10 secs ----- Range = melee ----- NOTE: this is an INSTANT ability.
Kick for 15 damage and interrupt a spell being cast for 6 secs.


I forgot to mention this earlier but unlike the 'caster' skills, the Rogue does not have to replace most skills as this is done automatically since the said skills always cost the same amount of energy to use. The new 'Kick' skill is totally awesome against casters, whenever you are fighting casters NEVER(regardless of the circumstances) let your energy fall below 25.(Unless Kick is in a cooldown mode, which kind of ruins NEVER I guess) In Open Beta you would not believe how many times I almost had the mob dead and !WHAM! it casts heal on itself... Kick will interrupt ANY spell currently being cast. So you are here now, if you are on the horde side and you are a Tauren, Orc or troll you should be at the crossroads(that's a town), if you are Undead then you should be at the sepulcher. Here you will start to find that you are not in the lobie noob zones anymore. The majority of the mobs are aggressive(red con) and if you pull them and they have buddies nearby they will come also. You will also find mobs that 'call' other mobs if they get hurt and are close to death, so if there are other mobs close by that are of the same type do not be surprised if they agro you when you have the mob you are working on almost dead. The best way to see this is to mouse over your chat window, go to the tab that says 'combat' left click and hold and drag it to the right side of your screen to separate it from the chat window, now you can review all the damage and other combat related actions taken by you and the mob you were in combat with, as well as seeing any new chat messages in the chat window. At this level you really need to be paying full attention to your surroundings. If you are Undead and hanging around the sepulcher. Doing quests you may run into a unique mob named 'son of aragul' this mob will agro you from far away, and will kill you in one to 2 hits, if you see him run, do not investigate unless you need a free trip to the graveyard... If you are Orc, troll or Tauren stay away from the 'dinosaur looking' lizards south of the crossroads as they are melee and casters, and will zap you with lightning damage. Needless to say, now is a good time to get in a group. Also at the crossroads I am 99.9% sure you will experience your first PvP encounter... If you are Undead and want to go to the crossroads simply go to the 'airport' a little north of the Undercity, look up and you might see one of the airships flying in to dock. Climb the stairs to the tower and take the 'west' airship this will take you right outside of Orgrimar the Orc main city, after you get off the city id to the west about a 1 minute run. The trip in Open Beta was free, as you just walk onto the airship. Do not take the 'east' airship as this takes you down close to Booty Bay and trust me you are not ready for that yet...

Leveling 14-15

At level 14 you may buy the following skills:

Expose Armor Level 1(12 silver)
Cost = 25 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must have melee wep equipped.
Finishing Move.
Finishing move that removes a chunk of armor from the target for 30 secs. Removes more armor for each point built up.
1 Point : 25 Armor
2 points: 50 Armor
3 points: 75 Armor
4 points: 100 Armor
5 points: 125 Armor



Garrote Level 1(12 silver)
Cost = 50 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must be Stealthed ----- Must be behind target.
Garrotes the target for 108 damage over 18 secs.(DOT Damage Over Time) Adds 1 combo point.



Sinister Strike Level 3(12 silver)
Cost = 45 Energy ----- Range = melee ----- Must have Melee wep equipped.
A melee attack that adds 10 damage points to your normal wep damage. Award 1 combo point.


Up until now you will notice that I have always said, 'Must have melee wep equipped' and 'Must have Dagger equipped' This is because a Rogue may use other weps to Dual Wield such as swords, you may notice that the skill 'Backstab' says 'Must have Dagger equipped' This was, as I understand it, subject to change as in the Open Beta I do not remember the actual skill saying this, however this was still the 'official' description from Bliz.(maybe this was changed in the last 2 patches in the last week of the Open Beta) So when you first get the skill 'Backstab' check the actual in game descript, and if it does not say 'Must have Dagger equipped' then you can use this skill with other weps, such as swords. At level 18 you will be able to buy a skill called 'Ambush' which does 250% wep damage plus 50 and awards a combo point!!! I am 100% sure that you must have Daggers equipped for this skill, as well as being stealthed and behind a target mob. Pretty soon you will be heading to your second set of 'elite quests', so hopefully by now you have met quite a few players and already have some friends you can do the quests with. As you do your quests remember that the top most quest in your quest list under an area is the easiest one to complete, so in most cases you should do these quests first. As a general side note, the 'Rogue' class is a difficult one to play and you may be better off playing a less difficult character class before attempting to master this end game awesome PvP class...