MMORPG.com World of Warcraft Correspondent James Wood writes this guide for would-be Rogues in Blizzard`s World of Warcraft.

Rogues: Quiet, sneaky, and painful when it counts. Even with the numerous patches that have been released that have reduced the Rogues’ combat abilities, this class is still not to be underestimated. Even if Blizzard constantly nerfs Rogues, doesn’t that mean that they were overpowered to begin with? 23 Rogues are all about stealth and thought. They plan their motions ahead of the target, wait for the right opportunity, then strike. Their fights are meant to be quick, with strikes that immobilize their opponent. Rogues are like spiders, immobilizing their prey until they’re ready to devour them.

Read the article here.

"There are no Bind-on-Pickup items with Skinning and there are no Skinning-required items"

That statement is wrong.  Not sure about level 70 as I never bothered to level my 60 rogue to 70, but there are a couple bop daggers out there specific to skinning at 60.

I'd much rather see a guide on the less OP classes.

I love using my rogue and the newest expansion is suppose to make some better daggers. I think that rogues need better daggers as that  is what they are suppose to be using. Swords are cool but with some better daggers we can take out the enemies and have higher dps.

This guide will be incredibly outdated in less than a month. 3.0 brings huge changes to Rogues and will be arriving soon. Your guide should have included those changes.

The Racial section at the very least is entirely wrong. If you are starting a rogue, do not go off of those.

Most of your monster killing will involve your staple combo of Sinister Strike/Hemorrhage followed by Eviscerate once you’ve reached 5 combo points. Kidney Shot, Gouge and Blind are also an option if you ever need to heal in combat or buy yourself enough time to finish the mob.

Evasion can be a life-saver, especially when fighting more than one mob or elites.

WRONG! So completely wrong.

Eviscerate should NEVER be used in PvE - you should always be using Slice 'n Dice and Rupture. Eviscerate does terrible, terrible damage. Slice and dice should ALWAYS be up, and if you happen to have both SnD and Rupture up already, and have an additional 5 combo points on the target, you should throw in an Envenom, as it will always do more damage than Eviscerate.

I have to disagree, Slice and Dice does about the same damage for me as eviscerate.  All a matter of choice, but most certainly is not that much different since I don't notice any at all.

I have to disagree, Slice and Dice does about the same damage for me as eviscerate. All a matter of choice, but most certainly is not that much different since I don't notice any at all.

Disagree all you like, but the simple fact is that you're wrong. 30% haste increase, when up for 100% of all fights you engage in, does significantly more damage than the occasional 1200 or 1300 flat damage every 15 or 20 seconds (which is what Evisc does). Look up any spreadsheet on rogue DPS, any theorycrafting or number-crunching site. The Elitist Jerks forum is especially useful in this regard. Any rogue with much experience, especially in raiding, knows the significant value of SnD over Eviscerate. If you don't see it, then I submit that you are simply not looking hard enough at the numbers.

I used to not use SnD at all while I was raiding in Molten Core, when I was particularly green to raiding, but by the time I had started running Blackwing Lair, I had learned the absolute value of SnD + Rupture in raids. The only time Eviscerate should be used is when the mob is almost dead, you have no Deadly Poison charges on it (can't envenom), and there are no other mobs to fight which you will need to keep SnD active for.

Great article, specially for a newbie (though I'd like to have seen more tips for lowbies)!

Originally posted by Verduria

This guide will be incredibly outdated in less than a month. 3.0 brings huge changes to Rogues and will be arriving soon. Your guide should have included those changes.

The Racial section at the very least is entirely wrong. If you are starting a rogue, do not go off of those.

Seconded. With all the changes coming in 3.0, this is largely irrelevant, as not a single one is listed.

If you're going to use this to get an impression of the class, fine, just realise that much will change come 3.0/WotLK, and the importance placed on certain abilities/talents/gearing will shift, in some cases drastically.

Great article for folks with no skill that want to get in on the action and wtfpwn people.  Oh wait, that's every rogue player already...

Originally posted by Black_Elvis

Great article for folks with no skill that want to get in on the action and wtfpwn people.  Oh wait, that's every rogue player already...

Nah, that's warlocks. All they gotta do to top the damage meters (and pwn in PvP) is bind every key to one of their various curses, dots and shadowbolt (or fear if it's PvP), wrap their head in bubblewrap, turn on some techno music, then pound their head on the keyboard to the beat.

The only "skill" involved in warlocks is deciding which techno song they want to facemash to. Frost Mages in PvE are even easier (if it were even possible to be easier, lol).

Originally posted by Jimboa24

Nah, that's warlocks. All they gotta do to top the damage meters (and pwn in PvP) is bind every key to one of their various curses, dots and shadowbolt (or fear if it's PvP), wrap their head in bubblewrap, turn on some techno music, then pound their head on the keyboard to the beat.

The only "skill" involved in warlocks is deciding which techno song they want to facemash to. Frost Mages in PvE are even easier (if it were even possible to be easier, lol).

So you're saying all they have to do is use a large number of abilities and mash the keyboard? Sounds like most classes. In my opinion, rogues are one of the most dynamic classes to play and are one of the classes that truly allows for a display of skill and finesse.

Easiest class to play, One of the hardest to master.

Would be nice if the author gets his facts straight.

Hemos costs 35 enerrgy Riposte costs 10 and cheap shot costs 60 /40(with dirty tricks)

And yes Slice and dice is better than evisorate because it can proc mongoose/executioner, or trinkets

But  most of all it can proc Combat potency for extra energy

  Hah, my character is interweb famous now. I love that picture so much. My rogue still remains my favorite character, and I still have every piece of gear in that pic, lol.

   Also, excellent and informative write-up.

Use less than 5 combo points in EMERGENCY SITUATIONS ONLY.

Disagree.  Slice and Dice should be kept up 100% during PvE, therefore it is acceptable to pop it with 3 CPs if it's about to wear off and you're short on energy. 

Good noob guide, but any rogue serious about doing DPS at 70 would disagree with several of the points.  Check out the elitistjerks guide:

elitistjerks.com/f31/t16940-roguecraft_101_a/

This guide got me from 4-7th place in DPS Kara to number 1 in Gruul's.  Against better geared rogues who weren't up on their theory. (Me in mix and match welfare epics, Kara drops, and no weapon enchants vs full T4-geared rogues)