Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 1-10
by Chase Christian 
Oct 21st 2009 at 2:00PM
So, after reading the list of pros and cons, you've committed to starting your new rogue. This is a proud day for the brotherhood of assassins, as we welcome a new member into our fold. You will learn to embrace the shadows and your adrenaline will spike after your first kill. You will learn to hide your tracks and strike fear into your enemies.
Before you're ready to slay dragons and assassinate high-profile targets, you've got a lot of learning to do. Rogues can be a complex class, with our nearly limitless bag of tricks and a playstyle that is uniquely our own. You must learn how to use your techniques effectively, and how to maximize your damage output while staying alive. The journey from a young rogue to a powerful assassin begins today.
I'll assume you've read the first article of this series, and you've chosen a great name and customized your new character to your liking. You're thrown right into combat upon logging in, with the goal of killing some variety of low level beasts. You'll be presented with two abilities: Sinister Strike, and Eviscerate. Your basic attack structure will revolve around using Sinister Strike to do damage to a mob, and using Eviscerate when you have built up a few Combo Points.
Combat will be mostly boring for the first few levels, as your attack structure and rotation will be the same for quite some time. The idea of building combo points and then releasing them via a finishing move is a core rogue mechanic, and so building combo points and then using them will be your method for killing just about everything. The only variety comes in how you build the combo points and what you choose to use for your finishing attack. This is a great time to set your key bindings for your basic moves, so that they become second nature as you begin your journey to level 80.
Combo Points & Finishers:
The combo point -> finisher cycle will be what dictates the pacing of a rogue attack sequence. If you were to stack combo points using Sinister Strike, and then finish with Eviscerate, you would have to wait around 30 seconds before your Eviscerate is ready. Knowing when your enemy will die is key to your ability use decision-making. If your enemy will die in 4 seconds, there's no point in saving your combo points: use them immediately so that you don't lose your investment. I suggest TimeToDie as one of your first addons. It's great for knowing how long your enemy will be alive so you can choose whether or not to use a finisher or continue building combo points.
As far as starting gear goes, there's really not many options. Most won't have any stats on it, and if it does, you don't really have much variety or any choices. Try to pick up as much leather as possible (for the higher armor class) and anything with Agility, Strength, or Stamina (in that order). The suffixes of perfect rogue gear are "of the Monkey" or "of the Tiger". Your stat selection will matter more at later levels, but right now, be happy with whatever you can find. Do not buy any gear from the vendors, as it is not worth it.
Level 2:
After completing your first quest, you'll be asked to go visit your friendly rogue trainer. He'll have a new spell for you: Stealth! While Stealth may seem fun, you actually don't have any Stealth-only moves at this level, and so it is mostly used for sneaking around. However, you'll want to be killing almost everything you see for experience, and so you won't spend much time in Stealth at all.
Level 4:
At level 4, you'll be eligible for two brand new moves. One is a personal favorite: Pick Pocket. This is your first move you can perform in stealth, and it allows you to steal some copper or items from your enemies. While leveling up, I would suggest using Pick Pocket as often as possible to ensure you always have some gold available for training new abilities or buying reagents. The second move you acquire is Backstab, which will unfortunately not even warrant a position on your hot bar. It's a largely useless move currently, with no Backstab spec being viable anywhere.
Level 6:
Level 6 brings an update to Sinister Strike which should make it fairly more potent, and our first defensive ability: Gouge. Gouge is one of the most underused of rogue techniques. Use this if you are being attacked by two mobs, as you can effectively knock one out of the fight. Use this if you need to run away, as it will give you a fairly big head start, or if you need to use a bandage. It's a great ability that should find its way to one of your hotkeys. Try using it as often as possible to get used to its nuances.
Level 8:
Level 8 brings another update to a base ability, making Eviscerate do more damage. You also pick up Evasion, which is the first powerful rogue CD you'll acquire. At lower levels, nearly all mobs are melee attacks, and so this will make you nigh immune to their attacks for 15 seconds. This is great for taking out elite or group quest bosses, and for mistake pulls where you end up with more mobs attacking you than you'd like. It's key to remember that you can only dodge an attack if you are facing your enemy, so this does nothing for you if you are running away from a fight. Use Evasion every time it's available, as the longer that Evasion is sitting "ready", the more time it is being wasted.
Level 10:
Finally, upon reaching level 10, you receive quite a few new abilities. Blizzard tends to stagger abilities every 10 levels (for 1-60, at least) and so every 10 levels you will see a major playstyle shift. This time, you receive another Stealth-only move of Sap, which is the rogue's best form of crowd control. It can allow you to solo groups by Sapping one of the mobs and then killing the other quickly. We also receive another infamous cooldown, Sprint. This one is more for escaping fights than for staying to rumble. If you think you can win, use Evasion and tough it out. If you're sure that you'll be defeated, use Sprint to escape from combat. There's no shame in sneaking up and taking a second shot at your prey.
Finally, you'll receive Slice and Dice. This is a staple of rogue DPS, and you should bind it to a key that you can reach easily. Attacking 20% faster will have you doing a ton more damage, and will become even more useful when you gain the ability to apply poisons to your weapons. If you're in combat, you should try to keep Slice and Dice up at all times, especially when fighting multiple targets. If you finish every fight by dumping your combo points into Slice and Dice, you'll be able to keep it up between targets, and you'll hop from mob to mob with great ease. You don't always need to save up 5 combo points before using Slice and Dice, usually 2-3 combo points is enough to keep it active for an entire fight.
While you're on your way to level 10, you'll have questions like "what speed should my weapons be?" I would suggest reading up on the basics of rogue axioms. The short answer is that any gear you use will be fine while leveling, and that you shouldn't worry terribly about min/maxing while on your way to 80. The key suggestions I can provide would be to use the best equipment available to you at the time, and focus on your abilities instead of your gear. A well-played rogue can often defeat a well-geared rogue, and the lower levels are an even greater example of this.
Conclusion:
Once you've reached level 10, you've started to get some of the meaty rogue abilities that you'll be using all the way until level 80. Next week I will be covering a larger range of leveling, complete with a few choice rogue quests and some of our great new abilities and tricks to try out while experimenting with the rogue class. Please post any tips you have for a rogue between the levels of 1-10, or any tricks that you have to share for those just starting a new rogue.
Are you a Rogue looking to up your game? Check back every Wednesday for the latest strategies in Encrypted Text! And for the raiding Rogue, get ready for Trial of the Crusader with Ready Check and our Trial of the Crusader guide for Rogues, part 1, part 2, and part 3. Starting a new rogue? Check out our new leveling guide, starting with character creation and levels 1-10!Filed under: Rogue, Leveling, Alts, (Rogue) Encrypted Text
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
ash Oct 21st 2009 4:04PM
I don't get some of the arguments with backstab here, besides using it as an opener I don't see why anyone would ever use a gouge/backstab combo its obivously bad the first time you use it.
What I am wondering about is using slice and dice when leveling no most mobs. I know it is a definite must have when you are attacking a mob with lots of health like a boss or elite but past a certain point most things seem to die with an opener, a sinister strike or two and a finisher. After first starting a rogue I quickly picked up on the fact that storing your combo points up for a big attack was ineffectual as the mob would usually die before you could get the attack off. Spending combo points on slice and dice seems to lean more toward that storing up approach, especially on single mobs. Of course, maybe this is all more true for level 1-10, and I am weighting things more towards the next few dozen levels.
Elioenai Oct 21st 2009 5:10PM
If you want to level with daggers you should use Gouge->Backstab continually (until you get Mutilate, or forever if you go Subtlety) as it will be better for killing mobs then a Sinister Strike spam.
ash Oct 22nd 2009 12:22AM
Ok, but is this advice only pertinent to a certain level range or are we talking from 1-80?
Captn Obvious Oct 21st 2009 4:33PM
There is a lot of conjecture in the comments here. To backstab...not to backstab...gouge...not to gouge.
The beauty of the first 10 starting levels is that it doesnt really matter very much. If you die, make the two minute run back to your corpse, try something else, like your pulling technique, perhaps 'throw' brings a single mob rather than two, rather than proximity pulling a 2nd mob when you come out of stealth etc. Kill a few more boars, perhaps you'll level and can waste Hogger then.
There is an ideal answer sure, but think of this, my first character (a lock) I levelled to 35 without using one talent point (I couldnt offset the damage to the void while I meleed anymore). I was also need rolling on swords for melee combat due to my 'combat lock' vision of what the warlock class was. Noob right, sure I was, but my point is wow is designed around an easy bed-in for a variety of skill (or not so much skill) levels.
The important thing is to have fun, in a few days worth of playing time (@80) there will be plenty of time for min-maxing. 2 heirlooms with +xp and heirloom weapons, things will go fast enough anyway and the 1-10 period will be like a fond distant childhood memory.
The only thing I would recommend is going mutilate at 50ish (I can't remember which level exactly) because its a really fun spec and afterwards you won't look back.
Although I guess my only other advice for people starting out that may be as uneducated as I was:
1. Don't try kill a mob purely with throw
2. SS - Evis is your friend
3. Agil, +AP, Stam, Hit, Haste, Str is your stat priority (even +armor as a last resort in early levels)
4. Don't use Int, Sp and +SP gear
5. Pack a number of pots, scrolls, food to help the process along - or get a friend to enchant your gear with low level enchants. See point 3 for stats.
6. Remember to use your talent points at level 10.
7. Don't forget glyphs at level 15.
8. Last point, if you're stuck - go do something else, try a different quest most likely you'll level and breeze back through the original quest and you will wonder why you had trouble.
Although I guess if you're reading the comments section of wow.com, I doubt you are on your first character between 1-10.
Anyway happy stabbing rogues.
Shâtz Oct 21st 2009 6:14PM
Chase, I realise you put good work into these columns and i enjoy reading them troughly, but lets be honest, anyone reading a weekly Rogue blog is more than likely already a level 80 rogue. i prefer the end game advice, reviews you give etc. good guide none the less, will be useful for any1 leveling to 10 for the hour and a half it usually takes :)
Abbadon Oct 21st 2009 6:14PM
I'm enjoying this column since I was ready to return to my dormant rogue as it's time to start farming my main achv getter some junkboxes for his title. My rogue is lv 17 atm, and I went with glyph of Sinister Strike and Blurred Speed at 15... I think those are OK choices for now, but I'd like more info on the different glyph options when leveling. Could you please highlight glyphs in the next article? Thanks!
Chase Christian Oct 21st 2009 6:16PM
You got it, Glyphs and Talents are the topic of the next column!
therorschach Oct 22nd 2009 7:00PM
Could not have been better timing for this article to appear. I just started leveling a rogue this morning, and then I see this article today. I look forward to the next 10 levels!
Dragoniel Oct 22nd 2009 1:50AM
It's an interesting column, one which I will make sure to read. I have a level 80 rogue alt and now started another rogue on horde side (currently level 28). If it's not too much to ask - don't forget to cover PvP side a bit! Rogues have (almost) always been top PvP class and low levels are no difference - from your suggestion to ignore bacstab I get the impression that you have only PvE in mind, but doing a WSG or AB from time to time is a major experience gains in those low levels, often enough to fill the gap you need to be able to continue questing in the zone where all the lower level quests are already completed (as a squishy rogue, there are no short supply of quests one just can't solo right away).
I get an impression that a lot of readers here doesn't realise how litle damage rogue does with his special moves at low levels. Perhaps if you had full heirlooms the sinister strike + gouge + backstab would be enough to finish the mob, but in quest items - *no way*. Not even 50% of their hp.
Also, I'd like to offer an advice for all those lowbie rogues, having a hard time on higher level mobs/quests - check AH from time to time, even if you dont even have 1 gold coin. Check "consumables" tab and browse through potions, enchants and all the good stuff there. Make sure to filter the items by the price and more often than not you might just get yourself something extremely useful for mere silver - some of the players sets up auctions for the things they get while leveling proffessions, and sometimes they set only the "buyout" price, leaving "normal" price at the couple of silvers, which means sometimes you suddenly can get nearly all your gear enchanted and have some powerful potions and elixirs to rely on when facing that nasty elite or escort quest.
That helped me so much, when I had to start from zero at the horde side.
James Oct 22nd 2009 2:31AM
I enjoy this guide as I did the other classes, but it seems to me you are giving players raiding advice at lower levels. I don't want to tell you how to do your job but try to look at it from the prospective of a player who has never played this game before. So advising them on rogue techniques and specs meant for level 80 at level 1 wont do much good. Every ability has a use while leveling and while raiding. While backstab may not do you much good on heroic anub'arak its your first viable stealth opener and does more damage quicker then any of your other moves, AND it allows you to gain experience in stealth for when it becomes necessary. As for slice and dice it's a bit of a waste because you won't often be going from mob to mob as a rogue because you'll want to open out of stealth, stop and heal up (rogues are still not very defense oriented and have no healing spells) or use those three points to kill the mob with eviscerate. When I leveled my rogue I primarily used slice and dice on elite mobs and in groups because then you could build up the necessary combo points.
So quick overview
1.Use backstab as your first stealth opener and as others have said gouge backstab combo
2.Save Evasion for when you need it, without vanish it may just save your life in those lower level towns from hell where every mob aggros at once.
3.Use Slice and Dice in dungeons because at earlier levels most of your damage won't be white yet
4.Always use and learn every ability and until you are 80 always put all your abilities on an action bar and don't bother with custom UI's until you have learned the game.
(if you aren't a noob you don't need this anyway)
Dragoniel Oct 22nd 2009 3:30AM
Nice sum-up, but I'd like to add a note on slice and dice - I'm leveling with swords atm and their white damage nearly outweights the eviscerate, so if you feel that the mob is not going to die in 10 seconds or so, it might be a good idea to use slice and dice. Especially when fighting more than one mob at once.
You see, the problem with using eviscerate is that 50% of the time it gets parried/blocked/missed/dodged and thus the points are effectively wasted - you take longer to kill a mob and lose a ton of HP in the process.
Slice and dice can't fail.
Frank Oct 22nd 2009 9:11AM
Macro your Pick Pocket to your opener from stealth. You'll have all the junk boxes to keep your Open Locks skills up and over time it's a decent amount of gold.
/cast Pick Pockets
/cast Backstab(or Ambush...)
PeeWee Oct 22nd 2009 2:07PM
I'll make this easier.
Levelling a rogue 1-10
a) Run to an enemy
b) Right-click said enemy
c) Loot
And when 3.3 goes live and you can dual-wield from lvl 1 (or was that 4.x?), it'll only go a bit faster.
KT Oct 27th 2009 12:56PM
I'm enjoying this column because while I played a rogue before up to about level 30, I abandoned it and I'm planning on making a goblin rogue when that is available.
I did use the gouge-backstab combination quite a bit, but I'm willing to acknowledge it may not be the best route. I don't think it hurt me though. I didn't die often as a rogue and to be honest, things like efficiency don't matter so much to me. I don't care how fast I level because I'm never in a hurry to get to the end, and I like to actually play the different classes because they are different. I don't want to play a rogue like a warrior, I want to play it like a rogue. I play it because I like sneaking around, pickpocketing, and yes, backstabbing things. I rarely see the back of mobs and when I have a class for whom that is a specialty then I am going to go for it.
So while I think your advice is good, if anyone out there is reading this and is disappointed that they're being told to just run up and kill mobs without using some of your cool abilities, well you can still do it anyway, and in my experience it doesn't really mean you die more, just perhaps you won't go from mob to mob as quickly. If you don't care about that, then have fun with the abilities!
jason_d_griffith Oct 28th 2009 6:49PM
Also, every class can train their first ability at level 1 if they have the copper, which you can get from killing 2-4 mobs. So you can actually get stealth at level 1.
During low levels I never bother with S&D because, as we've already mentioned, Eviscerate likely would have killed the mob right out instead of just increasing your attack speed. I'm not saying it's a bad move, just not one I prefer.
Also, you might as well take advantage of Pick Pocket every time you stealth, and there's no better way to do that than to slap it on a macro along with your opening move. I do it the second I get backstab:
/cast Pick Pocket
/cast Backstab
It will pick their pockets if they have any, but regardless you also stab them in the back while you're doing it as PP does not trigger your GCD.
And yes, Backstab is an excellent ability to use while leveling often resulting in a 2-shot kill on the mobs with Backstab + Eviscerate during your first 10 levels with an occasional auto-attack thrown in to get the last little bit or waiting for a couple of seconds to finish them off with Sinister Strike instead. It's great for early levels and should never be passed up.