Human Rogue - help a noob out

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
1

Hi guys,

Just wanted to start off by saying - my first time playing WoW, ever, was a couple weeks ago. I had always wanted to try it, but always backed out as I heard that “retail” had become toxic. I’m not saying this is true, it’s just what I heard for years and it always turned me away. With that being said, I’m absolutely loving this classic experience so far. It’s a great game and I am already a bit too addicted.

I went ahead and made a Human Rogue. I’m currently level 27, and just trying to figure a few things out. With any MMO I’ve ever played, I always spent almost all of my time and effort in pvp. So, please keep that in mind when trying to elaborate on some of my questions.

Firstly… what weapons should I really focus on using if my end goal on this account is going to be a “gank” rogue type of build? I love the idea of sneaking up on someone, one shottint, and slipping away before being seen. I’ve been hearing you can go swords or daggers. I’d like to lean towards swords, purely for cosmetic (bad a$$ looking swords are a plus to me over tiny ugly daggers). But, either way… what should I focus on?

Also, in terms of ranged weapons… should I main a bow, gun, or throwing weapons? Does it really matter? What are the pros and cons here?

In terms of talents… I’m thinking of sticking with subtlety and assassination, along with 3 points in combat (improved gouge). Will this be my best bet for an end game “gank” build?

Profession wise, i went mining and engineering. Don’t really know anything about these, but if this was a bad choice, please let me know.

Are there any special ways to set up my keybinds to make button mashing more efficient? I was a 15 year runescape player, and never had to have keybinds and abilities. It’s new to me and slightly hard to get used to! Lol.

Any other tips/advise in terms of leveling or gearing or anything at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks homies!

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Sounds good, only thing is that you can’t go Assassination/Sub with Swords, it’s daggers only.

You can absolutely level as those specs, but you’ll have a harder time finding quality daggers compared to swords.

My only advice really would be to look up weapons you can upgrade to every 5-10 levels.

Use an add on like AtlasLoot to help you browse dungeons and quests that give blue weapons and guide your adventures in those directions.

Keeping your weapons current for your level bracket is crucial to leveling speed, even more important than your spec but not more important than your movement speed.

Always be moving. Always be killing.

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Your primary focus in this state of the game, is to make friends, and level. the problem you’re going to face if you focus ONLY on pvp, is that you will never level. its better to play a build that will level you the fastest, as being 2-3 levels ahead of someone else is far superior to doing more damage in a “Gank” build.

Combat Daggers is the endgame meta, but when levelling there are far more swords you can get than daggers, except for the lvl 20-36 bracket where you will still be using the deadmines swords until you get the sword from the Scarlet Monastery giant quest, and either an offhand from the AH or the RFK sword.

Combat is also the far superior spec for pvp until level 60, as you will not be 1shotting anyone except level 10s, and afk mages without frost armor. As adrenaline rush plus your pvp hit cap from precision in the combat tree will make you a feared god to anyone within your level bracket.

You want to make friends with every mage on the server, as a mage for slows and ranged silences in addition to sheep will let you win every 2v1, 2v3, and even 2v4 encounter with your mage friend.

classicdb(put a dot here)ch/?talent#fZMhAb0Vzxso Is going to be your base PvE build, which is still extremely strong in pvp, You can lose out on Deflection and maybe blade flurry for PvP and instead put the points into Improved Sprint to break a slow, and Improved kick, to silence people for 2 seconds even if they arent casting. Every point past this tree you spend will be 100% up to you.

Another option is to put points into riposte, but fights really shouldnt last long enough for a disarm, but it may be the final nail in the coffin for your opponent.

And dont listen to the guy above me, an extremely slow sword from level 19 (2.6-2.9) is better than a fast (1.7-2.2) “shows more dps” level 30 green from the AH.

Edit the reason you wont be able to level as Assa/Sub is your ambush does maybe 400-1000 damage at level 44, and the rest of your damage will be 30-80 white hits, whereas Combat casually hits for 3-400 consistently with 4-800 Eviscerates, and evasion is also off CD faster so you wont get spanked by more than 1 mob.

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What hasn’t been touched is ranged weapons.

You generally want any ranged weapon that offers stats like AGI, STR or Atk Power.

Early on the only ranged weapon that offers stats is the Ranger Bow at level 20, a +1 AGI, so it is negliable.

Do note, ranged weapons like this are generally best used by hunters, so don’t step on their toes and roll against them: its poor sport to do so.

The biggest thing next to consider is that throwing weapons are weaker, but do not take a bag slot. A bow, crossbow or gun will require a specfic bag to hold the ammo in, which reduces the overall amount of loot you can carry. The upside here though is they do much more damage.

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Thank you all for the replies! Currently driving so can’t type much but will be back soon! Anyone on Fairbanks I can add in game?

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What level is your Classic Rogue?

Cus I haven’t equipped a sword yet on this character, “Can’t level” as sub is an outright lie. My /played is only about 6.5 days and I don’t spend much time in dungeons or groups :slight_smile:

That being said, combat swords is definitely Faster and easier. Levelling daggers takes more finesses and effort

1 Like
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but can you comfortably kill a level 57 elite solo, or kill 4 mobs at a time as sub? im not saying its not possible, its just a large handicap youre placing on yourself.
I’m at level 48 with 6 days played but ive spent probably 2 days total levelling profs, making gold for my mount at 40, and helping lowbies clear dungeons :stuck_out_tongue:

And remember, this is classic, the whole point of the game is to enjoy it and make friends, like the olden days. i had probably 30 days played in true vanilla on my level 50 tauren warrior because it was a game, with no competition whatsoever :stuck_out_tongue:

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If I double evasion with prep, use pots, blind and bandage, and use every tool at my disposal… I can MAYBE kill a same level elite lol. And nope I certainly cannot kill 4 mobs like I could on my combat rogue =(

But I CAN ambush Magies in WPL for 1500 and put them in their cagies :slight_smile:

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decided i should probably start posting as my ign char :stuck_out_tongue:

I tried going sub with cold blood with improved ambush at 44, and my dps was always lower than other toons in dungies, i literally could not kill some regular mobs solo as their armor made ambush crits only hit for 2-300, and white hits hit for 10.

Combat is basically a mini warrior with a huge utility belt, whereas Sub/Assa is purely based around patience, killing people with low hp, killing 1 mob at a time, I’ve played combat for so long that to play any other spec just feels underpowered and neutered as i like popping adrenaline rush and blade flurrying down 2+ mobs at a time.

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I don’t want to call people out but some of these openers they’re saying to use are hilarious. You’ll likely never use ambush on a good player. Ambush is so situational. If you leave your opponent alive after an ambush with even 1hp that COULD be the costly mistake that gets you killed.

Sub spec openers are going to revolve around building combo points and attacking during stun and vanishing or blinding to restealth so you can’t ever be touched.

The idea is to finesse with no gaps in your stun chain. A really good opener is also just opening with cheap shot and white damaging to gouge, let energy regain, then ks and bs once or twice. Then blind, restealth, repeat. Vanish can be used too.

Spec prep for the best control imaginable. Don’t be excited to unload dps on cheapshot. That is the key. Unload during kidney and get out before it wears off.

Good luck!

Oh and here’s a trick versus other rogues. If they pop evasion, vanish and cheapshot. It won’t miss. Effectively you’ll make them waste theirs once you run your stun chain on them. Which they probably won’t live through since rogues are the squishiest class in classic

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skill doesnt matter at level 32, either i 1shot ambush you, or i need to blind/vanish/ambush again.

I also have a massive advantage while questing because im playing with a long time mage friend, who can root/slow them while i break melee range to build energy back up.

What i emplore the OP to do is to watch some vanilla 1v1 videos, At 60 you CAN 1 shot a mage in bgs, you can 1shot almost anyone if you have a large enough gear advantage, but alot of it is keeping them stunned, building CPs, and keeping thistle tea on you at all times to follow that kidney shot into 2-4 backstabs into a blind if they arent dead.

Rogues are the ballerinas of vanilla in Sub/Assa, and the evasion facetank in combat to hit you for a 1200-1600 eviscerate while maintaining Gouge/Kick/Blind/Cheap shot to stop any spellcaster from even being able to do anything.

You should watch some videos by HotNSweet on youtube, but remember, duels are the least favourable for rogues, youd rather wait for them to be in combat with a few mobs, low on mana, or while they are already trying to kill someone else to sneak in and have a massive upper hand.

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Thanks for the info bud! Are you still talking about daggers there? Or swords? I see you aren’t going the ambush approach so I’m guessing this is more of a subtlety/assassination swords build you’re talking about?

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I lived by dagger prep spec. Hemo is an awesome alternative if you need to freshen up PvP a bit. Whole different style. Without sounding like an elitist jerk, I’d say I couldn’t lose as prep spec with all my cds 1v1. Rogues are just so ultimate when you finesse. So a warrior bleeds you? Oh well, vanish after a bleed tick just to get cs off and a new chain of stuns. Same for any class that dots.

But bud, get you engineering nades for mages. Good mages are a nightmare. Some are laughable. But the good ones. Yeah, you’ll sweat.

16

Hey guys,

Tried a bit of main hand dagger last night and yeah, it does hella damage out of stealth. But, was hard after that to maintain any kind of decent damage… does this change later on with better abilities and such? I’m only a 28 so haven’t unlocked everything yet. Also had a sword for my off hand as I only have one decent dagger right now.

Duel swords seems to be better for PvE just off what I’ve personally experienced so far. Trying to figure out how to get the daggers to work better though, lol! Is it weird to rock one sword and one dagger? Do I lose any values doing this?

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Daggers are what you want for that style of pvp, they are just much more challenging to level with.

Improved ambush and back stab, can go down to prep or switch to assassination after that.

Combat swords is fun as Hell to level with for me. Riposte, endurance and improved sprint, blade flurry, all great.

18

Love that.

But yeah I can kill elites relatively easily with a couple cds as combat, and have killed a few named red mobs for quests which is tough with daggers.

I love daggers but they’re definitely more challenging.