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Rogue leveling guide

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A leveling build for Assassination, Combat and Subtlety, point by point from level 10 to 60, and what changed for the class.

On this page6 sections

Recommended leveling builds

At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOne build per tree, read from the beta talent text.

Our pick is Combat: it needs no Stealth opener and no special weapon, and Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush cover the pulls that go wrong.

Suggested build
Combat, 18/33/0 at 60
16-point milestone
Restless Blades, level 25
Last Combat talent
Adrenaline Rush, level 40
Races
9

Combat leveling buildSuggested tree

18/33/0 at level 60Restless Blades at level 25

A Sinister Strike build. Sinister Strike gets cheaper from level 10, and Blade Flurry at 31 lets you fight two enemies at once. Adrenaline Rush arrives at 40, and Restless Blades shortens the cooldown of both.

Open in the calculatorHow Combat plays Share

Key decisions

  • Precision comes before Deflection: hit chance helps every swing, and Deflection is the door to Riposte.
  • Precision's 3 points also open Dual Wield Specialization at 26.
  • Blade Flurry at 31 comes before Hack and Slash: Weapon Expertise requires it.
  • Hack and Slash depends on your weapon type, so check its text against what you carry.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–11Improved Sinister Strike2/2
  2. 12–14Improved Eviscerate3/3
  3. 15–17Precision3/3
  4. 18–20Deflection3/3
  5. 21Riposte1/1
  6. 22–23Endurance2/2
  7. 24Lightning Reflexes1/5
  8. 25Restless BladesMilestone1/1
Show all 51 points · levels 26–60
  1. 26–30Dual Wield Specialization5/5
  2. 31Blade Flurry1/1
  3. 32–36Hack and Slash5/5
  4. 37–39Aggression3/3
  5. 40Adrenaline Rush1/1
  6. 41–42Weapon Expertise2/2
  7. 43–47MaliceAssassination5/5
  8. 48–50RuthlessnessAssassination3/3
  9. 51–52MurderAssassination2/2
  10. 53Relentless StrikesAssassination1/1
  11. 54–58LethalityAssassination5/5
  12. 59Cold BloodAssassination1/1
  13. 60Improved Slice and DiceAssassination1/3

Assassination leveling build

39/12/0 at level 60Cold Blood at level 25

Critical strikes and combo points. Malice and Lethality raise how often and how hard you crit, and Seal Fate from 35 turns critical strikes into extra combo points. Mutilate arrives at 40 and attacks with both weapons.

Open in the calculatorHow Assassination plays Share

Key decisions

  • Malice comes first: Lethality needs all 5 points in it.
  • Four points of Lethality reach Cold Blood at 25. The fifth follows at 26.
  • Venom at 30: Mutilate requires it.
  • Remorseless Attacks suits leveling: after a kill it raises the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike or Backstab.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–14Malice5/5
  2. 15–17Ruthlessness3/3
  3. 18–19Murder2/2
  4. 20Relentless Strikes1/1
  5. 21–24Lethality4/5
  6. 25Cold BloodMilestone1/1
  7. 26Lethality5/5
  8. 27–28Remorseless Attacks2/2
Show all 51 points · levels 29–60
  1. 29Improved Slice and Dice1/3
  2. 30Venom1/1
  3. 31–32Vigor2/2
  4. 33–34Improved Poisons2/5
  5. 35–39Seal Fate5/5
  6. 40Mutilate1/1
  7. 41–43Improved Poisons5/5
  8. 44–48Vile Poisons5/5
  9. 49–50Improved Sinister StrikeCombat2/2
  10. 51–53Improved EviscerateCombat3/3
  11. 54–56Puncturing WoundsCombat3/3
  12. 57–59PrecisionCombat3/3
  13. 60DeflectionCombat1/3

Subtlety leveling build

20/0/31 at level 60Premeditation at level 25

Every fight opens from Stealth. Opportunity and Improved Ambush make the opener hit harder, Initiative and Premeditation start you with extra combo points, and Hemorrhage at 30 is the strike between openers. Thousand Cuts arrives at 40. In our view it is slower between fights than Combat, because you stealth to each enemy.

Open in the calculatorHow Subtlety plays Share

Key decisions

  • Camouflage is the filler: it cuts the Stealth speed penalty, which matters when every pull starts stealthed.
  • Serrated Blades at 26 to 28: Hemorrhage needs all 3 points.
  • Dirty Deeds at 32 and 33 opens Quietus, whose per-rank values are not confirmed.
  • Preparation at 31: Thousand Cuts requires it.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–11Opportunity2/2
  2. 12–14Camouflage3/5
  3. 15–17Improved Ambush3/3
  4. 18–19Elusiveness2/2
  5. 20Ghostly Strike1/1
  6. 21–23Initiative3/3
  7. 24Camouflage4/5
  8. 25PremeditationMilestone1/1
Show all 51 points · levels 26–60
  1. 26–28Serrated Blades3/3
  2. 29Camouflage5/5
  3. 30Hemorrhage1/1
  4. 31Preparation1/1
  5. 32–33Dirty Deeds2/2
  6. 34Heightened Senses1/2
  7. 35–39Quietus5/5
  8. 40Thousand Cuts1/1
  9. 41–45MaliceAssassination5/5
  10. 46–48RuthlessnessAssassination3/3
  11. 49–50MurderAssassination2/2
  12. 51Relentless StrikesAssassination1/1
  13. 52–56LethalityAssassination5/5
  14. 57Cold BloodAssassination1/1
  15. 58–59Remorseless AttacksAssassination2/2
  16. 60Improved Slice and DiceAssassination1/3

Compare the picks

Two builds side by side at level 60, with every talent where they differ.

The 3 Rogue trees

Assassination, Combat, Subtlety: the one-rank talents and their levels.

The one-rank talents in each tree, and the earliest level you can take them.

What changed for Rogues · 3

Changes from Classic, and what the beta showed.

  • New ability ranks reach your action bar on their own when you train them.

  • Weapon-skill bonuses on individual items are being reduced. Read the tooltip before you chase an old favorite.

  • Some items can cut the chance for your attacks to be parried or dodged.

Dungeons and the 1-60 route · 9

Levels 13 to 60, the same for every class.

The same for every class. Run each dungeon once with every quest in your log.

Open the 1-60 route

Changes that apply to every class· 2

  • All 27 talent trees are meant to be viable for all content. They are not equal, and none should be strong enough to stack a raid with.

  • Hit and crit are one stat each for melee, ranged and spells. Hover a stat on the character sheet and it explains itself.

Races that can be a Rogue · 9

5 Alliance, 4 Horde.

Alliance

Horde

The race and class table

Keep reading

Sources and what isn't confirmed

Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard

  • Per-rank values of Quietus: the talent data flags them
  • Another community list names Venom as the last Assassination talent. This page follows the talent data

Not announced

  • A leveling talent order from Blizzard
  • Dual specialization
  • Respec prices
  • Most new quest names
  • Experience amounts for dungeon quests
  • Level ranges for Shen'dralas and Mount Hyjal

Sources

  • Wowhead, 22 Sep 2026: Ability ranks on the action bar
  • Community beta data: Weapon-skill bonuses on items
  • Deep Dive: Parry and dodge on items
  • Tim Jones, Windows Central, 22 Sep 2026: Talent tree balance
  • Wowhead, 21 Sep 2026: Hit and crit

Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.