Combat Rogue leveling guide
Steady, forgiving melee with strong cooldowns. How the Combat talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page7 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Combat talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 18/33/0 (18 Assassination, 33 Combat)
- 16-point milestone
- Restless Blades, level 25
- Last Combat talent
- Adrenaline Rush, level 40
- In a group
- Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Rogue
- This tree
How Combat plays
- Combat is the plain tree. Its first five points go into the two abilities you press most: Improved Sinister Strike takes 5 Energy off Sinister Strike, and Improved Eviscerate adds 21% to Eviscerate.
- It is also the tree that survives mistakes. Deflection adds 6% Parry chance, and Riposte answers a parry with 150% weapon damage and a 6 sec disarm.
- Endurance cuts the cooldown of Sprint and Evasion by 60%.
- Restless Blades, the milestone, takes 2 sec per combo point off the remaining cooldown of Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, Evasion, Sprint and Vanish each time you use a damaging finishing move.
- Blade Flurry adds 20% melee attack speed and makes your attacks strike a second nearby enemy for 15 sec. Adrenaline Rush, the last talent, raises Energy regeneration by 100% for 15 sec.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Build with Sinister Strike
Improved Sinister Strike takes 5 Energy off each one.
- 2
Spend on Eviscerate
Improved Eviscerate adds 21% to its damage.
- 3
Use Riposte after a parry
Riposte becomes active after you parry and disarms the target for 6 sec.
- 4
Use Sprint and Evasion freely
Endurance cuts the cooldown of both by 60%, and Restless Blades shortens what is left.
- 5
Press Blade Flurry when a second enemy joins
Blade Flurry makes your melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent.
- 6
Keep Adrenaline Rush for long or dangerous fights
Adrenaline Rush is 15 sec of doubled Energy regeneration.
Talents that change how you play · 9
From Improved Sinister Strike at level 10 to Adrenaline Rush at 40.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 10–11
Sinister Strike costs less, so there are more of them in a fight.
- Levels 15–17
Fewer misses: 3% more chance to hit at three points.
- Level 21
Parries now open a strike of their own.
- Levels 22–23
Sprint and Evasion come back much sooner.
- Level 25
Restless Blades16-point milestone
Finishing moves start winding your cooldowns back.
- Levels 26–30
The off-hand weapon hits 25% harder at five points.
- Level 31
Two enemies at once becomes a pull you choose, not one you survive.
- Levels 32–36
The type of weapon you carry starts to matter: see the gear section.
- Level 40
For 15 sec Energy stops being the limit.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items.
- Hack and Slash decides the weapon type. An axe or sword gives a 5% chance of an extra attack, a dagger or fist weapon 5% critical strike chance, and a mace ignores 15% of the target's armor.
- An off-hand weapon worth upgrading: Dual Wield Specialization adds 25% to its damage.
- Chance to hit. Precision adds 3%, and Weapon Expertise makes your attacks harder to dodge or parry.
Groups and dungeons
In a group: damage. New group talents before 3 dungeons.
In a group these talents support damage.
- Blade Flurry hits a second nearby enemy whether you want it to or not. In a dungeon, look at what is standing next to your target first.
- Improved Kick, which gives Kick a chance to Silence the target for 2 sec, is two points this build does not spend. A group that needs casters shut down is a reason to.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
2 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- Forgiving. A parry talent, a strike that follows a parry, and Sprint and Evasion on short cooldowns.
- It needs nothing set up: no talent in the Combat build asks for Stealth or an opener.
Trade-offs
- The burst sits on two cooldowns, Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush. Between them the build is steady, not fast.
- Dual Wield Specialization and Hack and Slash both arrive after level 25, so the first fifteen points are about cost, hit chance and survival.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Not announced
- Item names and stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every claim on this page is read from the Combat talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.