WoW Classic Dagger Rogue Leveling Talent Build from 1 to 60

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Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

1. Levels 10 & 11 — 2 points in Remorseless Attacks
2. Levels 12 to 16 — 5 points in Opportunity
3. Levels 17 to 19 — 3 points in Improved Gouge

Remorseless Attacks is one of the best leveling talents you can have as a dagger Rogue and a must-pick talent. Improved Gouge increases your Gouge duration from 4 seconds to 5.5, which is fantastic when you want to stun the target and bandage yourself or pool Energy while maintaining a healthy life amount. Opportunity is a major damage increase for Dagger Rogue since you will be opening on targets with Ambush and trying to Backstab as much as you can.

1. Levels 20 to 21 — 2 points in Improved Sinister Strike
2. Levels 22 to 24 — 3 points in Improved Backstab
3. Levels 25 & 26 — 2 points in Precision
4. Levels 27 & 28 — 2 points in Improved Sprint
5. Levels 29 — 1 point in Precision

Improved Sinister Strike makes solo questing a lot easier since you will not always be able to use Backstab. Improved Backstab buffs your main combo point generator (except when solo questing where you are unable to get behind the target). Precision is a staple in nearly all Rogue builds since Hit is one of your strongest stats. Improved Sprint makes your Sprint remove all movement impairing effects when it has 2 points in the talent. This can be very helpful when questing, especially when you are playing on a PvP server and have to deal with the other faction.

1. Levels 30 & 31 — 2 points in Precision
2. Levels 32 & 33 — 2 points in Endurance
3. Levels 34 to 38 — 5 points in Dagger Specialization
4. Levels 39 — 1 point in Blade Flurry

Endurance is a solid all-around option offering you good movement as well as higher uptime on your major defensive cooldown. Dagger Specialization synergizes well with Lethality, which you will be picking up later. Blade Flurry is your only form of cleave damage as a dagger Rogue, while also being a very strong single target cooldown.

1. Level 40 & 41 — 2 points in Dual Wield Specialization
2. Levels 42 & 43 — 2 points in Weapon Expertise
3. Levels 44 to 46 — 3 points in Dual Wield Specialization
4. Levels 47 — 1 point in Adrenaline Rush
5. Levels 48 & 49 — 2 points in Malice

Dual Wield Specialization significantly increases the damage of your auto attacks which make up a large amount of your damage. Weapon Expertise is a staple in both the Sword and Dagger builds for Rogue since Weapon Skill is very important for hitting targets consistently. Endurance is a strong talent but also a means to unlock the talent Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline Rush increases your Energy generation rate from 20 to 40 Energy every 2 seconds. This is your strongest DPS cooldown and something that you want to utilize with Blade Flurry and multiple mobs for maximum damage. We also start putting points into Malice here so we can start working towards Ruthlessness, Relentless Strikes and Lethality later on.

1. Level 50 — 1 point in Malice
2. Levels 51 to 53 — 3 points in Ruthlessness
3. Levels 54 & 55 — 2 points in Malice
4. Levels 56 — 1 point in Relentless Strikes
5. Levels 57 to 60 — 4 points in Lethality

We will start by putting 1 point into Malice in order to get to Ruthlessness then we finish off Malice afterwards. We will put 1 point into Relentless Strikes and then you will finish out the tree by putting the rest of your points into Lethality, since it is incredibly powerful.

The main difference in the Dagger Rotation is the fact that Backstab and Ambush require a Dagger, meaning you have access to these two abilities.

You start with Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, and Throw, with the ability to buy Stealth from your class trainer when you get 10 Copper (which you can choose to wait with until Level 4).

1. Use Eviscerate at 5 combo points.
2. Use Ambush to initiate combat whenever possible and you are stealthed.
3. Use Backstab to initiate combat if you cannot stealth and to build combo points.
4. Use Gouge whenever you can in order to minimize the damage that you will take. You can pool Energy, use Gouge, then go behind your target to Backstab them.
5. Use Vanish if your threat is too high and you are in danger of pulling aggro.
6. Use Sinister Strike to build combo points if you cannot get behind your target.
7. Use Slice and Dice if the target is about to die and you will be switching to a different target.

For the cooldowns Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush, use them as often as possible and, if you can, try to gain as much benefit from the cleave effect of Blade Flurry by pulling an extra mob.

As a Rogue, you have limited AoE. Your 2 ways to do AoE are either the talent Blade Flurry or the explosives from the Engineering skill.

While leveling, Rogue gains a huge power spike when they complete their level 20 class quest and get access to Poisons and Thistle Tea.

Leveling Information

Rogue Quests

Check out how to gain access to powerful upgrades for your Rogue by completing their class-specific questline!

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• At Level 4, buy Backstab and Stealth, which pair well together, since Stealth allows you to open up on aggressive mobs using Backstab.
• At Level 6, buy Rank 2 Sinister Strike, and Gouge, which is your first CC ability and is great when paired with Backstab.
• At Level 8, buy Evasion and Rank 2 Eviscerate. Evasion is a great emergency survivability cooldown.
• At Level 10, buy Slice and Dice, Sprint, and Sap. Slice and Dice is used early in leveling with 1 combo point since mobs will not survive long enough to warrant more combo points used. This changes if you are doing a dungeon or a boss. Since you do not have a mount before Level 40, Sprint is a great mobility cooldown that cuts down on your travel time. Sap is a strong CC ability that allows you to safely pull Humanoids that are grouped together.
• At Level 12, buy Rank 2 Backstab. Also, buy Parry and Kick
• At Level 14, buy Rank 3 Sinister Strike.
• At Level 16, buy Rank 3 Eviscerate and Feint.
• At Level 18, buy Rank 1 Ambush.
• At Level 20, buy Rank 2 Stealth, Rank 3 Backstab and Crippling Poison. Make sure you purchase your Instant Poison as well.
• At Level 22, buy Rank 4 Sinister Strike. If you have money to spare, also buy Distract and Vanish.
• At Level 24, buy Rank 4 Eviscerate.
• At Level 26, buy Rank 2 Ambush, Cheap Shot. If you have extra money, then buy Rank 2 Kick.
• At Level 28, buy Rank 4 Backstab and Rank 2 Instant Poison.
• At Level 30, buy Rank 5 Sinister Strike, Deadly Poison and, if you are on a PvP server, it is recommended that you buy Kidney Shot.
• At Level 32, buy Rank 5 Eviscerate. If you have the money, then buy Wound Poison.
• At Level 34, buy Rank 3 Ambush, Rank 2 Sprint, Blinding Powder, and Blind.
• At Level 36, buy Rank 5 Backstab and Rank 3 Instant Poison.
• At Level 38, buy Rank 6 Sinister Strike and Rank 2 Deadly Poison.
• At Level 40, buy Rank 6 Eviscerate. If you have extra money, then buy Rank 2 Feint, Rank 2 Wound Poison, and Rank 3 Stealth for the decreased movement speed penalty.
• At Level 42, buy Rank 7 Backstab, Rank 4 Ambush, Rank 2 Vanish, and Rank 3 Kick if you have the extra money for either ability. The last two are not required as upgrades.
• At Level 44, buy Rank 6 Backstab and Rank 4 Instant Poison.
• At Level 46, buy Rank 7 Sinister Strike and Rank 3 Deadly Poison.
• At Level 48, buy Rank 7 Eviscerate. If you have extra gold, then buy Rank 3 Wound Poison.
• At Level 50, buy Rank 5 Ambush, Rank 2 Crippling Poison, and, if you bought Kidney Shot, buy the Rank 2 version now.
• At Level 52, buy Rank 5 Instant Poison.
• At Level 54, buy Rank 8 Sinister Strike and Rank 4 Deadly Poison.
• At Level 56, buy Rank 8 Eviscerate and Rank 4 Wound Poison.
• At Level 58, buy Rank 6 Ambush, Rank 3 Sprint, and, if you have extra gold, buy Rank 4 Kick.
• At Level 60, buy Rank 8 Backstab, Rank 6 Instant Poison, and Rank 4 Stealth.

Using abilities like Gouge, Cheap Shot, and Kidney Shot is useful on mobs as well as players. It is highly recommended that you buy these abilities if you are on a PvP server.

At Level 16 your class trainer will offer you a quest to unlock the Pick Lock skill.

Endgame Information

Rogue Guides

Finished Leveling? Check out the rest of our Rogue Guide to learn how to maximize your gameplay!

Rogue Endgame Guides

Sellin

Guide Author

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This guide has been written by Sellin, a former top 10 US raider and current season and several time Gladiator, long time WoW Player and passionate about all things Warcraft and Theorycrafting. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him on Twitch.

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