The Forever rogue keeps Energy, combo points, poisons and stealth, and gets three trees that finally play differently from each other. Assassination dual-wields Mutilate and buffs its poisons, Combat replaces four weapon talents with one and can now pick up axes, and Subtlety builds its whole kit around Rupture.
At a glance
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Role | Melee damage |
| Resource | Energy and combo points |
| Armor | Leather |
| Weapons | Daggers, fist weapons, one-handed swords and maces, and, new in Forever, one-handed axes |
| Races | Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Orc, Undead, Troll and both Skyborne factions |
| New on the trainer |  Coup de Grace at 30 |
What changed from Classic
- Hack and Slash replaces the weapon specializations. Dagger, Fist, Mace and Sword Specialization are gone.
Hack and Slash in Combat gives axes and swords a 5% chance for an extra attack, daggers and fists 5% crit, and maces 15% armor penetration. - Mutilate is the new Assassination builder: both weapons for 75% weapon damage plus a bonus, 20% more against poisoned targets, and two combo points.
- Venom caps Assassination. It is a finishing move that raises your poison damage by 30% and your poison application chance by 10%, lasting 9 seconds plus 3 per combo point.
- Coup de Grace is a passive from the trainer at 30: Eviscerate deals 2% more damage for each application of your Deadly Poison on the target.
- Subtlety revolves around Rupture.
Hemorrhage makes the target take 15% more Rupture damage, 
Serrated Blades adds 30% Rupture damage and armor penetration, and 
Thousand Cuts makes each Rupture tick lower the cost of your next Hemorrhage or Backstab. 
Cutthroat gives Backstab a 15% chance to let your next Ambush ignore the Stealth requirement.
Weapon Expertise now reduces the chance to be dodged or parried by 2% instead of adding weapon skill.- Removed: Improved Backstab, Deadliness, Improved Sap, Sleight of Hand and the four weapon specializations.
Assassination
Mutilate builds two combo points a press, Seal Fate turns crits into more, and Venom spends them to buff poison damage by 30%.
Assassination wants two weapons with poisons on both. 
Mutilate at 32 builds two combo points per press, and 
Seal Fate adds another on every critical strike, so you often reach five points from two Mutilates.
Single target:
- Keep Slice and Dice up.
- Keep
Venom up. It boosts every poison tick and proc, and its duration grows with combo points. - Build with Mutilate.
- Spend the rest on Eviscerate. With five stacks of Deadly Poison on the target, Coup de Grace adds 10%.
Cold Blood guarantees a crit on the next Mutilate or Eviscerate.
Improved Poisons adds 10% to poison application chance and gives each application a 50% chance not to use a charge. 
Vile Poisons adds 20% poison damage and makes your poisons harder to dispel. From Combat, 
Puncturing Wounds adds 15% crit to Mutilate and 
Precision 3% hit.
Combat
Sinister Strike and Eviscerate with Hack and Slash replacing the four weapon specializations; axes are now a rogue option.
Combat is the steady, forgiving spec, and it now works with any one-handed weapon type. Pick the weapon first and Hack and Slash adapts:
- Swords or axes for extra attacks. The best choice in most raids.
- Daggers or fist weapons for 5% crit.
- Maces against high-armor bosses.
Single target:
- Keep Slice and Dice up.
- Build with Sinister Strike, 5 Energy cheaper with
Improved Sinister Strike. - Spend on Eviscerate, 10 Energy cheaper with
Flawless Execution and 20% stronger with 
Improved Eviscerate. - Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush together for burst. Blade Flurry now adds 20% attack speed and hits a second target for 15 seconds.
Aggression adds 6% to Sinister Strike, Backstab and Eviscerate, and 
Dual Wield Specialization 25% to the off-hand. The Assassination points cover 
Malice, 
Ruthlessness, 
Murder and 
Lethality.
Subtlety
Rupture plus Hemorrhage or Backstab: each Rupture tick makes your next builder cheaper through Thousand Cuts, stacking five times.
Subtlety is the Rupture spec. You keep a Rupture ticking at all times and feed it with Hemorrhage or Backstab.
Single target:
- Open from Stealth with Ambush.
Initiative adds a combo point and 
Premeditation two more. - Keep Rupture and Hemorrhage on the target.
- Build with Hemorrhage or, with a dagger, Backstab from behind. Every Rupture tick stacks Thousand Cuts, up to 15 Energy off your next builder.
- When Cutthroat procs, Ambush without Stealth.
- Spend extra combo points on Slice and Dice and Eviscerate.
Ghostly Strike deals 180% weapon damage with a dagger and adds 15% dodge for 7 seconds. 
Preparation resets your other cooldowns, a second Vanish, Sprint and Evasion that keeps Subtlety a staple of PvP.
Stat priorities
Forever converts 10 Hit Rating to 1% hit, 14 Critical Strike Rating to 1% crit and 10 Expertise Rating to 1% less dodge and parry. Blizzard has not published raid caps for Forever yet. Dual-wield auto attacks miss far more often than special attacks, so hit stays valuable long after the special-attack cap.
| Spec | Priority |
|---|---|
| Assassination | Hit, Agility, Critical Strike, Expertise, Attack Power, Haste |
| Combat | Hit, Expertise, Agility, Critical Strike, Haste, Attack Power |
| Subtlety | Hit, Agility, Critical Strike, Attack Power, Expertise |
Weapon choice matters more than any single stat for Combat because of Hack and Slash. Try both in the gear planner.
Leveling
Level as Combat with a sword or an axe in the main hand. Riposte arrives at 23, Blade Flurry at 32, Hack and Slash from 33 and Adrenaline Rush at 43.
- Sinister Strike to three or four points, then Eviscerate. Use Slice and Dice on anything with a lot of health.
- Pick up Deadly Poison as soon as you can: Coup de Grace makes Eviscerate stronger against poisoned targets from 30.
- Riposte and
Deflection make Combat surprisingly durable when you pull two mobs. - Vanish, Blind and Sprint are your escape plan.
Endurance takes 60% off the cooldowns of Sprint and Evasion. - With the Talented Legacy perk, every talent comes five levels sooner.
Races
- Human: 2% crit with swords from Sword Specialization, plus Perception against other stealthers and Will to Survive against stuns.
- Orc: 1% crit with axes, now that rogues can use them, plus Blood Fury and 20% shorter stuns from Hardiness.
- Night Elf:
Quickness makes you harder to detect in Stealth and adds 1% dodge, and Shadowmeld is a second vanish out of combat. - Gnome:
Escape Artist breaks roots and snares. - Undead: Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, charm and sleep, the best PvP racial for a rogue.
- Dwarf: Stoneform removes bleeds and poisons, and maces get 1% crit.
- Troll: Berserking for 10% attack speed.
- Skyborne: 1% haste, and
Walk on Air to glide down from cliffs and rooftops.