39 Rogue Guide

[Ishh]

39 Rogue Guide

This comprehensive 39 Rogue Guide is written for you, if you meet any of the following requirements:

• You're making a new Rogue for the 39 bracket.
• You want to improve your current 39 Rogue.
• You're moving your beloved Rogue up from the 19 or 29 bracket.

Read this guide as you would read a book. Absorb -all- its information. You can't skim over the gear section and call it a day, because everything is tied together. Your rogue's gear depends on your professions, your race, the enchants you chose, and the talents you pick. Keep that in mind, and you'll build a well-balanced Rogue with the help of this guide. That said, let's get started.

As you're gearing up your Rogue, it's important your gear contains a balance of stats. A lot of people stack crit, and while doing so they neglect their health, attack power and hit rating. The further you reach to maximize a certain stat, the more you'll let go of all your other stats. That's why you should aim for a balance. At 39, your Rogue should have about:

• 30 Hit = 5% Hit at 39
• 15% Crit
• 2400 Health
• 450 Attack Power

The easiest way to gear your Rogue is to center your gear around the 30 Hit Rating requirement I mentioned before. Once you reach 30 hit picking your other gear becomes a walk through the park. I've listed the gear in each section from "best to worst". Take this with a grain of salt. As I said before, whether one item is better than another also depends on your other gear, enchants, race, professions, etc.

Head:

• Expert Goldminer's Helmet - If you're already at 30 hit you'll want this item.
• Comfortable Leather Hat - Oldschool leatherworkers can craft it, the pattern is extremely rare.
• Nocturnal Cap of the Monkey - of the Monkey (11/12, 12/11 or 12/12) It's a good alternative until you get either of the above.
• Nightscape Headband - You can use this item as a worthy alternative until you get either of the above.

There's one caveat if you pick Comfortable Leather Hat. If one of your professions is Engineering, you'll use Catseye Ultra Goggles when you're up against other Rogues. You'll lose 3.02% Hit when you swap those goggles in, so you'll have to get that +hit elsewhere. That's why it's easier to get Expert Goldminer's Helmet as your main head item.

Neck:

• Medal of Courage - Quest Chain. Horde Quest || Alliance Quest || It's the best neck item at 39.
• Darkmoon Pendant - Quest reward. You get the quest from Mages Deck. Find it on the Auction House, or find a scribe to craft it.
• Scout's Medallion || Sentinel's Medallion - 141 Honor, 20 Warsong Gulch Marks

Shoulder:

• Revelosh's Spaulders of the Monkey - 8/8, 9/8 or 8/9
• Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders - Heirloom Item
• Fleshhide Shoulders - This is a "budget item", the shoulder items above are far better.

Unless you need Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders to reach 30 hit (it grants +7), go for Revelosh's Spaulders of the Monkey. It'll boost your stamina a lot.

Cloak:

• Cabalist Cloak of the Monkey - 6/7 or 7/6
• Champion's Cape of the Monkey - 6/7 or 7/6
• Darktide Cape - Quest Item || The Bloodsail Buccaneers
• Battlehard Cape - Horde Only || A Grim Discovery
• Scorpashi Cape - BoE
  • Enchant Cloak - Greater Agility
• Tigerstrike Mantle - It has one more stat than the green BoE's, but it's not TBC enchantable. You can use it for your Stealthset.
  • Enchant Cloak - Stealth

Chest:

• Stained Shadowcraft Tunic - Heirloom Item
• Robes of the Lich - It's better than Warden's Wrap, but it's a dress
• Warden's Wraps - BoE || Use this if you don't want to wear a dress, or if you don't have access to the Heirloom chest.
  • Enchant Chest - Exceptional Stats
  • Enchant Chest - Exceptional Health

Wrist:

• Tracker's Wristguards of the Monkey - 6/7 or 7/6
• Scorpashi Wristbands - BoE
  • Enchant Bracer - Assault
  • Enchant Bracer - Fortitude

Main Hand Weapon:

• Mallet of Zul'Farrak - This is the best Hemo Main Hand weapon available
• Legionnaire's Sword || Protector's Sword - 469 Honor, 30 Warsong Gulch Marks
  • Enchant Weapon - Mongoose
• Scout's Blade || Sentinel's Blade - 469 Honor, 30 Warsong Gulch Marks || Your weapon of choice if you spec Hemo-Ambush or Assassination-Subtlety
  • Enchant Weapon - Major Striking

Offhand Weapon:

• Vanquisher's Sword - Quest Item || Horde: Bring the End || Alliance: Bring the Light || It's the best off-hand for every build.
  • Enchant Weapon - Greater Agility - Most Rogues prefer +20 Agility instead of Mongoose for their Offhand. It's up to your personal preference though.
  • Enchant Weapon - Mongoose
• Dazzling Longsword - Equip this when you're up against other Rogues, the proc prevents them from using stealth and vanish.
  • Steel Weapon Chain - It helps a lot against Dismantle.

Ranged:

• Whirling Steel Axes - Throwing weapons are 1 second faster than other ranged weapons. Use this to keep opponents in combat or break bandage attempts quickly.
• Charmed Ancient Bone Bow - Heirloom item
• Baelog's Shortbow - Horde Only || Alliance players can't kill this boss.
• Monolithic Bow - BoE
• The Silencer - BoE
  • Deadly Scope

Hands:

• Revelosh's Gloves of the Monkey - 8/8, 9/8 or 8/9 || The best pair of gloves you can get.
• Gloves of Holy Might - BoE
  • Enchant Gloves - Precise Strikes
  • Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility

Waist:

• Ogron's Sash - BoE
• Defiler's Leather Girdle || Highlander's Leather Girdle - You can use this as an alternative until you find Ogron's Sash
• Gem-studded Leather Belt - BoE, crafted. Use this when the cooldown for the heal is up

Legs:

• Basilisk Hide Pants - BoE
  • Rugged Armor Kit
  • Thick Armor Kit

Feet:

• Defiler's Leather Boots || Highlander's Leather Boots - 258 Honor, 20 Arathi Basin Marks
  • Enchant Boots - Surefooted

Finger:

• Aquamarine Signet of the Monkey - 7/7, 7/8 or 8/7 || This should be your first ring.
• Legionnaire's Band || Protector's Band - 141 Honor, 20 Arathi Basin Marks || This should be your second ring.

Trinket:

• [Inherited Insignia of the Horde] || [Inherited Insignia of the Alliance] - Heirloom Trinket
• [Insignia of the Horde] || [Insignia of the Alliance] - 2805 Honor || Normal PvP Trinket
• [Arena Grand Master] - Quest. Arena Grandmaster
• [Tidal Charm] - Drops from a rare spawn on a 36 hour respawn timer
• [Mark of the Chosen] - Obtained from The Pariah's Instructions
• [Nifty Stopwatch] - Quest Chain. starts here and ends here
• [Defiler's Talisman] || [Talisman of Arathor] - 258 Honor, 30 Arathi Basin Marks

Talent Specialisations

You can copy these builds entirely, but feel free to make your own adjustments.
Hemo-Prep is the strongest spec at 39, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.


Hemo-Prep:

With this spec you put 3 points in Malice for the extra crit:

• 3/0/27

You can drop the point in Ghostly Strike and max out Relentless Strikes if you want. These are the glyphs that go with this spec:

• Glyph of Eviscerate
• Glyph of Sprint
• Glyph of Vanish

You can take the 3 points out of Malice and put them in Improved Gouge instead:

• 0/3/27

These are the glyphs that go with this spec:

• Glyph of Gouge
• Glyph of Sprint
• Glyph of Vanish

Hemo-Prep-Ambush

There are no competitive pure dagger builds out there, it just isn't viable in this bracket. Without Preperation you're a bird without wings. The only viable option left is Hemo-Prep-Ambush:

• 0/0/30

These are the Glyphs that go with this spec:

• Glyph of Eviscerate or Glyph of Ambush
• Glyph of Sprint
• Glyph of Vanish

Professions

Engineering:
Catseye Ultra Goggles is good vs other stealthies and requires engineering to use. Getting the opener on other Rogues and Druid grants you a huge advantage, so I wouldn't pass this one up.
The Iron Grenade is the best cost-benefit grenade you can get. You can use them while moving and they have a wide range.

Other notable items:
Gnomish Cloaking Device
Gnomish Mind Control Cap
Goblin Rocket Helm
Gnomish Shrink Ray
Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector
Parachute Cloak
Goblin Rocket Boots
Gnomish Death Ray
Gnomish Rocket Boots
...


Jewelcrafting:
These trinkets require 215 Jewelcrafting as of patch 3.1.0:

Figurine: Golden Hare
Figurine: Black Pearl Panther

If you're planning to keep Jewelcrafting, there's only one useful consumable:
Dense Stone Statue

It heals for 50 every second, for a total of about 1200 health (24-second duration). These statues bind on pickup, so you can not have someone else make them for you.

Tailoring:
Only one notable consumable:
Netherweave Net

I wouldn't pick up Tailoring, but if Netherweave is cheap on your server and you like using the nets, don't let me stop you!

Gathering Professions

Herbalism:
Gives an extra ability in the form of a 5 second self HoT on a 3 minute cooldown.
Rank 4 (300 skill): 900 healing

Skinning:
Gives a passive bonus to your critical strike rating.
Rank 4 (300 skill): 12 rating

Ishh:
Engineering is a must for Rogues. Due to the high number of 39 Rogues you can't miss out on the Catseye Ultra Goggles. If you don't have it then your Rogue buddies will get the opener on you nearly every time, which is a huge disadvantage. You also get all of the other goodies I mentioned in the Engineering section!

Now you have three choices for your second profession. Herbalism, Skinning or Jewelcrafting. My preference leans towards Herbalism, but it's totally up to you. Note that I didn't even include Mining as an option. It only gives you 10 stamina, which is nothing compared to the other professions.

[Ishh]

Race

What is the best race for your 39 Rogue? You'll find that answer here. The races are ranked from best to worst.
I only mention the racials that'll have an impact on your Rogue, so I left out the "useless" ones. You can always check WoWWiki's Racial section for a full overview.

Alliance

1. Human
2. Night Elf
3. Dwarf
4. Gnome

Human:

• Every Man for Himself. You don't need a PvP trinket, which allows you to use two trinkets. In this bracket that most likely means [Arena Grand Master] and [Tidal Charm]. It's a huge advantage.
• Perception gives a +5 boost to your Stealth Detection. This used to be a non-factor, because of the [Catseye Ultra Goggles]. Those goggles gave +18 Stealth Detection, which made sapping other Rogues trivial. The goggles got nerfed hard though, and they now give +3 Stealth Detection. This change alone made Perception a lot stronger. Other Rogues are your archenemies, and getting the opener on them gives you a huge advantage.
• Mace Specialization and Sword Specialization boost your Rogue's expertise when using those weapons.

Night Elf:

• Shadowmeld puts you out of combat, therefore you can restealth if the stealth cooldown is up. So this ability is actually an extra vanish, if used correctly. You can also "immune" incoming spells like blind, fear, sheep, etc. This is something you can do with Vanish as well.
• Elusivesness is the opposite of the Human perception racial. It gives your Rogue +5 stealth, making you harder to detect.
• Quickness shouldn't be underestimated. Few twinks are hitcapped at 39, and your opponents will miss a lot of their abilities against you.

Dwarf:

• Stoneform is pretty useful because you can remove melee dots and poisons yourself. This is exceptionally useful against warriors, hunters and other rogues. It allows you to reset a fight.

Gnome:

• Escape Artist is useful against any class with slows and roots. If you use it together with Sprint and [Glyph of Sprint], you'll be able to reset most fights.

Horde

1. Undead
2. Blood Elf
3. Orc
4. Troll

Undead:

• Will of the Forsaken is extremely useful. There's an abundance of Priests and Warlocks at 39, so you'll be using this ability a lot.

Blood Elf:

• Arcane Torrent is wicked. You can use it while you cheapshot a mage to prevent an early blink, that'll give you two seconds to do some extra dps. If the opposing healers are hugging eachother you can buy some valuable time to get your main target down. In some situations you can also unstealth an opposing rogue before he opens on you. The energy gain is also nice, especially if you use it together with [Barbaric Belt]. That's a lot of extra energy to spend!

Orc:

• Blood Fury increases your attack power by 158 for 15 seconds at 39. Extra, on-demand damage is a nice, especially when used in conjunction with a Mongoose proc.
• Hardiness isn't all that useful. When you and another rogue Cheapshot each other simultaneously, you will get out of the stun first, so you can gouge or kidneyshot him before he gets out. That's about all this racial is good for though.

Troll:

• Berserking is more of a PvE ability. You need to be below 40% health to unlock its full potential, which probably means you're about to die. The Orc racial Blood Fury is a lot better in my opinion.

Macro's

Hemo + Auto-attack

The idea here is that if your energy bar is too low after target swapping, it will still start your autoattack on that target.

#showtooltip Hemorrhage
/startattack
/cast Hemorrhage

Blind Mouseover Target

This will blind the target your are mousing over.

#showtooltip Blind
/cast [target=mouseover, exists] Blind

Blind or Sap your Focus Target

This macro will Blind your Focus Target if you're out of stealth, and Sap your focus target if you're in stealth. This frees up one keybind, because you don't need a seperate Focus Blind and Focus Sap.

#showtooltip [nostealth] Blind; [stealth] Sap
/cast [target=focus, exists, harm, nostealth] Blind;
/cast [target=focus, exists, harm, stealth] Sap

Focus Kick

This macro will simply Kick your focus target.

#showtooltip Kick
/cast [target=focus] Kick

Mashable Sap

It will clear your current target and re-target your closest visible target. Example: If you target a Priest and then notice a Rogue nearby it will switch targets to the Rogue and Sap him. It's not a replacement for your default Sap, but you can spam this one incase you think another Rogue is nearby.

#showtooltip sap
/cleartarget
/targetenemy
/cast sap

Full Preperation

Blow all your preparable abilities before you use Preparation. This macro will not use Evasion if you are stealthed.

#showtooltip Preparation
/cast [nostealth] Evasion
/stopcasting
/cast sprint
/stopcasting
/cast preparation

Reliable Vanish

Stops whatever you are doing and Vanishes. It makes Vanish more reliable.

#showtooltip Vanish
/stopattack
/cast Vanish

For more advanced macro's, you can check out Pheq's Rogue Macro Tutorial at Warcraftmovies. He shows you how to Expose Armor or Garrote/Rupture over Sap/Blind, and how to make the best focus Sap/Blind macro.

[Ishh]

Reserved...

[Ishh]

Updated for patch 3.2



39 Rogue Guide by Ishh is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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[Ishh]

Guide updated at 13/07/2009

[Ikeelyoo]

Very good info, and very up-to-date. Good work!

Just one little thing you messed up on is under the Head gear section, you put "Nocturnal Cape (of the Monkey, the 12/12 variant)." You meant "Nocturnal Cap" ;P

[Ishh]

Very good info, and very up-to-date. Good work!

Just one little thing you messed up on is under the Head gear section, you put "Nocturnal Cape (of the Monkey, the 12/12 variant)." You meant "Nocturnal Cap" ;P

Thanks! It's fixed now

[Magrim]

how does comfortable hat net +hit? I'm seeing stam and spirit...

also, might want to put this somewhere by the miner's hat: at level 39, a 17 expertise rating translates into about 11.33 actual expertise, much like defense rating doesn't actually equal actual defense. So at 11.33 expertise, that gives you roughly 2.83% -dodge/parry.

[Ishh]

how does comfortable hat net +hit? I'm seeing stam and spirit...

It gets updated in the next patch, and the guide is updated for that patch.

[Druiddroid]

Ishh, would you recommend the AB belt at all? sorry if this was covered before.