Rogue 101Follow

use whatever has the highest top damage for your mh, then a fast oh.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/rogue/talents.html?tal=0050000000000000000000233050020050000000000000000000000000000000000

Welcome to the world of rogues! Level combat swords for efficiency, use daggers only if you actually love running behind mobs constantly after gouging. As a side note: at 50 you may consider respecing Mutilate (deep Assassination) if you have some decent daggers at that level. But combat swords is far and away more efficient for leveling all the way to 70. Sub isn't really a practical option until later in the game, and then it's only really good for PvP.

Find the main hand weapon with the highest average damage (not "top-end"). Special attacks calculate from the average, not the top and the higher average helps your auto-attack damage which is the vast majority of your DPS. Fastest off-hand procs poisons, sword spec and combat potency more often.

Your ranged weapon will only be there for stats until you get Deadly Throw. You'll likely never use it in combat (but should skill it up all the same just in case).

Most importantly: Learn the basic mechanics of the class and you'll not be confused by someone in a pug "suggesting" that you do this or that. There are plenty of opinions out there and most of them are woefully uninformed. Check out Elitist Jerks, these forums, and wowwiki (and others) for info and mechanics.

Hope that helps, good luck out there!

If you like pickpocket consider a macro. I use a pickpocket/cheapshot macro and use it as an opening move (pickpocket/backstab works also if you use daggers). Sometimes I'll just go through and pickpocket a whole area without fighting to level my lockpicking. One thing I've found out is that you do not have to be behind the mob to pickpocket with the macro, just stealthed.

Yes, you do have to be facing their back 180° arc to get in a backstab.

No, you shouldn't be using daggers to level.

Anyone that uses daggers to level is a ******* moron.

Can someone clear something up that I have experienced. Whenever I try to use this technique (forcing a backstab while in combat ... normally by gouging first), I generally find it more inefficient that simply straightforward hitting with SS (or Hemo, or whatever your staple attack is).

Simply put, I find that waiting to have enough energy for a gouge (so that you're not totally out when you have to BS), then gouging, getting behind the target, and landing the backstab (assuming you've regen'd enough energy by then), generally results in a loss of overall Damage dealt over time .. there's just too much time waiting for conditions to correct themselves for it to be viable.

Not to mention the fact that, normally I would be slashing away with a sword, and gouge > step thru/around > backstab would require me to first equip a dagger. Which consumes a GCD, and just generally adds waay more complexity than the backstab damage is worth.

I can, however, see the virtues of backstab when you're always behind a target (such as when you're grouped), and you always have a dagger equipped (maybe you're Muti spec'd).

Have I got it aaall wrong, am I missing something, or have I simply been lucky not to fall in the trap of trying to make use of every ability I have all the time ;-)

Edit : Spelling > me

Edited, Jul 2nd 2008 3:47am by robertlofthouse