rofl ... here we go again ;-)
Here's my opinion .. spec combat, at the very least to level 60 ... things slow down dramatically after that (leveling-wise), and then you can play around with specs ... but to be playing around with a low damage, slow levelling spec in Azeroth is gonna drive you crazy (again, my opinion).
When you hit 60, you have a large amount of talent points to get to the top talent in any tree, as well as some points to significantly buff it using other trees.
This is how I see it .. .and my experience is purely from a leveling perspective, and I believe that's the angle you want.
Firstly, the best piece of advice I ever got, and was very glad I took it, was ... ditch the dagger, go for a slow sword (main hand specifically - any fast weapon for off hand is fine).
Combat (not daggers) is very efficient, fast kills, low downtime, quick levelling.
Assasination (Mutilate) is great is you like daggers and don't mind having to constantly reposition yourself behind your target all the time. One thing that sticks out for me with mutilate though, is that in order for the ability to be worth anything, you need to have 2 daggers, as it hits with both weapons ... one dagger simply doesn't do the damage a sword/mace/fist can do. The big drawback is the energy cost, so you land up by waiting large amounts of time between special attacks. You can, however, very easily burst a target down without it ever even knowing you're there ... imo, one of the big plusses to the build
Subtelty (Shadowstep) is a lot of fun, you are very mobile, and getting behind the mob is not that much of an issue, as you're pretty much there if you're within 25 yards ... while it may be attractive to go with a dagger in this build (for ambush), your main damage ability is Hemo, which is weapon damage based, and is therefore better with non daggers. As I said, the beauty of this build is mobility and stealth ... you can move faster, safer and generally more sneakier with this build, the BIG downside is an almost total lack of general damage. Sure, you have some burst damage, but you'll fall asleep waiting for energy ticks and for mobs to die.
Now the kicker ... a lot of people view Combat as very un-roguelike, preferring to be a stealthy ******* and hitting targets from behind, poisoning them to death - assasination / ninja style .. and yes, this is the main domain of Assas/subtlety. BUT, as combat, your openers are either Cheap Shot, or Garotte ... both only usable in stealth, both as nasty as I can imagine an ability to be, and both generally followed up after a few combo points with a kidney shot (that's a total of around 8 seconds you keep your target stunned for - talk about a killing from the dark side ;->). While you're doing this, you're poisoning the target, inflicting nasty damage. If you get into trouble, you vanish, or you pick sand up and throw it in your target's eyes and run away, etc, etc.
My point is, as combat, despite what a lot of people may think, playing dirty is part of your ******** which is what being a rogue is, playing dirty. You still use the abilities that define the other trees (you have to), you just launch a much more vicious attack from that platform, as opposed to relying on the platform itself (if that makes any sense).
I got about 4 or 5 rogues to between level 12 and 15 (then gave up) before I took the advice to ditch the little weapons that are daggers, and to play to the strengths of the rogue class, after that, my 6th rogue is now level 64 after 6 days played ... I've leveled him combat (with a brief dabble in the other two trees at 60), and am loving it. The builds I went for were 41 points in whichever tree I was trying, and the remaining points in Assas (if I went 41 points in Sub) or Sub (if I went 41 points in Assas).
wrt Gear ... lotsa gear drops are obtainable on the AH, and rewarded by quests ... however, your weapons are your best friends. From the outset, as mentioned, get a sword for your mainhand ... if you're going Horde - regardless of your race, go to Ghostlands, one of the first quests there reward you with a sword called "Stung" (for killing a Spider .. LOTR reference ftw). This does well as a starter Main hand.
You'll want to get some of the " ... of the fang" items from WC, and the Shoulders from Lady Anacondra.
If you finish the quest for WC (again, horde only), you can get Wingblade ... excellent sword for the level. At about level 24 (I believe) you can get the outlaw Sabre - quest reward from a quick and easy quest in BFD.
Your next 2 weapons are Sword of Omen and Vanquisher's Sword ... quest rewards from SM and RFD quests (level 30 and level 37 respectively)
You'll also want to aim for Thrash Blade at level 45 (quest reward from Maraudon), there are also some excellent shoulders and boots from Mara ... if you have a high level buddy to run you through, try and take advantage of that .. it'll really help a lot ... this'll last you to outlands ... at which stage, you'll be bombarded with so many different weapons and armour, your head will spin.
This is also the stage you may want to fiddle around with different specs .. a few of the very first quests will reward you with 2 x 1.8 daggers ... 1 x 1.4 dagger and 1x 2.4 sword ... collect em all, and give your spec rotations a try.
I hope this is what you were looking for ... I'm no expert, but as I mentioned, I can offer you views from a newly levelling rogue, not one that has spent copious amounts of time raiding, and as such, has a slightly (imo) different view on the class.
This is essentially a very expanded version of what Theo said, but ultimately, he's right .... he's a ******* ... but he's right ;-) (Love your work Theo :-D)
Edited, Jul 15th 2008 11:16am by robertlofthouse