Rogue in WoW: Forever – specs, changes and tier lists

Leather-clad melee fighter using Energy and combo points, stealth, poisons and crowd control. Assassination, Combat and Subtlety change how the damage is dealt.

Overview

Armor: Leather. Possible roles: Damage. Playable with 9 races:

Human (Alliance)
Dwarf (Alliance)
Night Elf (Alliance)
Gnome (Alliance)
High Order Skyborne (Alliance, new in Forever, purchase required)
Orc (Horde)
Undead (Horde)
Troll (Horde)
Windshaper Skyborne (Horde, new in Forever, purchase required)

Specializations and roles

Each of the three talent trees is one specialization. There are 53 talents in total; the "new" and "changed" columns compare the Forever tree with Classic Era.

Specialization	Role(s)	Talents	new	changed
Assassination	Damage	17	2	14
Combat	Damage	17	2	10
Subtlety	Damage	19	5	13

New in Forever

New and newly trainable abilities

2 abilities are new at the class trainer or trainable for the first time:

Coup de Grace (level 30, new): Increases the damage of your Eviscerate ability against targets afflicted with your Deadly Poison by 2% per application.
Mutilate (level 30, new)

Reworked talent trees

Of 53 talents, 9 are new and 37 changed compared with Classic Era (renamed, moved or reworked). Examples of new talents:

Mutilate (Assassination, 1/1): Instantly attacks with both weapons for 75% weapon damage plus an additional 17 with each weapon. Damage increased by 20% against Poisoned targets. Awards 2 Combo Points.
Puncturing Wounds (Combat, at 3/3): Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab by 30% and your Mutilate by 15%, and gives Backstab a 45% chance to add an additional Combo Point.
Dirty Tricks (Subtlety, at 2/2): Reduces the Energy cost of your Sap and Blind abilities by 50%.

The full tree with every rank is in the Rogue talent calculator.

Tier list ratings

As of 1 November 2026. The tiers combine several tier lists and a level-60 simulation (median, details on the rankings page).

Category	Specialization	Tier	Range	Sources
PvE DPS (raid)	Combat	B	B–S	3
PvE DPS (raid)	Subtlety	B	C–B	3
PvE DPS (raid)	Assassination	B	C–A	3
PvE dungeon DPS (beta lvl 30)	Combat	A	A	3
PvE dungeon DPS (beta lvl 30)	Assassination	A	C–A	3
PvE dungeon DPS (beta lvl 30)	Subtlety	B	C–A	3
PvP (battleground/open world)	Subtlety	S	S	2
PvP (battleground/open world)	Assassination	A	A–S	2
PvP (battleground/open world)	Combat	A	B–S	2

Reasons in brief:

Combat, PvE DPS (raid): Widest spread: SeeMeta rates Combat S thanks to Adrenaline Rush, the simulation (58%) and RankedBoost only B.
Subtlety, PvE DPS (raid): SeeMeta and RankedBoost say B but stress its PvP focus; the simulation puts it in C at 57%.
Assassination, PvE DPS (raid): SeeMeta and RankedBoost say A (Seal Fate, Venom), the level-60 simulation only 56% (C).
Subtlety, PvP (battleground/open world): Both sources S: Preparation resets cooldowns, Elusiveness shortens Vanish and Blind – a second opener and escape.
Assassination, PvP (battleground/open world): Cold Blood guarantees a crit, Seal Fate speeds up combo points; RankedBoost S, SeeMeta A.
Combat, PvP (battleground/open world): RankedBoost S (Adrenaline Rush, reliable Kick), SeeMeta only B because it lacks cooldown resets and long fights go worse.

Beta/PTR state before the 4 November 2026 launch. The sources rely on the level-30 beta, talent analysis and simulations – there are no raid logs yet. Ratings will change after launch.

Recommended builds

Checked builds from Forever guides (as of 2 November 2026). The links open them in the talent calculator, with reasoning, sources and point order.

Assassination: Assassination PvE (Venom) (Raid, 31/20/0) – Venom build that amplifies poison damage and Energy returns: keep Slice and Dice up, then Venom, spend excess combo points on Eviscerate and use only Mutilate as builder. Also: Assassination leveling (Leveling).
Combat: Combat PvE (Sinister Strike) (Raid, 18/33/0) – Sinister Strike build with a slow main-hand weapon. Also: Combat leveling (Leveling).
Subtlety: Subtlety PvE (Hemorrhage) (Raid, 20/0/31) – Hemorrhage build that works with any weapon type, slightly favouring a slow main hand; you open with Garrote. Also: Rogue PvP (Cold Blood & Preparation) (PvP), Subtlety leveling (Leveling).

Context

The tiers above rest on the beta (capped at level 30), talent analysis and simulations – raid logs only exist once the raids open on 9 December 2026. If you want to play a Rogue, pick the specialization mainly by role and feel, and read the tiers as a snapshot.

For finding groups, keep the role balance in mind: tanks and healers are usually in higher demand in dungeons and raids than damage dealers. Plan the talent tree in the talent calculator and share it with your group as a link; from level 40, dual talent specialization lets you keep two builds.

Sources

All figures come from the Forever Hub's local data; where they come from in detail:

Frequently asked questions

Which roles can a Rogue play in Forever?

Assassination (Damage), Combat (Damage), Subtlety (Damage).

Which races can be a Rogue in Forever?

Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, High Order Skyborne, Orc, Undead, Troll, Windshaper Skyborne. New in Forever: High Order Skyborne, Windshaper Skyborne.

What is new for the Rogue in Forever?

New or newly trainable abilities: Coup de Grace, Mutilate. The talent trees have 9 new and 37 changed talents.