The level 19 bracket rewards whoever lands the first big hit. A Rogue can pick the moment, open from Stealth, and have the target half dead before it…
Blood Fury — Short cooldown, large burst window. The best Rogue racial here.
Hardiness — Passive stun resistance — always on, nothing to forget.
Berserking — Attack speed when things are going badly.
Regeneration — Real survivability, better paired with a regen buff.
Will of the Forsaken — One of the best PvP racials in the game for a CC target.
Shadow Resistance — Blunts Priests and Warlocks.
Cannibalize — A weak free bandage — usable in stealth.
Stoneform — Counters bleeds from Rogue, Warrior and Hunter, and adds armour briefly.
Frost Resistance — Useful against Frost Mages, little else.
Find Treasure — Twinking is expensive; every edge helps.
Escape Artist — Counters the CC of four other classes.
Engineering Specialization — Access to gadgets other races can't reach yet.
Perception — Spot other Rogues and Druids while they can't spot you.
Sword Specialization — Passive hit chance if you run swords.
Quickness — Flat dodge increase.
Shadowmeld — No cooldown share with Stealth — restealth instantly, and eat or drink safely.
Engineering is the profession for this bracket. Bombs and gadgets give a Rogue burst and utility nothing else can. Gnomes can use gadgets up to 165 skill.
Enchanting and Alchemy are worth it only if the rest of your account pays for the materials; otherwise Mining or Skinning feeds Engineering. Leatherworking adds nothing to your best-in-slot list at 19.
First Aid — Bandages heal between fights. Mageweave and Heavy Runecloth bandages need a crafter's help.
Cooking — Curiously Tasty Omelet is the Well Fed food to aim for.
Fishing — The only road to the Lucky Fishing Hat and the fishing-event boots, and the fish sell well.
Pick Pocket — A steady source of gold and lunchboxes.
Pick Lock — Opens chests and lockboxes for extra loot.
The standard burst build: Malice for crit and Opportunity for the extra hit from behind. Pair it with daggers and Ambush.
A steadier build that works with any weapon. Improved Eviscerate makes your finisher hit harder, Improved Sinister Strike speeds up the combo-point rhythm, and Malice keeps the crit chance.
Master of Deception makes you harder to spot while stealthed, so you choose the fight instead of being found by it. Malice keeps the opener lethal. Good for solo play and flag running.
One battle and one guardian elixir at a time. They vanish when you die.
Only one potion per fight, they share a cooldown.
The level 19 bracket rewards whoever lands the first big hit. A Rogue can pick the moment, open from Stealth, and have the target half dead before it reacts. Everything below is built around that: raw Agility for crits and burst, enough Stamina to survive the exchange after the opener, and the tools to leave a fight that turns.
Gear is the bottleneck. Several best-in-slot pieces are rare world drops or event rewards, so expect to buy some from the Auction House and to live in the alternatives for a while. Every slot below lists a realistic fallback.
#showtooltip /cast [nostealth] Stealth; [stealth] Garrote
#showtooltip Sprint /use 13 /cast Sprint
| Target | Open with | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior or Paladin | Garrote | Expose Armor, then Eviscerate |
| Mage, Priest or Warlock | Ambush or Garrote | Kick their next cast, then Eviscerate |
| Hunter | Garrote | Stay on top of them; they are weak in melee |
| Rogue or Druid | Sap if they are out of combat | Gouge when they try to vanish, then burst |
| Shaman | Garrote | Kick the heals, Eviscerate to finish |
Always start from Stealth. If a tank or damage dealer is part of the group you face, Sap them first, then open on your real target with Garrote. Ambush hits harder but needs a dagger build and a position behind the target.
Sinister Strike is the standard builder. On a dagger build, swap to Backstab whenever you are behind the target and have the energy.
Wait for at least three combo points. Against plate wearers, Expose Armor first; against cloth and leather, spend them on Eviscerate. Rank 3 Eviscerate is your main damage button here.
Kick shuts down a spell school, Gouge buys time to bandage or drink a potion, Evasion covers a short window at low health, and Sprint gets you out of reach.
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