Rogue

45:12 In World of Warcraft: Forever the Rogue is a pure melee damage class of Assassination, Combat and Subtlety, and Blizzard's designers promise it the top spot on one kind of fight: "rogues will be the highest single target damage dealers in the game" when a boss stands still. Blizzard's deep dive of Oct 7, 2026 makes Sap keep the Rogue in Stealth, so it can be used as crowd control in a group, lets poisons sit alongside sharpening stones and weightstones with more charges, teaches every Rogue one-handed axes, and adds Mutilate, Venom, Hack and Slash and Thousand Cuts. Asked on Oct 1 whether energy would change, the designers said not at this time. Forever launches on Nov 4, 2026; shared talent rules are on Classes and Talents.

Quick facts

What Blizzard says a Rogue is

"Rogues remain the masters of Stealth", Blizzard's article says, and "they alone have access to Poisons". Assassination specializes in daggers and buffing itself with finishing moves; Combat and Subtlety support all weapon types, Combat with hard direct damage and a little cleave from Blade Flurry, Subtlety with combat tricks and Bleeds. Rogues are "welcome in any party or raid for their Stealth and control abilities, as well as the highest potential single-target melee damage in the game" (Blizzard).

22:18 Rogues do not pay what Blizzard calls the hybrid cost. Blizzard's designers put that at around 5% of damage on specializations whose class can fill another role, and said everyone is a hybrid except Hunters, Mages, Rogues and Warlocks.

Every Rogue's baseline changes

• Sap: "Using this ability no longer breaks Stealth." Blizzard wants Rogues to have a crowd control they set up with Stealth and Distract, used tactically when a pack is too large to tank safely. The notes add that Sap flags the Rogue for PvP when used on a PvP-flagged target (Sep 24) and no longer activates weapon procs (Oct 15).
• Distract: enemies have reduced Stealth detection for 10 seconds, which also tells player enemies a Rogue is near.
• Poisons: more charges on all of them, and they can now share a weapon with weightstones and sharpening stones.
• Feint: twice the threat reduction.
• Expose Armor: its reduction matches 5 applications of Sunder Armor at about the same level, and it no longer stops a Warrior using Sunder Armor. A miss no longer costs every combo point (Oct 1).
• Axes: Rogues can learn one-handed axes. Rogues "as an archetype include brigands and outlaws", Blizzard says, and this widens the weapons it can offer.

The list is from Blizzard's deep dive and the development notes. Talents start at level 10 and Dual Specialization at level 40. Fixes on Oct 15 stopped poisons activating against attackers and stopped Rogues swapping specializations to refill energy.

31:58 Hit is now one stat, which Blizzard's Deep Dive presenter said helps Rogues landing their poisons as well as melee. See Items and Stats.

Assassination

Blizzard wants "Assassination to be a Poison-focused playstyle". It needs daggers for its main attack.

• Venom, the new 31-point talent: a 25 Energy finisher that gives 30% more Poison damage and 10% higher chance to apply Poisons, for a duration set by combo points. Blizzard expects Assassination to keep up Venom and Slice and Dice, with Rupture and Eviscerate a lower priority.
• Mutilate, the new 21-point talent: a 60 Energy attack that strikes with both daggers, both required, does more to poisoned targets and awards 2 combo points. Each hand may trigger procs, and Seal Fate triggers once if either hand crits.
• Cold Blood moves down to the 16-point talent and works with Mutilate. Since Oct 15 a Mutilate critical strike correctly uses it up.
• Improved Poisons adds a large chance that Poisons do not use a charge. Malice adds critical strike chance with all attacks and Poisons. Lethality and Remorseless Attacks include Mutilate.
• Vigor is now a 2-point talent in row 5 rather than the capstone, with the same total effect. Improved Expose Armor cuts its Energy cost and refunds combo points when used with 5. Murder adds Giants, drops Beasts and Dragonkin. Improved Gouge moves here from Combat.

49:01 Countdown is not convinced, calling Assassination the tree most likely to change during the beta and the only specialization it is "down on", because keeping Venom and Slice and Dice up together feels like babysitting two buffs. It rates Combat and Subtlety as winners.

Combat

Every talent, by date: Combat Rogue.

Combat is the hard-hitting tree, with room for every weapon type. Blizzard wanted it "to support a Backstab-oriented build as well as a Sinister Strike-oriented build".

• Flawless Execution, the new 16-point talent: Eviscerate costs 10 less Energy.
• Hack and Slash, new in row 5, combines Dagger, Mace, Sword and Fist Weapon Specialization and adds Axes. Axes and Swords have a chance of an extra attack; Maces ignore some armor rather than stun.
• Weapon Expertise is redesigned to lower the target's chance to Dodge or Parry. Precision covers all spells and attacks, Poisons included.
• Puncturing Wounds (formerly Improved Backstab) gives Backstab a chance of an extra combo point. Aggression also raises Backstab. Improved Eviscerate moves to row 1 with a larger bonus.
• Deflection gives twice the Parry per point. Endurance shortens Sprint and Evasion by a percentage. Dual Wield Specialization adds less off-hand damage.

Blizzard's article does not name Combat's 31-point talent; see What is not known yet.

Subtlety

Subtlety is the tree of Stealth, tricks and Bleeds, supporting both Sinister Strike and Backstab.

• Thousand Cuts, the new 31-point talent: each time Rupture deals damage, the next Hemorrhage or Backstab costs 3 less Energy, stacking 5 times.
• Premeditation moves down to the 16-point talent, lasting 20 seconds.
• Dirty Tricks (formerly Improved Sap) cuts the Energy cost of Sap and Blind by a substantial amount. Improved Distract, new, widens Distract and deepens its Stealth detection penalty.
• Cutthroat, new: Backstab may make the next Ambush work without Stealth, for "an exciting alternate flow". Quietus, new: Sinister Strike, Ghostly Strike and Hemorrhage hit harder below 35% health.
• Hemorrhage also raises Rupture damage on the target for 15 seconds, and does more with a Dagger, as does Ghostly Strike. Dirty Deeds lets Garrote be used from any side. Serrated Blades ignores a percentage of armor rather than a flat value.
• Setup and Initiative reach a 100% chance at 3 points. Master of Deception takes 3 points for the same effect. Sleight of Hand and Deadliness are gone.

42:02 Sodapoppin brought PvP Rogues' complaint to the podcast: the new talents lean on damage over time rather than crowd control. A designer answered that Rupture became Subtlety's finisher so that one-handers could work, not only daggers, and said "I don't really like how it's panning out".

42:53 On that Oct 1 podcast the same designer spoiled a replacement for Thousand Cuts, a 31-point Death Mark that stores damage dealt and bursts after 6 seconds. Blizzard's own article, published six days later, still lists Thousand Cuts, and no later note adds Death Mark, so Thousand Cuts is what Blizzard last published as of Oct 31, 2026.

Energy, and why Blizzard left it alone

44:18 Asked on the podcast whether energy would change for Rogues worried about "one backstab every six seconds", a designer answered "not at this time", because white hits, Slice and Dice and poisons already deal so much damage that it is easy to take Rogues too far.

45:53 Another version with energy talents forced Sinister Strike down until it felt bad while leveling without those talents, a designer said, and energy regeneration also scales with critical strikes and haste faster than players realize.

Leveling and groups

Blizzard's only leveling note for Rogues is the Sinister Strike experiment above. Sap in a group is the class's new job; Blizzard calls it a benefit "to parties and raids" for packs too large to tank. In raids, Expose Armor no longer blocks a Warrior's Sunder Armor threat. See Dungeons, Best DPS and PvP Progression.

Which race

Tauren cannot be Rogues; every other race can, per Blizzard's table. Skyborne Rogues need the Heroic Pack or higher, and weapon racials are gone since Blizzard said they should not make weapon types "required" (Blizzard). See Races and Racials and Skyborne.

What is not known yet

• Launch numbers for every talent. Blizzard's notes end with the build of Oct 16, 2026. Not known as of Oct 31, 2026.
• Combat's 31-point and 21-point talents, and Subtlety's and Assassination's 11-point talents. Blizzard's article does not name them.
• Whether Death Mark or Thousand Cuts is Subtlety's capstone at launch. Thousand Cuts is in Blizzard's latest article; launch will settle it.
• Any Rogue change since the beta closed. Blizzard's racial pass of Oct 26 and 27 lists none.

Frequently asked questions

Which races can be Rogues in WoW Forever? Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Night Elf, High Order Skyborne, Orc, Troll, Undead and Windshaper Skyborne. Tauren cannot.

Does Sap break Stealth in WoW Forever? No. Blizzard made it baseline for every Rogue.

Can Rogues use axes in WoW Forever? Yes, one-handed axes. Hack and Slash gives them a chance of an extra attack.

Do poisons and sharpening stones stack? Yes. Poisons can now be applied with temporary enchantments such as Weightstones and Sharpening Stones.

What is the Rogue's job in a raid? Blizzard says the highest potential single-target melee damage in the game, on a fight where the boss allows it, plus Stealth and control.

Does Mutilate need daggers? Yes, both weapons must be daggers, per Blizzard's article.

Is energy changing for Rogues? Not at this time, the designers said on Oct 1, 2026.

Sources

• World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives - Rogue and Warlock, Blizzard Entertainment, Oct 7, 2026
• WoW Forever Beta Development Notes - Updated October 26, Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax), World of Warcraft forums, Sep 24 to Oct 27, 2026
• Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard Entertainment
• Speed Running Classes ft. @sodapoppin | Episode 2 - The WoW: Forever Podcast, World of Warcraft, Oct 1, 2026 (video)
• World of Warcraft: Forever - Deep Dive | BlizzCon 2026, World of Warcraft, Sep 13, 2026 (video)
• New WoW Forever Talent Trees Analysed - FUN DETECTED!!, Countdown, Sep 13, 2026 (video)