Rogues are the “assassins” of World of Warcraft. They rely on ‘energy’ for their abilities instead of rage or mana. The max amount of energy rogues can have at any given time (without an Assassination talent called Vigor, or special items) is only 100, but energy also regenerates very quickly: 20 every two seconds. Most abilities either give or spend “combo points”. Abilities that “spend” combo points (“finishing moves”) become stronger as more points are gathered. When the rogue performs a combo move on a target, that target gains a combo point, up to a maximum of 5 on one target. If the rogue begins to add combo points on another target, the first target’s points are lost. Rogues can also go into a stealth mode, which makes them effectively invisible to enemy players and enemy NPCs unless detected. Stealth becomes more or less effective depending on the Rogue’s level and the level of the potential detector. Stealth can only be used out of combat, with the exception of the ability “Vanish,” which forces the Rogue into stealth to escape from combat – this costs flash powder, a reagent.[12] Several attacks (“opening moves” or “openers”) require the Rogue to be in stealth.[13] Rogues primarily focus on agility, which increases their damage, chance for critical hits, and their chance to dodge enemy attacks.

Rogues can also create and apply poisons to their weapons. Depending on the applied poison, it allows the rogue to deal additional damage (either instantly or over time), slow their enemy’s movement, increase the enemy’s spell casting time or reduce the effects of healing on the enemy.

Rogues are able to deal extremely large amounts of damage in small periods of time, as they have the highest single target damage output out of the 9 classes. They also have a skill known as Sap[14], which disables an enemy for a length of time or until struck. However, rogues cannot wear heavy armor (Mail armor, and Plate armor).

Rogues that specialize in Assassination and Subtlety are generally considered to be built for Player Vs. Player combat. Subtlety Rogues have abilities that make them nearly impossible to be easily detected, Shadowstep, can generate 2 Combo Points before they enter battle with Premeditation, and wipe out many long cool downs with Preparation (which makes them good flag carriers). Combat Rogues are much more sought after in high end instances because they have abilities such as Blade Flurry and Adrenaline Rush. Subtlety Rogues have abilities to help them survive, whereas Combat Rogues lack that. They do, however, do much more damage over time than Subtlety Rogues post-Ambush. In instances this is important because the Rogues can dump the aggro onto the Tank while steadily doing heavy damage from behind. In PvP Combat, Combat Rogues are stuck to deal with their enemy without being able to rely totally on the Warrior to grab all unwanted aggro.

Rogues are also the only class that can open locked doors, chests, and boxes without the aid of skeleton keys.