BC Classic Release! – Rogue Leveling Tips
There it is. The release of Burning Crusade Classic is about to come true. On June 1st and 2nd, we all are going to be able to go through the Dark Portal and rediscover the magic of Hellfire Peninsula on day 1.
In this article, I’ve compiled every useful content I had in mind (good sheets and interesting videos) to help you guys enjoy your time and ease your researches once you’re in Outland.
Your leveling specializations (level 60+)
Before we start, you need to come prepared with the right specialization.
Depending on your leveling method you have different options detailed below.
Talents for dungeon leveling:
If you plan to level up through dungeon farming with your guildmate or friends, then it goes without saying that you will go for a Combat talent specialization.
You could eventually think about reproducing the popular PVE Combat spec (which would look like this, for a level 60), but you could also move the 3 points from Lightning Reflexes in favor of 3/3 Improved Gouge talent, and the 1/2 Nerves of Steel can be moved to 1/2 Endurance. This talent build is a bit more defensive and comes in handy when facing PVP situations (outdoor), but also provides a better cooldown for your Evasion when you need to deal with a messy situation with a lot of pressure for your dungeon group.
On top of that, one could recommend taking the Riposte talent, but we’re talking about dungeon leveling and this is not really necessary.
Talents for Questing/Outdoor leveling:
Once again a nice Combat spec would probably be good enough but would leave you a bit more helpless in case of PVP situations, and you should expect a lot of those during your hours of leveling in Hellfire Peninsula. However, if you opt for Combat, you should think about taking the Riposte talent.
Note that this leveling specialization has several variations of course. You can eventually think about moving your 2/3 points from Aggression to 2/2 Endurance, at level 60, for example.
On the other hand, a nice Shadowstep PVP talent build can do the job for the PVP side of things, and this is why it is often picked while leveling. As explained in our Top 5 Reason to pick Shadowstep, it brings mobility in case of PVP scenarios, as well as more cooldowns (with Preparation). The downside is that your leveling will be slower because the spec has lower damage.
Bonus: Video from a community rogue
Zatar made a fairly good suggestion by using the Improved Ambush talent in the video below (alongside many other examples of builds so make sure to check it out, he’s a great rogue to follow).
Leveling, reputations, and attunements
There are seven major reputations at launch; six of those are linked to Dungeon and the last one is required for your shoulder enchant. (Aldor or Scryers)
Reputations give you access to Heroic Dungeons, via a key that you can buy when you get revered with the corresponding faction.
Having access to those Heroic is important for early gearing, farming Badges of Justices, and some are also necessary for T5 & T6 raid attunement. All of those can give you great gear for Phase 1 as well as recipes for different professions.
Why should you do dungeon leveling?
1) At launch, the questing area will be really crowded, and this will probably the more efficient way to grind to max level (at least the safest).
2) This is the most efficient way to also grind your different reputations overall. Indeed, depending on the level range of a dungeon, it will award reputation until a certain point (Friendly, Honored or Revered). Only level 70 Dungeons (in standard mode) as well as Heroic dungeons, give you reputations past Revered. In the meantime, questing gives you reputation all the way up to exalted, which means that saving quests for later can save you the hassle to grind over and over certain dungeons.
That being said, you might not level at launch, or even care to get exalted, or even revered to some faction, and maybe you will enjoy doing more questing in your outland adventure (and ganking people ?).
What reputation do you need?
Thrallmar / Honor Hold – Revered
You need access to Shattered Halls Heroic to complete the Nightbane invocation questline in Karazhan as well as for your Tempest Kept (TK) Attunement
Get to friendly with early dungeons, then you can finish it by questing
Cenarian Expedition – Revered
You need access to Slave Pens Heroic and Steamvault Heroic for your Serpentshrine Cavern (SSC) & TK attunement.
This reputation will give you access to your head enchant: Glyph of Ferocity
Get to friendly with early dungeons, then you can finish it by questing
Lower City – Revered
You need access to Sethekk Halls’s heroic to complete the Nightbane invocation questline and Shadow Labyrinth heroic for your TK attunement.
Also, Wastewalker Shoulderpads drop in Auchenai Crypts heroic, which are your T4 Bis shoulders (and also the only piece of gear from heroic that we’d recommend you to farm) and your ring enchants at Honored
Get to friendly in Auchenai Crypts,before getting 8k via questing and the remaining 4k by running few Sethekk Halls or Shadow Labyrinth.
Aldor: Exalted
This reputation will give you access to your shoulder enchant: Greater Inscription of Vengeance, as well a giving you a great sword: Vindicator’s Brand
Turn in Mark of Kil’Jaeden until friendly, then Mark of Sargeras & Fel Armament.
Sha’tar – Revered
You need access to Arcatraz Heroic for your TK attunement.
You can reach friendly with your Aldor turn-in (you are getting half of the reputation towards Sha’tar), before getting 10k via questing and the remaining 2k by running any of the Eye dungeons.
Note: You need to go to Arcatraz for your Karazhan attunement, which means someone in your group needs to have the key. For an easier grind way to be friendly, we’d advise you to do the questline for it since it will give you a lot of reputation.
Oh, and make sure to download the addon named Attune.
In addition, I would highly recommend checking these videos from our friend BiosparksTV who prepared a great guide on how to reach level 70, unlock Heroic Dungeons, and finish your Karazhan Attunement as fast as possible during the madness of TBC Classic launch week. As well as excellent mob grinding spots to avoid the pack of players contesting for mob tags and quest items.
Gearing your rogue in Outland
First of all, you need to know what pieces of gear you need to get, and where to get them.
Bigbizzle, from Silent Shadows’ team, prepared this table to help you with finding these items during your leveling.
Basically, this list is a good start to enter Karazhan, with a few improvements past the leveling phase.
| Rogue | Item | Source | ||
| Trinket | Bladefist’s Breadth | Dungeon quest | ||
| Trinket | Core of Ar’kelos | Ar’kelos the Guardian (67) | ||
| Main Hand | Illidari-Bane Broadsword | Quenching the Blade | ||
| Offhand | Whistling sword | Level 68 quest (here) | ||
| Ranged | Mama’s Insurance | Declawing Doomclaw | ||
| Neck | Earthen Mark of Razing | Gurok the Usurper | ||
| Cloak | Delicate Green Poncho | Bring Me The Egg! (Group – 64+) | ||
| Ring | Slayer’s Mark of the Redemption | Dissenssion Amongst the Ranks (Group – 70) | ||
| Ring | Kaylaan’s Signet | Deathblow to the Legion (Group – 70) | ||
| Head | Stealther’s Helmet of Second Sight | Teron Gorefiend, I am… | ||
| Shoulders | Expedition Scout’s Epaulets | Hellfire Citadel (70 Dungeon) | ||
| Chest | Auchenai Monk’s Tunic | Everything Will Be Alright (70 Dungeon) | ||
| Wrist | Spymistress’s Wristguards | The soul devices (70 Dungeon) | ||
| Gloves | Wastewalker Gloves | The Shattered Halls – Warchief Kargath (Dungeon) | ||
| Belt | Naaru Belt of Precision | How to Break Into Arcatraz | ||
| Legs | Clefthoof Hide Leggings | Showdown | ||
| Boots | Farahlite Studded Boots | A fate Worse than Death | ||
Once you are level 70, you’ll need to focus on upgrading your gear in order to prepare for your first weeks of raiding.
– The gloves and Shoulders from the Wastewalker set
– Latro’s Shifting Sword (The Black Morass)
– Abacus of Violent Odds (The Mechanar – Pathaleon the Calculator)
– Vindicator’s Brand
– Hourglass of the Unraveller
– Fel Leather Boots
– Naaru Belt of precision
Nonetheless, a lot of Classic players may prefer using their T3 gear which is a great alternative. If you are wearing the 8/8 T3 with Gressil (MH) and Hungering Cold (OH) and trinkets such as Kiss / Slayer Crest / DFT / Jom Gabbar, you’ll be OK.
What about the PVP gear?
As for the PVP side of things, BigBizzle made this list which is entirely based on quest rewards.
| Rogue | Item | Source | ||
| Trinket | PVP Trinket | |||
| Trinket | Core of Ar’kelos | Ar’kelos the Guardian (67) | ||
| Main Hand | Illidari-Bane Broadsword | Quenching the Blade | ||
| Offhand | Whistling sword | Level 68 quest (here) | ||
| Ranged | Mark V’s Throwing Star | Group Quest (level 68) Netherstorm | ||
| Neck | Earthen Mark of Razing | Gurok the Usurper | ||
| Cloak | Dark Cloak of the Marsh | Dungeon quest (level 65) SSC | ||
| Ring | Naliko’s Revenge | Dungeon quest (level 67-70) Hellifre Citadel | ||
| Ring | Kaylaan’s Signet | Deathblow to the Legion (Group – 70) | ||
| Head | Stealther’s Helmet of Second Sight | Teron Gorefiend, I am… | ||
| Shoulders | Junior Technician 3rd Grade Shoulders | Quest (level 68) Netherstorm | ||
| Chest | Illidari Lord’s Tunic | Quest in Shadowmoon Valley | ||
| Wrist | Spymistress’s Wristguards | The soul devices (70 Dungeon) | ||
| Gloves | Drake Tamer’s Gloves | Quest in Shadowmoon Valley | ||
| Belt | Feralfen Skulker’s Belt | Quest (level 62) Zangarmarsh | ||
| Legs | X-52 Pilot’s Leggings | Quest (level 69) Netherstorm | ||
| Boots | Sure-Step Boots | Dungeon quest (level 62) Hellfire Citadel | ||
Wel also got these two interesting listings from Mir
Several options to consider:
– Latro’s Shifting Sword
– Vindicator’s Brand
– Bloodlust brooch
– Lightwarden’s Band
Also, as you can see, Mir plans to play with Dragonmaw during Phase 1. This is a topic that can be discussed so keep reading this page for more information.
Should you get Dragonmaw?
First of all, we highly recommend checking the article that our friend Simonize wrote lately: Top 5 weapon choices for Phase 1.
in this article, Simon brought various explanations about each weapon.
| Weapon | PvE Damage |
| Dragonmaw | Best |
| Blinkstrike | -0.10% |
| Gladiator’s Slicer | -0.12% |
| Spiteblade | -0.31% |
| Hope Ender | -0.51% |
Farming your Drakefist Hammer in 1 day, by Sarthe
If you are interested in farming Blacksmithing to get Dragonmaw, then you should watch this video from our friend Sarthe. There are always nice things to discover from his videos, and if you do not follow him yet, make sure to do so right after reading this article.
A few days ago, he released an informative video that will help you collecting the mats while leveling for your BIS weapon and also the popular Jewelcrafting trinket for Phase 1. (Drakefist Hammer, and Nightseye Panther)
Rather than recreating content that already exists on the internet, I thought that it would be way better to highlight the different content creator rogues from the community that also shared interesting tips. Silent Shadows is the home of every rogue, and we’re very proud to have all of them on our Discord, sharing their insights and content with us!
Shout out to Bigbizzle, Biosparks, Zatar, Mir, Simon, and Sarthe!