World of Warcraft: Forever · class guide

Rogue: Poisons & utility

Client build 1.60.1.70425 · updated 2026-10-16

What a Rogue brings to a group and how its kit fits together.

How this works

Poisons go on a weapon for 30 minutes or until their charges run out; finishers spend combo points; openers need Stealth. No buffs, no dispels.

Poisons

Each rank is a separate item you make with the Poisons skill (from 20). One poison per weapon; Blizzard says a Weightstone or Sharpening Stone now stacks with it.

Ability	Level	What it does
Crippling Poison	20	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, slowing their movement speed by 50% for 12 sec. What to know: 50% slow for 12 sec at 30% per hit (70% at rank II). The Forever tooltip lists no charge count. Your only slow.
Instant Poison	20	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 13 to 17 Nature damage. 60 charges. What to know: Base damage a third lower than Classic at every rank, with about 50% more charges. Malice and the merged hit and crit let poisons crit. Promised attack-power scaling measured near zero in testing.
Poisons	20	You can create and mix poisons, with both found and storebought ingredients. What to know: Moved: its own Poisons skill line at level 20, a spellbook tab. It is a secondary skill like First Aid. Poisons still last 30 minutes per weapon.
Mind-numbing Poison	24	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy, increasing their casting time by 40% for 10 sec. 75 charges. What to know: 40–60% slower casting; 75–150 charges, half again Classic's. Useful on caster packs and in PvP.
Instant Poison II	28	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 20 to 26 Nature damage. 85 charges.
Deadly Poison	30	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for 24 Nature damage over 12 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 90 charges. What to know: Damage per stack a third lower than Classic (24 at rank 1, was 36), but 90 charges (was 60) at rank 1 and 180 at rank V.
Wound Poison	32	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, reducing all healing effects used on them by 67 for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 90 charges. What to know: Stronger: each stack reduces healing by more than Classic (67 at rank 1, 165 at rank IV, was 135). Mostly PvP.
Instant Poison III	36	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 29 to 37 Nature damage. 105 charges.
Deadly Poison II	38	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for 36 Nature damage over 12 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 115 charges.
Mind-numbing Poison II	38	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy, increasing their casting time by 50% for 12 sec. 115 charges.
Wound Poison II	40	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, reducing all healing effects used on them by 92 for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 115 charges.
Instant Poison IV	44	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 45 to 57 Nature damage. 1800 charges. What to know: The client tooltip says 1,800 charges, against 105 for rank III and 150 for rank V. That is a client tooltip bug: the text prints the 1,800-second duration where the charge count belongs. Learned at 44, above the beta cap.
Deadly Poison III	46	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for 56 Nature damage over 12 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 135 charges.
Wound Poison III	48	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, reducing all healing effects used on them by 128 for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 135 charges.
Crippling Poison II	50	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, slowing their movement speed by 70% for 12 sec.
Instant Poison V	52	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 62 to 80 Nature damage. 150 charges.
Mind-numbing Poison III	52	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy, increasing their casting time by 60% for 14 sec. 150 charges.
Deadly Poison IV	54	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for 72 Nature damage over 12 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 160 charges.
Wound Poison IV	56	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy, reducing all healing effects used on them by 165 for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 160 charges.
Deadly Poison V	60	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for 92 Nature damage over 12 sec. Stacks up to 5 times on a single target. 180 charges.
Instant Poison VI	60	Coats a weapon with poison that lasts for 30 minutes. Each strike has a 20% chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts 76 to 100 Nature damage. 175 charges.

Finishers

All spend combo points; more points, more effect. Relentless Strikes and Ruthlessness refund energy and points.

Ability	Level	What it does
Eviscerate	1	Finishing move that causes damage per combo point, increased by Attack Power: 1 point : 224-332 damage 2 points: 394-502 damage 3 points: 564-672 damage 4 points: 734-842 damage 5 points: 904-1012 damage What to know: Only rank 6 (level 40) is lower than Classic (377–421 at 5 points, was 407–451). Every other rank, including the level-60 one, matches Classic. Flawless Execution (Combat) takes 10 energy off it.
Slice and Dice	10	Finishing move that increases melee attack speed by 30%. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 9 seconds 2 points: 12 seconds 3 points: 15 seconds 4 points: 18 seconds 5 points: 21 seconds What to know: Unchanged: +20% attack speed (30% at rank 2, level 42), 9–21 sec.
Expose Armor	14	Finishing move that exposes the target for 30 sec, reducing Armor per combo point: 1 point : 450 Armor 2 points: 900 Armor 3 points: 1350 Armor 4 points: 1800 Armor 5 points: 2250 Armor What to know: Stronger: 450 armor per combo point at the top rank, 2,250 at 5 points, the same as a full Sunder Armor (Classic 1,700). A miss no longer costs your combo points. Blizzard announced that Sunder can go on over a stronger Expose Armor; whether the two add together is untested.
Rupture	20	Finishing move that causes damage over time, increased by your Attack Power. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 159 damage over 8 secs 2 points: 222 damage over 10 secs 3 points: 295 damage over 12 secs 4 points: 377 damage over 14 secs 5 points: 469 damage over 16 secs What to know: Base damage cut about 40% at every rank (top rank 469 over 16 sec at 5 points, Classic about 800). Serrated Blades (+30%) and Hemorrhage (+15%) raise it for Subtlety.
Kidney Shot	30	Finishing move that stuns the target. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 2 seconds 2 points: 3 seconds 3 points: 4 seconds 4 points: 5 seconds 5 points: 6 seconds What to know: Stun of up to 5 sec from 5 points (6 sec with rank 2 at level 50), 20-sec cooldown. With Improved Kidney Shot the target takes 10% more damage from your attacks and poisons, not the group's.
Venom	40talent	Finishing move that increases the damage of your Poisons by 30% and your chance to apply Poisons by 10%. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 9 sec 2 points: 12 sec 3 points: 15 sec 4 points: 18 sec 5 points: 21 sec What to know: New Assassination 31-point finisher: +30% poison damage and +10% poison application for 9–21 sec by combo points. A second maintenance buff beside Slice and Dice.

Openers and Stealth

Sap no longer breaks Stealth (it still needs it); Premeditation no longer needs Stealth at all.

Ability	Level	What it does
Stealth	1	Allows the rogue to sneak around, but reduces your speed by 30%. Lasts until cancelled.
Pick Pocket	4	Pick the target's pocket.
Sap	10	Incapacitates the target for up to 45 sec. Only works on Humanoids that are not in combat. Any damage taken will break the effect. Only 1 target may be sapped at a time. Does not break Stealth. What to know: Changed: no longer breaks Stealth, though it still needs it (the client's stance data and the tooltip: "Requires Stealth"), so you can Sap one mob and still open on a second while staying hidden. Still out-of-combat Humanoids only, 65 energy; it can't trigger weapon procs. PvP only: Sapping a flagged player flags you.
Garrote	14	Garrote the enemy, causing 552 damage over 18 sec, increased by your Attack Power. Must be stealthed and behind the target. Awards 1 combo point. What to know: Bleed opener from Stealth. Dirty Deeds removes the need to stand behind the target.
Ambush	18	Ambush the target, causing 250% weapon damage plus 290 to the target. Must be stealthed and behind the target. Requires a dagger in the main hand. Awards 1 combo point. What to know: Unchanged numbers. Cutthroat (Subtlety) lets a Backstab occasionally make the next Ambush usable out of Stealth.
Distract	22	Throws a distraction, attracting the attention of all nearby enemies and reducing their Stealth detection as if they were 1 level lower for 10 seconds. Does not break stealth. What to know: Changed: also lowers the enemies' Stealth detection as if they were a level lower for 10 sec. Improved Distract (Subtlety) widens it and lowers detection further.
Vanish	22	Allows the rogue to vanish from sight, entering an improved stealth mode for 10 sec. Also breaks movement impairing effects. More effective than Vanish (Rank 1). What to know: Drops you into Stealth and breaks snares and roots. Still costs one Flash Powder (client reagent data, build 70205), unless you take the Reagent Economy perk.
Premeditation	25talent	Adds 2 Combo Points to your target. You must add to or use those combo points within 20 sec or the combo points are lost. What to know: Changed: no longer needs Stealth or Preparation, and the 2 points last 20 sec (was 10). Now Subtlety's 16-point talent.
Cheap Shot	26	Stuns the target for 4 sec. Must be stealthed. Awards 2 combo points. What to know: 4-sec stun from Stealth, 2 combo points (3 with Initiative). Dirty Deeds cuts its cost by 20.

Interrupts

Kick (12): 10-second cooldown, locks the school for 5 seconds. Improved Kick adds a 2-second silence.
Gouge: stops a cast too, on a 10-second cooldown, if the target faces you.
Kidney Shot and Cheap Shot: stuns stop casts on targets that can be stunned.

Crowd control

Sap: up to 45 seconds on an out-of-combat Humanoid; still needs Stealth but no longer breaks it.
Blind (34): 10 seconds from 10 yards on most targets; needs Blinding Powder.
Gouge: 4 seconds, up to 5.5 with Improved Gouge.
Crippling Poison: your only slow.
Mind-numbing Poison: slows casting.

Escapes and survival

Evasion: 50% dodge for 15 seconds.
Vanish: back into Stealth, breaking snares and roots.
Sprint: up to 70% faster; Improved Sprint breaks snares.
Feint: a much bigger threat drop than in Classic.
No heal: bandages (First Aid) or a partner.

Lockpicking and stealth tools

Pick Lock: Lockpicking is a secondary skill like First Aid. The client lists it at level 1, but Classic's client does too, so the real learn level is unconfirmed. Opens lockboxes and locked doors and chests.
Pick Pocket, Detect Traps and Disarm Trap.
Distract: turns enemies away and lowers their Stealth detection.
Safe Fall (40): less falling damage.

What it brings a group

Expose Armor: 2,250 armor, the same as a full Sunder Armor; Sunder can now go on over it (announced by Blizzard).
Wound Poison: reduces healing taken, mostly for PvP.
No buffs, dispels, resurrection or summon. Hemorrhage and Improved Kidney Shot are personal now.