Combat Rogue (PVE)

Gear & Stats

Combat Rogue gearing is built around consistency: cap Expertise where possible, push Hit toward your white-hit target, then stack Agility and Haste to fuel Combat Potency and maximize uptime.

Combat Pre-raid BiS

Stat Priority

Expertise → Hit → Agility → Haste → Crit → Armor Penetration. Expertise and Hit are your most valuable stats early because they directly increase how many attacks land, which also feeds Combat Potency value. After that, Agility and Haste scale extremely well with Combat sword play.

Hit Targets

Hit is always valuable for Combat, even at high values, because it increases white-hit consistency and indirectly supports Combat Potency value. For most 25-man raids you can plan around the white-hit target of ~316 Hit Rating (or ~300 if you’re Alliance with a Draenei in party). This target is for white swings while dual-wielding (base 28% miss chance). If you’re below this target, prioritize strong Hit pieces first before chasing minor upgrades in secondary stats.

Expertise

Expertise is extremely powerful and extremely rare. Bosses have a 6.5% chance to dodge attacks from behind, and Expertise reduces the chance your attacks are dodged/parried. Non-Human (or Human using fists/daggers): target 64 Expertise cap. Human using swords/maces: target 44 Expertise cap. Because you can’t gem for it reliably, items with Expertise are often some of the most contested and valuable upgrades you can get.

Weapons

Weapon speed matters more for Combat than almost any other Rogue spec. Main Hand: slow sword (2.6–2.8) for bigger Sinister Strike hits. Off-Hand: fast sword (1.5–1.4) to maximize Combat Potency procs and Sword Specialization extra swings. If you’re forced to compromise, never sacrifice off-hand speed—fast off-hand is one of the largest DPS multipliers for Combat.

Pre-Raid Notes

While some cloak options may sim slightly higher than others, the difference between top pre-raid cloaks is often small. Focus on obtaining consistent pieces quickly. Wastewalker pieces are worth targeting: even if the 4-set feels farm-heavy, the 2-set becomes highly valuable for optimal Tier 4 setups and you’ll often rotate pieces as upgrades come in.