Rogue • Combat • PVE
Combat Rogue (PVE)
Weapon-focused PvE spec with strong sustained damage and scaling.
Talents
Combat is the dominant PvE specialization for Rogues in The Burning Crusade. The combination of Combat Potency and Sword Specialization puts Combat swords far ahead of other options such as Combat daggers or Assassination Mutilate for raw raid DPS.
Build Overview
This is the optimal PvE talent build for Rogues in TBC Classic. It delivers the highest sustained single-target damage while providing strong energy generation and combo point flow, allowing you to maintain Slice and Dice while also applying Expose Armor when needed. Competing builds such as Combat daggers or Assassination Mutilate fall noticeably behind in raid performance and are not recommended if your goal is maximizing DPS.
Weapon Requirements
Combat relies heavily on weapon speed and synergy with talents. Main Hand: A slow sword (2.6–2.8 speed) is ideal to maximize Sinister Strike damage, auto-attacks, and Windfury interactions. Off-Hand: A fast sword (1.5–1.4 speed) is critical. Faster off-hand swings dramatically improve Combat Potency energy returns and increase the number of Sword Specialization procs.
Expose Armor Flexibility
If your raid requires you to maintain Improved Expose Armor, this build provides enough combo point generation to do so without heavily impacting personal DPS. If another Rogue is assigned to Expose Armor, the two points invested there can be moved into Improved Eviscerate for a small increase in personal damage.
Key Talents
Adrenaline Rush
Doubles energy regeneration for 15 seconds, making it the most powerful Rogue DPS cooldown. Proper timing of Adrenaline Rush defines strong Combat play.
Blade Flurry
Allows attacks to strike a second nearby target. When used correctly, Blade Flurry can massively increase DPS on cleave-friendly encounters.
Sword Specialization
Provides a 5% chance for an extra attack. While it may seem minor on paper, the high attack frequency of Combat Rogues causes this talent to add substantial damage over the course of a fight.
Combat Potency
Grants off-hand attacks a 20% chance to restore 15 energy. Faster off-hand weapons dramatically increase energy income, making this talent a cornerstone of the spec.
Why Combat Is Best
Combat offers unmatched energy economy, excellent cooldown synergy, and the strongest sustained melee DPS toolkit available to Rogues in TBC. With proper weapons, this build not only dominates raid encounters but also translates well into PvP, making it the most versatile and rewarding Rogue specialization in the expansion.