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 6.  Skills
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A word on skills.  Certain skills are essential.  Some can be replaced for
others.  Some are just plain worthless.  For example, Sinister Strike is
essential for any and every rogue.  It will be your main damage-dealer all
throughout your rogue career.  Backstab is later replaced by Ambush in PVE,
then replaces Ambush for PVP purposes.  Expose Armor is worthless.  Don't
bother with it.  I'll try to give an accurate assessment of each skill's
usefulness, though I've since developed certain feelings for particular skills
and I'm loathe to change my mind on them.


 Skill               Type              Requirement(s)           Usefulness
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Sinister Strike      Combat            N/A                      Essential!
Eviscerate           Assassination     N/A                      Essential!
Backstab             Combat            Level 4                  Varies
Pick Pocket          Subtlety          Level 4                  Limited
Gouge                Combat            Level 6                  Varies
Evasion              Combat            Level 8                  Essential!
Sap                  Subtlety          Level 10                 Limited
Dual Wield           Dual Wield        Level 10                 Essential!
Sprint               Combat            Level 10                 Escape method
Slice and Dice       Assassination     Level 10                 Limited
Kick                 Combat            Level 12                 Piss off mages!
Expose Armor         Assassination     Level 14                 Useless
Garrote              Assassination     Level 14                 Limited
Pick Lock            Lockpicking       Level 16                 Essential!
Feint                Combat            Level 16                 Limited
Ambush               Assassination     Level 18                 Stealthy damage
Parry                Defense           Level 18                 Just take it.
Poisons              Poison            Level 20                 Varies
Rupture              Assassination     Level 20                 Limited
Distract             Subtlety          Level 22                 Limited
Vanish               Subtlety          Level 22                 Essential!
Detect Traps         Subtlety          Level 24                 Varies
Cheap Shot           Assassination     Level 26                 Essential!
Kidney Shot          Assassination     Level 30                 Limited
Disarm Trap          Subtlety          Level 30                 Varies
Blind                Subtlety          Level 34                 PVP
Safe Fall            Subtlety          Level 40                 Very useful


And now, into the details of the abilities.  Not all, but most.

Backstab - As I said, this is replaced by Ambush later as an opening move, and
usable in PVP in higher levels.  You have to be behind your opponent, so it
doesn't work on regular monsters unless you gouge first.  In PVP, you can
actually circle-strafe another person and be presented with their backside
several times if you're good.  If you're using swords, Sinister Strike is your
bread and butter, but if you've got daggers, Backstab will provide the most
damage.

Blind - This is a funny ability.  Try it in PVP and watch your opponent stumble
around trying to find you in the dark.  Also a good escape move, it will make
the enemy wander and give you time to get away.  Can also help with crowd
control in both PVP and PVE, but against monsters, they tend to wander into
another group and pull even more aggro, so don't get used to it.

Cheap Shot - The replacement for Ambush and Backstab.  It does no damage, but
it stuns the target for four seconds, giving you time to beat on them freely.
Not only that, but it gives you two combo points instead of the usual one,
which can be increased to three points with talents.  A very useful ability.
However, if you're in a group with another rogue, keep in mind that the effects
of Cheap Shot DO NOT STACK!  Meaning, if your buddy rogue has used Cheap Shot
and you're moving in, you'll have to use Ambush.  Even if you wait till his
Cheap Shot wears off, yours will only momentarily stun the enemy rather than
for the full four seconds.  If you're in a group with another rogue, determine
early on who will use Cheap Shot and who uses Ambush.

Detect/Disarm Traps - Very, very situational, but the group will thank you for
it later on.  This is primarily applicable later in the game when some chests
are trapped and you'll have to remove them in order to get the treasure without
being killed.  Also useful for disarming traps set by Hunters.

Distract - This is a very situational move, but it can help.  This will turn an
enemy's attention elsewhere, thereby presenting to you their welcoming backs
for pickpocketing, ambushing, or whatever else you'd like to do to them.  It
freezes them in place momentarily as well, giving you an opportunity to rob or
attack any wandering enemies.

Evasion - This thing adds 50% to your dodge rating.  Even a low-level rogue can
suddenly have a 60-70% dodge rating with this.  Higher-level rogues can hit
80%.  That's an 80% chance of dodging hits for fifteen seconds, which should
be plenty of time to lay in some hits of your own.

Feint - Only useful in groups.  No real point if you're fighting by your
lonesome, and has zero use in PVP.  It's mostly only effective at higher levels,
and it can still be ineffective depending on how much damage the rest of your
group is laying down.  Still, it's the best way to take yourself out of the
enemy's sights.

Garrote - This is an alternative to Backstab or Ambush, but not always the best
option.  It deals greater damage than either of the two, but it does so over
time.  In mid- to end-game instances you'll come across bosses that can't be
stunned by Cheap Shot and other moves, in which case Garrote will do its job
nicely.

Gouge - Used for a variety of purposes, both as an escape move and to allow you
to get in a quick backstab after you've engaged the enemy.  In the end-game,
its primary use is in duels.  In group PVP, very few people actually stop and
check to see whether or not someone is stunned (those who do get creamed anyway)
so it's pointless to gouge someone when there's half a dozen mages running
around nuking the crap out of everything.  In group PVE, there are better
stunning methods than this, and better ways to get away from aggro.

Kick - Against any and all spellcasters, this is a godsend.  This nifty ability
lets you disrupt any spell being cast for several seconds, and it deals a little
bit of damage to boot.  You don't really need to buy higher levels of this skill
right away, since the damage it does is negligible.

Parry - The only thing this does is give you a better chance at blocking an
enemy's attacks.  However, it's a one-time cost, so it's worth the relatively
small amount of money.

Pick Lock - Essential.  Not only can you pick the locks on doors in the Scarlet
Monestary (thereby negating the need to find the proper key) you'll always be
in demand to open other people's lockboxes.  A rogue with 300 lockpicking can
also open the doors to Stratholme, Scholomance, Dire Maul and the doors in
Blackrock Depths (however, some parts in that instance require the key), not
to mention being able to open any given chest.

Pickpocket - You can't pick the pockets of other players, but this skill is
needed for some rogue quests, and you can make a lot of money by picking the
pockets of humanoid NPCs, not to mention pick up lockboxes of various sizes.
Plus if you're in a group, the money and items you snatch from pickpocketing is
yours to keep.  It isn't shared with the rest of the group.

Poisons - You have to buy ranks in the various poisons as your skill increases,
but I'm lumping the whole thing together here.  Poisons can be a great help in
PVE and PVP, but the chance of them activating is low, so keep that in mind.
The cost of ingredients is actually very low, though you have to buy a ton of
them early on to get your skill up to respectable levels.  You can survive
without poisons, but for the rogue who likes to take chances, they're quite
handy.

Safe Fall - As the description says, this reduces the damage taken by falling.
Useful, yes, but don't expect to survive a skydive off Teldrassil.

Sap - This move's usefulness is limited, yes, but very effective in the right
situation.  This is a stealth version of Gouge and works for a lot longer.
It can only be used on humanoids, limiting its effectiveness, but it's very
helpful in places where said humanoids like to walk around in gangs.  Remember
that a rogue is a 1v1 fighter, not a class that can tank groups.  Sap one, then
pull the other away.  By the time the sap (ha) regains consciousness, his buddy
is already dead, and you've put a knife in his back.

Sprint - This is a rogue's primary method of escaping a bad situation.  Also
nice for catching up to fleeing enemies, or reducing chilling or slowing
effects.

Vanish - This is another essential skill, and it's multi-talented as well.  It
works as an escape skill, letting you go straight into stealth mode while in
combat.  Once the Vanish runs down, you remain in regular stealth, so you can
just sneak away safely.  Not only that, but this skill breaks movement-impairing
effects like Frost Nova, which means those mages in PVP need to think of another
way of dealing with you.

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 6a. Finish Them in Style!
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I decided to put this section in after playing around with a few of the
finishing moves and imagining a few situations in PVP where they might be
useful.  So, here's a rundown of why Blizzard put anything besides Eviscerate
in the game.

Expose Armor - Not worth it.  If you're fighting a warrior or other high-armor
opponent, Rupture will simply deal damage rather than lowering their 5000+
armor rating by what they would consider a paltry amount.  Not useful in groups
either, warriors should be the ones reducing armor so they hold the aggro, not
you.  In other words, NEVER use Expose Armor in groups, you will hurt the
warrior's ability to hold aggro and get your damn self killed.

Kidney Punch - Quite simply, a stun move.  There are certain advantages to this
move, the first and foremost being that it lets you beat on monsters while they
have to sit there and take it for 5-6 seconds.  It has a rather high cooldown
rate compared to other finishing moves, but that can be reduced with talents.
More effective in groups than Gouge, since the stun from Kidney Punch isn't
broken by damage.  Also exceedingly useful against spellcasters.  Takes the
magic right out of them.

Rupture - This particular move can't compare to a Cold Blood/Eviscerate combo
in terms of damage, but it's rather handy outside of PVP against instance bosses
and other tough elites.  It tends to hold its own in damage with Eviscerate, but
once you get Cold Blood, it's not as useful.  In PVP, it can be used against
warriors or anyone else to disrupt the use of bandages if they get away from you
for a moment.  For end-game raids, most bosses will take more damage over time
from a full combo-ed Rupture than Eviscerate due to their armor value.  If they
don't bleed, then use something else.

Slice and Dice - Put simply, this finishing move is meant for the rogue who
uses poisons.  If you don't use poisons, an increase in your attack speed
means nothing compared to the damage you could do with other moves.  However,
in PVP, more attacks means more chances to apply poison to your victims, and
thus Slice and Dice helps quite a bit in that aspect.  Otherwise, it's a waste
of your combo points.