PvE Combat Rogue Stat Priority & Reforging

Combat Rogues in Mists of Pandaria prioritize Hit, Expertise, Agility, Haste, Mastery, and Critical Strike Chance as their best stats for enhancing overall performance. Besides Agility, Haste & Mastery are their best stat due to the combination of Combat Potency and Mastery: Main Gauche, which are key components in their gameplay.

Stat Priority

1. Hit Chance (7.5% Cap)
2. Expertise (7.5% Soft Cap)
3. Agility
4. Haste
5. Mastery
6. Critical Strike Chance

Hit or Hit Chance is a secondary stat that ensures your attacks land against higher-level mobs. Combat Rogues need 7.5% Hit Chance to ensure their attacks never miss against a target. Each 340 Hit grants you 1% Hit Chance. Poisons fall under the Spell Hit Chance category, which you will acquire from Expertise.

Expertise is a secondary stat in Mists of Pandaria that increases Spell Hit Chance and reduces the chance of your attacks being dodged or parried. You need 7.5% Expertise to ensure your attacks can’t be dodged and 15% Expertise to avoid being parried. The 7.5% Expertise also ensures that your Poison Damage never misses a target! 340 Expertise results in 1% Expertise. Since you’ll always be behind the target, you only need to aim for the 7.5% Soft Cap!

Agility is a primary stat for Combat Rogues, increasing your Attack Power and Critical Strike Chance. This stat is, by default, the strongest stat you can acquire besides Haste/Mastery, enhancing all of your Damage Output. You will use gems, enchants, and consumables that amplify your Agility. There is no specific Agility cap that you should be worried about.

Haste is a stat that increases your Attack Speed and Energy Regeneration, with each 425 Haste granting 1% Haste. This stat should be stacked as much as possible for Combat Rogue without overly dampening Mastery or Critical Strike Chance. Initially, you will aim for a 20-30% Haste rating at the beginning of the expansion, going as far as getting around 50-60% Haste without Slice and Dice or raid buffs.

Haste directly interacts with Combat Potency and Mastery: Main Gauche, increasing the chance to trigger the effects, meaning you should always attempt to get as much as possible. This applies even if you are worried about being Energy capped, since you will spam your abilities far more than the other Rogue Specializations.

Mastery is a stat that improves the chance of triggering the Mastery: Main Gauche effect! While the stat doesn’t improve the effect’s damage, it considerably increases its proc chance, making it very valuable when considering it can trigger Combat Potency. When comparing Mastery and Critical Strike Chance, the stats work fairly similarly regarding Damage Output early in the expansion. Still, Mastery proves itself to be stronger as the expansion progresses. Every 300 points of Mastery results in a 1% increase in the Mastery: Main Gauche effect!

Critical Strike Chance is a stat that can enhance the damage caused by your attacks and poisons! This is the weakest stat for Combat Rogue, especially as the expansion progresses, considering no special effect is tied to it. However, the stat increases DPS early on, making it worthwhile until Tier 16 sets.

Every 600 Critical Strike results in a 1% Critical Strike Chance!

Reforging

Reforging can only be done on secondary stats, meaning you can’t acquire more Agility through it! Combat Rogues should focus on reforging their stats to reach the Hit & Expertise caps, followed by Haste and Mastery.

1. Hit
2. Expertise
3. Haste
4. Mastery