The combat spec of a rogue sacrifices a few talents in stealth and subtlety to maximize the efficiency in combat. This play style is very similar to that of a warrior because the rogue just approaches his target very much visible and finishes it off with some precise blows. In past times the combat spec was the most used spec for rogues because it did the most damage in raids and was easy to use. When using the combat spec the rogue can further specialize in the different weapon types. Although Blizzard did their best to make maces and daggers interesting for rogues, swords and fist weapons are still the weapons of choice for any rogue: They profit the most from the talents of the combat tree and are best tailored for this play style. Especially in the lower branches of the skill tree it gets clear that the combat spec is made for raids: The penultimate skill increases the damage considerably for enemies who have less health than the rogue. This will almost always be the case with bosses in raids, so the talent is always active.

Apart from that, the other talents of the combat tree all revolve around quickly regenerating mana, so the rogue can perform even more special attacks. But, of course, even the combat rogue gets some talents from the other skill trees, for example, the 5% critical hit rating from the assassination tree or the chance of regenerating energy for finishing moves from the subtlety tree.