A.S.: You're not only welcome but encouraged to use/repost this or parts of it wherever you want, without needing express consent, as long as you keep access free of charge, be it Wikis, other Forums, etc.. - please include a link to this post on top however, as this version is the one i'll be updating.

Content:
Part I - Leveling Build and Gear
Part II – Stats ( <-- Hit Rating issues explained)
Part III – Instances & Early Raiding
Part IV - Early 80 Gear
Part V - Other stuff to know & take care of
Part VI – Fake FAQ ( <-- Expose Armor & Tricks of the Trade)
Part VII – Real FAQ

First of all: This is up to date as of Patch 3.1.
It is intended for new people & PvE, meaning (solo) leveling and your first instances and raids.
If you've seen the TBC version, this is more of the same, with up to date numbers and up to date knowledge. I won’t give or explain a lot of options – however I am trying to provide what you need to know, no matter which tree you prefer; and while there usually is a single best way to do stuff, there are a lot of ways that are good enough. I’m also avoiding Math or Theorycraft, as this isn’t about demonstrating the argument, but instead providing its conclusion; if you want to take a look at those, this is the wrong place to search for them. The whole thing is backed up by the experience and knowledge of a lot of rogues, which usually means doing it wrong and knowing better afterwards, and while I try to include any decent hints or improvements that make sense, as well as weeding out mistakes that are pointed out, and keeping it up-to-date, you’ll need to be argue better than “because I say so” – I’m the only one who gets to do that.

I posted this for reasons of my own, profit from it or not, it's your choice. If you do follow it more or less, make sure you follow the underlined parts. I still don’t care for sticky, so I won’t be ‘cleaning this up’ for that sake or making it more polite. Also note that there invariably is a point where a rogue will grow out of this guide and get a better & more concise idea of what they want to do and how to achieve it - at that point, you're past the scope of the guide. It states "Newbie" in the title for a reason. The guide also isn’t a discussion of class balance or even tree balance - it's here to give an understandable and short(ish) answer to gear/spec/stat and whatever other questions a newcomer commonly has. It's not an encyclopedia, and doesn't want to be one.

Part 0 – Rogue Rules

??? Don't Stand In Green Shit???!
This rule is also commonly known as "PvE is hard, sometimes there's a fire, and you have to move???" or "A dead rogue does 0 DPS???".
It doesn't matter whether it's green, yellow or red; it doesn't matter whether it's a gas cloud, acid on the floor, rain of fire from the heavens, cleaves or whirlwinds.
If you can anticipate it, don't get caught in it; if you can see it, move out. Avoid dying, and don’t wipe the raid because you’re overtaxing healers – both essentially mean you’re wasting the raidslot that was given to you.


??? Whatever Works (Best)???
Any other answer is wrong and usually given by people with either no clue, or an active interest to have you perform badly.
The best build is the one that best fulfills what you want it to do; if boss-DPS is what you want to do, then the best build is the one with highest potential DPS, and the best Stat is the one that gives you most DPS; if sailing though heroics is what you want, then shifting your attention to multi-targeting abilities to help clear trash ASAP might be the better choice. There is no single magical answer that covers all situations, and it’s your task to find a way/spec/tactic/gear that works well in the environment you chose to be.
You don’t get to complain about sucky boss-DPS when you go there with a PvP build, unenchanted quest+greens and no consumables; you don’t get to whine if you entered a fight without prior knowledge, and died because of it; you don’t get to bitch about being inappropriate, when other – better - choices are available.




_________
Edits: v.3.1 - 2009.04.30.b
*Typos, Formatting; Fixed some numbers as per Furyterras post, Added Enchanted Tear (Kadavret).
*Dec. 11th 2008 - Part 7 updated with lockpicking 350+ advice
*Dec. 13th 2008 - Wyrmscale Leg Armor removed; Nerubian Leg Reinforcements added ( Anarkid, Slicey )
*Dec. 18th 2008 - Clarified HAT bug
*Dec. 25th 2008 - Added Questions Build, Stats and fake FAQ (mutilate leveling marked for review)
*Dec. 28th 2008 - SnD, Rupture, HfB add-on question added to FAQ ( Shyrouken )
*Dec. 30th 2008 - Muti Leveling Build reviewed ( Derathox ), Professions Reviewed ( Kytsla, Kyphosis ), HAT section reviewed (removed rupture suggestion in build/glyph, wording changed)
*Jan. 3rd 2009 - Missrate for Autoattack adjusted to 27% as per recent EJ confirmation, suggestion to not spec while intoxicated added (+considering to add it to the rogue rules in post #0).
*Bantime – Jan 27th 2009 – Intro rewrite, language changes in all sections, formatting/wording reviewed; leveling poison suggestions, how-to for leveling; sub leveling options (Sh??dowless-US); Riposte in Combat (Satsujinki-US).
*Jan. 28th 2009 - Leveling enchants ( Haitur, Anachronism )
*April 26th 2009 - Update for 3.1
*April 30th 2009 - 18/51/2 added, MP vs. TTT expanded, short EA & ToTT remarks added; HaT teammates reviewed (pets seem broken ><), AP vs. Agi expanded ( Badlady )


Thanks to all who point out errors, suggest improvements, ask new questions and to everyone who keeps answering questions (correctly) :P