Nostalrius Begins - Quality wow vanilla realm (1.12)

which one is overall stronger in PVE Mage or Rogue?

If you mean in dps : Rogue in MC/BWL, Mage = Rogue AQ, Mage in Naxx

what Noxm said. Mage also has AoE which rogues lack, polymorph usually > sap, and rogues are more likely to get offset by fight mechanics like just sitting in the ranged group and bandaging people on shazzrah

argueably, since mc/bwl are really easy, the rogue advantage in dps could be overlooked as well, whereas by the time things start getting tough, mages are begining to shine

mage also has the excellent oh shit mechanic of blink, rogues dont have their awesome talents/abilities that mitigate aoe in vanilla yet

mage also have an edge in solo pve as they can effectively aoe grind, and kite enemies. Rogue you just have to pop your cooldowns and pray the enemy dies before you do

On the other hand, I think rogue is probably going to be more interesting to play in raids.. its hard for me to say since I havent had a 60 mage in vanilla, but did main a rogue on vanlla retail

There were alot of things that made me enjoy rogue profusely. Vaelestrasz as a dagger rogue, suppression rooms snowball fights, tanking razuvious, killing anub rektan cuz u a savage... shit, even being a combat medic on shazzrah and p2 razorgore was enough to keep me entertained

That said, I think overall a mage is "stronger" in pve, and if you make it to naxx you will actually have a chance at getting t3..

At least, thats my perspective as a retail rogue. A better understanding of the game since I was 60 may have changed all that

And btw rogue will be in demand cause low pop of this class on pve server :

Population Census : Monday 19 october 10:30 pm ST : viewtopic.php?f=71&t=24560&p=170593#p170593

its still so early to really base your class choice off those census numbers. Disclaimer: I love your census results! but when the large portion of the population is just the initial rush, its a bit unreliable. That being said, who knows how it will shake out. Both classes are completely different and both rock!

I'd go Rogue at this stage, myself. You're solid for any future PvP, one of the top DPS specs for a while and currently underrepresented. Also consider the potential for later tiers. Mage is typically the number one dps in Naxx, but with excellent skill you can top them. Check out some screenshots of Nihilium Rogues on Kel'thuzad, due to your ability to vanish and wipe threat you have the ability to push out some major DPS while controlling your threat unlike others.

I don't recommend picking a class, based off of it's perceived strengths alone. If you are sure that you want to play a DPS, then play the DPS you want to play. But, not a hybrid, of course. Pick the DPS you like the most, because it's more likely that you'll stick with it.

Another point is that, within your guild, no matter if you pick a rogue or a mage, you're only really competing with others of the same class, so, mage versus mage, rogue versus rogue. This is what the officers see, or should see.

Yes, the highest DPS, overall, is a consideration, for sure, but, when it comes time for the officers to pass out loot, they aren't going to give a rogue the mages' gear, just because they were the highest DPS, overall. Pick what you want, and play it better than others of the same class, and may the council be ever in your favor!

just roll lock or hunter and u will enjoy it

Boxer has what I was going to say. Don't pick a class based on perceived strength.

Play a class because it fits your personality/playstyle. If you look to pick whatever is "OP" then you're going to have no fun with the game.

Edit for more explanation:

I feel people care too much about damage meters so they will clearly want to pick something "strong" in PvE which for right now is in fact rogue more often than not. Though when you place heavy value into the damage meters you lead to issues, one in particular is people ignoring boss mechanics in order to boost their number. One glaring example is mages who are casting Frostbolt on Lucifron instead of decursing. People see the meters as all they are worth (in regards to Damage Done) and begin to do what they can to cheese it and look better by the meters. If this means standing in fire, they will do it if they can get that one extra cast off. If this means rogues not using kick to interrupt adds on Domo and prevent healing because 25 energy for 50 damage isn't worth it, so be it.

Ultimately if you care about raiding and looking good, find a guild that isn't led by apes and will look for you doing what your class is meant to do. A sensible guild will value your ability to CC on necessary boss fights, a mage's value to them isn't their damage on some MC fights, you could do 0 damage on Lucifron but have a high number of decurses and they'll prefer that. When you roll into Kel'thuzad a guild is going to value your ability to kick the frostbolt volley cast over your "leet dps."

Once you get your rotation down and aren't raid leading or using it for other values like interrupts, who's slacking on healing in case of raid wipe, etc it's best to just disable damage meters and focus on the boss fight. I still run SWStats as a grunt member of my guild but I use it to track things other than Damage Done, things that are actually relevant to that fight. As long as we aren't hitting enrage timers I don't give a shit about damage done and when I raided in BC/WOLK/Early Cata that was my exact mentality, when I got into raid leading in Wrath I would actively threaten to kick people linking damage meters after fights. You notice a specific trend that the people who brag about the damage meters the most, are the ones who cut EVERY CORNER IMAGINABLE on the fight. So they'll be cool with the Val'kyr tossing off a raid member on Lich King because for them to switch to that target was a DPS loss of about .5 seconds. That is the kind of mentality people who care too much about meters seem to have and it is pretty cancerous to a raid team in my honest opinion. More so when you're like me and decide to start watching the person's character on the fight and you see them ignoring specific mechanics then brag about their damage done. Leave the Damage Done worrying to your class officer/raid leader/guild leader. Focus on doing your job.

Now because I know "efficiency" will probably get pulled: I will admit there's a difference between ignoring mechanics and being efficient. In the case of a rogue, vanishing to throw Garrote on a secondary target is efficiency. Standing in the fire so you can DPS is not efficiency. Using Cloak of Shadows to mitigate fire damage and get that extra few seconds of DPS in is efficiency. The difference between those two is you're not ignoring a mechanic blatantly and are not putting extra strain on the healers to keep you alive so you can whore DPS. Given this is Vanilla, using Blade Flurry to cleave Lava Spawns on Firelord trash adds is efficient. Blatantly ignoring switching without Blade Flurry is ignoring a mechanic. Sure it isn't like that'll mean much given how much better we are now than 10 years ago, but the idea remains the same.

I have trouble finding mages for dungeons , yet I never had trouble finding a rogue.