Season of Discovery Combat Rogue DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Last updated on Aug 24, 2024 at 10:00 by Sellin 4 comments

On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your DPS Combat Rogue, in WoW Classic - Season of Discovery. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, and others in order to minmax your damage efficiency.

1.

Introduction

As an Combat in Season of Discovery there have been some major changes made to greatly improve your Damage output and also lessen the downtime traditional to Rogue DPS. Combat operates off of a list of priorities as opposed to a DPS rotation but we have updated this list below to reflect what your rotation should look like now including abilities added in Season of Discovery via the Rune stone Engraving system.

While it is not required Engineering is a great tool to have as a Rogue not only because of the many toys and gizmos associated with it but bombs such as Solid Dynamite Icon Solid Dynamite can are essentially free damage and help with the issues Rogue deal with due to a lack of consistent AoE damage. Even with the addition of abilities like Fan of Knives Icon Fan of Knives Rogue AoE can at times still be limited so the added benefit of Engineering especially at max level can be quite noticeable. Bombs are typically best used on the pull as soon as your tank has established aggro so you can get multiple uses in an encounter, however if you know a fight will have multiple targets always try to keep the cooldown ready for when there are multiple targets to hit.

2.

Combat Weapons

In order to maximize the damage dealt by Mutilate Icon Mutilate we will be using two Daggers while playing combat.The Speed of the main-hand Dagger is largely irrelevant though slower Daggers typically have higher top-end damage and scale better with Mutilate Icon Mutilate.

This rotation assumes that you are using the Combat build highlighted in our talent guide. This rotation is extremely simple and will focus on maximizing the amount of Mutilate Icon Mutilate casts to generate combo points to apply your Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice buff and Rupture Icon Rupture debuff while trying to maximize the amount of Envenom Icon Envenom between refreshing either Rupture or Slice and Dice.

3.

Single-Target Rotation

  1. Ensure you have Instant Poison Icon Instant Poison applied to both of your weapons before combat. If your group lacks a source of Improved Expose Armor Icon Improved Expose Armor or you are assigned to it make sure to apply Sebacious Poison Icon Sebacious Poison to your main-hand.
  2. Begin Combat in Stealth Icon Stealth to maximize Master of Subtlety Icon Master of Subtlety uptime.
  3. If starting in stealth, apply Garrote Icon Garrote.
  4. Cast Mutilate Icon Mutilate to generate combo points.
  5. When the target has 5 stacks of Deadly Poison Icon Deadly Poison/Occult Poison I Icon Occult Poison I cast Poisoned Knife Icon Poisoned Knife.
  6. If an ability needs to be interrupted, prioritize interrupting it with Kick Icon Kick.
  7. Cast Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush to generate combo points quicker, pair with Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry if possible to maximize the added cleave damage.
  8. If you will get a second cast of Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush use Vanish Icon Vanish with it to take full advantage of the Master of Subtlety Icon Master of Subtlety buff. If not use Vanish Icon Vanish when you are high in energy.
  9. Cast Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice once you have achieved 5 combo points.
  10. With Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice active make sure to apply and maintain Rupture Icon Rupture to trigger Carnage Icon Carnage if your Garrote Icon Garrote bleed has faded.
  11. If Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice is active and Rupture Icon Rupture applied to your target, cast Envenom Icon Envenom at 5 Combo points to spend the rest of your points.
3.1.

Multi-Target Rotation

With the addition of the Back Rune slot Rogue has three new abilities to deal consistent AoE damage but we typically recommend Blunderbuss Icon Blunderbuss. In a situation where you are fighting 3 or more mobs for an extended period of time consider swapping your belt slot over to Shuriken Toss Icon Shuriken Toss and take advantage of your Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush cooldown to be able to maximize the amount of casts.

4.

Cool down Usage

Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush is a massive DPS cooldown that increases your energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 seconds and should be used on cooldown, it is best paired with Blade Flurry Icon Blade Flurry another great DPS cooldown exclusive to combat rogues that will cause your attacks to hit multiple targets as well as granting additional attack speed.

4.1.

Sprint

Sprint Icon Sprint increases your movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds, this has great uses both in and outside of combat and can be used to both travel the world more effectively or close the gap in some type of combat scenario.

4.2.

Evasion

Evasion Icon Evasion is an incredibly useful tool that greatly increases your dodge chance and will allow you to avoid massive amounts of incoming physical damage.

4.3.

Vanish

Vanish Icon Vanish will instantly send you back into stealth clearing any rooting or slowing effects in the process. This is an incredible tool for both resetting your threat but also enabling you to use another stealth only ability such as Ambush Icon Ambush. Vanish will also allow you to take advantage of Master of Subtlety Icon Master of Subtlety so in a situation where you are not concerned with threat consider using this ability to further maximize your damage by refreshing this buff. This is best paired with your second use of Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush if the encounter time allows for it.

5.

Utility Spells

Shadowstep Icon Shadowstep teleports you behind your current target and increases your movement speed by 70% for 3 seconds. This is a great way to close the gap when an enemy is running or move to a target quickly to interrupt an ability you otherwise may not have been able to reach in time.

Kick Icon Kick interrupts spell casting and should be utilized as often as possible to lessen incoming damage both when playing solo to maximize your up time or in a group to lessen the burden on your healer.

Gouge Icon Gouge is a brief incapacitating ability that stops spell casting and renders the target unable to act for a few seconds, make sure to take advantage of this to either stop incoming damage, interrupt a spell cast or use it to create distance between you and an enemy in an emergency situation.

Redirect Icon Redirect will allow you to move your combo points from your previous target to your current target, this only works on unspent combo points and if you generate a combo point on your new target before redirecting then you will be unable to move your previous ones to the new target.

Kidney Shot Icon Kidney Shot is a stun that will consume your combo points, its duration depending on how many combo points you spent. This is a great way to interrupt spell casting in a situation where Kick Icon Kick or Gouge Icon Gouge is not available or just to crowd control and otherwise dangerous enemy.

Cheap Shot Icon Cheap Shot is a stun that can only be used exiting stealth, your target will be stunned for 4 seconds and you will be awarded two combo points to the target.

5.1.

Combo Points

Combo Points are a resource that Rogues generate by using 'generating' abilities, in the highlighted build above the majority of your combo points will be generated by Mutilate Icon Mutilate. These points can be spent on various different finishing moves but at this point in time your main focus should be on maintaining as much up time as possible on Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice and should you find yourself with excess they should be spent on Envenom Icon Envenom. Keeping Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice active is a much greater priority than an extra cast of Envenom Icon Envenom so keep this in mind when considering which ability to use next.

6.

Changelog

  • 24 Aug. 2024: Updated for Saber Slash change.
  • 21 Jul. 2024: Updated for Blunderbuss.
  • 07 Jul. 2024: Updated for Phase 4.
  • 01 Apr. 2024: Updated for Phase 3.
  • 11 Feb. 2024: Updated for Phase 2.
  • 15 Dec. 2023: Guide updated.
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