Rogue Guide

Assassination Rogues have mastered the use of poisons, wielding two daggers to hit their enemies most vital spots with their toxic-laden blades. They do so by afflicting their targets with a variety of bleed and poison effects and dealing massive damage over long periods of time, while buffing themselves to further boost their Damage over Time (DoT).

Assassination Rogues apply multiple debuffs to their targets as well as buffing themselves, which require constant maintenance to deal the most damage possible. Keeping track of the duration of their DoT and buff effects is critical to dispatching their enemies efficiently. Assassination Rogues have to be careful about their resource usage to make the most of their Energy and Combo Points that they generate throughout the fight. They can greatly increase the potency of their damaging effects for short periods of time, giving them strong burst potential when their cooldown abilities are active, but falling behind on maintaining all their damaging effects can have severe consequences.

In typical Rogue fashion, Assassination Rogues end up being overlooked from time to time in Pick-Up-Group (PUGs) content, as they do not bring one of the major raid buffs that increase the entire raid's damage. They do offer a unique defensive raid buff with Atrophic Poison, and many healers will be thankful for having a Rogue in the raid.

Their personal survivability is one of the strongest in the game thanks to abilities like Feint, Cloak of Shadows and Cheat Death, and they will often find themselves as one of the last players alive in any raid encounter. They also offer strong single-target damage with a potent 2-minute cooldown, Deathmark, and are easily one of the strongest single-target performers in the game right now.

All of the above points hold true in Mythic+ as well, making them one of the few Melee DPS specs that can survive situations where most other melee classes would perish. With Mythic+ being a lot more punishing on Melee than Raid encounters are, this makes them one of the best choices for Mythic+, whether it is just playing a weekly key, or attempting to push higher level keystones.

Their DPS output in Mythic+ is only matched by a select few classes, and Assassination Rogues get to enjoy the benefits of quickly getting invited to groups as a result. With their ability to further mitigate damage on the tank thanks to Iron Wire, Blackjack and Numbing Poison, they provide great damage, strong survivability, and good defensive utility that makes any dungeon run easier.

Outlaw Rogues have abandoned the silent and deadly tactics of their other Rogue brethren, instead opting for a swashbuckling approach that sees them strike their enemies head-on. With unpredictable tricks, opportunistic attacks, and a flair for chaos, they rely on speed and wit to overcoming their opponents. Once mastered, Outlaw provides an incredible fun gameplay flow that sees them pressing buttons more often than almost any other class. Outlaw does not rely on massive burst cooldowns like most other classes, leaving the player with a challenging but very unique playstyle.

Inspired by rogues and pirates of legend, Outlaw Rogues gain access to a variety of temporary combat enhancements through Roll the Bones. Juggling and maintaining these buffs is critical to getting the most damage out of their fast-paced toolkit, and they can stick to their enemies no matter how nimble or mobile they may be. They generate an almost excessive amount of Energy and Combo Points, requiring the player to be quick on their feet at understanding which ability to press at any given point, while needing to accurately predict how their next few abilities are affected by Restless Blades' cooldown reduction.

Outlaw Rogues, thanks to providing Atrophic Poison and consistent damage no matter the situation, end up being a somewhat well-received class in Pick-Up-Group (PUG) content. While they do not provide a damage increase raid buff like some other classes, Healers and Tanks will be happy to have a Rogue in their raid.

Outlaw is one of the less well received specs for Rogue in more organized raid groups, largely due to its lack of strong damaging cooldowns. It can easily match the overall DPS throughput of the other specs, but it does so through high sustained damage, instead of being built on a cooldown-heavy damage profile. In some encounters this can be a strength, in others it may end up a weakness, and it its generally recommended to be flexible enough to swap to another spec if high burst damage is required for any encounter.

The strong sustained damage of Outlaw that can sometimes end up being a detriment in Raids, ends up being one of their biggest strengths in Mythic+. Since almost all their damage extends to AoE scenarios as well due to Blade Flurry, players do not need to learn a separate set of rotational priorities to do well in dungeon-based content. While they may not be able to explode a pack by committing all their cooldowns at once, they will always be able to contribute strong damage no matter the situation

Their survivability and mobility is almost unmatched, and it allows Outlaw to be one of the few melee specs that can thrive in an otherwise hazardous environment for melee DPS. With abilities such as Feint, Cloak of Shadows, and Cheat Death, they can survive where most others would perish, and it is the combination of potent sustained DPS and a very strong defensive toolkit that makes Outlaw Rogues a spec that rarely struggles to find a group to play with.

Subtlety Rogues harness the shadows like a second skin, ambushing their enemies to strike against the weak points with cunning agility and speed. Unseen killers, they prioritize striking from stealth and amplifying their attacks with shadowy powers and techniques to dispatch their targets quickly and quietly. In prolonged fights, they find ways to slip away from sight to reappear with devastating precision and power, allowing them to take down even the most vigilant of opponents.

Subtlety Rogues use shadowy techniques to enhance their damage output temporarily, with a playstyle that focuses on short but potent damage amplification windows. The playstyle revolves around maximizing the value of these buffs by synchronizing multiple of their cooldowns simultaneously, leading up to a few hard-hitting strikes that deal devastating damage. In order to maximize their Energy and Combo Point generation, Subtlety Rogues want to stick to their targets as much as possible, and suboptimal usage of their abilities can severely lessen the impact of their most powerful abilities.

Stealthy and sneaky, Subtlety Rogues still find their ways into both Pick-Up-Group content and more organized raid groups. While they do not provide a damage-increasing raid buff like some other classes, they are one of the most survivable classes in the game by themselves, while also reducing the damage the entire raid takes thanks to Atrophic Poison. Their damage output and damage profile which is centered around incredibly high burst damage, is one that many groups will be thankful for. Few classes deal as high burst damage as Subtlety.

Thanks to Feint, Cloak of Shadows and Cheat Death, they will always stay alive longer than almost any other class in the game, allowing their strong single-target DPS to finish off bosses while the rest of the raid watches. While their overall DPS is not as high as that of some other classes, it is their burst potential that makes them invaluable to many raid groups.

Compared to the other Rogue specializations, Subtlety trails only a tiny bit behind their brethren. Its potential for powerful burst damage in AoE and single-target is a great boon in any Mythic+ group, whether it is just for a weekly dungeon or high-level Mythic+ keystones. Since it does not rely on damage over time effects, it can deal devastating damage on demand.

Cooldown management is one of the most important skills to learn as a Subtlety Rogue, and not using your abilities regularly can cause significant drops in DPS. Unfortunately it does not provide the same level of defensive toolkit as Assassination, having to contend with dealing higher single-target damage but lower AoE damage than the other burst-DPS spec of the class. While some groups might want an Assassination Rogue over Subtlety, in the hands of a master there will be almost no difference in performance or survivability.