Subtlety Rogue DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.1.0)
On this page, we explain how to easily play Subtlety Rogue in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.0), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics for Subtlety Rogue
Subtlety, at first glance, can seem very simple. You build combo points and spend them to deal damage. However, to maximize your damage potential it can be a very involved process which requires knowledge and understanding of the basics. This section aims to point players in a direction that allows them to play Subtlety by easing into the spec. This will not be the absolute best setup, but it will perform better for those who are getting up to speed with the intricacies of the specialization.
If you are completely new to Subtlety Rogue and are looking to understand what tools it has at its disposal, make sure to check out our spell summary page first to read what each ability does.
Talent Choice for Subtlety Rogue
These choices are optimized for ease of use. There are a variety of builds that are floating around, and we may even see new builds floating around when more people experience the new raid. Although some talents might offer marginally higher gains when played perfectly, if played improperly they could cause the player do less damage. The talents recommended here aim to present the best setup that has as little punishment as possible for unfamiliarity or mistakes.
You might notice both the Raid and the Mythic+ talent setup being the same, this is not a mistake as Subtlety currently has very little variation in terms of talents.
Single Target (Raiding)
You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Export Talents'.
Multi Target (Mythic+/Cleave)
You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Export Talents'.
If you are looking for the absolute best-performing talents for Subtlety, you can find a more in-depth analysis on our full talents page below.
Stat Choice for Subtlety Rogue
Single-Target Stat Priority
The general single-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Mastery >= Versatility > Critical Strike > Haste
- Mastery
- Versatility
- Critical Strike
- Haste
Multi-Target Stat Priority
The general multi-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Mastery >= Versatility > Critical Strike > Haste
- Mastery
- Versatility
- Critical Strike
- Haste
To learn more about how stats interact in different scenarios and why in the stats page below.
Subtlety Rogue Rotation:
Single-Target Rotation
- Try to always begin while in
Stealth.
- Cast
Rupture if its not up or if its about to run out. Do not cast it during
Shadow Dance.
- Cast
Flagellation.
- Cast
Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance at the same time.
- Cast
Shadow Blades when both
Shadow Dance and
Flagellation is up.
- Cast
Secret Technique during
Shadow Dance with 6 or more combo points.
- Cast
Eviscerate to spend combo points when you have 6 or more.
- Cast
Shadowstrike whenever you can, otherwise use
Backstab to build combo points.
You want to use two of Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance during your
Flagellation
and
Shadow Blades window, so don't use them if
Flagellation has less than 30 seconds left on its cooldown.
You can macro Cold Blood and
Secret Technique together as well as
Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance.
Multi-target (AoE) Rotation
The Trickster hero talent
Nimble Flurry means we want to continue
using
Eviscerate and
Shadowstrike even in multiple target scenarios.
- Try to always begin while in
Stealth.
- Cast
Flagellation.
- Cast
Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance at the same time.
- Cast
Shadow Blades when both
Shadow Dance and
Flagellation is up.
- Cast
Secret Technique during
Shadow Dance with 6 or more combo points.
- Cast
Eviscerate to spend combo points when you have 6 or more.
- Cast
Shadowstrike whenever you can, otherwise use
Shuriken Storm to build combo points.
You want to use two of Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance during your
Flagellation
and
Shadow Blades window, so don't use them if
Flagellation has less than 30 seconds left on its cooldown.
You can macro Cold Blood to
Secret Technique together as well as
Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance.
For the opener sequence and to find other damage optimizations visit the rotation page.
Changelog
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 23 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 22 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Reviewed and Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4
- 20 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed and Updated for patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Page updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 11 May 2023: Changed recommended talent to Flagellation over Dark Brew.
- 01 May 2023: Page reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Page updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 17 Dec. 2022: Added multi-target ability priority list and updated single-target.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Rogue Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Eleem, who has been a rogue player, enjoyer and theorycrafter since Legion. He is currently raiding in a top 100 guild and has been known to dabble in m+ from time to time. You can find him in the Ravenholdt Discord as Eleem.
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