Subtlety Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.1.0)

Last updated on Feb 24, 2025 at 21:57 by Eleem 70 comments
General Information

On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Subtlety Rogue in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.0). We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Subtlety Rogue talents.

On this page, we will go over talent builds available to Subtlety Rogues. To see how the choice of build affects how you play as a Subtlety, take a look at the Rotation section of our guide.

1.

The War Within Subtlety Rogue Talent Builds

Use the boxes below to navigate builds
Trickster
Raid / Single-Target
Trickster
Mythic+ / AoE
Deathstalker
Mythic+ / AoE
2.

Trickster Single-Target

There is currently not many options for either class or spec talent points. Theres clear winners that are numerically superior to the other alternatives so theres not really any situation where you would swap talents based on any encounter or specific scenario.

Trickster is currently notably ahead in Single-Target due to the synergy the hero talent tree has with the Rogue Subtlety 11.1 Class Set 4pc Icon Rogue Subtlety 11.1 Class Set 4pc around huge bursts.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Raid / Single Target - Trickster
CUQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM2mBAAAAAgZZMWmGzYMmxYMjHYmZmhxsNMzMbbzMjZmZAjlZbAAAAYGMAGzmhBGYWYhWsBD
3.

Trickster Mythic+ / AoE

On low to mid target counts Trickster plays very similar to how it does in pure Single-Target due to the talent Nimble Flurry Icon Nimble Flurry, but you still want to start casting Black Powder Icon Black Powders at 7 or more targets simply because it does more damage than Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate cleave.

The two minor differences between the Mythic+ / Aoe talent build and the Single-Target setup are:

  • Weaponmaster Icon Weaponmaster to The First Dance Icon The First Dance
  • Finality Icon Finality to The Rotten Icon The Rotten

The Rotten Icon The Rotten is chosen because in AoE situations with 7 or more targets it guarantees a critical hit with Shuriken Storm Icon Shuriken Storm during your burst so your Black Powder Icon Black Powder will benefit from Shadowed Finishers Icon Shadowed Finishers on every target. Weaponmaster Icon Weaponmaster provides close to zero damage in AoE scenarios, so even if you rarely get the buff from The First Dance Icon The First Dance it's still worth it the swap.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Raid / Mythic+ / Aoe - Trickster
CUQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM2mBAAAAAgZZMWmGzYmxMGjZYmZmhxsNLGzstNzMmZmBMWmtBAAAgZwAYMbGGYgZhFaxGM
4.

Deathstalker Mythic+ / AoE

Deathstalker with this talent build noticeably has less burst but slightly higher sustained damage, especially outside Shadow Blades Icon Shadow Blades and Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance. Overall its still a fine option for AoE but a little bit weaker than Trickster.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Raid / Mythic+ / Aoe Deathstalker
CUQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM2mBAAAAAgZZMWmGzgHYmxYmZmxMzMMmthxMbbzMjZmZAjlZZAAAAYGMsZWGYALglhJwsAD
5.

PvP Talents (War Mode)

If you choose to, you can enable "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

  • PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
  • 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
  • 15% more experience gained while leveling.
  • Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended to enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

5.1.

Subtlety Rogue War Mode Talents

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Subtlety Rogue-specific PvP talents.

5.1.1.
  1. Death from Above Icon Death from Above is just a stronger Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate.
  2. Dagger in the Dark Icon Dagger in the Dark — Whenever Stealth is active, you apply a debuff to nearby enemies that causes them to take an additional 5% damage from your next Shadowstrike. Stacks up to 8 times. This is nothing special, but still a slight damage boost.
  3. Only two of the Honor Talents increase our DPS while outdoors, so the last choice is up to you on which one you think suits you the best.

Veil of Midnight Icon Veil of Midnight, Shadowy Duel Icon Shadowy Duel, Silhouette Icon Silhouette, Smoke Bomb Icon Smoke Bomb, Thick as Thieves Icon Thick as Thieves, Distracting Mirage Icon Distracting Mirage, Control is King Icon Control is King, Dismantle Icon Dismantle and Maneuverability Icon Maneuverability have limited use in PvE content in terms of increasing your damage in the open-world.

6.

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.
  • 24 Nov. 2023: Updated to add Shadowdust Talent Builds.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed and Updated for patch 10.2.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Reformated talent tables and descriptions.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Small recommended talent updates.
  • 11 May 2023: Changed recommended talent to Flagellation over Dark Brew.
  • 09 May 2023: Added the new talent build with Aberrus tier set.
  • 01 May 2023: Page reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 14 Feb. 2023: Updated recommended single-target talent build.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Page updated and reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 17 Dec. 2022: Fixed import string for single-target spec.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Updated recommended talents.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 31 Oct. 2022: Changed recommended Raiding talent build and added comments on possible talent choices on certain rows.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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