Outlaw Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Season 4
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Outlaw Rogue in World of Warcraft — Season 4. 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 Combat Rogue talents.
Best Dragonflight Talents for Outlaw Rogue
These builds are very generic recommendations for different types of content. We have more specific recommendations for Raid and Mythic+ available in our dedicated sections:
Best Talents for Outlaw Rogue
Best Single-Target Talents for Outlaw Rogue
This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.
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Best AoE Talents for Outlaw Rogue
This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE and cleave fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.
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Talent Explanations for Outlaw Rogues
This section goes into detail about the possible choices you can make, that might deviate from the linked single-target and Mythic+ builds. Note that we do not explain every single talent here, but instead explain why certain talents are picked, and if there are any alternative choices you can make. For more information on all the individual talents, please consult our Spells page via the button instead.
Choice Talents
Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison | The attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+. |
Underhanded Upper Hand OR Sepsis | Sepsis grants us access to more stealth abilities, but since this does not count for the purposes of Crackshot, Underhanded Upper Hand simply provides too much uptime on Adrenaline Rush and is a mandatory pick. |
Cheat Death OR Elusiveness | Cheat Death is almost always going to be the better choice for progression. Elusiveness has its strengths on encounters where there is no big burst damage that might kill you, but instead constant damage over time. Even then, Cheat Death will likely serve you better during progression. |
Reverberation OR Resounding Clarity | Similar to the previous choice, there is a clear DPS winner here in all situations: Resounding Clarity. |
Airborne Irritant OR Gouge | Both talents allow you to disrupt enemies in Mythic+, giving you additional control. Airborne Irritant is likely going to be the choice for Mythic+, as AoE interrupts are hard to come by, and Blackjack allows it to also serve as a defensive tool for your tank. |
Blackjack OR Tricks of the Trade | In a raid environment, Tricks is likely the better choice. However, in Mythic+, the combination of Blackjack and Airborne Irritant offers incredible control and also helps the tank. |
Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush | This is a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambush casts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation. |
Float Like a Butterfly OR Sting Like a Bee | This choice comes down to whether or not you and your group or raid might get value out of Sting Like a Bee. It applies to all players and can be a very powerful way to help DPS on adds that can be stunned. If there are no such adds in a fight, then the cooldown reduction on Feint is slightly better defensively. |
Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons | This is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons. |
Class Talents
Row 1-4
All the talents here are utility talents, offering survivability, mobility, or crowd-control abilities, with the exception of Subterfuge. All the selected talents offer the most use in a raid or Mythic+ environment, while still opening up pathing to the 3 central nodes later down the line. As we need to allocate Deadly Precision, Recuperator and Tight Spender to access all the talents in Rows 8-10, there are only a few free talent points available to us in Rows 1-7. Most of the early talents in Rows 1-4 are stronger than the later ones, so we pick up more than the required 8 talents in this part.
Shadowstep | Mandatory mobility talent. We already have Grappling Hook baseline, but more mobility options never hurt. |
Subterfuge | The only DPS talent out of all the unallocated talents at this point. |
Cheat Death | A must-pick for progression fights, although Elusiveness might be useful on the occasional encounter. |
Improved Sprint and Featherfoot | Incredible mobility combo, giving you a 12-second 100% speed boost every minute, which is reduced further by Restless Blades, allowing for incredible mobility all throughout the fight. |
Row 5-7
Similar to the first handful of rows, you will have to allocate many points here to open up the pathing to the last section of the tree. Many of the talents here are too situational, and there are stronger talents in Rows 1-4 for survivability or utility.
Iron Stomach and Deadened Nerves are the go-to choice as some of the few flex-points, but if you run Mythic+ and use Shroud of Concealment a lot, Stillshroud can be the difference maker between wiping and having to end the run because Shroud is still on cooldown, or being able to shroud again thanks to the large cd-reduction Stillshroud provides.
Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons | This is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons. |
Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison | The attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+. |
Recuperator | Strong self-sustain talent that is required to open up the middle section of the tree in the following rows, especially if you aim to get Acrobatic Strikes. |
Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush | This is a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambush casts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation. |
Row 8-10
Your choices in this part will be centered around whether or not you want to pick up Acrobatic Strikes. As all the talents in this section are active DPS increases, the choice ultimately comes down to which options end up being the best DPS increase.
Shadow Dance | Grants you access to all your stealth abilities, which will benefit from many of your stealth-only damage or stat amplifications. Synergizes incredibly well with Crackshot and allows for even more Ambush casts. |
Deeper Stratagem | Adds a maximum Combo Point. Stacks with Devious Stratagem. |
Echoing Reprimand and Resounding Clarity | ER empowers your 2nd, 3rd and 4th Combo Points, while RC only increases the damage of the ability itself. Casting a finisher with empowered Combo Points changes it to instead be cast as if you used 7 Combo Points on it. Make sure to use up all of them before the next ER is ready, as the unused ones will be overwritten. |
Alacrity | Passive Haste buff. This might rarely run out on single-target, but there is no ways to avoid that. |
Cold Blood | Cold Blood is too weak of a talent to be competitive with the other choices like Shadow Dance, Resounding Clarity or Deeper Stratagem. Do not play this. |
Acrobatic Strikes | A talent that increases your melee attack range, which often allows you to stay out of trouble in Mythic+, and also means that you will be able to hit enemies sooner if you have to move to them, or even away from them. If you want to play this, drop a point in Lethality. |
Spec Talents
Row 1-4
Most of the picks here are simply gateways to talents further down the line, with some choices based off of how strong and situational their utility is. The chosen setup allows for pathing to all parts of the tree, and the only swap you make is for AoE, picking up Deft Maneuvers.
For Mythic+, you can make a choice between Combat Stamina, which improves your own survivability, and picking up Blinding Powder, which would further reduce the cooldown on your Airborne Irritant and Blackjack combo.
Row 5-7
In this part of the tree, you get to choose between optimizing your build for single-target or multi-target encounters, as well as picking a variety of minor DPS improving passives. After picking all the potent DPS talents for the content you engage with in these rows, you allocate one more point in Rows 1-4 to unlock the last three Rows.
For Mythic+, you can also pick up Heavy Hitter instead of Deft Maneuvers for slightly more single-target, at the cost of a bit of AoE.
Devious Stratagem | Adds another maximum Combo Point, for a total of 7. Mandatory. |
Dancing Steel | Mandatory talent for AoE. |
Audacity | A mandatory talent for almost all builds, as it allows you extra casts of Ambush at the same rate as your extra casts of Pistol Shot procs. |
Loaded Dice | A core ability for all Outlaw builds that buffs RtB, which can provide a variety of different combat enhancements. Mandatory |
Audacity | Mandatory. Allows you to weave in Ambush into your rotation, which greatly increases your ability to generate CP. |
Ace Up Your Sleeve | Combined with Crackshot, this talent potentially allows you to spam Between the Eyes during Subterfuge or Shadow Dance. |
Row 8-10
You will once more allocate talents based on whether you engage in multi-target or single-target combat, and this is where you truly define your build by picking Hidden Opportunity and Crackshot as your capstone.
Hidden Opportunity | Key talent for HO builds, which grants your Ambush casts to hit twice and grant Opportunity procs. |
Count the Odds | Greatly improves the number of RtB buffs you have active on any given time. |
Keep It Rolling | Key talent for KIR builds, which allows you to extend the duration of your RtB buffs. |
Fan the Hammer | Greatly enhances your CP generation, thanks to all the extra procs you get from other talents. |
Killing Spree | Powerful finisher that also reduces the damage you take during its duration. Sadly, it doesn't do enough damage to be worth picking up. |
Precise Cuts | Mandatory Talent for Mythic+ and cleave. |
Greenskin's Wickers | This changes your rotational priority slightly, making you use Between the Eyes on cooldown instead of just using it to maintain the debuff. |
PvP Talents (War Mode)
In Dragonflight, there will be the option to go into "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.
- 10% 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 enabling 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.
Outlaw 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 Outlaw Rogue-specific PvE talents.
Outlaw Rogue PvP Talents
- Take Your Cut causes you and allies within 15 yards to gain 15% Haste for 8 seconds after you use Roll the Bones. It is fairly good since it acts as a mini- Adrenaline Rush and has decent uptime when you are questing in the open-world.
- Boarding Party makes Between the Eyes increase the movement speed of all friendly players within 15 yards by 30% for 5 seconds. Movement speed is always nice while world-questing, so this is highly recommended.
- Enduring Brawler increases the chance for your Sinister Strike to hit an additional time the longer you remain in combat. While this will be only a small gain in most engagements with enemies in the open-world, it is very potent when trying to kill Elites, chain-pulling, or fighting World Bosses.
Changelog
- 22 Apr. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 21 Mar. 2024: Page has been reviewed for Patch 10.2.6, no changes were necessary.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Page updated for the Patch 10.2 Rogue rework.
- 04 Sep. 2023: New layout for talents, added KIR M+ build.
- 16 Jul. 2023: Updated for KiR being the stronger ST build now.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Page was reviewed for Patch 10.1.5 and no changes were necessary.
- 06 Jun. 2023: Updated KIR recommendation as viable alternative to HO builds.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1. The recommended build and talent tree remain the same, and the page required no updates.
- 26 Mar. 2023: Added Talent calculator link for KIR build.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 04 Jan. 2023: Updated HO build pathing/suggestions and added KiR build alternatives.
- 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
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This guide has been written and reviewed by Seliathan, who has been playing Rogue since the first day of Classic. He currently raids in Familiar with Drama, and is one of the foremost Mythic+ Rogue players. You can often find him streaming on Twitch, or follow him on his personal Discord server.
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