Subtlety Rogue Pre-Patch Guide for WotLK Classic

Rogues in general have some amazing changes coming their way in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, but 2 of the 3 most important changes only take effect after the expansion releases. For the pre-patch, all Rogue specs can enjoy the implementation of their poisons now scaling with Attack Power.

While Subtlety does bring the Hemorrhage debuff to the raid, they really do not perform as well as Combat or Assassination in PvE. You can still raid as one if you choose to and enjoy it, it simply is not considered "competitive" when compared with the other specs.

The talent tree listed above uses the points available at Level 70 to get as many of the desired talents as possible, but it still falls short. The Subtlety tree has a lot of "filler" talents in it, which means that they do not contribute to your damage output, but are instead only taken to get deeper into the tree.

At Level 70, you will only have access to 2 of your 3 major glyph slots.

For your major slots, you will want to use the Hemorrhage and Slice and Dice glyphs.

1. Hit Rating to cap;
2. Expertise;
3. Agility.

For Subtlety Rogues, the majority of secondary stats are fairly similar in their priority, with Hit, Expertise, and Agility taking priority over the others. Point-for-point, these 3 are the strongest stats for Subtlety in the pre-patch.

The rotation as a Subtlety Rogue is slightly more complicated than that of Assassination, but there is far less reliance on a proper opener. It is almost entirely based on the uptime of your Slice and Dice, Rupture, and, if there are no Warriors in your group, Expose Armor.

You should aim to only use your finishing moves with 4 or 5 combo points, however there may be instances when you have to refresh a buff with fewer.

1. Maintain Slice and Dice;
2. Maintain Rupture;
3. If you have spare combo points, you can use these on Eviscerate. This will happen often during Shadow Dance.

If you are applying Expose Armor, you should not expect to have full uptime on Rupture.

1. Maintain Expose Armor*;
2. Maintain Slice and Dice;
3. If you have spare combo points, you can use these on Rupture.

*If you have the Expose Armor glyph, you will only need to use Expose Armor with 1 or 2 combo points. If you do not, you will need to use it with 4 or 5 combo points.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Duplicitous Guise Cursed Vision of Sargeras Quad Deathblow X44 Goggles Slayer's Helm	Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau Illidan Stormrage — The Black Temple Engineering Recipe — Sunwell Plateau Trash Archimonde in Hyjal Summit
Neck	Clutch of Demise Hard Khorium Choker Choker of Endless Nightmares Shattered Sun Pendant of Might Braided Eternium Chain	Brutallus — Sunwell Plateau Jewelcrafting Recipe — Sunwell Plateau Trash Supremus — The Black Temple Shattered Sun Offensive Exalted Jewelcrafting
Shoulders	Slayer's Shoulderpads Shoulderpads of Vehemence Swiftstrike Shoulders	Mother Shahraz — The Black Temple Eredar Twins — Sunwell Plateau Leatherworking
Back	Cloak of Unforgivable Sin Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape Cloak of Fiends	Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau Teron Gorefiend — The Black Temple Timed Chest — Zul'Aman
Chest	Carapace of Sun and Shadow Bladed Chaos Tunic Slayer's Chestguard	Leatherworking Recipe — Sunwell Plateau Trash Eredar Twins — Sunwell Plateau Illidan Stormrage — The Black Temple
Wrists	Slayer's Bracers Insidious Bands Swiftstrike Bracers Deadly Cuffs	Kalecgos — Sunwell Plateau Teron Gorefiend — The Black Temple Leatherworking Rage Winterchill — Hyjal Summit
Hands	Gloves of Immortal Dusk Slayer's Handguards	Crafted Leatherworking BoE Azgalor — Hyjal Summit
Waist	Slayer's Belt Belt of One-Hundred Deaths	Brutallus — Sunwell Plateau Lady Vashj — Serpentshrine Cavern
Legs	Leggings of the Immortal Night Trousers of the Scryers' Retainer Slayer's Legguards	Felmyst — Sunwell Plateau Badge of Justice (100) The Illidari Council — The Black Temple
Feet	Slayer's Boots Nyn'jah's Tabi Boots Shadowmaster's Boots	Felmyst — Sunwell Plateau Badge of Justice (60) Mother Shahraz — The Black Temple
Rings	Stormrage Signet Ring Hard Khorium Band Band of Ruinous Delight Angelista's Revenge	Illidan Stormrage — The Black Temple Crafted Jewelcrafting BoE Eredar Twins — Sunwell Plateau Badge of Justice (60)
Trinkets	Blackened Naaru Sliver Dragonspine Trophy Warp-Spring Coil	M'uru — Sunwell Plateau Gruul The Dragonkiller — Gruul's Lair Void Reaver — Tempest Keep
Ranged	Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury Golden Bow of Quel'Thalas Blade of Life's Inevitability	Kil'jaeden — Sunwell Plateau Eredar Twins — Sunwell Plateau Sunwell Plateau Trash

The best weapon for Subtlety is the legendary Warglaive of Azzinoth, despite this not allowing you to use Ambush during Shadow Dance.

If you do not have the Warglaives, then you should use a slow mainhand dagger, such as Crux of the Apocalypse or Shiv of Exsanguination.

For your offhand, if you do not have the Warglaives, you want a fast, high DPS weapon of any type. You should aim to use one with a speed of 1.3-1.5, such as Fang of Kalecgos or Blade of Savagery if you are a Human.

The gems you choose to use will depend on the gear you have, but for the most part, you should aim to fill the slots with the following:

• Meta: Relentless Earthstorm Diamond
• Red or Blue: Shifting Shadowsong Amethyst
• Yellow: Glinting Pyrestone
• Red: Delicate Crimson Spinel or Glinting Pyrestone

You should only aim to use purple gems to activate your meta gem, which requires a minimum of 2 slotted.

The gems you choose to use should never "waste" Hit Rating by overcapping you.

For your enchants, you should use the following:

Slot	Enchantment
Head	Arcanum of Ferocity
Shoulders	Might of the Scourge
Back	Enchant Cloak - Greater Agility
Chest	Enchant Chest - Exceptional Stats
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Assault
Gloves	Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility
Legs	Nethercobra Leg Armor
Feet	Enchant Boots - Cat's Swiftness
Ring	Enchant Ring - Striking
Melee Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Mongoose

Spicy Hot Talbuk is your best well-fed buff if you are not hit-capped, Grilled Mudfish if you are hit capped, to give you as much Agility as possible.

Flask of Relentless Assault is your typical go-to flask of choice.

Elixir of Major Agility is our best choice for your in-fight potion.