Assassination Rogue DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.2

Assassination Rogue deals damage through the application and empowerment of poison and bleed effects. The damage toolkit of Assassination is somewhat limited, mainly focusing on dealing single-target damage over a long period and spreading DoT effects on multiple enemies. As with the other Rogue specializations, Assassination sports phenomenal defensive and crowd-control abilities that allow them to soak and survive mechanics that most other classes cannot, while controlling enemies to limit the amount of damage the group or tank can take in a Mythic+ environment.

Strengths

• High sustained DPS in single-target.
• Powerful burst-windows on a 2-minute cooldown, ideal PI and Augmentation target.
• Potent execute damage if talented into Zoldyck Recipe.
• Exceptional survivability thanks to Feint, Cloak of Shadows, Evasion and Crimson Vial.
• Very good group utility for Mythic+ in the form of Shroud of Concealment, Sap, Blind, Gouge or Airborne Irritant.

Weaknesses

• Long-winded opener sequence (~20seconds).
• Snapshotting DoT abilities with Nightstalker is required gameplay.
• Many different minor cooldowns that need to be synced for full optimization.
• Pooling resources and clipping buffs is required.
• Much harder to execute well than previous iterations of the spec.

Assassination, and Rogue in general, received a plethora of changes, with many new and reworked talents, changes to abilities that we get access to without having to talent into them, as well as the removal or "baking in" of several key components of the Spec. The list of changes is too long to list here, but you can find a link to the complete list of changes below.

The main goal of these changes is to maintain Assassination's damage profile in single-target, with heavy focus on cooldowns to temporarily boost our sustained damage output, while also drastically improving its lackluster AoE and cleave potential. Many incremental changes to almost all of our abilities have led to this improvement, and Assassination is once again a viable spec for all types of content and encounter types.

Beyond these numerical changes, the Spec largely remains the same, and thanks to a strong defensive toolkit, a somewhat unique if under-appreciated raid utility, and a high sustained DPS damage profile, Assassination is going to be a very strong spec in Patch 10.2, with a playstyle that has not changed since time immemorial. If you liked the way Assassination played so far, with a focus on multi-dotting, ramping damage, and powerful single-target cooldowns, then you can continue enjoying the exact same character and gameplay as before.

While all the pages have been reviewed for Patch 10.2, the vast amount of changes will require prolonged testing once the content has hit live servers. As a result, minor changes to many sections of this guide are to be expected in the early stages of Patch 10.2.

For a full breakdown of all Rogue Changes in Patch 10.2, check out our dedicated page below.

The large amount of changes to both the core toolkit and the spec-specific one, the Rogue theorycrafting community is constantly updating and looking for improvements to the Assassination simulations to find the best possible build and playstyle. As new findings come to light (or some bugs get fixed), changes to this guide will be happening as well.

If you want to level a new Rogue for Dragonflight, you should check out our leveling guide to help you on your journey.

If at any point you feel like you would like to customize your user interface or have been wondering if there are any useful macros or addons that might further your enjoyment and performance on your Rogue, you should check out our Addon section.

Assassination Rogue is a spec that utilizes a Combo Point system and spreads its damage over time effects to generate additional resources, while maintaining a couple of high-impact buffs and debuffs to deal strong sustained DPS.

Generating additional resources is core to the Spec, so making sure to maintain both Garrote and Rupture at all times is of vital importance due to Venomous Wounds. Combo Points are generated by using either Mutilate on single-target or Fan of Knives on AoE. Excess Combo Points that are not used on Rupture can be spent on Envenom to increase the passive damage your poisons provide. Shiv offers some minor burst-damage potential on a low cooldown.

For more information on the basics of the Spec, you can check out the Spell Summary to get a good idea of the abilities you will be using while playing Assassination. If you are completely new to playing Assassination Rogue, we suggest taking a look at our Beginner page below to get a general idea of how to set up your new character.

If you already have some experience playing a Rogue or have familiarized yourself with the basics of the Spec, you can also read up more information on how to optimize your Rotation and the individual strengths of the different Talents.

With all the different gearing options that are available to you, you might ask yourself what gear is worth chasing after. Since a lot of the decisions and variables depend on the gear that you are already wearing right now, we strongly recommend "simming" yourself. You can find more information on how to do that, as well as a list of the current Best in Slot gear for newly-leveled characters on our dedicated gearing page.

After gearing up your character, the next step is to apply the appropriate enchants and gems, as well as prepare the best potions, phials, and buff food. Which consumables are the best for you depends on your stat priority, which might change depending on your gear, talents, and the type of content you are about to tackle. The following two sections of the guide address all questions about consumables as well as the shifting stat priorities for Assassination Rogues.

The gameplay of your Assassination Rogue will change drastically once you start getting access to better and higher item-level gear. Once you feel that you are ready to tackle some of the most difficult content the game has to offer ; you should check out the dedicated pages for each type of content below. You will find helpful tips and tricks, recommendations on your talents and equipment, as well as general information on mechanics and guidance on what to look out for as you make your way to the top.

Once you have your gear in order and are looking to improve not just your character itself but also your gameplay, you can check out these helpful sections as a first step into analyzing your own performance in more detail.