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Assassination Rogue DPS Guide — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

Last updated Yesterday at 01:13 by GrayHound 62 comments

Welcome to our Assassination Rogue guide for World of Warcraft — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1. Here, you will learn how to play as an Assassination Rogue in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons: from the very beginning to maximizing your DPS.

Table of Contents Pages in this Guide
1 Introduction 2 Easy Mode 3 Spell Summary 4 Builds and Talents 5 Azerite Traits and Armor 6 Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities 7 Mythic+ Tips 8 Boss by Boss Strategies 9 Stat Priority 10 Gems, Enchants, and Consumables 11 Macros and Addons 12 Gear and Best in Slot 13 Simulations 14 How to Improve 15 Frequently Asked Questions
CONTENT OF THIS PAGE

1. Assassination Rogue Overview

Assassination Rogues deal 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. As with the other Rogue specializations, Assassination sports phenomenal defensive abilities that allow them to soak and survive mechanics that most other classes cannot.

2. Patch 8.1 Changes for Assassination Rogue

Assassination did not receive many changes in 8.1, and remains a fairly competitive spec. However, due to changes in Azerite traits, AoE potential has gone up, which is a welcome change, especially in Mythic+.

3. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Assassination Rogue

Overall, very little changed for Assassination. Its core gameplay remains the same going into Battle for Azeroth; a number of abilities that were lost in the Legion prune have returned as talents along with some artifact effects, however the core gameplay is unchanged.

  • Bleed and Poison damage over time effects scale with Haste.
  • Feint Icon Feint has a cooldown, and cannot be maintained permanently.
  • Mastery: Potent Assassin Icon Mastery: Potent Assassin also affects bleed damage.

4. Assassination Rogue Strengths

  • Strong and consistent single target damage
  • Strong sustained cleave (good for council fights)
  • Exceptional defensive utility

5. Assassination Rogue Weaknesses

  • Burst AoE and short-term cleave
  • Very cooldown-reliant, and cooldowns only affect one target

6. Assassination Rogue Viability in the Current Patch

Assassination is currently fairly competitive with both of the other Rogue specializations. It is hard to say definitively which spec will be the best for Uldir, as there are still numerous number changes going out, and all three specializations have the mechanical potential to be the best, so this will come down mostly to tuning. That being said, Subtlety does appear to sim about 2% higher than Assassination.

7. Changelog

  • 11 Dec. 2018 (this page): Updated for patch 8.1.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (addons page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (bosses page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (enchants page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (rotation page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (FAQ page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (spells page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (how to improve page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (talents page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (simulations page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Updated for Patch 8.1.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (stats page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (easy mode page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (gear page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary (future raid gear lists will come closer to release).
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (mythic+ page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
  • 30 Sep. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Focused trait overview.
  • 07 Sep. 2018 (bosses page): Added boss spec-specific tips.
  • 07 Sep. 2018 (gear page): Added raid gear.
  • 04 Sep. 2018 (mythic+ page): Added affixes and utility descriptions.
  • 30 Aug. 2018 (gear page): Updated Azerite slots.
  • 30 Aug. 2018 (rotation page): Updated rotation for more Azerite conditionals.
  • 30 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Added Bloodmallet charts, added top 5 Azerite pieces to the page, removed disclaimer.
  • 30 Aug. 2018 (simulations page): Updated for Raidbots syntax.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (talents page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (addons page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (enchants page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (rotation page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (bosses page): Page added (placeholder for now).
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (gear page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (azerite traits and gear page): Page added.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (this page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (FAQ page): Page added.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (easy mode page): Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (how to improve page): Page added.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (simulations page): Page added.
  • 13 Aug. 2018 (mythic+ page): Page added (placeholder for now).
  • 07 Aug. 2018 (enchants page): Updated Healthstone advice.
  • 29 Jul. 2018 (talents page): Fixed a typo.
  • 22 Jul. 2018 (talents page): Split talents based on gear build (T21 4p vs T21 4p, T20 2p).
  • 22 Jul. 2018 (gear page): Added new gear builds using T20, added more information on Sephuz and Insignia of Grand Army. Updated Suggested gear per boss.
  • 22 Jul. 2018 (rotation page): Updated opener.
  • 20 Jul. 2018 (gear page): Updated trinket list order.
  • 16 Jul. 2018 (this page): Updated for the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch.
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