Assassination Rogue DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.0.5
Welcome to our Assassination Rogue guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.5. 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.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Assassination Rogue guide.
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.
Strengths and Weaknesses
High sustained DPS in both single-target and multi-target situations.
Ability to provide strong execute damage when talenting
Blindside and
Zoldyck Recipe.
Exceptional survivability thanks to
Feint,
Cloak of Shadows,
Evasion and
Crimson Vial.
Very good group utility in the form of
Shroud of Concealment,
Sap,
Blind,
Garrote and
Gouge.
Very flexible as swapping talents allows for focus on single-target or AoE.
Lack of burst damage outside of very specific talent builds.
Target-swapping is difficult if enemies are not within melee range.
Distinct talent builds for single-target and AoE means there is no catch-all build.
Assassination Rogue in Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5
Assassination has received a variety of changes, that serve as the foundation for removing some of the issues with the class and talent tree, and these efforts will continue into future patches to fully "fix" some of the concerns.
Feint is now baseline, and
Elusiveness and
Cheat Death
are further up the tree now.
Two new talents were added, one on the class and one on the spec tree:
Unbreakable Stride and
Arterial Precision.
Sepsis received a slight buff, but is still worse than
Serrated Bone Spike.
Kingsbane has moved positions and is now a choice node with
Dragon-Tempered Blades.
Arterial Precision has taken the old location of Kingsbane and offers
some slight cleave-damage increase. Kingsbane is unplayable with the current
state of its tuning.
Dashing Scoundrel now only costs 2 Talent Points, offering slightly
more build variety in the Spec tree.
If you liked the way Assassination played before Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5, with a focus on multi-dotting, ramping damage, and powerful cooldowns, then you will feel right at home in the new patch as well.
Leveling an Assassination Rogue
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.
Basics of Assassination Rogue Gameplay
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 the Easy Mode 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.
How to Gear Up as an Assassination Rogue
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 and advice on wearing two legendaries 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, flasks, 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.
End-Game as an Assassination Rogue
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.
Improving as an Assassination Rogue
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.
Changelog
- 05 Mar. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated Stat prio and Raging Affix description.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Updated for Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Updated some boss tips and talent advice.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talents and sample opener.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Updated Dungeon Gear list, added BiS List disclaimer and Raid trinkets.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Armor Kits, added Fortune Cookie food.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Updated Stat prio, added disclaimer for Haste at lower gear levels.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Updated Talent recommendations and descriptions according to newest sims.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Updated rotational priorities for DTB and Kingsbane builds.
- 04 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated talent build.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Page added.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Legendaries): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Torghast): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Covenants and Soulbinds): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Castle Nathria page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sanctum of Domination page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sepulcher of the First Ones page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 15 Jan. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page added with initial thoughts and information.
- 02 Nov. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Added 9.1.5 changes.
- 28 Jun. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Page added.
- 12 Oct. 2020 (Ny'alotha page): Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Nov. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Removed disclaimer, updated talent and gameplay recommendations, added Mythic Zaqul section.
- 15 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Added tips for all bosses.
- 08 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Guide added.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 08 May 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Added further boss tips.
- 15 Apr. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Guide added.
- 23 Feb. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Minor updates.
- 21 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added Assassination Rogue advice for Battle of Dazar'alor.
- 10 Dec. 2018 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
- 07 Sep. 2018 (Uldir page): Added boss spec-specific tips.
- 13 Aug. 2018 (Uldir page): Page added (placeholder for now).
More Rogue Guides
Guides from Other Classes
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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