Assassination Rogue DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within Pre-Patch
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Assassination Rogue in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within Pre-Patch.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Assassination Rogue rotation.
Assassination Rogue Rotation
Welcome to our Rotation page for Assassination Rogues. Here you will find out more about your rotational priorities in both single-target and multi-target situations, which you will apply in both Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.
Rotation for Beginners
If you are just starting, you might want to get more comfortable with your Assassination Rogue by using a more simplified yet still effective build and rotation. You can find out more about it in our Easy Mode section.
Mythic+ Rotation
For information about Mythic+ as an Assassination Rogue and the rotation you need to use in this content type, please refer to our Mythic+ page.
PvP
The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.
Assassination Rogue Rotations
Each of the sections below explain the rotation for different environments. Click the boxes to switch to the desired situation.
Assassination Rogue Rotation
Simplified Assassination Rotation
- Use
Mutilate as your single-target builder, and
Envenom as your single-target spender. Use
Ambush instead of
Mutilate when available.
- Use
Fan of Knives as your AoE builder, and maintain
Crimson Tempest as your AoE spender. Use
Mutilate or
Ambush once every 10 seconds in AoE if talented into
Caustic Spatter.
- Maintain
Slice and Dice,
Rupture and
Garrote at all times.
- Use
Shiv,
Vanish,
Echoing Reprimand,
Sepsis,
Kingsbane, and
Deathmark on cooldown.
- Use
Thistle Tea to avoid overcapping charges.
Single Target Ability Priority List for Assassination Rogue
This is the general priority list on how to use your abilities. This is NOT a list that should be followed step by step; it simply serves as a good idea on which things to prioritize in your moment-to-moment gameplay, as you will often be faced with multiple choices on which buttons to press. The priority list simply highlights which buttons are more important than others. You can find a sample opener sequence further below on this page.
- Apply
Slice and Dice with 1+ Combo Points, and maintain it by casting
Envenom with 5+ Combo Points.
- Use
Serrated Bone Spike if the debuff is not yet present.
- Maintain
Garrote, casted from
Stealth when possible.
- Maintain
Rupture with 5+ Combo Points.
- Use
Echoing Reprimand on cooldown (if talented).
- Use
Kingsbane on cooldown. Make sure to sync it with all the other buffs.
- Use
Sepsis on cooldown. Use one empowered
Garrote immediately, and one right before the debuff ends (~17seconds after you cast Sepsis).
- Activate
Deathmark when available.
- Activate
Vanish on cooldown. Use it to refresh
Garrote when it is about to run out, then sync with with your subsequent
Deathmark casts..
- Use one charge of
Shiv before
Kingsbane and extend it with the second charge to cover the entire duration of Kingsbane. Use
Shiv outside of cooldowns to avoid overcapping charges.
- Use
Serrated Bone Spike (if talented) to avoid overcapping charges.
- Cast
Envenom with 5+ Combo Points. Refresh Envenom in the last second of its duration, to maximize the damage from
Rogue Assassination 10.2 Class Set 4pc.
- Cast
Ambush to generate Combo Points whenever it is usable.
- Cast
Mutilate to generate Combo Points.
- Use
Thistle Tea whenever you have more than 100 Energy missing. Make sure to hold at least one charge for each
Kingsbane. Sync it with
Shiv.
Multi-Target Ability Priority List for Assassination Rogue
- Apply
Slice and Dice with 1+ Combo Points, and maintain it by casting
Envenom with 5+ Combo Points.
- Use
Serrated Bone Spike (if talented) if the debuff is not yet present.
- Make sure you are in stealth for
Indiscriminate Carnage.
- Maintain
Garrote, cast from
Stealth when possible, on as many targets as possible.
- Maintain
Crimson Tempest.
- Cast and Maintain the
Envenom buff with 5+ Combo Points. Refresh Envenom in the last second of its duration, to maximize the damage from
Rogue Assassination 10.2 Class Set 4pc.
- Maintain
Rupture with 5+ Combo Points on as many targets as possible.
- Maintain
Caustic Spatter by using
Mutilate once every 10 seconds to generate Combo Points.
- Use
Echoing Reprimand on cooldown (if talented).
- Use
Kingsbane on cooldown. Make sure to sync it with all the other buffs.
- Use
Sepsis on cooldown (if talented). Use one empowered
Garrote immediately, and one right before the debuff ends (~17seconds after you cast Sepsis).
- Activate
Deathmark when available.
- Activate
Vanish on cooldown. Use it to refresh
Garrote when it is about to run out, then sync with with your subsequent
Deathmark casts..
- Use one charge of
Shiv before
Kingsbane and extend it with the second charge to cover the entire duration of Kingsbane. Use
Shiv outside of cooldowns to avoid overcapping charges.
- Use
Serrated Bone Spike (if talented) to avoid overcapping charges.
- Cast
Fan of Knives to generate Combo Points on 3+ targets.
- Use
Thistle Tea whenever you have more than 100 Energy missing. Make sure to hold at least one charge for each
Kingsbane. Sync with with
Shiv.
Opening Sequences for Assassination Rogue
Assassination has a very long opener sequence that aims to maximize its 2-minute burst potential.
- Start from
Stealth.
- Cast
Garrote.
- Cast
Echoing Reprimand.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Slice and Dice.
- Cast
Ambush and
Mutilate until you are at 5+ CP.
- Cast
Envenom.
This is your set-up, followed by your cooldowns.
- Cast
Deathmark together with your DPS potion and your on-use trinket, if you have one. If you are the recipient of
Power Infusion, ask for it here.
- Cast
Shiv and
Thistle Tea.
- Cast
Kingsbane.
- Use
Mutilate and
Ambush as builders.
- Spam
Envenom with 5+ CP.
- Refresh
Shiv when the first one ran out.
- Use
Vanish to re-apply empowered
Garrote once it is 5.4 sec or lower duration.
After your Kingsbane expires, your opener is finished, and you continue
with your regular rotation until the next
Kingsbane window, a minute later.
Important Notes
- You will only ever cast
Slice and Dice once per fight. You will naturally maintain it whenever you cast Envenom as a regular part of your rotation, thanks to
Cut to the Chase.
- Optimal usage of finishers is at 5+ Combo Points, even with
Deeper Stratagem.
- If
Rupture is about to fall off, it can be reapplied with any number of Combo Points to maintain uptime. It is best to apply it with 5+ Combo Points, however, for maximum Energy efficiency and rotational fluidity.
Sepsis will grant you two casts of free stealth-based abilities. These benefit from all talents, including
Improved Garrote. You should always use these casts on
Garrote. You receive one free cast when using Sepsis, and one when Sepsis expires. You can use these for up to 10 seconds, and the goal is to cast one immediately after Sepsis, and one as late as possible, right before the Sepsis buff expires. This guarantees maximum empowered
Garrote uptime.
- You will always want to sync
Deathmark and
Vanish on single-target, granting
Improved Garrote damage bonuses to your Garrote during Deathmark.
- Always hold and chain both charges of
Shiv with
Kingsbane when talented into it, to ensure the entire Kingsbane receives the bonus damage.
- When talented into
Indiscriminate Carnage, you will want to make sure to use
Improved Garrote empowered Garrotes to spread it to all targets, and using maximum Combo Point
Rupture as well.
Season 4 Tier Set . Amirrassil, the Dream's Hope Tier Set (T31)
Rogue Assassination 10.2 Class Set 2pc has no bearing on your rotational gameplay.
Rogue Assassination 10.2 Class Set 4pc requires you to clip your Envenoms.
Envenom pandemics, so as long as the previous Envenom debuff is within the last
30% of Envenoms duration, you can refresh it to maximize Envenom uptime while
ensuring the highest benefit from the tier-set.
Poisons
Your Lethal Poison should always be Deadly Poison and
Amplifying Poison.
You have three choices for your non-lethal Poison, Crippling Poison,
Atrophic Poison, and
Numbing Poison. For raiding, you will
want to use Atrophic Poison
unless your raid wants you to slow a specific group of targets. For
Mythic+, you will want to use the Poison that best suits your tank's needs.
Crippling Poison allows your tank to more easily kite enemies,
whereas Numbing Poison slows their attack speed instead, while Atrophic Poison
reduces the damage the group takes from enemy attacks and spells.
Notable Mechanics for Assassination Rogue
Snapshotting
The damage buff from Improved Garrote is removed when you overwrite the bleed you
empowered by re-applying an unempowered bleed. Therefore, it is best to let the DoT run
its full duration before refreshing it.
Whenever casting Vanish, make sure to refresh Garrote.
Pandemic
When you refresh Rupture,
Garrote,
Crimson Tempest,
Envenom or
Slice and Dice before they expire, the remaining
duration is added to the newly applied effect, up to 30% of the newly applied
base duration. This mechanic is called "Pandemic."
Example — You can safely refresh a 5-Combo Point Rupture when it
has 7.2 seconds or less remaining because its base duration is 24 seconds.
Deeper Stratagem allows for 6 Combo Point Ruptures, which last 28
seconds. 6-Combo Point Ruptures can be refreshed safely when they have 8.4
seconds or less remaining. With
Sanguine Stratagem and 7 maximum
Combo Points, this changes to 9.6 seconds.
Safe Pandemic refresh timing is based on the newly applied base duration and not the original length of the effect. Therefore, a 2 Combo Point Rupture can benefit from full Pandemic if it is refreshed by a 5-7 Combo Point Rupture. We explain how to take advantage of this in the opening sequence later in the guide.
Academic Information for Assassination Rogue
The Interaction Between Combo Points and Energy
As an Assassination Rogue, many of your abilities require Energy to be utilized. Your baseline rate of Energy regeneration is 10 Energy per second. However, it is increased by:
- current Haste rating (Haste and Haste-enhancing buffs);
- the
Venomous Wounds talent;
- the
Venom Rush talent;
- the
Dashing Scoundrel talent;
- the
Thistle Tea active ability talent;
- the passive regeneration increase of
Vigor.
Higher Energy regeneration allows for higher uptimes on
Envenom, which awards much higher DPS over an extended encounter.
It is very important to avoid resource overflow. Capping Energy and overcapping Combo Points (unless caused by Seal Fate procs) is an egregious error. Special care should be taken to avoid wasting precious resources. "Pooling" higher levels of Energy, however, can be very beneficial (provided you do not overcap), as it allows you to store resources in anticipation of a window of burst damage. This can help reduce the patchiness of your debuff/buff uptimes, which will result in more consistent and smoother damage output.
Combo Point generation is increased by Seal Fate, which causes
your critical hits with melee Combo generators to add Combo Points to
your target per critical hit. This means
Mutilate can generate
up to 4 Combo Points if the main hand and the off-hand both critically strike.
Fan of Knives can generate the maximum number of Combo Points with a
single cast if it critically strikes 5 or more targets.
You should never cast a Combo Point generator at or above 4 Combo Points,
unless it is
Garrote or
Poisoned Knife (as neither of
these benefits from Seal Fate). Do not use
Poisoned Knife to reach
maximum Combo Points, unless you are out of range of the boss and in danger of hitting
the Energy cap.
Pooling Energy and Combo Points
It can be very beneficial to "pool" your Energy and Combo Points, which involves auto-attacking while your Energy regenerates. The advantage this provides is variable, meaning that pooling does not always result in damage gained. Situations where pooling Energy and Combo Points is beneficial include:
- before the cooldown on
Shiv recharges, to allow for immediate use and optimized burst;
- before an important add spawns, so you can apply as much instant pressure as possible;
- to assist with
Envenom uptime, by clipping two Envenoms or finishers so that the buff does not drop;
- An encounter-specific buff or damage phase is imminent.
Pooling Energy is not a magical DPS gain by itself. It allows you to slightly adjust the timing of your abilities so that you fit more attacks during periods of increased damage (provided you can properly identify when such periods are going to happen).
Kingsbane
Kingsbane is a new talent that applies a DoT effect that increases
in strength for every lethal poison application. It is incredibly powerful, and
large parts of our burst will rely on maximizing its damage output.
Try to maintain a 100% Envenom and
Shiv uptime during its entire debuff duration.
Defensive Utility
All Rogues have a solid number of defensive cooldowns, making them the best candidate for soaking required mechanics and dealing with heavy incoming damage.
Feint reduces AoE damage taken by 40% for 5 seconds for only 35 Energy. When talented into
Elusiveness, it also reduces all other damage by 20% and grants
Evasion a 10% damage mitigation. This is one of the most overpowered abilities in the game and a huge asset in fights with heavy raid damage.
Cloak of Shadows provides magic immunity for 1 second, followed by 4 seconds where all spells will miss you. Cloak of Shadows has a variety of uses, both pre-emptive and reactive, such as solo soaking mechanics or clearing debuffs that would force you out of melee range.
Evasion increases your Dodge chance by 100% for 10 seconds. This can be useful if you have to tank some adds or the boss for a few seconds. In rare cases, it can be used to negate physical ranged attacks or spells.
Cheat Death is a talent that allows you to escape lethal damage once every 6 minutes. The damage cannot exceed more than twice your maximum health. Cheat Death is great for soaking mechanics that pierce immunities and damage reductions, as it guarantees your survival. It is also great for encounters with bursty damage that might take you by surprise, as you get a free get-out-of-jail-free card at least once in the encounter.
Crimson Vial provides a respectable amount of healing on a 30-second cooldown.
Do not forget about this defensive toolkit, as it can be a major asset for both individual and raid-wide survivability.
Changelog
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 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.
- 14 Nov. 2023: Updated with newly optimized Opener on single-target.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Page updated for the Patch 10.2 Rogue rework.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Page was reviewed for Patch 10.1.7 and no changes were necessary.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Page was reviewed for Patch 10.1.5 and no changes were necessary as Assassination received no changes for the Patch.
- 06 Jun. 2023: Updated Sepsis gameplay information.
- 01 May 2023: No rotational changes are required for Patch 10.1. Added Rotation Quick Guide.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
- 04 Jan. 2023: Updated rotational priorities for DTB and Kingsbane builds.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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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