Assassination Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.2.5

Last updated on Jan 15, 2024 at 15:00 by Seliathan 65 comments
General Information

On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Assassination Rogue in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5. We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Assassination Rogue talents.

Disclaimer: With the vast amount of changes to Rogue and Assassination talents and abilities in Patch 10.2, we expect more findings and optimizations to surface as the Theorycrafting community continues their efforts to find the best possible way to play the spec. As a result, information on this page might receive frequent updates after Patch 10.2 hits live servers.

1.

Best Dragonflight Talents for Assassination Rogue

These builds are very generic recommendations for different types of content. We have more specific recommendations for Raid and Mythic+ available in our dedicated sections:

2.

Best Talents for Assassination Rogue

Single-Target Talents Mythic+ no-Acro DtB Mythic+ Acro DtB Mythic+ AP Talents/Pathing Explained
3.

Best Single-Target Talents for Assassination Rogue

This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Best AoE Talents for Assassination Rogue

This is one of two possible builds for Mythic+, utilizing Dragon-Tempered Blades Icon Dragon-Tempered Blades. This build offers the highest DPS output, but does not pick up Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic Strikes.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Best AoE Talents for Assassination Rogue

This is one of two possible builds for Mythic+, utilizing Dragon-Tempered Blades Icon Dragon-Tempered Blades. This build is ~3% worse in DPS than the build without Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic Strikes.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Best AoE Talents for Assassination Rogue

This is one of two possible builds for Mythic+, utilizing Arterial Precision Icon Arterial Precision. It cannot use two utility poisons, but performs roughly the same damage-wise, as the DtB build.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Talent Explanations for Assassination Rogues

This section goes into detail about the possible choices you can make, that might deviate from the linked single-target and Mythic+ builds. Note that we do not explain every single talent here, but instead explain why certain talents are picked, and if there are any alternative choices you can make. For more information on all the individual talents, please consult our Spells page via the button instead.

3.1.

Choice Talents

Atrophic Poison Icon Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison Icon Numbing PoisonThe attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Cheat Death Icon Cheat Death OR Elusiveness Icon ElusivenessCheat Death is almost always going to be the better choice for progression. Elusiveness has its strengths on encounters where there is no big burst damage that might kill you, but instead, constant damage over time. Even then, Cheat Death will likely serve you better during progression.
Reverberation Icon Reverberation OR Resounding Clarity Icon Resounding ClaritySimilar to the previous choice, there is a clear DPS winner here in all situations: Resounding Clarity.
Serrated Bone Spike Icon Serrated Bone Spike OR Sepsis Icon SepsisAs it stands, Sepsis is the better choice here for single-target. While Serrated Bone Spike still has an edge in multi-target situations; the boss design in Aberrus is very similar across all bosses, so SBS never sees a time to shine, and you cannot pick this talent in Mythic+.
Internal Bleeding Icon Internal Bleeding OR Caustic Spatter Icon Caustic SpatterInternal Bleeding is the stronger choice for single-target, but the moment any adds are involved in a fight, and you need to contribute DPS to them, Caustic Spatter is the clear winner.
Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons Icon Virulent PoisonsThis is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons.
Airborne Irritant Icon Airborne Irritant OR Gouge Icon GougeBoth talents allow you to disrupt enemies in Mythic+, giving you additional control. Airborne Irritant is likely going to be the choice for Mythic+, as AoE interrupts are hard to come by, and Blackjack Icon Blackjack allows it to also serve as a defensive tool for your tank.
Blackjack Icon Blackjack OR Tricks of the Trade Icon Tricks of the TradeIn a raid environment, Tricks is likely the better choice. However, in Mythic+, the combination of Blackjack and Airborne Irritant offers incredible control and also helps the tank.
Flying Daggers Icon Flying Daggers OR Venom Rush Icon Venom RushThis is a simple single-target vs AoE choice, and while Venom Rush is very potent for ST, this talent is typically skipped entirely for AoE, as there are stronger talents elsewhere on the tree.
Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush Icon Improved AmbushThis is a another simple matter of DPS. Tight Spender is better in AoE, while Improved Ambush wins out in single-target.
Iron Wire Icon Iron Wire OR Intent to Kill Icon Intent to KillIron Wire is incredibly powerful in Mythic+, while Intent to Kill is more of a PvP talent.
3.2.

Class Talents

3.2.1.

Row 1-4

All the talents here are utility talents, offering survivability, mobility, or crowd-control abilities, with the exception of Subterfuge Icon Subterfuge. All the selected talents offer the most use in a raid or Mythic+ environment, while still opening up pathing to the 3 central nodes later down the line. As we need to allocate Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision, Recuperator Icon Recuperator and Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender to access all the talents in Rows 8-10, there are only a few free talent points available to us in Rows 1-7. Most of the early talents in Rows 1-4 are stronger than the later ones, so we pick up more than the required 8 talents in this part.

Shadowstep Icon ShadowstepMandatory mobility talent. You already get one charge automatically, but a second charge gives you a lot more freedom to use it.
Subterfuge Icon SubterfugeThe only DPS talent out of all the unallocated talents at this point.
Cheat Death Icon Cheat DeathA must-pick for progression fights, although Elusiveness Icon Elusiveness might be useful on the occasional encounter.
Improved Sprint Icon Improved Sprint and Featherfoot Icon FeatherfootIncredible mobility combo, giving you a 12-second 100% speed boost every minute.
3.2.2.

Row 5-7

Similar to the first handful of rows, you will have to allocate many points here to open up the pathing to the last section of the tree. Many of the talents here are too situational, and there are stronger talents in Rows 1-4 for survivability or utility. You can also opt to not talent into Blind Icon Blind and Airborne Irritant Icon Airborne Irritant at all, and instead, pick up more survivability talents in Rows 5-7.

Iron Stomach Icon Iron Stomach is the go-to choice as one of the few flex points, but if you run Mythic+ and use Shroud of Concealment Icon Shroud of Concealment a lot, Stillshroud Icon Stillshroud can be the difference maker between wiping and having to end the run because Shroud is still on cooldown, or being able to shroud again thanks to the large cd-reduction Stillshroud provides.

Graceful Guile Icon Graceful Guile can be replaced with Deadened Nerves Icon Deadened Nerves, but there are very few encounters where you take heavy physical damage that can't also be reduced by Feint Icon Feint.

Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons Icon Virulent PoisonsThis is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons.
Atrophic Poison Icon Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison Icon Numbing PoisonThe attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Recuperator Icon RecuperatorStrong self-sustain talent that is required to open up the middle section of the tree in the following rows.
Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush Icon Improved AmbushThis is a another simple matter of DPS. Tight Spender is better in AoE, while Improved Ambush wins out in single-target.
3.2.3.

Row 8-10

Your choices in this part will be centered around whether or not you will be playing Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance and Nightstalker Icon Nightstalker, which will require you to snapshot your DoT effects during your stealth windows. It is superior in DPS, but also requires much more flawless execution in gameplay.

Nightstalker Icon NightstalkerThis not only increases the damage while Stealth is active (Vanish, Shadowdance), but the damage amplification is also retained for duration-based effects as long as they are not recast. This allows you to benefit from the damage increase long after the stealth effect has expired.
Shadow Dance Icon Shadow DanceGrants you access to all your stealth-abilities, which will benefit from many of your stealth-only damage or stat amplifications like Improved Garrote Icon Improved Garrote, Shrouded Suffocation Icon Shrouded Suffocation or Nightstalker Icon Nightstalker.
Deeper Stratagem Icon Deeper StratagemAdds a maximum Combo Point, for 6 total. This means that you will want to use all your finishers with 5 or 6 Combo Points.
Echoing Reprimand Icon Echoing Reprimand and Resounding Clarity Icon Resounding ClarityER empowers your 2nd, 3rd and 4th Combo Points, while RC only increases the damage of the ability itself. Casting a finisher with empowered Combo Points changes it to instead be cast as if you used 7 Combo Points on it. Make sure to use up all of them before the next ER is ready, as the unused ones will be overwritten.
Thistle Tea Icon Thistle TeaThis is almost entirely used for the Mastery boost during our burst windows, and to give us extra Energy that further boosts our damage output via Sanguine Blades Icon Sanguine Blades during cooldowns.
Alacrity Icon AlacrityPassive Haste buff. This might rarely run out on single-target, but there is no ways to avoid that.
Cold Blood Icon Cold BloodCold Blood is too weak of a talent to be competitive with the other choices like Thistle Tea, Shadow Dance or Deeper Stratagem. Do not play this.
Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic StrikesA talent that increases your melee attack range, which often allows you to stay out of trouble in Mythic+, and also means that you will be able to hit enemies sooner if you have to move to them, or even away from them. If you do not want to play this, add a point to Vigor.
3.3.

Spec Talents

3.3.1.

Row 1-4

All the talents selected here are required to hit the 8-point cutoff, except for one. That one additional talent is required to hit the 20-point cutoff.

Improved Poisons Icon Improved Poisons is the weakest talent among all the choices, and will be swapped for Thrown Precision Icon Thrown Precision for Mythic+. Internal Bleeding Icon Internal Bleeding will be swapped for Caustic Spatter Icon Caustic Spatter in cleave and AoE as well.

Venomous Wounds Icon Venomous WoundsMandatory talent. This talent generates the vast majority of our Energy, especially on AoE.
Thrown Precision Icon Thrown PrecisionHigher crit chance for Fan of Knives Icon Fan of Knives means more Combo Points via Seal Fate Icon Seal Fate. Requirement for Crimson Tempest Icon Crimson Tempest.
Sanguine Blades Icon Sanguine BladesMandatory talent for AoE, and strong enough to also be useful on single-target. Adds extra damage as long as we are above a certain Energy threshold, which happens during cooldowns/Bloodlust.
Seal Fate Icon Seal FateMandatory talent. Allows you to generate extra Combo Points. Mutilate will generate up to 4, while Fan of Knives can technically generate your maximum CP with just one cast if you crit enough.
Cut to the Chase Icon Cut to the ChaseMandatory talent. Completely removes the need to refresh Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice.
3.3.2.

Row 5-7

In this part of the tree, you get to choose between optimizing your build for single-target or multi-target encounters. After picking all the potent DPS talents for the content you engage with in these rows, you allocate one more point in Rows 1-4 to unlock the last three Rows.

Crimson Tempest Icon Crimson TempestMandatory talent for AoE. If talented, try to use it on single-target as well to maintain the debuff.
Flying Daggers Icon Flying DaggersA weak AoE talent that is not worth playing.
Iron Wire Icon Iron WireIncredible utility in Mythic+ that is a must-play, even if it does not provide DPS like other possible choices.
Deathmark Icon DeathmarkExtremely powerful cooldown that duplicates your Rupture and Garrote, even empowered ones. Mandatory pick.
Master Assassin Icon Master AssassinToo weak to be worth playing in any circumstance.
Amplifying Poison Icon Amplifying Poison OR Twist the Knife Icon Twist the KnifeHave to pick one of these to unlock the next row. Amplifying Poison is about thirty times stronger than Twist the Knife due to a later talent choice.
3.3.3.

Row 8-10

You will once more allocate talents based on whether you engage in multi-target or single-target combat.

Dragon-Tempered Blades Icon Dragon-Tempered BladesMandatory picks due to its synergy with many previous talents.
Kingsbane Icon KingsbanePowerful cooldown that synergizes well with Dragon-Tempered Blades and Caustic Spatter Icon Caustic Spatter.
Shrouded Suffocation Icon Shrouded SuffocationMakes Garrote grant 3 CP per cast when cast from Stealth and drastically increases its damage. Works with Sepsis Icon Sepsis, Vanish Icon Vanish and similar abilities.
Indiscriminate Carnage Icon Indiscriminate CarnageVery powerful AoE passive that triggers from Stealth and inherits bonuses like Iron Wire Icon Iron Wire or Shrouded Suffocation Icon Shrouded Suffocation for all DoTs. Must-pick for Mythic+.
Poison Bomb Icon Poison BombGives Envenom Icon Envenom a chance to also proc an AoE damaging effect. You can spam either Envenom or Crimson Tempest Icon Crimson Tempest on AoE, and both will deal almost exactly the same damage.
Blindside Icon BlindsideA potent talent that grants you free casts of Ambush Icon Ambush. Can proc repeatedly. Use Mutilate Icon Mutilate anyway if you're overcapping Energy.
Zoldyck Recipe Icon Zoldyck RecipePowerful execute talent.
Tiny Toxic Blade Icon Tiny Toxic BladeInferior choice to Blindside in single-target.
Arterial Precision Icon Arterial PrecisionA better cleave talent if you fight exactly4-5 targets. Almost never used in any encounter, as the alternatives are strictly performing better on DPS. Use at 0 CP as it grants 1 CP per enemy hit (and 2 if crit).
Scent of Blood Icon Scent of BloodGrants a strong bonus to Agility, our primary stat, when there are multiple targets present that we can cast Rupture on.
Sudden Demise Icon Sudden DemiseWhile the instant-kill effect itself allows us to not waste as much damage when re-applying bleeds on AoE, the main reason why it is useful is in the 10% damage increase to all bleeds. Also great for questing and lower Mythic+ keystones.
4.

PvP Talents (War Mode)

In Dragonflight, there will be the option to go into "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

  • PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
  • 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
  • 10% more experience gained while leveling.
  • Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

4.1.

Assassination Rogue War Mode Talents

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Assassination Rogue-specific PvE talents.

4.1.1.

Assassination Rogue PvP Talents

  1. System Shock Icon System Shock deals nature damage and slows the enemy's movement speed by 90% for 2 seconds when you use a 5 Combo Point Envenom Icon Envenom on targets afflicted with your Garrote Icon Garrote, Rupture Icon Rupture, and Lethal Poison. It is fairly good as it is a passive damage gain and can be useful if you need to run away without having other crowd-control options available.
  2. Control is King Icon Control is King allows your Cheap Shot Icon Cheap Shot to grant Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice and Kidney Shot Icon Kidney Shot will restore Energy when used. Both of these enable you to use these abilities instead of Ambush Icon Ambush or Envenom Icon Envenom if need be, while still providing DPS benefits.
  3. Creeping Venom Icon Creeping Venom enables your Envenom Icon Envenom to apply Creeping Venom, dealing Nature damage over 4 sec. The duration is refreshed when the target moves. This is another passive damage increase, which can also be easily maintained by side stepping, causing the enemies to move with you.
5.

Changelog

  • 15 Jan. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 08 Nov. 2023: Added DtB M+ build with Acro.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Page updated for the Patch 10.2 Rogue rework.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.7 with new formatting.
  • 16 Jul. 2023: Added AoE build talent-calc link.
  • 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 with Sepsis replacing Serrated Bone Spike, and removed Exsanguinate altogether.
  • 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1. The recommended build and talent tree remain the same, and the page required no updates.
  • 26 Mar. 2023: Updated Mythic+ Talent build, added link to calculator.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5 changes.
  • 04 Jan. 2023: Updated Talent recommendations and descriptions according to newest sims.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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