Assassination Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents (Legion 7.3.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.3 Changes for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. Patch 7.2 Changes for Assassination Rogue
  • 5. Assassination Rogue Strengths
  • 6. Assassination Rogue Weaknesses
  • 7. Assassination Rogue Viability in the Current Patch
  • 8. Contents
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics for Assassination Rogue
  • 2. Talent Choice for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. Stat Choice for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. Basic Rotational Priority for Assassination Rogue
    • 4.1. Tips and Tricks
    • 4.2. Basic Opener
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Assassination Rogue Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. Important Procs for Assassination Rogue
  • 5. DPS Cooldowns for Assassination Rogue
  • 6. ChangeLog
• ×Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Assassination Rogue
    • 2.1. Poison Build
    • 2.2. Bleed Build
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Assassination Rogue
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression for Assassination Rogue — First 35 Points
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. Relic Priority for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice for Assassination Rogue
  • 2. Crucible Priority for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List for Assassination Rogue
    • 1.1. Poison Build
      • 1.1.1. Important Notes
    • 1.2. Bleed Build
  • 2. Poisons
  • 3. Notable Mechanics for Assassination Rogue
    • 3.1. Surge of Toxins
    • 3.2. Kingsbane
    • 3.3. Nightstalker
    • 3.4. Pandemic and Rupture Refresh
  • 4. Academic Information for Assassination Rogue
    • 4.1. The Interaction Between Combo Points and Energy
    • 4.2. Pooling Energy and Combo Points
    • 4.3. Defensive Utility
  • 5. Opening Sequences for Assassination Rogue
    • 5.1. Poison Build
    • 5.2. Bleed Build
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Assassination Rogue Boss Advice: Antorus, the Burning Throne
    • 1.1. Garothi Worldbreaker
      • 1.1.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.2. Felhounds of Sargeras
      • 1.2.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.3. Antoran High Command
      • 1.3.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.4. Eonar the Life-Binder
      • 1.4.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.5. Portal Keeper Hasabel
      • 1.5.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.6. Imonar the Soulhunter
      • 1.6.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.7. Kin'garoth
      • 1.7.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.8. Varimathras
      • 1.8.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.9. The Coven of Shivarra
      • 1.9.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.10. Aggramar
      • 1.10.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.11. Argus the Unmaker
      • 1.11.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
  • 2. Tomb of Sargeras
    • 2.1. Goroth
      • 2.1.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.2. The Demonic Inquisition
      • 2.2.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.3. Harjatan
      • 2.3.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.4. Sisters of the Moon
      • 2.4.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.5. Mistress Sassz'ine
      • 2.5.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.6. The Desolate Host
      • 2.6.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.7. Maiden of Vigilance
      • 2.7.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.8. Fallen Avatar
      • 2.8.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 2.9. Kil'jaeden
      • 2.9.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
  • 3. The Nighthold
    • 3.1. Skorpyron
      • 3.1.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.2. Chronomatic Anomaly
      • 3.2.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.3. Trilliax
      • 3.3.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.4. Spellblade Aluriel
      • 3.4.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.5. Tichondrius
      • 3.5.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.6. Star Augur Etraeus
      • 3.6.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.7. Krosus
      • 3.7.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.8. High Botanist Tel'arn
      • 3.8.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.9. Grand Magistrix Elisande
      • 3.9.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 3.10. Gul'dan
      • 3.10.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Stat Priority for Assassination Rogue
    • 1.1. Master Poisoner/Toxic Blade
    • 1.2. Elaborate Planning/Alacrity
    • 1.3. Elaborate Planning/Exsanguinate
  • 2. Assassination Rogue: Getting a Better Understanding
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Assassination Rogue
    • 1.1. Master Poisoner/Toxic Blade or Elaborate Planning/Alacrity
    • 1.2. Elaborate Planning/Exsanguinate
  • 2. Enchants for Assassination Rogue
    • 2.1. Master Poisoner/Toxic Blade or Elaborate Planning/Alacrity
    • 2.2. Elaborate Planning/Exsanguinate
  • 3. Consumables for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. AddOns for Assassination Rogue
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros for Assassination Rogue
    • 2.1. Startattack Macros
    • 2.2. Tricks of the Trade
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 21 Set Bonuses for Assassination Rogue
  • 2. Tier 20 Set Bonuses for Assassination Rogue
  • 3. Best in Slot List for Assassination Rogue
  • 4. Trinket List for Assassination Rogue
    • 4.1. Poison Build
    • 4.2. Bleed Build
  • 5. Legendaries for Assassination Rogue
    • 5.1. Antorus Recommendations
  • 6. Legendary Tier List for Assassination Rogue
    • 6.1. Top Tier
    • 6.2. Mid Tier
    • 6.3. Bottom Tier
    • 6.4. Extra Information
  • 7. Loot Competition
  • 8. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for Assassination Rogues in World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. We detail what each of the talents do and in which situations they should be taken.

The other pages of our Assassination Rogue guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Perfecto, an Outlaw/Assassination Rogue who raids in Method.

1. Talent Choices

Level	Choices
15	✔ Master Poisoner	✔ Elaborate Planning	✘ Hemorrhage
30	✔ Nightstalker	? Subterfuge	✘ Shadow Focus
45	✔ Deeper Stratagem	✘ Anticipation	✔ Vigor
60	? Leeching Poison	? Elusiveness	✔ Cheat Death
75	✔ Thuggee	? Prey on the Weak	✘ Internal Bleeding
90	✔ Toxic Blade	? Alacrity	✔ Exsanguinate
100	✔ Venom Rush	? Marked for Death	✘ Death from Above

Talents can be freely changed when out of combat and in a rested XP area (such as an inn or a capital city). Moreover, Tome of the Tranquil Mind and Codex of the Tranquil Mind can be used to temporarily allow players to change talents anywhere, as long as they are out of combat.

2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Assassination Rogue

2.1. Poison Build

The poison build is the standard choice for most encounters, empowering your poisons further and focusing on dealing high and sustained single target damage.

• Level 15: Master Poisoner
• Level 30: Nightstalker
• Level 45: Vigor
• Level 60: Cheat Death
• Level 75: Thuggee
• Level 90: Toxic Blade
• Level 100: Venom Rush

2.2. Bleed Build

The bleed build is inferior in overall damage, but delivers superior burst and priority damage.

• Level 15: Elaborate Planning
• Level 30: Nightstalker
• Level 45: Deeper Stratagem
• Level 60: Cheat Death
• Level 75: Thuggee
• Level 90: Exsanguinate
• Level 100: Venom Rush

3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Master Poisoner

✔ Elaborate Planning

✘ Hemorrhage

Tier 1 talents offer playstyle choices that have strong synergy with other talents.

• Master Poisoner increases your poison damage by 40% and their non-damaging effects by 20%.
• Elaborate Planning grants 12% damage for 5 seconds after using a finishing move.
• Hemorrhage is an ability that applies a bleed for 20 seconds that also increases bleed damage by 25% for the duration.

Master Poisoner is the best choice when using a poison build.

Elaborate Planning is the best choice when using a bleed build.

Hemorrhage is currently below par regardless of your build.

4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Nightstalker

? Subterfuge

✘ Shadow Focus

Tier 2 talents improve your Stealth functionality.

• Nightstalker increases movement speed by 20% and damage by 50% while Stealth is active.
• Subterfuge allows abilities requiring Stealth to be used for an additional 3 seconds after Stealth breaks. Garrote also has no cooldown when used from Stealth and deals 125% additional damage while Subterfuge or Stealth is active.
• Shadow Focus reduces the Energy cost of abilities by 75% when used from Stealth.

Nightstalker is the best option for virtually all situations when using Tier 21 bonuses.

Subterfuge falls slightly behind Nightstalker when using Tier 21 bonuses, but is roughly equal otherwise. Subterfuge is the superior choice on The Coven of Shivarra, as you can apply two Garrotes on the pull and each time Vanish is available thereafter.

Shadow Focus is currently not a viable option.

5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Deeper Stratagem

✘ Anticipation

✔ Vigor

Tier 3 talents augment your resource systems.

• Deeper Stratagem increases maximum Combo Points to 6, allows finishing moves to consume 6 combo points, and increases the damage of finishing moves by 5%.
• Anticipation increases maximum Combo Points to 10, but finishing moves still consume 5 combo points.
• Vigor increases your maximum Energy by 50 and increases Energy regeneration by 10%.

Vigor is the best choice when using a poison build and offers great ease and flexibility of play.

Deeper Stratagem is the best choice when using a bleed build, allowing for longer Ruptures and therefore granting more damage from Exsanguinate.

Anticipation is currently inferior to its sister talents, regardless of your build.

6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Assassination Rogue

? Leeching Poison

? Elusiveness

✔ Cheat Death

Tier 4 talents improve your personal survivability.

• Leeching Poison grants 10% leech to your damage.
• Elusiveness causes Feint to also grant 30% reduced damage taken from all sources.
• Cheat Death causes fatal damage to instead reduce you to 7% of your maximum health and grant 85% reduced damage taken for 3 seconds. Cheat Death cannot save you from damage great that double your maximum health. It has a 6-minute cooldown.

Cheat Death is the default choice for most encounters. The extra safety net will often be invaluable and can even be used to soak certain mechanics.

Elusiveness is situational, however, it can offer unparalleled damage reduction on the right encounters. Feint requires Energy to be maintained, however, meaning the benefit of this talent often comes at the cost of some DPS.

Leeching Poison is great for daily content or leveling up, though it is not used at all in dungeons or raids.

7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Thuggee

? Prey on the Weak

✘ Internal Bleeding

Tier 5 talents improve your crowd control utility.

• Thuggee resets the cooldown of Garrote if a target dies while it is active.
• Prey on the Weak causes enemies disabled from your Kidney Shot, Sap, and Cheap Shot to take 10% increased damage from all sources.
• Prey on the Weak causes targets afflicted by your Cheap Shot, Blind, Sap, and Gouge to take 10% damage from all sources.
• Internal Bleeding causes your Kidney Shot to also make bleed the target for increased damage per Combo Point over 12 seconds.

Thuggee is the default choice for most encounters, allowing you to use Garrote on priority targets without fear of cooldown locking yourself. You can also gain a nice chunk of damage, if timed correctly, raising your uptimes.

Prey on the Weak is the best choice if your raid needs to incapacitate and eliminate a priority add quickly.

Internal Bleeding does not offer the same damage potential as the other talents in any situation.

8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Toxic Blade

? Alacrity

✔ Exsanguinate

Tier 6 talents alter your playstyle significantly.

• Toxic Blade stabs the enemy, dealing heavy Nature damage and increasing the damage your poisons against the target by 35% for 9 seconds. Generates 1 Combo Point.
• Alacrity causes finishing moves to have a 20% chance per Combo Point to grant 2% haste for 20 seconds, stacking 10 times.
• Exsanguinate is a new ability that causes your bleed effects to bleed out 100% faster when activated.

Toxic Blade is the best choice when using a poison build. Due to its relatively short window of 9 seconds, it is ideal to have Combo Points ready for Envenom before use, then pile as many additional Envenom casts into the window as possible to maximize damage.

Exsanguinate is the best choice when using a bleed build, and should always be paired with Deeper Stratagem.

Alacrity is theoretically the best talent for target swapping, however, it is virtually never used in the current tier.

9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Assassination Rogue

✔ Venom Rush

? Marked for Death

✘ Death from Above

Tier 7 talents offer some additional damage utility.

• Venom Rush causes Venomous Wounds to grant 3 additional Energy every time it procs.
• Marked for Death marks a target and instantly generates 5 Combo Points. The cooldown is reset if the marked target dies.
• Death from Above is a two-part finishing move with a short cooldown that ends with an automatic cast of a 50% stronger Envenom.

Venom Rush is the best choice in every end-game situation.

Marked for Death is the talent of choice for leveling.

Death from Above is not used by Assassination.

10. ChangeLog

• 04 Feb. 2018: Added a note to Subterfuge about use on Coven of Shivarra.
• 12 Jan. 2018: Fully updated talents page.
• 30 Nov. 2017: Updated Tier 2 & 3 talents.
• 28 Aug. 2017: Updated talents for Patch 7.3.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Updated for Patch 7.2.5 (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 6).
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 13 Feb. 2017: Minor update to talent descriptions.
• 14 Jan. 2017: Minor update to talents; Alacrity for multitarget.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Updated for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Dec. 2016: Updated talent tiers (T1/T2/T3/T6) to include further details and references to legendaries and Mythic+.
• 02 Nov. 2016: Updated Raid Encounters build to include a reference to Exsanguinate for players with lower item levels/Mastery levels.
• 05 Oct. 2016: Updated talent build.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 19 Jul. 2016: Made Thuggee an alternative to Prey on the Weak in Tier 5.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.

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