Assassination Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.0.7

The recommended builds have been chosen as they provide some of the highest DPS possible, while also being very close to previous game-play loops, making it easy to adjust to the new talent trees. We highly recommend playing around and try some alternative talent choices as well, so you can get a good feel for each of the options that are available to you.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button on our calculator below, to import our build ingame, or check it out on our talent calculator:

This is a more well-balanced build, that is recommended for Mythic+, that does not sacrifice all of its single-target and priority-target damage for the highest overall AoE DPS:

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The builds suggested above are generalized versions that do not account for individual encounters in the current raid tier. Once the new Vault of the Incarnates Raid opens up we will have a boss-by-boss breakdown of talent choices as well as tips and tricks only Assassination can pull off, on our dedicated Raid page.

Mythic+ oftentimes requires a very specific talent setup that mixes single-target and AoE to perform well on both bosses and trash. If you want a build and advice that is specific to Mythic+, you can find more information in our Mythic+ section.

The new talent system allows for a lot of customization and playstyle adjustments based on personal preference or to tailor your build to a specific need your group or raid might have. It is important to be aware of all the options that are offered to you, and how to path efficiently through the tree to get the major points you want to build around.

Both the Class and Spec tree can be structured into 3 separate lines, each with their focus on certain types of damage, or supporting a specific play-style idea.

The Rogue tree is unique, in that it is structured differently than other classes trees. We have to pick up 8 Talents in rows 1-3, 12 more up to row 7, and then we get to allocate the remaining 5 talent points (6 for the class tree) in rows 8-10. While it might seem like there are a lot of choices, it is difficult to venture off with the limited points, we have in rows 4-10, as most of them have to be spent on the pathing for the capstone talent and critical talents that we need for rotational flow.

Within the Class and Spec Talent Trees, there are a few choice nodes:

• Atrophic Poison vs Numbing Poison: The 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.
• Deeper Stratagem vs Marked for Death: This comes down to simple DPS, and even in fights where you might be able to get regular MfD resets, Deeper Stratagem is simply better.
• Reverberation vs Resounding Clarity: Similar to the previous choice, there is a clear DPS winner here in all situations: Resounding Clarity.
• Serrated Bone Spike vs Sepsis: While Sepsis does quite a bit of damage, the reason Serrated Bone Spike is the better choice here is due to Lethal Dose - SBS provides a permanent 2% damage increase for all abilities, on top of the damage it deals by itself.

While pathing to the highest DPS talents in rows 9 and 10, we do not get a whole lot of choice with our 31 Class Talent Points. The choices will almost entirely come down to utility, which we will explain here.

Due to the structure of the Rogue Talent Trees, the number of choices is almost non-existent. Pathing through to the last rows takes up almost all of our Class Talent Points already. While there are some alternative paths on our way to the last few rows, they are all choices between a DPS talent and a utility talent.

Realistically, this leaves us with only a handful of talent points we can opt out of. Choosing alternative talents, you will have to remove points from these talents, and in this order:

• Tight Spender;
• Shadowstep (which grants us a second charge, as we already gain one from the spec tree);
• and Tricks of the Trade.

There are a handful of mildly interesting alternatives here, and we will list them in order of usefulness:

1. Master Poisoner is the most likely candidate to replace Tight Spender, as it increases the potency of Atrophic Poison by 0.6%. This can be worth the minor DPS loss on any boss where Atrophic Poison reduced considerable amounts of boss damage.
2. If there is an add on the fight that is susceptible to stuns, you can opt to path down Blackjack and pick up Prey on the Weak. This allows the entire Raid to deal 10% extra damage to the add you are stunning, but it comes at the cost of two of the aforementioned flexible points.
3. Deadened Nerves can be quite useful on any encounter that deals high amounts of Physical damage to the player.
4. Nimble Fingers is another decent candidate, as you will be saving a bit of energy on bosses that require you to regularly use Feint and/or Crimson Vial. This gain is very minor, however, as it will average out anywhere from 20 to 40 Energy per minute - and we generate more than a thousand Energy in the same time.

Almost all of our choices here come down to raw DPS, as the only non-DPS talent, Leeching Poison, is needed to gain Seal Fate, which is one of the most powerful talents in the entire tree.

As we want to pick up Seal Fate, as well as Echoing Reprimand, Resounding Clarity and Deeper Stratagem due to how powerful they are, we are left with a singular choice: Pick up Thistle Tea or put a second point into Lethality. On single-target, the extra Energy provided by Thistle Tea pushes it over the edge, but as we are already sustaining high amounts of Energy and are regularly overcapping on multi-target and AoE, you may want to drop it on any pure cleave or AoE fight.

The Assassination Spec tree offers quite a bit more choice, at least at first glance. However, almost all of the talent nodes are throughput talents, and we will ultimately opt to pick the strongest one for the overall DPS output in almost all cases.

A few of the Talents here are must-haves (actually, all of them), for one reason or another. Venomous Wounds and Cut to the Chase are required for rotational flow, and not playing either of them will drop your DPS potential significantly.

Elaborate Planning is one of the strongest DPS increases, as we can keep a very high uptime on the buff already. Bloody Mess is in a similar spot and also opens up the path to one of the most important talents in the next part of the tree. The alternatives are either weaker DPS talents or provide no DPS benefit at all in a raid environment. None of them are niche or situational.

The choices in this part of the tree are entirely dictated by the capstone talent you want to play: Dragon-Tempered Blades for single-target, or Indiscriminate Carnage for AoE.

The core talents in this part of the tree are Deathmark, Lethal Dose, Exsanguinate. Deathmark is our new 2-minute CD and is a must-pick. Lethal Dose provides an incredibly high permanent damage boost due to the high amount of poisons and bleeds we have active at all times. Exsanguinate also has some nice interactions with Deathmark if used right before it.

The remaining "choices" are dictated by the abilities in the last three rows that we want to take, as four of the five talents in Row 8 are very strong - meaning we have to unlock the paths to these talents.

As a result, there is essentially no choice in these rows, unless the goal is to further enhance our AoE capabilities - which we will discuss a little bit further down. The only choice we have is between Amplifying Poison and Twist the Knife, and as we want to play two Lethal Poisons, the choice here is obvious.

For raiding, the setup is almost the same for both builds: Shrouded Suffocation, Serrated Bone Spike, Poison Bomb and Blindside are locked in, as each of them provides a large amount of DPS for only 1 talent point each (2 in the case of Poison Bomb). This leaves us with the choice between Kingsbane and Dragon-Tempered Blades, and Dragon-Tempered Blades is vastly superior to Kingsbane. Tiny Toxic Blade is worse than Blindside both in overall DPS and the execute-niche.

Once the capstone and the 3 other important talents in Row 8 are allocated, you have 1 Talent point left. This point can go anywhere on the tree, and the most efficient one for DPS has been showcased in both talent trees. As all the choices are also DPS talents, picking the highest-performing one is the best course of action.

Arterial Precision and Indiscriminate Carnage are basically useless on single-target, and are only worth considering for Mythic+ or AoE.

The only choice you will ultimately have to make is whether you want to play a build that is more usable for AoE and Mythic+. This dictates your pathing in the Spec-Tree, as you will want to pick up Thrown Precision, Crimson Tempest, Dragon-Tempered Blades and Indiscriminate Carnage.

For the Class Tree, this simply leads to you choosing between either a second point in Lethality instead of Thistle Tea, as well as the potential to remove some of the points on the right side of the tree.

In the Spec Tree, you have virtually no free talents to pick, as all your points go towards pathing to both capstones. You have 1 "freely" adjustable Talent Point, that we put into Iron Wire, that could go into a DPS talent instead. For Mythic+, however, Iron Wire is a massive boon to tank survivability and should always be picked up. If you do not like Exsanguinate, you can pick up Master Assassin instead.

Arterial Precision is a much much worse choice for Mythic+ than IC, as it has a lower target cap, only improves one type of damage, and picking both is possible but comes at the cost of over 10k single-target DPS -- for a very minor gain on low-target cleave. This talent is not worth playing in Mythic+.

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 to be "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

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.

1. 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 on targets afflicted with your Garrote, 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 allows your Cheap Shot to grant Slice and Dice and Kidney Shot will restore Energy when used. Both of these enable you to use these abilities instead of Ambush or Envenom if need be, while still providing DPS benefits.
3. Creeping Venom enables your 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.