Assassination Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Midnight Season 1

The below builds each come with their own caveats, i.e. playing a build with a slightly higher DPS performance, that is much more difficult to play, can become a burden. As such, playing it might end up performing worse than with a build that has a lower theoretical DPS ceiling, but is easier to execute.

We recommend reading each of the build's descriptions, so you can find one that best suits your experience and gameplay preferences!

2.

Best Talents for Assassination Rogue

Fatebound Pure Single-Target Fatebound Raid Deathstalker Raid Fatebound Mythic+ Deathstalker Mythic+ Deathstalker Delve

2.1.

Pure Single-Target Fatebound Build

This Fatebound build offers pure single-target damage, not taking any of the highly valuable AoE talents to fully optimize single-target DPS:

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

Fatebound Pure ST Build Show Copy

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2.2.

Raid Talents for Fatebound

This is the current recommended build for Raid playing Fatebound, sacrificing a bit of single-target to also grab highly valuable AoE and Cleave talents, which will be your go-to build in all fights that aren't pure single-target.

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

Fatebound Raid Build Show Copy

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2.3.

Raid Talents for Deathstalker

This is the current build for Raid playing Deathstalker, sacrificing a bit of single-target to also grab highly valuable AoE and Cleave talents, which will be your go-to build in all fights that are not pure single-target, if you choose to play Deathstalker instead of FB.

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

Deathstalker Raid Build Show Copy

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2.4.

Mythic+ Talents for Fatebound

This is the recommended build for lower-level Mythic+ dungeons, as it does not have to worry about dealing with Deathstalker's Mark, and sports slightly better damage on anything but the largest pulls. Fatebound is very competitive even at the highest level of keys, it just doesn't do as much priority target damage as Deathstalker.

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

Fatebound Mythic+ Build Show Copy

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2.5.

Mythic+ Talents for Deathstalker

This is the recommended build for very high-level keys, where you will likely be brought for your incredible prio-damage capabilities, which are fully unleashed when playing Deathstalker. Fatebound is very competitive even at the highest level of keys, it just doesn't do as much priority target damage as Deathstalker.

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

Deathstalker Mythic+ Build Show Copy

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2.6.

Midnight Delve Talents for Assassination Rogue

Delves are content that you can engage with solo or with up to three friends (and the help of a follower!). They are short ~10-15 minute scenarios, and as a Rogue, you can bypass some of the stages almost entirely thanks to being able to Stealth to objectives, instead of having to fight.

Surviving is tough in these, as the enemies hit hard, especially when you are undergeared, and your follower's heals are not that strong just yet. That is why this talent build takes all the defensive and CC talents, so you can take on enemies methodically. Remember that there is no time limit, so you are free to wait for cooldowns or heal up to full HP. Additionally, you can kite most enemies with Crippling Poison as well.

Delve Build Show Copy

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Midnight offers us a new type of talent, the Apex Talent(s). This is a 4-point talent that lets you allocate multiple points in it, providing different effects based on how many talent points you put into it. Assassination gains the Implacable talent, which does the following:

• First Point: Implacable will grant you bonus Energy recharge after your Envenom drops, based on how often you chained your Envenoms.
• Second and Third Point:: Implacable will grant you additional Bleed and Nature damage.
• Fourth Point: Implacable will cause additional damage when using Kingsbane and you will also generate 5 Combo Points passively in the next second.

Our Apex talent softens our weaknesses a little bit, letting us recharge Energy faster once we run out of Energy, similar to what Thistle Tea already does, which smooths out our rotation so we do not spend long periods of time without any buttons to press. The Kingsbane bonus is also quite nice, letting us quickly generate maximum Combo Points after using KB, without having to waste another GCD on a Combo Point builder.

Overall this is a solid set of talents that aims to make our weaknesses less pronounced, instead of further boosting our strengths.

Assassination gets to pick between two distinct Hero Talent choices: Deathstalker and Fatebound.

Deathstalker is built around the usage and application of Deathstalker's Mark, which will grant you a number of benefits against a singular target, while gaining further priority target damage from any kind of AoE you are doing, whether it be multi-dotting or even just Caustic Spatter.

This makes it a good choice if you want to optimize your prio-damage, but managing the Deathstalker's Mark can be cumbersome and if you end up losing it due to a target-switch, you essentially do not have a Hero Talent anymore. This is particularly egregious on bosses that submerge but do not clear their debuffs, or when switching from one boss to another for prolonged periods of time.

Fatebound is the much more forgiving option while still sporting similar or even better damage than Deathstalker. It can keep up in AoE thanks to a buffed Caustic Spatter, and is built around the idea of flipping Fatebound Coins. These can either deal direct damage, or boost the damage of all your class abilities. You do not have much control over which coin will be stacking up for you. While not the most flashy Hero Talent option, it provides very consistent damage with little to no additional cognitive input required on your end, making it a very beginner-friendly choice.

In Midnight, 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.

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.