Assassination Rogue PvP Guide (Shadowlands 9.2.5)

Assassination Rogues have high consistent damage thanks to their bleeds as well as powerful burst damage with Vendetta. They also have an extremely potent healing reduction effect on a short cooldown with the Hemotoxin Honor Talent, making their setups even more lethal. They provide less control than other Rogue specializations but their damage and their silence effect, Garrote, make up for it.

• The PvP trinket set bonus has been changed and now increases Agility by 175 and Stamina by 300 (was 40% increase to the Versatility stat's bonus damage and healing).
• Five new PvP trinkets have been added:
  • Cosmic Gladiator's Devouring Malediction;
  • Cosmic Gladiator's Eternal Aegis;
  • Cosmic Gladiator's Resonator;
  • Cosmic Gladiator's Echoing Resolve;
  • Cosmic Gladiator's Fastidious Resolve.
• The Assassination Rogue set bonus has been added. The Assassination Rogue 2-Piece bonus greatly increases both your sustained and burst damage. The Assassination Rogue 4-Piece bonus massively empowers your burst damage with Vendetta (note that the effect is cut in half in PvP combat). Both these effects are a significant buff to Assassination Rogues.
• Two Legendaries can be equipped. One has to be a Covenant one and be equipped through Unity.

• The Conduit Septic Shock has been buffed by 50%. It is a strong buff to Night Fae Assassination Rogues as Sepsis damage is increased by Shiv since it is a poison.

• The Honor Talent Hemotoxin has been added. As a consequence, Deadly Poison will often be played over Wound Poison. Hemotoxin applies a powerful healing reduction effect to your target on your kill attempts and it overrides Wound Poison, so it is better to have more damage by using Deadly Poison. The increased overall damage is sometimes as high as 20% to 25%!
• The Honor Talent Dismantle has been added.
• The Honor Talent Thick as Thieves has been added.
• The Honor Talent Maneuverability has been slightly buffed and now removes roots upon use.
• The Cloaked in Shadows Conduit has been nerfed and now lasts up to 4s (was permanent).
• The Mark of the Master Assassin Legendary has been nerfed and now lasts 2.4 seconds in PvP combat (was 4 seconds).

• Great burst
• Good sustained damage
• Decent control
• Excellent utility

• No defensive abilities when stunned
• Long cooldown on defensive abilities
• Reliant on teammates to stay alive
• Predictable burst damage

This guide ended up being very long, so we decided to split it in different pages.

• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Talents page, you will find an analysis of each PvE talent row to help you decide which talent to pick on each row, as well as an overview of the PvP talents, which advice on which ones to take and under which conditions.
• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Rotation and Playstyle page, you will learn how to use your spells, depending on the situation (dealing damage, surviving, controlling enemy players, etc.), and what is generally expected of your class and spec in PvP.
• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Covenants and Legendary Powers page, you will find advice on choosing the best Covenant, Soulbind, and Conduits as well as the best PvP Legendary Powers.
• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Stat Priority and Gear page, you will find the stat priority to follow in PvP, as well as advice for choosing your gear, particularly trinkets.
• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Best Races page, you will find lists of the Alliance and Horde races, ranked by how good they are for Assassination Rogues in PvP, as well as explanations regarding why and how their racials benefit you.
• On the Assassination Rogue PvP Useful Macros page, you will find a collection of useful macros for PvP for Assassination Rogues.
• On the Assassination Rogue Arena Composition page, you will find the list of the most powerful Arena compositions featuring Assassination Rogues, in both 2v2 and 3v3 modes.