Assassination Rogue PvP Rotation and Playstyle (Dragonflight / 10.0.7)
PvP requires you to perform various actions in the course of a duel, match, or battleground: interrupting/silencing enemies, damaging them, bursting them down, defending yourself, keeping yourself alive, etc.. It is a game mode that fully utilizes your kit, especially spells that are rarely used in PvE. On this page, we go through all the spells you need to use in PvP as an Assassination Rogue, how you should use them, and we explain what your playstyle should be.
This page is part of our Assassination Rogue PvP Guide.
Playstyle for Assassination Rogues
Assassination Rogue has two roles in PvP: controlling the enemy team with
Sap,
Blind,
Cheap Shot,
Garrote,
Dismantle and
Poisoned Knife, and dealing extremely high
damage to the kill target while locking them down with
Kidney Shot.
Assassination Rogues may lack extended control options, other Rogue
specializations offer, but they make up for it by being very disruptive to their
kill target with
Kidney Shot,
Crippling Poison,
Numbing Poison
and high sustained and burst damage alongside a powerful healing reduction tool
in the
form of
Hemotoxin. You should look to
partner with a class that has a lot of crowd control, such as Mages or
Priests.
Before Gates Open
Discuss with your team to have a game plan. Assassination Rogue is a specialization often played in setup comps, which means you and your team need to agree on who to control and who to kill before the game begins. You need to know who will use their offensive cooldowns first. Wasting an entire go because you did not plan and broke each other's crowd control can make you lose the game.
Apply your poisons. Press Stealth, and you are good to go!
Crowd Control
While Assassination Rogues lack control compared to other Rogue
specializations, they still have access to powerful control abilities. In the
opener, since you have access to your Stealth-based abilities, you will aim to
push in and initiate crowd control chains on the healer ( Sap if they
are not in combat,
Blind,
Cheap Shot, and
Gouge). You
will also
Cheap Shot,
Garrote or
Gouge, the DPS you do not want
to kill to allow
your team to follow-up on your crowd control, and then you will move onto
your kill target with a
Kidney Shot. During the game, unless you use
Vanish, you will not be able to help with crowd control aside
from the
Kidney Shot on the kill target. However, you have the ability
Poisoned Knife. Be sure to abuse this ability to
slow an enemy from a distance to allow your team to close in on them and get
crowd control for you. You also have the ability
Dismantle, which
counts as a form of crowd control, albeit a defensive one in most cases. Making
good use of it can negate an enemy kill attempt. It can also be used offensively
sometimes, for example, against an Arms Warrior, as it prevents them
from using
parry, or against a Death Knight, as it prevents them from using Death Strike
to heal.
Offensive Rotation
Generating and Spending Combo Points
Rogues have two resources to manage. The first, Energy, is quite
straightforward. Using a spell costs Energy, and it regenerates over time. The
second resource is Combo Points. Some abilities generate Combo Points, and
powerful abilities called Finishing Moves consume them. To maximize
your damage output and your Energy regeneration, you must use your
Combo Points efficiently. You have several ways to generate Combo Points. Be
aware that if you have the passive Seal Fate, it will award you
additional Combo Points when you critically strike with a Combo Point
builder.
- From
Stealth or when
Subterfuge is active, there are 3 ways to generate Combo Points:
Cheap Shot stuns the target and generates 1 Combo Point.
Ambush can only be used in Stealth or with a
Blindside proc. It deals good damage and generates 2 Combo Points.
Garrote silences the target and generates 1 Combo Point (3 if you have the talent
Shrouded Suffocation.
- When not in Stealth, you generate Combo Points with the following:
Mutilate deals moderate damage and generates 2 Combo Points. It can critically strike with only one hand or with both. That means this ability can generate up to 4 Combo Points with
Seal Fate, one additional Combo Point per hand that critically strikes.
Garrote generates 1 Combo Point.
Shiv generates 1 Combo Point. It will also increase your Nature damage done to the target.
Fan of Knives is an AoE ability and will generate 1 Combo Point plus 1 Combo Point per critical hit with
Seal Fate. It can be used when multiple enemies, including pets, are around you if you want to generate multiple Combo Points. However, it will usually be better to
Mutilate your main target if they are in range. Be careful not to break crown control, such as Polymorph, when using this ability.
Poisoned Knife does very little damage but generates 1 Combo Point and applies all your active poisons to the target. This should be used if you are slowed/rooted and cannot reach your target but are about to overcap Energy or if an enemy at range needs to be slowed.
Marked for Death instantly generates 5 Combo Points. This can be used for
Kidney Shot to set up crowd control or for an additional
Envenom during a kill attempt. It should never be used to deal damage in between two setups.
Now that you know how to generate Combo Points, learning how to spend them is
even more critical. As an Assassination Rogue, you do not have a passive that
makes it better to use your finishers with 5 Combo Points. Still, you should try
to do it regardless, as they deal more damage that way. That being said, if you
are on 4 Combo Points, you will want to use Rupture or
Envenom
instead of
Mutilate as over-capping Combo Points is a damage loss. Here
are the abilities you will be spending Combo Points on and what situations you
will use them in:
Kidney Shot is your stun to set up a kill on your target.
Rupture is a bleed that lasts longer based on how many Combo Points you use. Use this ability whenever it is not active or about to fade unless using
Envenom would kill the target.
Slice and Dice increases your attack speed. Slice and Dice should almost have 100% uptime during an arena match. You shouldn't use this ability too much if you picked
Cut to the Chase as it will refresh you when you use
Envenom.
Envenom is your primary damaging ability. This will deal more damage based on the Combo Points used for it.
The Opener
The opener refers to your team's opening CC chain and damage done as soon as you exit the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their cooldowns. If the enemy healer or your kill target uses their trinket in the opener, they are in trouble.
The opener is a key part of the game as Rogue. Stealth gives you
the advantage as you choose how the fight begins. Because people will
not be in combat right after the gates open, you will be able to
Sap a
target, already providing your team with numerical superiority. If you manage
to get stuns or silences on the other enemies, you can create a situation where
your kill target is stunned for you and your team to deal damage without any
external help.
If you forced a trinket in the opener, you are on the right track to winning the
game. If the enemy healer used their trinket, you could go
with a Blind on them, followed by a
Sap while you kill the
enemy DPS. If the enemy DPS uses their trinket, you will be able to do a go on
them with a
Kidney Shot followed by a
Smoke Bomb to prevent the
healer from helping and hopefully kill the DPS in that stun.
There are a few different openers as Assassination Rogue depending on whether the enemy can use spells while silenced. Below is an example of the opener on a target that can use abilities while silenced and thus needs to be stunned with your first GCD. The burst is included in this example, but if you wish to open without using your burst cooldown, you can perform the same opener without using your cooldowns.
Sap the enemy healer.
- Use
Marked for Death.
- Use
Kidney Shot on your kill target.
- Use
Garrote.
- Use
Shiv.
- Use
Rupture.
- Use
Thistle Tea if you have this ability.
- Use
Deathmark.
- Use
Echoing Reprimand.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Envenom.
- Repeat the last two steps.
Below is an example of the opener on a target that cannot use any ability while silenced, such as a Mage. Again, the burst is included, but if you wish to open without using your burst cooldown, you can perform the same opener without using your cooldowns.
Sap the enemy healer.
- Use
Garrote.
- Use
Rupture. The CC reduction effect from the set bonus makes it so your silence lasts less than 3 seconds, so you don't want to sneak in a spell in between Garrote and Rupture, otherwise the target will be free before you can use your stun, and could then break your opener.
- Use
Marked for Death.
- Use
Kidney Shot.
- Use
Thistle Tea if you have this ability.
- Use
Deathmark.
- Use
Shiv.
- Use
Echoing Reprimand.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Envenom.
- Repeat the last two steps.
Sometimes, you will want to get crowd control on the enemy DPS to prevent
them from preemptively using a defensive ability when you land crowd control on
their healer. And sometimes, the enemy team will enter combat before you can use
Sap. For both of these scenarios, an alternate opener exists. The burst
is not included in this one, so you have an example of an opener without burst
cooldowns.
Sap the enemy DPS, or do not Sap if the enemy team is in combat.
- Use
Cheap Shot on the enemy healer so your team can land more crowd control.
- Use
Marked for Death.
- Use
Kidney Shot on your kill target.
- Use
Garrote.
- Use
Shiv.
- Use
Rupture.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Envenom.
- Repeat the last two steps.
If the kill target is a caster that cannot do anything while in a silence
you can use Garrote and
Rupture before using
Marked for Death and
Kidney Shot.
Burst Damage
When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and are trying to kill
an enemy, you use your burst damage. Of course, unless you are in the opener,
you must have both Garrote and
Rupture on your target
before using your burst rotation. In the following burst rotation, it is assumed that you applied your bleeds before pulling the trigger. Ideally, you want to
have 16s or more remaining on Rupture before you use
Deathmark so that
you can spend your Combo Points on Envenom instead of having to reapply Rupture.
- Use
Kidney Shot on your kill target.
- Use
Thistle Tea.
- Use
Deathmark.
- Use
Shiv.
- Use
Echoing Reprimand.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Marked for Death.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Envenom.
- Repeat the last two steps.
As Assassination Rogue, you can have some measure of burst every
Kidney Shot, even if you do not have your major burst cooldowns. Since
Shiv and
Marked for Death have a cooldown similar to the stun
diminishing returns that you have to wait for to use Kidney Shot again; you
will have them ready every Kidney Shot. Therefore you can still burst your
target down without
Deathmark with the following spell sequence.
- Use
Kidney Shot on your kill target.
- Use
Shiv.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Marked for Death.
- Use
Envenom.
- Use
Mutilate,
Serrated Bone Spike if you have this ability, or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc until either a blue Combo Point, or 4 Combo Points or more, use
Envenom, and repeat.
Sustained damage
Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are not
available and when your enemies cannot be crowd controlled because of
diminishing returns. Assassination Rogues have powerful sustained damage, so unless you need to retreat because you are under pressure or because
you know the enemy is about to set up a kill of their own, you will want to
keep doing damage to ensure the kill target is low on health before your
next Kidney Shot. The spells you will use during your sustained
damage window must follow the priority list below.
- Use
Rupture if you have 4 Combo Points or more and it is about to fade.
- Use
Garrote if it is about to fade.
- Use
Slice and Dice with 2 or 3 Combo Points. You do not want to spend too many Combo Points on this ability, as your next Envenom will extend it with
Cut to the Chase.
- Use
Envenom with 4 Combo Points or more.
- Use
Mutilate or
Ambush if you have a
Blindside proc to generate Combo Points.
Never use Shiv or
Marked for Death outside of a
Kidney Shot window. If you are playing some 2v2 match-ups, or if you are
playing a rot comp in 3v3, then you will want to apply your bleeds to secondary
targets before using Envenom. Regarding
Serrated Bone Spike, it is best
to use it only if you need to reapply the bleed or if you are going to get
your third charge back. Otherwise, you may want to keep it for your Kidney Shot
windows, as it deals more damage than your other Combo Point builders.
Defensive Techniques
Vanish is one of your main defensive cooldowns. Use Vanish to avoid damage and get away from the enemy team. It can also be used offensively
to land crowd control with
Sap,
Cheap Shot, and
Garrote in order
to close a game.
Cloak of Shadows is a strong defensive cooldown when playing against
casters. Use this when in trouble against caster teams and run to safety. You
can also use it to mitigate incoming magic crowd control abilities, such as
Mortal Coil or
Hammer of Justice.
Evasion is a strong defensive cooldown when playing against melees
and Hunters. Use this when the enemy team is using offensive cooldowns on you.
You can also use it to dodge incoming physical crowd-control abilities, such as
Kidney Shot or
Mighty Bash.
Feint (with the
Elusiveness talent) is the trickiest, but
most useful defensive ability a Rogue has. It grants you a flat 20% damage
reduction from everything for 6 seconds on a 15-second cooldown. This is a potent tool to mitigate incoming damage. A Rogue is weak against stuns,
so preemptively using Feint when a stun is coming your way greatly increases
your chance of surviving heavy damage from the enemy team. Of course, it can be
used when the enemy team is using cooldowns on you, even if there is no
stun.
Crimson Vial is a minor healing over time effect. It can be used the
same way as Feint, either when you are about to get stunned or when the enemy
is using cooldowns on you, and your healer needs extra help.
Macros
It is advised to use Macros to use abilities on enemies or allies without having to target them. For this reason, we have a page dedicated to them.
Changelog
- 21 Mar. 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.7.
- 25 Jan. 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 22 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 28 Jul. 2022: Reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022: Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 05 Apr. 2022: Updated he burst rotation for Patch 9.2.
- 21 Feb. 2022: Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 10 Nov. 2021: Already up to date with Patch 9.1.5.
- 21 Jul. 2021: Updated the Poison of choice.
- 03 Jul. 2021: Updated the rotation slightly for Patch 9.1.
- 28 Apr. 2021: Added Serrated Bone Spike to the rotation.
- 06 Apr. 2021: Rewritten by Shadenox and further updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 08 Mar. 2021: No Updates needed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 17 Dec. 2020: Updated Opening and Burst damage rotations.
- 05 Dec. 2020: Updated Rotations to include Covenant Ability.
- 29 Nov. 2020: Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 14 Oct. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
This guide has been written by Shadenox, an experienced Gladiator player who has achieved over 3,000 rating on Rogue. You can find him on his YouTube channel, where he creates guides and other informational content regarding Arenas.
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