Assassination Rogue PvP Talents and Builds (Shadowlands / 9.0.2)

Level	Choices
15	✔ Master Poisoner	✘ Elaborate Planning	✘ Blindside
25	✘ Nightstalker	✔ Subterfuge	✘ Master Assassin
30	✘ Vigor	✘ Deeper Stratagem	✔ Marked for Death
35	✘ Leeching Poison	✘ Cheat Death	✔ Elusiveness
40	✔ Internal Bleeding	✘ Iron Wire	✘ Prey on the Weak
45	✔ Venom Rush	✘ Alacrity	✘ Exsanguinate
50	✔ Poison Bomb	✘ Hidden Blades	✘ Crimson Tempest

While the above table provides a generally accurate overview of the viability of talents, some finer points are discussed in the sections that follow, and we recommend you read those for a deeper understanding.

Master Poisoner is the best choice in this tier. As most of your damage comes from your poisons, this talent greatly increases your overall damage output.

Subterfuge is the best choice in this tier. This talent gives you more control when you leave Stealth. You can use multiple Cheap Shots or Garrotes on enemy teams. Garrote will not have a cooldown and an 80% increase in damage.

Marked for Death is the best choice in this tier. This is a very versatile talent and crucial for your utility. This talent can be used in multiple situations. For example, you can use Marked for Death for an instant Kidney Shot on an enemy. If you want to be even more aggressive with it, you can use it on an Envenom.

Elusiveness is an all-around solid choice, and the best talent in this tier. Just make sure to use Feint before you think you are about to get stunned or when the enemy team uses their burst cooldowns.

Internal Bleeding is the best choice in this tier. This gives you an additional Bleed and makes Kidney Shot a very crucial stun to use on your main target.

Venom Rush is the best choice in this tier. This will make it so you will rarely run out of Energy, as you should always be hitting an enemy that has poisons on them. This will result in more sustained damage output.

Poison Bomb is the best choice in this tier. Although you cannot control the proc from this talent, you will be using Envenom and Rupture often and will see it often. This is a solid talent to increase your sustained and burst damage.

You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each of them has their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others. The top three choices are the most useful, but can be replaced with other PvP talents, depending on your team's goal.

Smoke Bomb creates a cloud around you. Enemy players who are outside the cloud will not be able to target anyone inside of it. This talent is mandatory for multiple reasons. The first is to land a kill while your target is stunned without a trinket. The enemy healer will not be able to heal and you will easily secure a kill while Smoke Bomb is active. The second is to stop incoming spells. This is not done often, but you can use Smoke Bomb on your healer to prevent enemies from crowd controlling them. It all depends on the situation, which is why this PvP talent is so good.

System Shock reduces the enemy's movement speed by 45% when you use an Envenom with 5 Combo Points on a target with Garrote, Rupture, or any lethal poisons. This is great for keeping a mobile target from kiting your damage or to peel for teammates that are in trouble. This is also a good choice to play when your main target is the enemy healer.

Maneuverability makes Sprint suppress all movement-impairing effects for 4 seconds when used. This is a great talent versus teams with multiple slows. You should take this versus classes like Mages and Death Knights.

Mind-Numbing Poison causes your Deadly Poison and Wound Poison to also apply Mind Numbing Poison. This will cause the enemy to take damage every time they cast a spell. This should be taken when your primary target is a caster. You should replace Maneuverability with this PvP talent.

Death from Above is an interesting PvP talent choice. Although the damage might not be the greatest, it makes you immune to crowd control when you use it. Versus teams with multiple stuns when they are trying to kill you, this is a talent that should be considered.