Rogue Hero Talents — The War Within (11.2)

This page is specifically about Hero Talents in The War Within. If you want to learn more about the best regular talents for Outlaw Rogue, check out our Talents page:

Trickster is entirely built around the idea of triggering a new proc called Unseen Blade. This deals significant damage whenever it occurs and initially has a 20-second inner cooldown. However, several talents within the Tree allow for extra procs and reducing the cooldown under specific circumstances. The proc also applies a debuff that increases all damage you deal to the target and even negates their ability to parry your attacks.

Thanks to Nimble Flurry, Trickster is the de-facto best AoE and Mythic+ choice. It is also a somewhat viable alternative for single-target, although the rotation still feels a little less fluid and it's performance is not as high as Fatebound's.

Fatebound suits Outlaw incredibly well, as it increases gameplay flow and smoothness by increasing the additional strike chance of Sinister Strike, while the damage increase and proc from Hand of Fate are nice additions to our dps kit that heavily focuses on sustained DPS. While it is a very passive and simple Hero Talent Tree, it further boosts the strengths of Outlaw while also performing very well. As it is simpler to play, improves gameplay smoothness, and does good, many of our recommended builds will be playing Fatebound in single-target.

While Patch 11.2, Ghosts of K'aresh, offers new Tier Sets that focus on boosting the strengths of each of our Hero Talent Trees, neither end up being super impactful in terms of gameplay and rotation. Both specs have some slight alterations to their gameplay as a result of the tier set, but it is very limited in scope.

• Fatebound: Once you acquire the new set, you will want to use Ghostly Strike from stealth, instead of Adrenaline Rush.
• Trickster: If possible, you will want to hold Vanish until after your Coup de Grace proc, unless you are Energy Capped or Adrenaline Rush is soon to be ready. You also want to ensure using Sinister Strike whenever the inner cooldown of Unseen Blade has expired.

Fatebound has a noticeable edge over Trickster in Raids, and is easier to play as well. With the newly designed Killing Spree, one of the main reasons many players steered away from Trickster is much less of a concern now. While the channeling style still feels off for a melee class, at least it no longer forces you into precarious situations, but it doesn't change the fact that Fatebound simply puts out higher numbers on single-target.

Trickster is the better choice for Mythic+ due to its buffs to Blade Flurry. It outperforms Fatebound by a noticeable margin, and is thus the recommended choice. With Killing Spree no longer being a suicidal ability, one of the main concerns of Trickster has been alleviated now.

5.

Best Hero Talent Builds for Outlaw Rogue

Fatebound Standard Build Trickster Standard Build

6.

Best Fatebound Build for Outlaw Rogue

The Fatebound build is the same for Mythic+ and Single-Target. While there are a few DPS choice nodes in the Fatebound Tree, the chosen ones in the Tree below are numerically superior to the alternatives. The Tree is entirely passive, augmenting your flips and helping you generate longer chains of flipping your coin. The 5% extra chance to proc your extra attack on Sinister Strike (and by extension Ambush due to Hidden Opportunity) is much more valuable not only for raw DPS but due to it also smoothing out the gameplay a little, with fewer gaps in your rotation due to bad SS proc RNG.

The other two choice nodes are simply for Utility, with Death's Arrival allowing you to quickly Grappling Hook away from and back to the boss, potentially gaining you a second or two of additional boss uptime. You can pick between these choices freely, as they are all very low impact and situational, to the point where they do not make a big difference either way.

6.

Best Trickster Build for Outlaw Rogue

The Trickster build is the same for Mythic+ and Single-Target. The Tree is entirely passive, with no gameplay impact whatsoever, other than making sure to trigger Unseen Blade whenever it is available. The past issues surrounding Coup de Grace and Killing Spree have finally been solved!

As for the choice nodes, you can pick freely between Smoke and Mirrors depending on the situation. If there is a big AoE spell in an encounter, then Mirrors tends to be the better choice as it is not conditional. Thousand Cuts is stronger simply because it is not conditional, further strengthening our sustained DPS output, and the same applies to the other DPS choice nodes of No Scruples vs Cloud Cover.

For more general information on your rotation, make sure to check out our rotation guide:

Once you acquire the new set, you will want to use Ghostly Strike from stealth, instead of Adrenaline Rush.

If possible, you will want to hold Vanish until after your Coup de Grace proc, unless you are Energy Capped or Adrenaline Rush is soon to be ready. You also want to ensure using Sinister Strike whenever the inner cooldown of Unseen Blade has expired.