Outlaw Rogue DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.1.7)
On this page, we explain how to easily play Outlaw Rogue in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.7), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
If you are new to the class or spec, it is best advised to start with a straightforward build to get a better handle on the core mechanics and interactions. This build is only marginally worse than the most optimal way to play the spec, so there is no need to worry at all about potentially lagging behind fellow Rogue players while you get to know the foundations of Outlaw.
The Basics for Outlaw Rogue in The War Within
Outlaw is a specialization that revolves around the management of several personal buffs and cooldowns. You will use generator abilities to build Combo Points to unleash powerful and bursty finishers. In this section, we will be focusing on a setup that minimizes the number of buttons and reactivity necessary without unduly compromising overall damage output.
If you are completely new to Outlaw Rogue and need more information on the abilities available to you, you can check out our Spell Summary page.
Beginner's Guide to Outlaw Rogue in The War Within
Beginner Single-Target Talents for Outlaw Rogue
This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
For a more in-depth analysis of each of the talent choices and the reasoning behind the aforementioned build as the go-to for ease of use, check out the Talent section below.
Beginner AoE and Mythic+ Talents for Outlaw Rogue
This is our recommended build for AoE and Mythic+ scenarios. This works well for AoE fights in raids, as well as most Mythic+.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
For a more in-depth analysis of each of the talent choices and the reasoning behind the aforementioned build as the go-to for ease of use, check out the Talent section below.
This is a very basic priority list, and some of the finer details to get the most damage out of the spec are missing. By following the link, you will be able to find a more detailed version of this priority list for both single-target and AoE, as well as a deeper explanation of some of the core concepts of Outlaw gameplay. If you would like to know more about how to pool energy properly or how different talents require a different opener, check out the Rotation section of this guide.
Beginner Outlaw Rogue DPS Rotation
Always make sure to have Instant Poison applied and start from
Stealth.
- Use
Roll the Bones and
Adrenaline Rush before the pull, in that order. Refresh them, if they ever drop off.
- Use
Sinister Strike as your main builder. Use
Ambush when it is available to cast, and
Pistol Shot when you have an
Opportunity proc and cannot cast
Ambush.
- Use
Dispatch as your main finisher.
- Cast
Between the Eyes on cooldown if the
Ruthless Precision RtB buff is active, and as your sole finisher during
Crackshot windows. Otherwise only use it to refresh the buff.
- Use
Roll the Bones to maintain at least one buff.
- Use
Adrenaline Rush,
Vanish, and
Ghostly Strike on cooldown. Ensure you have 6+ Combo Points when using
Vanish to then cast
Between the Eyes, and only use
Vanish when
Adrenaline Rush is active.
You will want to use finishing moves at 6+ Combo Points or higher, or 5+ if you are in Subterfuge or have an Opportunity or Audacity proc available.
Do not use Vanish if your
Between the Eyes is off cooldown.
Use BtE first, so you get its cooldown refreshed when you Vanish.
Single-Button Assistant for Outlaw Rogue
Sadly the Assisted Combat system is of little use to Outlaw for a multitude of reasons. By far the biggest issue is the increase of the Global Cooldown. Since the spec relies quite heavily on reducing its GCD, with our GCD being 0.8 seconds during Adrenaline Rush (provided we have ~20% Haste), the added delay to the button presses causes a significant DPS loss by itself. This alone drops its performance by ~25-30%.
On top of this, it also fails to properly use certain high-impact cooldowns correctly, making it an even bigger DPS loss compared to even the simplified rotation. As such it is not recommended to use the Combat Assist for Outlaw at this time.
Defensive Spells for Outlaw Rogue
Feint active spell that reduces all area damage taken. This has a
very short cooldown and should be used regularly. The DPS cost is negligible, and
it is a defensive that every other class is jealous of.
Cloak of Shadows is your immunity. It removes most Magic, Curse,
Disease, or Poison debuffs when you press it, which in some cases is not a
good thing. It also makes you immune to all magic effects and damage. Most
raid encounters tend to apply any associated debuffs anyway, but at least you
will simply not take damage.
Evasion increases your dodge to over 100%, making you immune to
melee attacks. Rarely useful in raids, but it can save your life in Mythic+ or
overworld content.
Cheat Death saves you from dying once, leaving you at low HP with a
very strong damage mitigation. This has a 6-minute cooldown and makes your
already strong defensive kit even stronger.
Vanish is used as a DPS ability in raids, but can save your life
in world content and Mythic+. It makes all enemies lose threat on you, and if
you are the only surviving player, enemy mobs will reset without you dying. It
can also occasionally be used to avoid targeted spell casts if you Vanish
before the enemy finishes casting.
This is just some of the key utility of Outlaw Rogue. We highly recommend checking out the fully detailed Spell Glossary page below to see everything explained in detail.
Hero Talents
If you want to find out more about the addition of Hero Talents, you can find more information on our dedicated Hero Talents page.
Stat Choice for Outlaw Rogue
Currently, you will want to prioritize stats as follows:
- Versatility;
- Haste;
- Critical Strike;
- Mastery.
Versatility is our best stat, but it diminishes quickly. Haste is only
useful in order to hit the 0.8-second GCD during Adrenaline Rush, and
you will want to reach somewhere between 10-20% Haste in order to do so. You
will likely want to prioritize Versatility and Critical Strike on many pieces,
and take as much Haste as is unavoidable to get.
If you are wondering how to sim yourself and find out about the best upgrades for you, you can learn more about it on our Simulations page as well!
Changelog
- 15 Jun. 2025: Added information for Combat Assist feature.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Page was reviewed for Patch 11.1.5 and no changes were required.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Page has been reviewed and updated for TWW Patch 11.1.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Page has been reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 21 Mar. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Page has been reviewed and updated for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Page updated for the Patch 10.2 Rogue rework.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Page was reviewed for Patch 10.1.7 and no changes were necessary.
- 16 Jul. 2023: Updated RtB prio for HO build.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5, added BF conditional to rotation while GM is active.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1. Simplified rotational priorities and talent build.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 18 Jan. 2023: Clarified rotational priorities, updated recommended talent build.
- 04 Jan. 2023: Updated information on rotational priorities, RtB buffs and talent build.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Rogue Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written and reviewed by Seliathan, who has been playing Rogue for over two decades since the very first day of Vanilla WoW. After decades of raiding within the Top 100 and numerous Rank 1 Mythic+ runs in previous expansions, he has now set his sights on sharing his experience through guides and other content.
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