Outlaw Rogue DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.2

Ahoy! Outlaw Rogue is a specialization that centers around managing resources while sustaining high damage to stacked targets. As in previous expansions, Outlaw is a fantastic jack of all trades that can comfortably handle any situation or fight type. Between the three Rogue specializations, Outlaw is the most effective in situations involving cleave-DPS.

Strengths

• Blade Flurry allows for consistently high cleave and AoE damage.
• High uptime on cooldowns thanks to Underhanded Upper Hand.
• Very versatile in both raiding and Mythic+ content with multiple viable builds.
• Exceptional survivability thanks to Feint, Cloak of Shadows, Evasion and Crimson Vial.
• Very good group utility for Mythic+ in the form of Shroud of Concealment, Sap, Blind, Gouge or Airborne Irritant.

Weaknesses

• Variance in damage output depending on Sinister Strike procs.
• High cooldown uptime leads to no powerful burst phases in our DPS curve, even with Bloodlust.
• Highly reactive gameplay, which requires quick reflexes and thinking, making the spec hard to execute flawlessly.

Outlaw, and Rogue in general, received a plethora of changes, with many new and reworked talents, changes to abilities that we get access to without having to talent into them, as well as the removal or "baking in" of several key components of the Spec. The list of changes is too long to list here, but you can find a link to the complete list of changes below.

The main goal of these changes was to ensure that Rogue would no longer be the only class with a differently structured talent tree, while streamlining the Spec by making key abilities become baseline for each Spec. As a result, Outlaw has many more talent points available for utility talents, and our class tree has been packed with useful utility, survivability, and mobility options. There have also been some quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes.

Gameplay-wise, the Spec still plays the same, with some minor rotational changes. At its core, Outlaw remains a high APM (Actions Per Minute) spec that has a lot of different cooldowns and buffs to juggle to get the most damage out of its toolkit, dealing incredibly high sustained damage without massive burst windows. If you have already enjoyed Outlaw for its fast-paced and reactive gameplay, this patch will feel fresh yet familiar at the same time!

While all the pages have been reviewed for Patch 10.2, the vast amount of changes will require prolonged testing once the content has hit live servers. As a result, minor changes to many sections of this guide are to be expected in the early stages of Patch 10.2.

For a full breakdown of all Rogue Changes in Patch 10.2, check out our dedicated page below.

The large amount of changes to both the core toolkit and the spec-specific one, the Rogue theorycrafting community is constantly updating and looking for improvements to the Outlaw simulations to find the best possible build and playstyle. As new findings come to light (or some bugs get fixed), changes to this guide will be happening as well.

If you want to level a new Rogue in Dragonflight, you should check out our leveling guide to help you on your journey.

If at any point you feel like you would like to customize your user interface or have been wondering if there are any useful macros or addons that might further your enjoyment and performance on your Rogue, you should check out our Addon section.

Outlaw Rogue is a spec that is heavily centered around the maintenance of its buffs and cooldowns. The decision to either re-roll Roll the Bones whenever it comes off cooldown or sticking with the current buff(s) you have, and waiting for its expiration will depend on each buff and the current situation you find yourself in.

Playing around Roll the Bones will quickly become second nature as you watch out for not wasting any of your resources or sitting on cooldowns for too long. Most of your cooldowns do not have a static cooldown-timer, since Restless Blades will constantly lower all your cooldowns whenever you spend Combo Points. Utilizing this cooldown reduction is key to playing Outlaw Rogue efficiently.

For more information on the basics of the Spec, you can check out the Spell Summary to get a good idea of the abilities you will be using while playing Outlaw. If you are completely new to playing Outlaw Rogue, we suggest taking a look at our Beginner page below to get a general idea of how to set up your new character.

If you already have some experience playing a Rogue or have familiarized yourself with the basics of the Spec, you can also read up more information on how to optimize your Rotation and the individual strengths of the different Talents.

With all the different gearing options that are available to you, you might ask yourself what gear is worth chasing after. Since a lot of the decisions and variables depend on the gear that you are already wearing right now, we strongly recommend "simming" yourself. You can find more information on how to do that, as well as a list of the current Best-in-Slot gear for newly leveled characters on our dedicated gearing page.

After gearing up your character, the next step is to apply the appropriate enchants and gems, as well as prepare the best potions, phials, and buff food. Which consumables are the best for you depends on your stat priority, which might change depending on your gear, talents, and the type of content you are about to tackle. The following two sections of the guide address all questions about consumables as well as the shifting stat priorities for Outlaw Rogues.

Once you feel that you are ready to tackle some of the most difficult content the game has to offer, you should check out the dedicated pages for each type of content below. You will find helpful tips and tricks, recommendations on your talents and equipment as well as general information on mechanics, and guidance on what to look out for as you make your way to the top.

Once you have your gear in order and are looking to improve not just your character itself but also your gameplay, you can check out these helpful sections as a first step into analyzing your own performance in more detail.