Outlaw Rogue DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Shadowlands 9.0.2

Welcome to our Rotation page for Outlaw Rogues. Here you will find out more about your rotational priorities in both single-target and multi-target situations which you will apply in both Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.

If you are just starting out you might want to get more comfortable with your Outlaw Rogue by using a more simplified yet still effective build and rotation. You can find out more about it in our Easy Mode section.

For information about Mythic+ as an Outlaw Rogue and the rotation you need to use in this game mode, please refer to our Mythic+ page.

The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.

We have provided rotation switches below that allow you to adjust the priority list based on your talent choices. Simply check the box if you plan to play with Deeper Stratagem or Marked for Death, as well as Killing Spree or Blade Rush.

• Deeper Stratagem
• Marked for Death
• Blade Rush
• Killing Spree

1. Use Roll the Bones on cooldown unless you have any of the desired buffs (see dedicated Roll the Bones section for details).
2. Cast Between the Eyes with 5+ with Deeper Stratagem Combo Points whenever it is off cooldown.
3. Cast Between the Eyes with 4+ with Deeper Stratagem Combo Points whenever it is off cooldown.
4. Cast Slice and Dice at 5+ Combo Points.
5. Cast Slice and Dice at 4+ Combo Points.
6. Cast Blade Rush on cooldown.
7. Cast Killing Spree on cooldown. If Adrenaline Rush is active, delay Killing Spree to prevent over-capping on energy.
8. Activate Adrenaline Rush.
9. Use your Covenant ability.
10. Cast Marked for Death if you have 0-1 Combo Points.
11. Cast Dispatch at 5+ Combo Points.
12. Cast Dispatch at 4+ Combo Points.
13. Cast Vanish followed up by Ambush.
14. Cast Pistol Shot if you have an Opportunity proc and you have 4 or less Combo Points.
15. Cast Pistol Shot if you have an Opportunity proc and you have 3 or less Combo Points.
16. Cast Sinister Strike to generate Combo Points.

1. Cast Blade Flurry if there are 2+ targets.
2. Use Roll the Bones on cooldown unless you get have any of the desired buffs (see dedicated Roll the Bones section for details).
3. Cast Between the Eyes with 5+ with Deeper Stratagem Combo Points whenever it is off cooldown.
4. Cast Between the Eyes with 4+ with Deeper Stratagem Combo Points whenever it is off cooldown.
5. Cast Slice and Dice at 5+ Combo Points.
6. Cast Slice and Dice at 4+ Combo Points.
7. Cast Blade Rush on cooldown, and only if Blade Flurry is active.
8. Cast Killing Spree on cooldown, and only if Blade Flurry is active.
9. Activate Adrenaline Rush.
10. Use your Covenant ability.
11. Cast Marked for Death if you have 0-1 Combo Points.
12. Cast Dispatch at 5+ Combo Points.
13. Cast Dispatch at 4+ Combo Points.
14. Cast Vanish followed up by Ambush.
15. Cast Pistol Shot if you have an Opportunity proc and you have 4 or less Combo Points.
16. Cast Pistol Shot if you have an Opportunity proc and you have 3 or less Combo Points.
17. Cast Sinister Strike to generate Combo Points.

Depending on your talents, there are a handful of abilities you will want to use before the pull actually happens. Roll the Bones should be used right before engaging the enemy. When talented into Marked for Death, you will want to use it ~14 seconds before pulling and then use the Combo Points for Between the Eyes as the fight begins.

1. Use Marked for Death ~14seconds before pull if talented.
2. Cast Stealth.
3. Use Roll the Bones 1 second before pull.
4. Cast Ambush as well as Adrenaline Rush.
5. Use Between the Eyes with 5+ Combo Points.
6. Use your Covenant ability.

After using your Covenant ability you follow the aforementioned single-target priority list.

Roll the Bones is a cooldown that grants one or more random buffs. The duration of the Roll the Bones (and the buffs it gives you) is affected by Pandemic (meaning you can safely refresh when Roll the Bones has less than 30% of its duration remaining). There are 6 different buffs you can potentially receive, and it is possible to receive multiple buffs from a single cast, although the chance to receive extra buffs is lessened per extra buff. The buffs are as follows:

• True Bearing causes finishing moves to reduce the remaining cooldown of some of your abilities (including Adrenaline Rush) by 1 second per Combo Point;
• Ruthless Precision increases your Critical Strike chance by 20% and the Critical Strike chance of Between the Eyes by 60%;
• Skull and Crossbones boosts Sinister Strike's chance to strike an additional time by 30%;
• Grand Melee now causes your finishers to extend the duration of your Slice and Dice by 2 seconds per CP spent as well as providing 15% leech;
• Broadside causes your Combo Point-generating abilities to generate 1 additional Combo Point and increases their damage by 20%;
• Buried Treasure increases your Energy regeneration by 4 per second.

The chance of receiving multiple buffs is as follows:

• 1 Roll the Bones buff: 100.0% chance;
• 2 Roll the Bones buffs: 19% chance;
• 5 Roll the Bones buffs: 1% chance.

Roll the Bones has significantly different gameplay implications than Slice and Dice had for Combat, or currently has for Outlaw.

Order of buff value for an extended encounter (raid boss):

1. Broadside;
2. Ruthless Precision;
3. Skull and Crossbones;
4. True Bearing.
5. Buried Treasure;
6. Grand Melee.

The value of each buff fluctuates somewhat depending on the combination with other buffs and whether or not cooldowns are available, but this can be used as a rough reference.

The basic rule to satisfy regarding Roll the Bones is to re-cast it and fish for different buffs if:

• you have 1 buff and Loaded Dice available OR
• your current buff is either Grand Melee or Buried Treasure OR
• your current 2-buff is Grand Melee and Buried Treasure.

If any of these conditions are met, you will want to re-roll Roll the Bones for a different buff or group of buffs as it comes off cooldown.

This priority changes slightly when you are using Sleight of Hand as your Potency Conduit. You will always re-roll for 2+ buffs in this case, and re-roll your 2-buff if it is Grand Melee and Buried Treasure.

Vanish is a useful DPS cooldown thanks to the Potency Conduit Count the Odds. You should use it on cooldown for an Ambush.

A key part of maximizing AoE DPS, will come from lining up Killing Spree / Blade Rush with time periods when they are able to hit the maximum number of targets, and making sure that you have Blade Flurry for those times. Since Blade Flurry does not have 100% uptime, it will need to be managed a lot more carefully, and sometimes you will need to miss out on some AoE/cleave, if it means you get better uptime on it, when there are more enemies.

As a Rogue, most of your abilities need Energy to be used. Your Energy bar has a capacity of 100 Energy (150 with Vigor chosen as your Tier 3 talent and 200 during Adrenaline Rush) and refills at a rate of 10 Energy per second. Your Energy regeneration is increased by:

• Melee haste (Haste + Haste-enhancing buffs);
• the Combat Potency passive, which causes your off-hand attacks to have a chance to generate 10 Energy;
• your Adrenaline Rush cooldown, which temporarily increases your Energy regeneration by 60%;
• Vigor, if chosen as your Tier 3 talent.

The faster you regenerate Energy, the more finishers you can cast, which (via True Bearing and Restless Blades) will result in higher Adrenaline Rush uptimes.

Letting your Energy reach its maximum is something you want to avoid. You should always try to spend your Energy by (literally) spamming your buttons. Unlike Subtlety and Assassination Rogues, Outlaw Rogues generally do not benefit from Energy pooling. There are many situations when you will generate more Energy than you can spend (Haste trinket procs, Bloodlust / Heroism / Time Warp, etc.) and you should spam your buttons even harder than usual during such times.

Combo Point generation is increased by a variety of factors, such as:

• Tier 1 talents;
• Opportunity procs;
• Sinister Strike striking twice;
• Roll the Bones buffs such as Broadside;
• your Ruthlessness passive ability, which grants your finishers a 20% chance per Combo Point consumed to grant a Combo Point;
• Energy regeneration, allowing you to cast more generators.

You should never waste Combo Points. Never cast a Combo Point-generating ability when you are at maximum Combo Points. Be aware of situations where you are guaranteed to generate 2 Combo Points with your generators, for example during Broadside or when using Pistol Shot with an Opportunity proc.

Adrenaline Rush increases your Energy regeneration by 60%, maximum Energy by 50 and your attack speed by 20% for 20 seconds. It should be used on cooldown. Do not hesitate to stack it with Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp as you will still benefit from the increased attack speed, though you will likely Energy cap (this is not a problem). Adrenaline Rush has a 3-minute cooldown, but this can be reduced by the True Bearing buff and Restless Blades.

True Bearing reduces the cooldowns of the following abilities by 2 seconds per Combo Point consumed by a finisher:

• Roll the Bones
• Adrenaline Rush
• Sprint
• Between the Eyes
• Vanish
• Grappling Hook
• Killing Spree
• Marked for Death
• Blade Rush
• Ghostly Strike
• Blade Flurry

It is worth reiterating that the source of Blade Flurry cleave is you, not the target. Therefore, you can stand with one mob directly in front with another directly behind you, and your Blade Flurry will still cleave both, as the player is the source of the cleave.

All Rogues come ready made with a dizzying phalanx of defensive cooldowns, which make them the best candidate for soaking required mechanics and dealing with heavy incoming damage.

• Feint reduces AoE damage taken by 40% for 5 seconds for only 35 Energy. When talented into Elusiveness it also reduces all other damage by 30%. This is one of the most overpowered abilities in the game and a huge asset on fights with heavy raid damage. Do not forget about this button!
• Cloak of Shadows provides magic immunity for a second, followed by 4 seconds where all spells will miss. This spell is mostly used for clearing debuffs that might otherwise force you out of melee range. Cloak of Shadows is also a fantastic tool for soaking abilities that do not pierce immunities.
• Cheat Death is a talent that allows you to escape lethal damage once every 6 minutes. The damage cannot exceed more than twice your maximum health. Cheat Death is great for soaking mechanics that pierce immunities and damage reductions, as it guarantees your survival. It is also great for encounters with bursty damage that might take you by surprise, as you get a get out of jail free card once every 6 minutes.
• Crimson Vial provides a respectable amount of healing on a very short cooldown. Use this often in boss encounters.
• Evasion provides a 100% increased chance to dodge enemy attacks as long as you are facing them. This can sometimes be used to avoid physical spells as well.

This specialization involves a lot of fast finger work, particularly during cooldown periods. Learning to focus on what is important and master the core concepts of a specialization is what leads to strong overall performances on the damage charts. Outlaw features 2 major concepts that form the central tenets of optimizing for success:

1. practical usage of Roll the Bones;
2. resource management.

You will want to re-roll for new Roll the Bones buffs once your previous ones are about to run out. Any 2-buff or 5-buff should be kept until they have run their full duration, with the exception of Grand Melee in combination with Buried Treasure.

Unlike the other Rogue specialization, Energy management is incredibly easy for Outlaw Rogues as you have a very high rate of regeneration. It can be very easy, however, to overcap Combo Points if you are not careful. Pay close attention to your current Roll the Bones buffs along with your Combo Point tracker. Do not waste Opportunity procs when you are already capped on Combo Points.

The fully inclusive rotation, is a lot more extensive than the one listed above, but gives only marginal gains at best, as such, it is included here (in raw simc format), but it does not need to be memorized.

actions=stealth
# Currently not worth rerolling in SL in any known situation
actions+=/variable,name=rtb_reroll,value=0
actions+=/variable,name=ambush_condition,value=combo_points.deficit>=2+2*(talent.ghostly_strike.enabled&cooldown.ghostly_strike.remains<1)+buff.broadside.up&energy>60&!buff.skull_and_crossbones.up&!buff.keep_your_wits_about_you.up
# With multiple targets, this variable is checked to decide whether some CDs should be synced with Blade Flurry
actions+=/variable,name=blade_flurry_sync,value=spell_targets.blade_flurry<2&raid_event.adds.in>20|buff.blade_flurry.up
actions+=/call_action_list,name=stealth,if=stealthed.all
actions+=/call_action_list,name=cds
# Finish at maximum CP. Substract one for each Broadside and Opportunity when Quick Draw is selected and MfD is not ready after the next second. Always max BtE with 2+ Ace.
actions+=/run_action_list,name=finish,if=combo_points>=cp_max_spend-(buff.broadside.up+buff.opportunity.up)*(talent.quick_draw.enabled&(!talent.marked_for_death.enabled|cooldown.marked_for_death.remains>1))*(azerite.ace_up_your_sleeve.rank<2|!cooldown.between_the_eyes.up)|combo_points=animacharged_cp
actions+=/call_action_list,name=build
actions+=/arcane_torrent,if=energy.deficit>=15+energy.regen
actions+=/arcane_pulse
actions+=/lights_judgment
actions+=/bag_of_tricks

# Builders
actions.build=shiv,if=runeforge.tiny_toxic_blade.equipped
actions.build+=/echoing_reprimand
actions.build+=/serrated_bone_spike,cycle_targets=1,if=buff.slice_and_dice.up&!dot.serrated_bone_spike_dot.ticking|fight_remains<=5|cooldown.serrated_bone_spike.charges_fractional>=2.75
# Use Pistol Shot with Opportunity if below 45 energy, or when using Quick Draw and Wits is down.
actions.build+=/pistol_shot,if=buff.opportunity.up&(energy<45|talent.quick_draw.enabled&buff.keep_your_wits_about_you.down)
actions.build+=/pistol_shot,if=buff.opportunity.up&(buff.deadshot.up|buff.greenskins_wickers.up|buff.concealed_blunderbuss.up)
actions.build+=/sinister_strike

# Cooldowns
actions.cds=call_action_list,name=essences,if=!stealthed.all
actions.cds+=/flagellation
actions.cds+=/flagellation_cleanse,if=debuff.flagellation.remains<2
actions.cds+=/adrenaline_rush,if=!buff.adrenaline_rush.up&(!cooldown.killing_spree.up|!talent.killing_spree.enabled)&(!equipped.azsharas_font_of_power|cooldown.latent_arcana.remains>20)
actions.cds+=/roll_the_bones,if=buff.roll_the_bones.remains<=3|variable.rtb_reroll
# If adds are up, snipe the one with lowest TTD. Use when dying faster than CP deficit or without any CP.
actions.cds+=/marked_for_death,target_if=min:target.time_to_die,if=raid_event.adds.up&(target.time_to_die<combo_points.deficit|!stealthed.rogue&combo_points.deficit>=cp_max_spend-1)
# If no adds will die within the next 30s, use MfD on boss without any CP.
actions.cds+=/marked_for_death,if=raid_event.adds.in>30-raid_event.adds.duration&!stealthed.rogue&combo_points.deficit>=cp_max_spend-1
# Blade Flurry on 2+ enemies. ST with Ambidexterity if no adds in the next 10s.
actions.cds+=/blade_flurry,if=spell_targets>=2-conduit.ambidexterity.enabled&!buff.blade_flurry.up&raid_event.adds.in>10
actions.cds+=/ghostly_strike,if=combo_points.deficit>=1+buff.broadside.up
actions.cds+=/killing_spree,if=variable.blade_flurry_sync&energy.time_to_max>2
actions.cds+=/blade_rush,if=variable.blade_flurry_sync&energy.time_to_max>2
# Using Vanish/Ambush is only a very tiny increase, so in reality, you're absolutely fine to use it as a utility spell.
actions.cds+=/vanish,if=!stealthed.all&variable.ambush_condition
actions.cds+=/dreadblades,if=!stealthed.all&combo_points<=1
actions.cds+=/shadowmeld,if=!stealthed.all&variable.ambush_condition
actions.cds+=/sepsis,if=!stealthed.all
actions.cds+=/potion,if=buff.bloodlust.react|buff.adrenaline_rush.up
actions.cds+=/blood_fury
actions.cds+=/berserking
actions.cds+=/fireblood
actions.cds+=/ancestral_call
actions.cds+=/use_item,effect_name=cyclotronic_blast,if=!stealthed.all&buff.adrenaline_rush.down&buff.memory_of_lucid_dreams.down&energy.time_to_max>4&rtb_buffs<5
actions.cds+=/use_item,name=azsharas_font_of_power,if=!buff.adrenaline_rush.up&!buff.blade_flurry.up&cooldown.adrenaline_rush.remains<15
# Very roughly rule of thumbified maths below: Use for Inkpod crit, otherwise with AR at 20+ stacks or 10+ with also Blood up.
actions.cds+=/use_item,name=ashvanes_razor_coral,if=debuff.razor_coral_debuff.down|debuff.conductive_ink_debuff.up&target.health.pct<32&target.health.pct>=30|!debuff.conductive_ink_debuff.up&(debuff.razor_coral_debuff.stack>=20-10*debuff.blood_of_the_enemy.up|target.time_to_die<60)&buff.adrenaline_rush.remains>18
# Default fallback for usable items.
actions.cds+=/use_items,if=buff.bloodlust.react|fight_remains<=20|combo_points.deficit<=2

# Essences
actions.essences=concentrated_flame,if=energy.time_to_max>1&!buff.blade_flurry.up&(!dot.concentrated_flame_burn.ticking&!action.concentrated_flame.in_flight|full_recharge_time<gcd.max)
actions.essences+=/blood_of_the_enemy,if=variable.blade_flurry_sync&cooldown.between_the_eyes.up&(spell_targets.blade_flurry>=2|raid_event.adds.in>45)
actions.essences+=/guardian_of_azeroth
actions.essences+=/focused_azerite_beam,if=spell_targets.blade_flurry>=2|raid_event.adds.in>60&!buff.adrenaline_rush.up
actions.essences+=/purifying_blast,if=spell_targets.blade_flurry>=2|raid_event.adds.in>60
actions.essences+=/the_unbound_force,if=buff.reckless_force.up|buff.reckless_force_counter.stack<10
actions.essences+=/ripple_in_space
actions.essences+=/worldvein_resonance
actions.essences+=/memory_of_lucid_dreams,if=energy<45
# Hold Reaping Flames for execute range or kill buffs, if possible. Always try to get the lowest cooldown based on available enemies.
actions.essences+=/cycling_variable,name=reaping_delay,op=min,if=essence.breath_of_the_dying.major,value=target.time_to_die
actions.essences+=/reaping_flames,target_if=target.time_to_die<1.5|((target.health.pct>80|target.health.pct<=20)&(active_enemies=1|variable.reaping_delay>29))|(target.time_to_pct_20>30&(active_enemies=1|variable.reaping_delay>44))

# Finishers
# BtE on cooldown to keep the Crit debuff up
actions.finish=between_the_eyes
actions.finish+=/slice_and_dice,if=buff.slice_and_dice.remains<fight_remains&buff.slice_and_dice.remains<(1+combo_points)*1.8
actions.finish+=/dispatch

# Stealth
actions.stealth=cheap_shot,target_if=min:debuff.prey_on_the_weak.remains,if=talent.prey_on_the_weak.enabled&!target.is_boss
actions.stealth+=/ambush