Outlaw Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Dragonflight 10.2.5

Last updated on Jan 15, 2024 at 15:00 by Seliathan 95 comments
General Information

On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Outlaw Rogue in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5. We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Combat Rogue talents.

Disclaimer: With the vast amount of changes to Rogue and Outlaw talents and abilities in Patch 10.2, we expect more findings and optimizations to surface as the Theorycrafting community continues their efforts to find the best possible way to play the spec. As a result, information on this page might receive frequent updates after Patch 10.2 hits live servers.

1.

Best Dragonflight Talents for Outlaw Rogue

These builds are very generic recommendations for different types of content. We have more specific recommendations for Raid and Mythic+ available in our dedicated sections:

2.

Best Talents for Outlaw Rogue

Hidden Opportunity Single-Target Talents Hidden Opportunity AoE/Mythic+ Talents Talents/Pathing Explained
3.

Best Single-Target Talents for Outlaw Rogue

This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Best AoE Talents for Outlaw Rogue

This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE and cleave fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.

Be sure to use the 'Copy Export String' button to import our build ingame!

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3.

Talent Explanations for Outlaw Rogues

This section goes into detail about the possible choices you can make, that might deviate from the linked single-target and Mythic+ builds. Note that we do not explain every single talent here, but instead explain why certain talents are picked, and if there are any alternative choices you can make. For more information on all the individual talents, please consult our Spells page via the button instead.

3.1.

Choice Talents

Atrophic Poison Icon Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison Icon Numbing PoisonThe attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Underhanded Upper Hand Icon Underhanded Upper Hand OR Sepsis Icon SepsisSepsis grants us access to more stealth abilities, but since this does not count for the purposes of Crackshot Icon Crackshot, Underhanded Upper Hand simply provides too much uptime on Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush and is a mandatory pick.
Cheat Death Icon Cheat Death OR Elusiveness Icon ElusivenessCheat Death is almost always going to be the better choice for progression. Elusiveness has its strengths on encounters where there is no big burst damage that might kill you, but instead constant damage over time. Even then, Cheat Death will likely serve you better during progression.
Reverberation Icon Reverberation OR Resounding Clarity Icon Resounding ClaritySimilar to the previous choice, there is a clear DPS winner here in all situations: Resounding Clarity.
Airborne Irritant Icon Airborne Irritant OR Gouge Icon GougeBoth talents allow you to disrupt enemies in Mythic+, giving you additional control. Airborne Irritant is likely going to be the choice for Mythic+, as AoE interrupts are hard to come by, and Blackjack Icon Blackjack allows it to also serve as a defensive tool for your tank.
Blackjack Icon Blackjack OR Tricks of the Trade Icon Tricks of the TradeIn a raid environment, Tricks is likely the better choice. However, in Mythic+, the combination of Blackjack and Airborne Irritant offers incredible control and also helps the tank.
Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush Icon Improved AmbushThis is a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambush Icon Ambush casts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation.
Float Like a Butterfly Icon Float Like a Butterfly OR Sting Like a Bee Icon Sting Like a BeeThis choice comes down to whether or not you and your group or raid might get value out of Sting Like a Bee. It applies to all players and can be a very powerful way to help DPS on adds that can be stunned. If there are no such adds in a fight, then the cooldown reduction on Feint is slightly better defensively.
Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons Icon Virulent PoisonsThis is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons.
3.2.

Class Talents

3.2.1.

Row 1-4

All the talents here are utility talents, offering survivability, mobility, or crowd-control abilities, with the exception of Subterfuge Icon Subterfuge. All the selected talents offer the most use in a raid or Mythic+ environment, while still opening up pathing to the 3 central nodes later down the line. As we need to allocate Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision, Recuperator Icon Recuperator and Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender to access all the talents in Rows 8-10, there are only a few free talent points available to us in Rows 1-7. Most of the early talents in Rows 1-4 are stronger than the later ones, so we pick up more than the required 8 talents in this part.

Shadowstep Icon ShadowstepMandatory mobility talent. We already have Grappling Hook Icon Grappling Hook baseline, but more mobility options never hurt.
Subterfuge Icon SubterfugeThe only DPS talent out of all the unallocated talents at this point.
Cheat Death Icon Cheat DeathA must-pick for progression fights, although Elusiveness Icon Elusiveness might be useful on the occasional encounter.
Improved Sprint Icon Improved Sprint and Featherfoot Icon FeatherfootIncredible mobility combo, giving you a 12-second 100% speed boost every minute, which is reduced further by Restless Blades Icon Restless Blades, allowing for incredible mobility all throughout the fight.
3.2.2.

Row 5-7

Similar to the first handful of rows, you will have to allocate many points here to open up the pathing to the last section of the tree. Many of the talents here are too situational, and there are stronger talents in Rows 1-4 for survivability or utility.

Iron Stomach Icon Iron Stomach and Deadened Nerves Icon Deadened Nerves are the go-to choice as some of the few flex-points, but if you run Mythic+ and use Shroud of Concealment Icon Shroud of Concealment a lot, Stillshroud Icon Stillshroud can be the difference maker between wiping and having to end the run because Shroud is still on cooldown, or being able to shroud again thanks to the large cd-reduction Stillshroud provides.

Deadly Precision Icon Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons Icon Virulent PoisonsThis is a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increase than Virulent Poisons.
Atrophic Poison Icon Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison Icon Numbing PoisonThe attack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness from Warlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus, Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Recuperator Icon RecuperatorStrong self-sustain talent that is required to open up the middle section of the tree in the following rows, especially if you aim to get Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic Strikes.
Tight Spender Icon Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush Icon Improved AmbushThis is a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambush Icon Ambush casts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation.
3.2.3.

Row 8-10

Your choices in this part will be centered around whether or not you want to pick up Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic Strikes. As all the talents in this section are active DPS increases, the choice ultimately comes down to which options end up being the best DPS increase.

Shadow Dance Icon Shadow DanceGrants you access to all your stealth abilities, which will benefit from many of your stealth-only damage or stat amplifications. Synergizes incredibly well with Crackshot Icon Crackshot and allows for even more Ambush casts.
Deeper Stratagem Icon Deeper StratagemAdds a maximum Combo Point. Stacks with Devious Stratagem Icon Devious Stratagem.
Echoing Reprimand Icon Echoing Reprimand and Resounding Clarity Icon Resounding ClarityER empowers your 2nd, 3rd and 4th Combo Points, while RC only increases the damage of the ability itself. Casting a finisher with empowered Combo Points changes it to instead be cast as if you used 7 Combo Points on it. Make sure to use up all of them before the next ER is ready, as the unused ones will be overwritten.
Alacrity Icon AlacrityPassive Haste buff. This might rarely run out on single-target, but there is no ways to avoid that.
Cold Blood Icon Cold BloodCold Blood is too weak of a talent to be competitive with the other choices like Shadow Dance, Resounding Clarity or Deeper Stratagem. Do not play this.
Acrobatic Strikes Icon Acrobatic StrikesA talent that increases your melee attack range, which often allows you to stay out of trouble in Mythic+, and also means that you will be able to hit enemies sooner if you have to move to them, or even away from them. If you want to play this, drop a point in Lethality.
3.3.

Spec Talents

3.3.1.

Row 1-4

Most of the picks here are simply gateways to talents further down the line, with some choices based off of how strong and situational their utility is. The chosen setup allows for pathing to all parts of the tree, and the only swap you make is for AoE, picking up Deft Maneuvers Icon Deft Maneuvers.

For Mythic+, you can make a choice between Combat Stamina Icon Combat Stamina, which improves your own survivability, and picking up Blinding Powder Icon Blinding Powder, which would further reduce the cooldown on your Airborne Irritant Icon Airborne Irritant and Blackjack Icon Blackjack combo.

3.3.2.

Row 5-7

In this part of the tree, you get to choose between optimizing your build for single-target or multi-target encounters, as well as picking a variety of minor DPS improving passives. After picking all the potent DPS talents for the content you engage with in these rows, you allocate one more point in Rows 1-4 to unlock the last three Rows.

For Mythic+, you can also pick up Heavy Hitter Icon Heavy Hitter instead of Deft Maneuvers Icon Deft Maneuvers for slightly more single-target, at the cost of a bit of AoE.

Devious Stratagem Icon Devious StratagemAdds another maximum Combo Point, for a total of 7. Mandatory.
Dancing Steel Icon Dancing SteelMandatory talent for AoE.
Audacity Icon AudacityA mandatory talent for almost all builds, as it allows you extra casts of Ambush at the same rate as your extra casts of Pistol Shot procs.
Loaded Dice Icon Loaded DiceA core ability for all Outlaw builds that buffs RtB, which can provide a variety of different combat enhancements. Mandatory
Audacity Icon AudacityMandatory. Allows you to weave in Ambush into your rotation, which greatly increases your ability to generate CP.
Ace Up Your Sleeve Icon Ace Up Your SleeveCombined with Crackshot Icon Crackshot, this talent potentially allows you to spam Between the Eyes Icon Between the Eyes during Subterfuge or Shadow Dance.
3.3.3.

Row 8-10

You will once more allocate talents based on whether you engage in multi-target or single-target combat, and this is where you truly define your build by picking Hidden Opportunity Icon Hidden Opportunity and Crackshot Icon Crackshot as your capstone.

Hidden Opportunity Icon Hidden OpportunityKey talent for HO builds, which grants your Ambush casts to hit twice and grant Opportunity procs.
Count the Odds Icon Count the OddsGreatly improves the number of RtB buffs you have active on any given time.
Keep It Rolling Icon Keep It RollingKey talent for KIR builds, which allows you to extend the duration of your RtB buffs.
Fan the Hammer Icon Fan the HammerGreatly enhances your CP generation, thanks to all the extra procs you get from other talents.
Killing Spree Icon Killing SpreePowerful finisher that also reduces the damage you take during its duration. Sadly, it doesn't do enough damage to be worth picking up.
Precise Cuts Icon Precise CutsMandatory Talent for Mythic+ and cleave.
Greenskin's Wickers Icon Greenskin's WickersThis changes your rotational priority slightly, making you use Between the Eyes Icon Between the Eyes on cooldown instead of just using it to maintain the debuff.
4.

PvP Talents (War Mode)

In Dragonflight, there will be the option to go into "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

  • PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
  • 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
  • 10% more experience gained while leveling.
  • Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

4.1.

Outlaw Rogue War Mode Talents

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Outlaw Rogue-specific PvE talents.

4.1.1.

Outlaw Rogue PvP Talents

  1. Take Your Cut Icon Take Your Cut causes you and allies within 15 yards to gain 15% Haste for 8 seconds after you use Roll the Bones Icon Roll the Bones. It is fairly good since it acts as a mini-Adrenaline Rush Icon Adrenaline Rush and has decent uptime when you are questing in the open-world.
  2. Boarding Party Icon Boarding Party makes Between the Eyes Icon Between the Eyes increase the movement speed of all friendly players within 15 yards by 30% for 5 seconds. Movement speed is always nice while world-questing, so this is highly recommended.
  3. Enduring Brawler Icon Enduring Brawler increases the chance for your Sinister Strike Icon Sinister Strike to hit an additional time the longer you remain in combat. While this will be only a small gain in most engagements with enemies in the open-world, it is very potent when trying to kill Elites, chain-pulling, or fighting World Bosses.
5.

Changelog

  • 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: New layout for talents, added KIR M+ build.
  • 16 Jul. 2023: Updated for KiR being the stronger ST build now.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Page was reviewed for Patch 10.1.5 and no changes were necessary.
  • 06 Jun. 2023: Updated KIR recommendation as viable alternative to HO builds.
  • 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1. The recommended build and talent tree remain the same, and the page required no updates.
  • 26 Mar. 2023: Added Talent calculator link for KIR build.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 04 Jan. 2023: Updated HO build pathing/suggestions and added KiR build alternatives.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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