Outlaw Rogue PvP Talents and Builds (Shadowlands / Patch 9.2)
Choosing the right PvP and PvE talents is a prerequisite to proper performance in PvP. This guide goes through the various talent choices available to you as an Outlaw Rogue and gives you the best combinations you can take.
This page is part of our Outlaw Rogue PvP Guide.
Talent Choices for Outlaw Rogues
Level | Choices | ||
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15 |
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25 |
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30 |
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35 |
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40 |
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45 |
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50 |
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While the above table provides a generally accurate overview of the viability of talents, some finer points are discussed in the sections that follow, and we recommend you read those for a deeper understanding.
Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
Quick Draw is the best talent in this tier in most scenarios.
It will help you generate more Combo Points and deal a bit more damage
as the game goes on. This talent truly shines if you play the Legendary
Greenskin's Wickers and spend the buffed
Pistol Shot with
an
Opportunity proc. That combo will deal a huge amount of
damage.
Weaponmaster can be an option if you play a Legendary such as
Invigorating Shadowdust. Then, your goal is to have extremely
high sustained damage while bending the rules with all the cooldown
reduction tools at your disposal. Weaponmaster alongside the new PvP
Talent
Enduring Brawler will allow your
Sinister Strike
to hit twice a lot more often for a noticeable increase in sustained damage.
It also works really well with the Conduit
Triple Threat. However
even in that scenario
Quick Draw remains more than competitive.
Tier 2 (Level 25) Talents
Acrobatic Strikes is the best talent in this tier. The extended
melee range will allow you to keep hitting an enemy who is trying to get away
from you. It will also allow you to keep hitting a melee enemy that you are
running away from, without them being able to hit back. On top of that it will
make it a lot easier to land
Kick or to
Kidney Shot an enemy
while dealing damage to one of their teammates. It is often very difficult for
enemy healers and casters to anticipate that you can kick them from 8 yards
away.
Tier 3 (Level 30) Talents
Deeper Stratagem is the best talent in this tier. With it your
Kidney Shot will last up to 7s, allowing you to get extremely long
CC chains on the healer as it is easy to land a
Sap off such a long
stun, or to have one of your teammates land a CC of their own. It is also
useful to lock the DPS down in order to burst them. On top of that the damage
of your finishing moves will be increased. This talent has great synergy with
Dreadblades, a talent on the 6th row.
Tier 4 (Level 35) Talents
Elusiveness is the best talent in this tier as long as you are
playing with a healer. Rogues do not have a lot of damage mitigation, so this
spell is essential to your survival. You want to time this ability right before
being hit by a powerful spell such as
Chaos Bolt or
Divine Toll. Also, you want to try and time it before being stunned.
Pre-
Feinting a
Lightning Lasso, a
Kidney Shot, or a
Storm Bolt often makes the difference between living and dying.
Tier 5 (Level 40) Talents
Blinding Powder is the best talent in this tier.
Blind will
now have a 90-second cooldown. This means that even if the healer trinkets the
first Blind, they will not have a trinket for the second. Since you will reduce
the cooldown of your
Vanish with
Restless Blades throughout the
fight your Vanish will also be around a 90s cooldown, allowing you to
Sap every Blind. This will allow you to have an extremely long CC chain
the enemy healer cannot escape, since their trinket will have a longer cooldown
than your Blind. The added range on Blind is also very helpful as it makes your
setup a lot less predictable.
Tier 6 (Level 45) Talents
Dreadblades is the best talent in this tier. This gives you another
strong burst cooldown. It works particularly well with
Deeper Stratagem
as your finishers will deal massive damage. It also synergizes rather well with
Flagellation, the Venthyr Rogue ability, as they share the
same cooldown and cause every Combo Point spent to deal Shadow damage to the
enemy. It also has the same cooldown as
Blind with the talent
Blinding Powder selected, allowing you to burst down the enemy during
your long CC chains.
Alacrity is a great talent. It gives you Haste, which is your best
stat, leading to a noticeable sustained damage increase. The synergy between
Flagellation and
Dreadblades is too good not to use, but if
you are not playing Venthyr then Alacrity becomes the best talent in this tier.
Tier 7 (Level 50) Talents
Blade Rush is the best talent in this tier. It gives you an additional
gap closer to catch classes with high mobility such as Mage, Druid, or Monk. It
also gives you a bit of Energy, which is always a good thing to have.
Killing Spree is an interesting option. It does not deal enough damage
on one target to be considered a good cooldown, but it can still be played. It
is very iconic so you might just want to pick it because the animation is really
amazing. It has one interesting specificity though, and that is that you will
always follow your target throughout the animation, and be brought back to your
starting location when it ends. That means you can use it to finish off someone
who will port away when very low on health, such as a Monk, or you can use it to
effectively negate a DK grip as you will remain on your target, hitting it, and
will be placed back where you pressed the ability, which is right on your target
as if the DK had never gripped you.
PvP Talents for Outlaw Rogues
You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each of them have their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others. The top three choices are the most useful, but can be replaced with other PvP talents depending on your team's goal.
Mandatory PvP Talents
Enduring Brawler is an extremely powerful talent. It makes you more
durable by increasing your Maximum Health, but it also gives you a lot more
damage by increasing the chance for
Sinister Strike to hit an additional
time by up to 20%. That means you will have a 55% chance for Sinister Strike to
hit an additional time, dealing twice the damage, giving you two Combo Points
instead of one, and giving you an
Opportunity proc. This in turn will
allow your next
Pistol Shot to deal double damage at half cost, and if
you play with the talent
Quick Draw it will deal even more damage and
generate an additional Combo Point.
Situational PvP Talents
Smoke Bomb creates a smoke cloud around you. Enemy players who are
outside the cloud will not be able to target anyone inside of it. This talent
is strong for multiple reasons. Firstly, it can help you land a kill by
stunning a target when they have no trinket. By using Smoke Bomb right after
a stun you will prevent the healer from saving their teammate. Secondly, you
can use it defensively to save yourself or an ally from a lethal cast that is
about to go off, such as
Greater Pyroblast. And lastly, you can use it
to prevent incoming crowd control on you or your team if such crowd control
would result in you losing a game, such as a
Polymorph or
Repentance on your healer when they have no trinket and you are low on
health. This talent used to be a must-have, however Outlaw Rogues do not have
enough burst damage to make it more powerful than other strong PvP talents in
2v2, so you will rarely use it in that bracket. It makes more sense in 3v3 if
your other DPS has extremely high burst, like a Retribution Paladin or a Fire
Mage, and you do not need other talents to survive.
Dismantle is a strong PvP talent that allows you to disarm an enemy
for 6 seconds every 45 seconds. Disarming an enemy can delay their next kill
attempt or stop it entirely if they have already pulled the trigger. It is a great
pick against Warriors, Rogues, and Marksmanship Hunters. It is also helpful
against other Hunter specs, although they can still use many threatening
abilities while disarmed, and the same goes for Retribution Paladins and
Death Knights. One thing to note is that you can use Dismantle offensively
against Death Knights and Warriors, as being disarmed prevents the use of
Death Strike and
Die by the Sword.
Float Like a Butterfly is an amazing PvP Talent when facing melee DPS.
It will allow
Restless Blades to reduce the cooldown of
Feint
and
Evasion. That will make you extremely durable versus Melee Cleaves
or Jungle in 3v3, and versus any Melee/Healer comp in 2v2. Paired with Conduits
such as
Prepared for All it is possible to have Evasion every minute!
Take Your Cut is a decent pick. Giving 15% Haste to your team every now
and then is powerful. You may pick this when you do not have better options.
Thick as Thieves is a decent pick. Giving 15% damage one ally every 30s
is powerful, and will greatly increase their burst damage. You may pick this
talent when you do not have better options and one of your teammates is a DPS
with very high burst damage, such as a Retribution Paladin.
Control is King is a talent that will make your opener and your goes
with
Kidney Shot a bit more bursty. This would be a decent option when
playing double DPS comps, but that is not the strong point of Outlaw at the
moment.
Maneuverability is a strong PvP talent versus teams with
multiple slows. This can be taken so you can maximize your uptime on your
target. It also removes any root on you when you use it so you may escape
a
Frost Nova or a
Steel Trap with it as well. However, Outlaw
already has decent mobility, and has access to better talents so you will not
often be playing this one.
Against melee DPS that rely on a weapon yo will pick Enduring Brawler,
Float Like a Butterfly, and
Dismantle. When facing a melee that is
not susceptible to being disarmed, such as a Windwalker Monk or a Feral Druid, you
will replace Dismantle with
Take Your Cut,
Thick as Thieves, or
even
Smoke Bomb if you play with a partner with high burst damage such
as a Fire Mage or Retribution Paladin in 3v3 or a Night Fae Restoration Shaman
in 2v2. When facing casters you will go with
Enduring Brawler,
Smoke Bomb and either
Thick as Thieves or
Take Your Cut,
depending on what suits your teammates best.
Changelog
- 23 Feb. 2022: Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 10 Nov. 2021: Already up to date with Patch 9.1.5.
- 25 Jul. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 27 Mar. 2021: No updates needed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 29 Nov. 2020: Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 04 Nov. 2020: Updated Talent Table.
- Updated Tiers 3, 6, and 7 Regular Talents.
- Updated PvP Talents.
- 16 Feb. 2020: Updated Talent Table.
- Updated Tier 7 Regular Talent.
- Updated PvP Talents.
- 20 Jan. 2020: This page was checked for Patch 8.3 and no update was deemed necessary.
- 05 Jan. 2020: Page added.
This guide has been written by Shadenox, an experienced Gladiator Rogue player who has achieved over 2850 rating. You can find him on his YouTube channel, where he creates guides and other informational content regarding Arenas.
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