Subtlety Rogue DPS Easy Mode — Dragonflight 10.2.5

Last updated on Jan 15, 2024 at 15:00 by Oxi 63 comments
General Information

On this page, we explain how to easily play Subtlety Rogue in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.

1.

Foreword

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

2.

The Basics for Subtlety Rogue

Subtlety at first glance can seem very simple. You build combo points and spend them to do damage. However, to maximize your damage potential it can be a very involved process which requires knowledge and understanding of the basics which will be addressed here. This section aims to point players to a way to play Subtlety by easing into it. This will not be the absolute best setup, but it will perform better for those who are getting up to speed with the intricacies of the specialization.

If you are completely new to Subtlety Rogue and are looking to understand what tools we have at our disposal, make sure to check out our spell summary page first to read what each ability does.

3.

Talent Choice for Subtlety Rogue

These choices are optimized for ease of use. There are a variety of builds that are floating around, and we may even see new builds floating around when more people experience the new raid. Although some talents might offer marginally higher gains when played perfectly, if played improperly they could cause the player do less damage. The talents recommended here aim to present the best setup that has very little punishment for unfamiliarity or mistakes.

3.1.

Single Target (Raiding)

You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Copy Export String'.

3.2.

Multi Target (Mythic+/Cleave)

You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Copy Export String'.

If you are looking for the absolute best-performing talents for Subtlety, you can find a more in-depth analysis on our full talents page below.

4.

Stat Choice for Subtlety Rogue

4.1.

Single-Target Stat Priority

The general single-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Versatility >= Mastery > Critical Strike > Haste

  1. Versatility
  2. Mastery
  3. Critical Strike
  4. Haste
4.2.

Multi-Target Stat Priority

The general multi-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Mastery >= Versatility > Critical Strike > Haste

  1. Mastery
  2. Versatility
  3. Critical Strike
  4. Haste

To learn more about how stats interact in different scenarios and why in the stats page below.

4.3.

Subtlety Rogue Single Target Ability Priority List

Note that the current best-performing single-target build uses Danse Macabre Icon Danse Macabre, which forces you to cast different abilities during Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance. For us, this simply means we want to cast Backstab Icon Backstab and Secret Technique Icon Secret Technique once per Shadow Dance.

  1. Cast Shadow Blades Icon Shadow Blades on cooldown.
  2. Maintain Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice. Aim to refresh it before Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance windows.
  3. Maintain Rupture Icon Rupture on your primary target and any targets that live over 12 seconds. Aim to refresh it before Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance windows.
  4. Cast Symbols of Death Icon Symbols of Death on cooldown.
  5. Cast Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance on cooldown.
  6. Cast Thistle Tea Icon Thistle Tea if at 3 charges in combination with Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance and after that, use it when you are running out of Energy.
  7. Cast Secret Technique Icon Secret Technique with Cold Blood Icon Cold Blood to spend Combo Points when reaching 6 or more and 5 or more during Shadow Dance after you have gained some Danse Macabre Icon Danse Macabre stacks.
  8. Cast Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate to spend Combo Points when reaching 6 or more and 5 or more during Shadow Dance.
  9. Cast Vanish Icon Vanish on cooldown to get an extra Shadowstrike Icon Shadowstrike.
  10. Cast Shadowstrike Icon Shadowstrike to generate Combo Points if Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance is active. Otherwise, use Backstab Icon Backstab (from behind the target if possible to gain 20% extra damage on it).

As mentioned above, try to combine and sync your offensive cooldowns together to deal maximum damage.

4.4.

Subtlety Rogue Multiple Target (3+) Ability Priority List

  1. Maintain Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice. Stop casting on 6+ targets.
  2. Maintaining Rupture Icon Rupture on any target that lives at least 12 seconds is a DPS gain; however, this can sometimes be hard to estimate.
  3. Cast Symbols of Death Icon Symbols of Death on cooldown.
  4. Cast Shuriken Tornado Icon Shuriken Tornado/Thistle Tea Icon Thistle Tea on cooldown in combination with Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance.
  5. Cast Secret Technique Icon Secret Technique with Cold Blood Icon Cold Blood to spend Combo Points when reaching 6 or more and 5 or more during Shadow Dance after you have gained some Danse Macabre Icon Danse Macabre stacks.
  6. Cast Black Powder Icon Black Powder to spend Combo Points when reaching 6 or more and 5 or more during Shadow Dance instead of Eviscerate Icon Eviscerate if there are 3+ targets.
  7. Use Shuriken Storm Icon Shuriken Storm during Shadow Dance Icon Shadow Dance instead of Shadowstrike Icon Shadowstrike, if there are 3+ targets.
  8. Cast Shuriken Storm Icon Shuriken Storm to generate Combo Points.

While Shadow Blades Icon Shadow Blades still does decent damage on AoE, the value of extra Combo Points gained is diminished. Use Shadow Blades at your own discretion on multi-target or save it for a single-target situation.

Vanish has fairly low value on multi-target and is best used to extend the duration of Find Weakness Icon Find Weakness or refresh Slice and Dice Icon Slice and Dice.

For the opener sequence and to see how the rotation changes with multiple targets, visit the rotation page.

5.

Changelog

  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed and Updated for patch 10.2.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Page updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 11 May 2023: Changed recommended talent to Flagellation over Dark Brew.
  • 01 May 2023: Page reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Page updated for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 17 Dec. 2022: Added multi-target ability priority list and updated single-target.
  • 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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