Subtlety Rogue DPS Gear and Best in Slot — Season 4

With the start of Season 4, we are entering the Awakened Season of Dragonflight, and you are once again able to acquire gear from every raid Raid at a higher item level. Mythic+ is also starting, same as the new PvP season, and this serves as a soft reset for the gear you acquired during the last Season of Dragonflight.

Season 4 once again uses the Crest upgrade system that was introduced in the previous season. We recommend that you check out our dedicated page for more information on this gear upgrade system if you are not yet familiar with it:

2.

BiS Gear for Subtlety Rogue

Overall BiS List Mythic+ Gear BiS List Raid Gear BiS List

3.

BiS List for Subtlety Rogue

This list contains the highest DPS setup from most sources, for Subtlety Rogue

In most non-Tier slots, a 486 iLvl Craft is technically optimal, since you can customize the secondary stats to your liking. A few 528 iLvl slots from Mythic Raid are the exception.

This list is by no means a replacement for simming yourself. Depending on your previous Great Vault choices and the gear you have available to yourself, your BiS gear might look different than this list in some spots.

Disclaimer: Your embellishments are all within an acceptable margin of each other. Best Embellishments are two crafted pieces with Blue Silken Lining. Previously it was suggested that you craft Slimy Expulsion Boots as it saved you a spark early on because the toxic patch item ilvl did not affect the power of the patch and was useful for multi-speccing.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Mainhand Weapon	Cruel Dreamcarver (528)	Igira the Cruel
Offhand Weapon	Nick of Time (515)	Dawn of the Infinite
Helm	Life-Bound Cap with Crit and Versatility (525) or with Peripheral Vision Projectors with Versatility (5)	Crafted by Leatherworking/Engineering. Life-Bound Cap should be embellished with Toxified Armor Patch if using Toxic/Slimy Boots or Blue Silken Lining. Note: If playing with the Eranog ring, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch must be placed on a piece of armor vs blue silken which can be put on jewelry.
Neck	Custodian's Medallion of Delusion (528)	The Azure Vault
Shoulder	Lurking Specter's Shoulderblades (528)	Broodkeeper Diurna/Echo of Neltharion/Smolderon
Cloak	Voice of the Silent Star (535)	Scalecommander Sarkareth
Chest	Lurking Specter's Tights (528)	Kurog Grimtotem/Zskarn/Nymue
Bracers	Life-Bound Bindings (525)	Crafted by Leatherworking. Embellished with Toxified Armor Patch if using Toxic/Slimy Boots or Blue Silken Lining. Note: If playing with the Eranog ring, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch must be placed on a piece of armor vs blue silken which can be put on jewelry.
Gloves	Lurking Specter's Handgrips (528)	Dathea/The Forgotten Experiments/Igira the Cruel
Belt	Watcher's Clasp of Purpose (528)	Halls of Infusion
Legs	Lurking Specter's Tights (528)	Sennarth/Rashok/Larodar
Boots	Treads of the Swift (528)	Uldaman. Note: Only craft Toxic Thorn Footwraps or Slimy Expulsion Boots if you are multi-speccing. Otherwise you would not use the Decay boots.
Ring #1	Seal of Diurna's Chosen (528)	Eranog
Ring #2	Signet of Titanic Insight (525)	Crafted by Jewelcrafting embellished with Blue Silken Lining if you craft the engineering helmet.
Trinket #1	Ashes of the Embersoul (528)	Smolderon
Trinket #2	Cataclysmic Signet Brand (528)	Smolderon

3.

Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Subtlety Rogue

This list contains the highest DPS setup, with farmable gear from Mythic+ Dungeons.

This list is by no means a replacement for simming yourself. Depending on your previous Great Vault choices and the gear you have available to yourself, your BiS gear might look different than this list in some spots.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Mainhand Weapon	Searing Tusk Shard	Neltharus. Note: ALWAYS equip the highest item level dagger in your mainhand. Item level will always be better than any secondary stat difference.
Offhand Weapon	Nick of Time (515)	Dawn of the Infinite
Helm	Crown of Roaring Storms	Ruby Life Pools
Neck	Custodian's Medallion of Delusion	The Azure Vault
Shoulder	Shoulders of Animated Stone	Uldaman
Cloak	Mammoth-Trainer's Drape	Neltharus
Chest	Invader's Firestorm Chestguard	Ruby Life Pools
Bracers	Ferocious Hyena Hidebinders	Brackenhide Hollow
Gloves	Ruby Contestant's Gloves	Algeth'ar Academy
Belt	Watcher's Clasp of Purpose	Halls of Infusion
Legs	Lavabearer Legwraps	Neltharus
Boots	Treads of the Swift	Uldaman
Ring #1	Bloodied Wedding Ring	Brackenhide Hollow
Ring #2	Scalebane Signet	Neltharus
Trinket #1	Irideus Fragment	Halls of Infusion
Trinket #2	Algeth'ar Puzzle Box	Algeth'ar Academy

3.

Raid Gear BiS List for Subtlety Rogue

This list contains the highest DPS setup, only using gear from the Amirdrassil Raid.

This list is by no means a replacement for simming yourself. Depending on your previous Great Vault choices and the gear you have available to yourself, your BiS gear might look different than this list in some spots.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Mainhand Weapon	Cruel Dreamcarver (528)	Igira the Cruel
Offhand Weapon	Nick of Time (515)	Dawn of the Infinite
Helm	Life-Bound Cap with Crit and Versatility (525) or with Peripheral Vision Projectors with Versatility (5)	Crafted by Leatherworking/Engineering. Life-Bound Cap should be embellished with Toxified Armor Patch if using Toxic/Slimy Boots or Blue Silken Lining. Note: If playing with the Eranog ring, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch must be placed on a piece of armor vs blue silken which can be put on jewelry.
Neck	Magmorax's Fourth Collar	Magmorax
Shoulder	Lurking Specter's Shoulderblades (528)	Broodkeeper Diurna/Echo of Neltharion/Smolderon
Cloak	Voice of the Silent Star (535)	Scalecommander Sarkareth
Chest	Lurking Specter's Tights (528)	Kurog Grimtotem/Zskarn/Nymue
Bracers	Life-Bound Bindings (525)	Crafted by Leatherworking. Embellished with Toxified Armor Patch if using Toxic/Slimy Boots or Blue Silken Lining. Note: If playing with the Eranog ring, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch must be placed on a piece of armor vs blue silken which can be put on jewelry.
Gloves	Lurking Specter's Handgrips (528)	Dathea/The Forgotten Experiments/Igira the Cruel
Belt	Watcher's Clasp of Purpose (528)	Halls of Infusion
Legs	Lurking Specter's Tights (528)	Sennarth/Rashok/Larodar
Boots	Treads of the Swift (528)	Uldaman. Note: Only craft Toxic Thorn Footwraps or Slimy Expulsion Boots if you are multi-speccing. Otherwise you would not use the Decay boots.
Ring #1	Seal of Diurna's Chosen	Eranog
Ring #2	Tormentor's Siphoning Signet	Rashok
Trinket #1	Ashes of the Embersoul (528)	Smolderon
Trinket #2	Cataclysmic Signet Brand (528)	Smolderon

With all the different layers of gearing currently available to players, it is impossible to cover all edge cases and individual recommendations in a guide. We therefore highly recommend simming your own character by using Raidbots. This website allows for precise and individualized recommendations that consider your exact talents, gear, trinket, and all the other layers of gearing that the game has to offer. Learning to use this tool is essential to maximizing your potential, as it is the only reliable way to get information on which piece of gear, enchant, gem, or trinket is the best for your character.

The Droptimizer feature from Raidbots lets you identify which dungeons and Raid Bosses offer the highest DPS upgrades to you. It simulates all of the potential upgrades in a raid or a dungeon and lists the bosses/dungeons by rank order of how much DPS you can expect to gain from each of the items it drops. We have a guide for it that you can access using the link below.

These are some of the items you should prioritize on upgrading as high as possible early into the season:

• A Mainhand weapon, like Nick of Time.
• A powerful trinket like Cataclysmic Signet Brand or Witherbark's Branch
• Embellished Items like Undulating Sporecloak and a crafted item with Blue Silken Lining.

These are not the only items worth upgrading, of course. They simply offer the highest DPS gain early into the tier when you are limited by the weekly cap of the Crests.

Amirdrassil once again offers us the choice of 5 tier-set items that grant powerful bonuses: Rogue Subtlety 10.2 Class Set 2pc and Rogue Subtlety 10.2 Class Set 4pc

If given a choice, try to prioritize the Shoulder, Chest, Gloves, and Legs slots for this. However, getting the Helmet to complete one of the bonuses is still better than any other gearing choice.

Professions are a great way to gear up with your optimal secondary stats, as generating specific secondary stat combinations is now possible when adding special items to the crafting process. With the heavily reworked crafting system in Dragonflight, exploring the new professions will help you gear up throughout the expansion, as you will be able to craft some Mythic Raid item-level pieces further down the line.

If you want to find out more about professions, make sure to check out our Dragonflight Profession guide!

As your ability to craft items will be time-gated in the initial stages of Patch 10.2, we highly recommend to get a Main Hand weapon as soon as possible. However, the Nick of Time dagger is so powerful that you will eventually replace your weapon with it, so be careful not to waste your limited opportunity to craft an item unless absolutely necessary.

Up to two of your crafted items can be Embellished. This is a similar concept as Unique-Equipped, as you can only wear two items that have the Embellished status. Some crafted items, many of which have powerful procs or beneficial effects by default, are considered Embellished. You can also add Embellishments from a variety of professions to any crafted item, adding the effect to this item either when creating it or at a later stage.

As there is a lot of competition for Embellishments, you will have to pick and choose the two strongest ones for your overall DPS output. The two best choices for this are:

• Undulating Sporecloak
• A crafted item with Blue Silken Lining.

You can add sockets to your necklace by using a Tiered Medallion Setting on it. Depending on the rank of the Medallion, you can add up to 3 sockets to any necklace you own.

You can also add sockets to Helmets, Belts, Bracers, Necks and Rings with Tokens of Merit, which are granted if you do not select any of the choices in your Great Vault. 6 of these tokens can be traded in for an item that allows you to add a socket to any piece of gear you acquired in Season 3.

Which gems and enchants to use heavily depends on your current stat priority. As previously mentioned, this priority can shift and change whenever you acquire new gear, so simming yourself to figure out the best use of your newly acquired socket is highly recommended. The general rule is to prioritize Versatility and Critical Strike on as many pieces of gear as possible, and prioritizing those stats for any consumables as well.