Subtlety Rogue DPS Guide (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• ×Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources
  • 3. Basic Abilities
    • 3.1. Standard Abilities
    • 3.2. Stealth Exclusive Abilities
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. DPS Cooldowns
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Third Golden Trait
      • 1.3.1. Single Target/Raid Oriented Build
      • 1.3.2. AoE/Dungeon Oriented Build
    • 1.4. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List
    • 1.1. Single Target
      • 1.1.1. Correctly Using Death from Above with Dark Shadow
    • 1.2. Multiple Targets (2+)
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. Combo Points and Energy
      • 2.1.1. Pooling
    • 2.2. Shadow Dance
      • 2.2.1. During Shadow Blades
    • 2.3. Vanish
    • 2.4. Defensive Utility
    • 2.5. Pandemic
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. Resource Management
    • 3.2. Cooldown Usage
      • 3.2.1. Personal Initiative
  • 4. Opening Sequence
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. Stat Weights
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. AddOns
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros
    • 2.1. Startattack Macros
    • 2.2. Tricks of the Trade
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Best in Slot List
  • 3. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights
  • 4. Racial Bonuses
  • 5. Legendaries
    • 5.1. Mantle of the Master Assassin
  • 6. Loot Competition
  • 7. ChangeLog

General Information

Welcome to our Subtlety Rogue DPS guide for World of Warcraft Legion 7.2.5. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing a Subtlety Rogue in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by impý, a Subtlety Rogue who raids in The Unnamed, a top German guild.

1. Class Overview

Subtlety has received an array of changes in Legion, altering both their core identity and their strengths and weaknesses. Subtlety Rogues continue to provide strong single-target pressure, but it now brings respectable AoE to the table as well. Much of the rotation involves actively shifting between two stances, in and out of Stealth. Some abilities can be used at anytime, however, certain abilities can only be used while you are in Stealth. There are only a limited number of ways to activate Stealth during combat, and therefore the core component of this specialization revolves around managing your abilities to correctly time windows of burst.

2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes

• New legendary items added.
• All damage dealt increased by 20%.
• Backstab base damage increased by 35%.
• Backstab damage bonus from being behind the target reduced to 20% (was 30%).
• Dark Shadow is a new talent at level 90: While Shadow Dance is active, all damage you deal is increased by 30%.
• Deepening Shadows now causes your finishing moves to reduce the remaining cooldown on Shadow Dance by 1.5 seconds (was 3 seconds) per Combo Point spent.
• Energetic Stabbing now has an increased proc chance of 50% (was 25%), now refunds 2 Energy per point (was 5), and now also works with Backstab.
• Enveloping Shadows redesigned. Deepening Shadows reduces the remaining cooldown of Shadow Dance by an additional 1.0 second per Combo Point spent. Shadow Dance gains 1 additional charge.
• Etched in Shadow is now named Weak Point: Increases the critical strike damage of Backstab and Shadowstrike by 8% per point.
• Feeding Frenzy now lasts for 30 seconds (was 20 seconds).
• Flickering Shadows redesigned: Now reduces the cooldown of Sprint by 10 seconds and Vanish by 30 seconds.
• Gloomblade damage increased by 10%.
• Marked for Death's cooldown reduced to 40 seconds (was 60 seconds) for Subtlety.
• Master of Shadows now gains 25 Energy over 3 seconds when you enter Stealth or Shadow Dance.
• Nightblade now increases your damage dealt to the target by 15%, with damage over time component reduced by 35%.
• Relentless Strikes now causes your finishing moves to generate 6 Energy per Combo Point spent.
• Second Shuriken damage increased by 200%.
• Shadow Dance now has 2 charges (was 3), and is no longer on the global cooldown.
• Shadow Dance’s base duration increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds).
• Shadow Nova damage increased by 67%.
• Shadow's Whisper now increases Energy gain by 8 (was 5).
• Shadowstep now has 2 charges for Subtlety.
• Shadowstrike now hits at melee range (was a 15 yard range) and generates 2 Combo Points (was 1). Additionally, when used while Stealthed, now deals 25% increased damage (was 9%) and teleports you up to 25 yards behind your target. This does not happen while in Shadow Dance or during Subterfuge.
• Shuriken Combo is a new passive available at level 70: Shuriken Storm increases the damage of your next Eviscerate by 10% for each enemy hit beyond the first. Stacks up to 5 times.
• Shuriken Storm base damage increased by 67%.
• Sprint now allows Subtlety Rogues to run over water. This is only possible when running forward.
• Subterfuge's duration increase to Shadow Dance reduced to 1 second (was 2 seconds).
• Symbols of Death redesigned. Now generates 40 Energy and increases your damage done by 15% for 10 seconds.
• The Quiet Knife now increases damage dealt by Backstab by 5% (was 3%) per point.
• Weak Point now increases the critical strike damage of Backstab and Shadowstrike by 8% per point.
• Shuriken Storm's damage can now only be increased by 100% during Stealth and Shadow Dance.
• Symbols of Death is now usable outside Stealth.

3. Patch 7.2 Changes

• Subterfuge will now instantly break Vanish buff, making Master of Subtlety and Mantle of the Master Assassin less powerful.
• Will of Valeera gives an additional 658 Mastery. Also small portion of Haste has been swapped with Critical Strike.
• New Artifact traits added.
  • Etched in Shadow is a trait that increases Symbols of Death damage.
  • Shadow's Whisper adds Energy to Shadow Techniques procs.
  • Feeding Frenzy makes Goremaw's Bite grants three finishing moves at no Energy cost.

4. Strengths

• Strong single target damage
• Cleave fuels additional single target damage
• Good burst damage
• Good sustained AoE
• Scales exceptionally well
• Strong defensive utility and crowd control
• Great mobility

5. Weaknesses

• Cooldown dependent
• Demands cerebral management of Combo Points and Energy to be effective
• Dependent on legendary items

6. Viability in the Current Patch

Subtlety is currently roughly on par with Assassination for raiding, making it one of the strongest available melee specs in the current patch.

7. Contents

To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 9 pages:

• Easy Mode: TL;DR to own without reading much;
• Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
• Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
• Artifact Traits and Relics: discover how to level up your Artifact;
• Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
• Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
• Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
• Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
• Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear.

8. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 28 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated several talents.
• 28 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated rotation and APL, added section pertaining to Dark Shadow and Death from Above, updated opener.
• 28 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Updated relic priority and 35+ path.
• 28 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated 7.2.5 changes with new hotfixes.
• 28 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated rotation slightly.
• 24 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Added Marked for Death as General Use level 100 talent.
• 24 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Made some tweaks to the legendary item section.
• 24 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Updated some spell descriptions to match 7.2.5 changes.
• 18 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added Tomb of Sargeras Best-in-Slot and Tier 20 set bonus, updated legendaries.
• 17 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated strengths/weaknesses/viability.
• 15 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Large update to all sections.
• 15 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated to provide a more definitive answer on which talents are our go-to in 7.2.5.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated talent build.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added The Soul of the Shadowblade and The First of the Dead to the Legendary items section.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated Tier 2, 6, and 7 talent discussions.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (this page): Added 7.2.5 changes, updated strengths/weaknesses.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Minor update to 35+ pathing and updated relic priority.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (enchants page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated ability priority list and removed mentions of Premeditation.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (stats page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 03 Apr. 2017 (easy mode page): Changed the recommended default talent tree.
• 03 Apr. 2017 (talents page): Slight update to the discussion between Master of Subtlety and Weaponmaster.
• 03 Apr. 2017 (rotation page): Slight adjustments in the Shadow Dance advice for the single-target rotation.
• 03 Apr. 2017 (artifact page): Swapped Soul Shadows and Fortune's Bite in the priority order for 7.2.
• 01 Apr. 2017 (this page): Broke down the patch additions in greater detail, added/change strengths/weaknesses/viability.
• 29 Mar. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lavish Suramar Feast.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (gear page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Added a path for the new 7.2 traits.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (this page): Added Patch 7.2 changes.
• 24 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Fully updated Best-in-Slot for Nighthold.
• 23 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Added a section explaining the Finality bug for Anticipation.
• 23 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Updated APL for Anticipation bug.
• 23 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added a separate section dedicated to Mantle of the Master Assassin further explaining its use.
• 23 Jan. 2017 (this page): Small update to viability section.
• 14 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added new legendary items.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (artifact page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (enchants page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (this page): Added Patch 7.1.5 changes list and updated strengths/weaknesses and viability sections.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (easy mode page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Patch 7.1.5.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 22 Dec. 2016 (easy mode page): Added easy mode for Subtlety Rogues.
• 08 Dec. 2016 (enchants page): Update enchants, gems, and consumables to reflect the slight adjustment to the stat priority.
• 08 Dec. 2016 (this page): A few updates to viability and strengths/weaknesses following Kiwifruit's review.
• 08 Dec. 2016 (stats page): Updated stat weights and added a short Versatility vs Mastery discussion.
• 08 Dec. 2016 (artifact page): Updated paths to include a split for single target vs. dungeon oriented & updated Relic priority.
• 06 Dec. 2016 (talents page): Updated T1 talents (Weaponmaster>=MoS) and added a note about situational uses of Alacrity and Death From Above.
• 06 Dec. 2016 (rotation page): Big update; Action Priority List split into single/multi target, resource management updates, many tweaks to "Important Notes" sections.
• 11 Oct. 2016 (talents page): Updated talent build and descriptions.
• 11 Oct. 2016 (gear page): Updated trinket list.
• 08 Oct. 2016 (this page): Updated strengths, weaknesses, and viability.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (gear page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (stats page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (artifact page): Added.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (this page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (spells page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated Weapon Enchants with a note on Shadowmoon ICD.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (stats page): New stat priority to account for Bleeding Hollow Toxin Vessel.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Made enchants match new stat priority.
• 19 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated Level 45, 75, 90, and 100 talent recommendations.
• 19 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Many small improvements (more notes on Pandemic, Subterfuge, and many tweaks).
• 19 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Removed the trinket sims and added BiS recommendations.
• 19 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Tweaked Level 30 talent recommendations.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (this page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (addons page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (spells page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.