Subtlety Rogue DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Subtlety Rogue in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.0.2.
If you were looking for WoW Classic content, please refer to our Classic DPS Rogue rotation.
Subtlety Rogue Rotation
Easy Mode
If you are new to the spec and the information below seems too overwhelming, you can check out the Easy Mode page which simplifies the rotation with minimal DPS loss.
PvP
This page only discusses Rogue rotation in PvE situations. If you are looking for information regarding PvP, we recommend you to check out the Rogue PvP page instead.
Subtlety Rogue Single Target Ability Priority List
To find information on how to use your Covenant abilities, check the opener sequences and notes for each covenant.
If you are playing with Mark of the Master Assassin, use
Shadow Blades from stealth and do not cast
Rupture during the
Critical strike buff. Cast your
Vanish with maximum Combo Points
followed up by two
Shadowstrikes and another Eviscerate to maximize burst.
- Cast
Shadow Blades on cooldown.
- Cast
Vanish on cooldown.
- Maintain
Slice and Dice. Aim to refresh it before
Shadow Dance windows.
- Maintain
Rupture on your primary target. Aim to refresh it before
Shadow Dance windows.
- Cast
Symbols of Death and
Secret Technique (if talented) in combination with
Shadow Dance.
- Aim to be between 50 to 60 Energy when activating
Shadow Dance if
Symbols of Death is available to make sure you are entering Shadow Dance with as much Energy as possible without wasting any.
- Aim to be between 50 to 60 Energy when activating
- Cast
Eviscerate to spend Combo Points with 4+ (5+ if talented into
Deeper Stratagem).
- Cast
Shadowstrike to generate Combo Points if
Shadow Dance is active. Otherwise, use
Backstab (from behind the target if possible to gain 20% extra damage on it).
As mentioned above, always combine Symbols of Death and
Shadow Dance
to ensure maximum burst possible. In single-target situations, only cast
Shadow Dance without Symbols of Death if you are about to cap on charges.
Never cast Symbols of Death without Shadow Dance.
Subtlety Rogue Multiple Target (3+) Ability Priority List
- Maintain
Slice and Dice. Stop casting on 6+ targets.
- Maintaining
Rupture does provide slightly more DPS to that target but less overall. Stop using Rupture on 5+ targets. Do not apply Rupture to targets that would die before the whole DoT runs out.
- Cast
Symbols of Death and
Secret Technique (if talented) in combination with
Shadow Dance.
- In AoE situations you should cast
Secret Technique on cooldown with a
Shadow Dance charge. Do not hold Secret Technique for
Symbols of Death for more than 2-4 seconds.
- Try to be between 50 to 60 Energy when activating
Shadow Dance if
Symbols of Death is available to make sure you are entering Shadow Dance with as much Energy as possible without wasting any.
- In AoE situations you should cast
- Use
Shuriken Storm during
Shadow Dance instead of
Shadowstrike, if there are 3+ targets.
- Cast
Black Powder to spend Combo Points with 4+ (5+ if talented into
Deeper Stratagem) instead of
Eviscerate if there are 3+ targets.
- Cast
Shuriken Storm to generate Combo Points.
While 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.
Mythic+ Rotation
Opener sequence specifically can be different in Mythic+ with multiple targets, so check out the dedicated page below to find optimal openers for every situation.
Opener Sequences for Subtlety Rogue
Always open while in Stealth and make sure you have applied
Instant Poison.
You should activate any on-use trinkets you may have alongside
Symbols of Death.
Always use two Shadow Dances whenever
Shadow Blades is up,
for example in the opener.
Any Weaponmaster procs will alter your opener, thus making its
impossible to make a definitive opener sequence as it will be changing from pull
to pull. Make sure not to cast
Shadowstrikes when you are at 5+ Combo
Points.
Cast Vanish and
Shadowstrike after your first
Shadow Dance
if you end up around 3 Combo Points, so you can refresh your
Slice and Dice.
Otherwise use it after the second Shadow Dance.
Refresh Slice and Dice in-between your two
Shadow Dances in the
opener with 5+ Combo Points.
Kyrian
During your opener, do not worry about casting a finisher with the
anima-charged Combo Point. It is better to make sure you get maximum amount
of Shadowstrikes.
Without Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Slice and Dice.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death and
Echoing Reprimand.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
With Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death and
Echoing Reprimand.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
Necrolord
Necrolord assumes that you are using Emeni as your Soulbind and thus maximizing
the uptime of Lead by Example. You want to be using
Serrated Bone Spike
1 global before going into
Shadow Dance. If you are getting a lot of
resets, make sure to not overcap on charges, but always keep one charge
for every Shadow Dance and
Symbols of Death window.
Without Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Slice and Dice.
- Cast
Serrated Bone Spike.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
With Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Serrated Bone Spike.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
Night Fae
Without Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Slice and Dice.
- Cast
Sepsis.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Vanish and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Shadowstrike (Sepsis will proc here to give you a free ability from stealth).
With Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Sepsis.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Vanish and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Shadowstrike (Sepsis will proc here to give you a free ability from stealth).
Venthyr
Reactivate Flagellation when you reach 30 stacks.
Without Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Slice and Dice.
- Cast
Flagellation.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Vanish and
Shadowstrike.
With Premeditation
- Cast
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Flagellation.
- Cast
Shadow Blades,
Symbols of Death,
Shadow Dance and
Shadowstrike.
- Cast
Rupture.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
- Cast
Shadowstrike twice.
- Cast
Eviscerate.
Potion usage
Aim to use your Potion of Phantom Fire or
Potion of Spectral Agility
with
Bloodlust/
Heroism and your other cooldowns, such as
Shadow Blades. In most encounters, you will want to use it at start of
the fight.
Keep in mind that the potions now have 5-minute cooldown, so if the encounter is longer than that, remember to use it again whenever the extra damage is useful.
Important Notes for Subtlety Rogue
Combo Points and Energy
As a Rogue, most of your abilities need Energy to be used. Your Energy bar
has a capacity of 100 Energy and refills at a rate of 10 Energy per second.
With Vigor we have 150 Energy. Your Energy regeneration is
increased by:
- melee haste (Haste + Haste-enhancing buffs);
- the
Relentless Strikes passive, which guarantees your finishers restore 6 Energy per Combo Point;
Shadow Techniques, which awards 8 Energy every time it procs;
Vigor, if chosen as your Tier 3 talent.
The faster you regenerate Energy, the smoother the rotation will begin to
feel, as you will need to "pool" less. Faster Energy regeneration and proper
management allow for more finishers, more damage contribution from your
Shadow Dance, and more burst damage.
Never let your Energy reach its maximum, as resource overflow is wasteful and results in lost damage.
You should also avoid capping Combo Points (i.e., reach 5 Combo Points) for
more than 1 global cooldown so you do not waste a potential
Shadow Techniques proc.
Pooling
You will often have to wait for resources in order to ensure optimal delivery of your burst. The time you spend waiting (simply auto attacking the target) is known as "pooling". This allows your Energy to regenerate in anticipation of a burst window.
During a fight, the DPS value of Energy and Combo Points fluctuates. For
example, during Shadow Dance, the DPS value of Energy is
extraordinarily high. This is due to the short duration and limited
availability of Shadow Dance (5 seconds, and 6 with
Subterfuge).
If you do not have enough Energy, then you cannot get all your
Shadowstrikes off in that time. For this reason, it is incredibly
important that you enter Shadow Dance with as close to maximum resources as
possible. Playing with
Shadow Focus does ease this by quite a
bit.
Consider your "maximum" Energy as roughly 50 to 60 if your
Symbols of Death) is ready. This is due to the fact that you always
want to cast Symbols of Death (which gives 40 Energy) instantly when entering
Shadow Dance to get the damage increase for your first global in
Shadow Dance, which should be
Shadowstrike).
Combo Points, on the other hand, have a higher value when the boss enters a period of increased damage taken, as pumping out as many finishers as possible during this time results in the highest overall damage yield. These examples should highlight the importance of pooling, and you will be doing it extremely often as Subtlety.
Shadow Dance
Shadow Dance is your "bread and butter" cooldown, and your damage
output relies heavily on proper usage. Shadow Dance has 1 charge (or 2 when
playing with
Enveloping Shadows, each with a 1-minute recharge. The
Deepening Shadows passive, however, ensures that they will be
available much more often than that. Each Combo Point spent will reduce the
cooldown of Shadow dance by 1 second (or 1.5 when playing with Enveloping
Shadows).
Shadow Dance on Multi-Target
You should aim to cast Symbols of Death in combination with Shadow
Dance. However, you should never cap on Shadow Dance charges. If you are about
to cap on them, cast Shadow Dance without Symbols of Deaths.
Defensive Utility
Rogues have the best defensive capabilities in the game, which makes them the best candidate for soaking required mechanics and dealing with heavy incoming damage.
Feint reduces AoE damage taken by 40% for 5 seconds for only 35 Energy. When talented into
Elusiveness it also reduces all other damage by 30%. This is one of the most overpowered abilities in the game and a huge asset on fights with heavy raid damage.
Cloak of Shadows removes all non-physical debuffs, followed by 5 seconds where all spells will miss. Cloak can be used for intercepting in boss fight mechanics or be used for damage gains, such as staying in and hitting the boss during an AoE that you would otherwise have to avoid.
Cheat Death is a talent that allows you to escape lethal damage once every 6 minutes. The damage cannot exceed more than twice your maximum health. Cheat Death is great for soaking mechanics that pierce immunities and damage reductions as it guarantees your survival. It is also great for encounters with bursty damage that might take you by surprise, as you get a free get out of jail free card once every 6 minutes.
Crimson Vial provides a respectable amount of healing on a very short cooldown. Useful for an extra bit of healing if you are low on Health, or you are out of range of a healer.
Pandemic
Some of your personal buffs benefit from Pandemic, a mechanic that allows you to refresh early without penalty as long as the buff has less than 30% of its maximum duration remaining. The current timer will be added to the newly refreshed full duration buff, allowing for a new buff longer than the maximum duration. Rupture can be safely refreshed at 8.4 seconds, and Slice and Dice at 12.6 seconds.
The Pandemic timing from Rupture is based off of your current
Combo Point value, rather than the duration of the original Rupture. So if
you had a 2 Combo Point Rupture on the target, and refresh with a 5 Combo
Point Rupture, the Pandemic value would be treated as a 5 Combo Point
Rupture instead.
Core Concepts for Subtlety Rogue
Ultimately, this is a specialization that rewards the initiated and informed, but can be incredibly punishing to new players. Learning to focus on what is important and mastering the core concepts of a specialization is what leads to strong overall performances on the damage charts. Subtlety features 3 major concepts that form the central trinity of optimizing for success:
- resource management;
- cooldown usage;
- personal initiative.
Resource Management
As discussed in depth earlier in this section, pooling is one of the most
important aspects of this specialization. When playing optimally, you will
spend a lot of time doing nothing and just waiting for your Energy bar to fill
before going into Shadow Dance.
The 3 resources of Subtlety are Energy, Combo Points, and
Shadow Dance charges. The main goal of resource management is to
minimize overflow and wastage of these resources. Oftentimes these resources
will be at odds with each other; aiming for perfect Combo Point management may
result in Energy cap, immaculate Energy management may result in Shadow Dance
charge overflow, and so on. Perfect resource management is impossible, and
therefore becoming a seasoned Subtlety veteran is learning which compromises to
make. Listed below is the priority of resources to help you minimize wastage:
Shadow Dance charges;
- Combo Points;
- Energy.
It is very important that you never waste Shadow Dance
charges.
Cooldown Usage
Shadow Dance is one of the least rigid cooldowns in the game
currently, as it allows for a variety of different usages depending on player
interpretation of the current situation. As mentioned earlier in the guide, it
is imperative to pool Energy and ensure you are getting the maximum value out
of your
Shadow Dances.
Personal Initiative
Your personal experience and instincts will play a large role in your
ability to fully maximize output. Try to keep track of all your cooldowns as a
whole, rather than as individual abilities, as they interact together in ways
that alter the rotation significantly. For example, Rupture only
lasts for 18 seconds, so if
Secret Technique is coming off cooldown
at the same time Rupture is going to expire, you will want to refresh
Rupture a little early and build up Combo Points so you are able to use
Secret Technique immediately. Understanding how these spells
interact with each other is critical when lining up a burst window for Shadow
Dance.
Changelog
- 05 Jan. 2021: Updates to openers and added some extra paragraphs.
- 01 Jan. 2021: Fixed paragraph regarding Kyrian opener.
- 26 Nov. 2020: Clarified usage of 2 Shadow Dances whenever Shadow Blades is up.
- 23 Nov. 2020: Added openers for each covenant and updated page in general for Shadowlands.
- 04 Nov. 2020: Removed potions from opener and added separate paragraph.
- 22 Oct. 2020: Added mention of Essences in opener.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Rogue Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Ashine. He is raiding with FatSharkYes and has been competing in the MDI for multiple years, achieving 1st place in 2018 and 3rd place in BlizzCon 2019. You can watch him play on Twitch.
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