Subtlety Rogue DPS Spell List and Glossary — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

In this section, we will list almost all of the abilities you gain access to either passively or actively. We will also list commonly used abbreviations that you might find in other parts of this guide or when looking for additional information elsewhere on the Internet.

Energy is the main resource of Subtlety Rogues. Energy is generated passively, the rate of which can be increased by Haste and talents. Shadow Techniques also provides some bonus Energy.

Combo Points are another primary resource utilized by Subtlety Rogues. Some of your abilities generate Combo Points while finishing moves spend them. Spending more Combo Points on a finishing move increases the damage it deals or the duration of the effect it applies. Combo Point management is very important to maintaining your abilities and maximizing burst.

This page lists all the abilities that are available to you on a max-level character. If you have just started your journey by leveling a new Rogue, you can head over to our leveling section to learn more about when you get access to these abilities on your way to max level.

These are abilities that you acquire automatically early on as you level your Subtlety Rogue.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Stealth	-	Turns you invisible until canceled or upon attacking.
Backstab	-	Your main filler and Combo Point generator. It generates a single Combo Point per cast and deals 20% extra damage if you are behind your target.
Shadowstrike	-	A Combo Point generator that can only be used from Stealth or Shadow Dance. Generates 2 Combo Points.
Shuriken Storm	-	Your main Combo Point generator in AoE situations.Deals damage to all targets within 10 yards, and generates 1 Combo Point per enemy hit.
Shuriken Toss	-	Throws a shuriken at your target from range, dealing extremely low amounts of damage and generating 1 Combo Point.
Cheap Shot	CS	A Combo Point generator that can only be used from Stealth and against stunnable targets. Generates 1 Combo Point.
Eviscerate	-	Finishing move that consumes your Combo Points and deals damage based on the number of Combo Points used.
Black Powder	BP	Finishing move that consumes your Combo Points and deals damage to all enemies based on the number of Combo Points used.
Shadow Dance	SD/Dance	A cooldown that allows you to access stealth abilities and also increases the damage you do massively.
Slice and Dice	SnD	Finishing move that spends Combo Points and increases your attack speed. Lasts longer per Combo Point spent. Passively applied thanks to Cut to the Chase.
Kidney Shot	Kidney/KS	Finishing move that consumes your Combo Points and stuns the target for duration based on how many Combo Points were spent, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Sap	-	A crowd control ability that incapacitates an enemy for a long duration. You can run past a sapped enemy without getting into combat. If the enemy takes damage, it breaks free.
Sprint	-	Massively increases your movement speed for a short period. Usable while Stealthed.
Crimson Vial	CV/Vial	Heals you for based on your maximum Health over a short duration.
Kick	-	Interrupts targets spellcasting and prevents any spells from that school for 5 seconds.
Distract	-	Throws a distraction, forcing enemies hit by it to stand still and face towards that direction for 10 seconds. Usable while stealthed.
Shroud of Concealment	Shroud	Provides Stealth for you and your party and raid members for 15 seconds.
Vanish	-	Vanishes you from sight and enters you into Stealth. Breaks all movement impairing effects and usable while in combat.
Feint	-	A defensive skill that reduces damage taken from area-of-effect skills.

These are abilities that you can acquire later on through talents on as you level your Subtlety Rogue.

If you are simply looking for a quick guide on which talents to play, you can head over to our dedicated Talent page instead!

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Shiv	-	An ability that removes Enrage effects from your target applies a stronger version of your non-lethal Poison and generates 1CP.
Blind	-	A crowd control ability that makes a mob wander around blindly for a long duration. Running close to a blinded enemy will put you in combat. If the enemy takes damage, it breaks free.
Cloak of Shadows	Cloak	Makes you immune to most magic effects, and also removes a variety of different debuffs, including poisons, curses, and diseases. Some effects cannot be immuned, resisted, or removed, however, especially if they are key aspects of a boss encounter.
Evasion	-	Increases your chance to dodge enemy attacks by 100%. You are still required to face the enemy hitting you to be able to dodge.
Gouge	-	A crowd control ability that incapacitates an enemy for a short duration. If the enemy takes damage, it breaks free. Requires your target to face you.
Shadowstep	Step	A mobility skill that allows you to teleport a target enemy or ally, and granting a very short movement speed increase when cast.
Tricks of the Trade	Tricks/TotT	Allows you to transfer any threat you generate over the next 6 seconds after hitting an enemy to a target of your choosing. It is best used on the tank. So Tricky in the Trickster tree instead makes this last 60 minutes, being effectively permanent.
Shadow Blades	SB/Blades	Causes your Combo Point generators to generate twice as many combo points. All of your attacks also deal additional shadow damage.
Goremaw's Bite	SB	An ability that generates 3 combo points and makes upcoming finisher not cost energy.
Thistle Tea	Tea	An ability that generates a large chunk of energy. Passively triggered when having close to no energy.
Cheat Death	Cheat	Although technically not an active ability this passive effect prevents you from dying for a short period when you otherwise should have died. Very long cooldown.

You can only have one Lethal and one Non-Lethal Poison active at a time. These are the only abilities affected by talents that improve "Weapon Poison" damage or efficacy.

Ability	Type	Description/Effect
Instant Poison	Lethal	Deals Nature damage whenever it procs. You always have access to it. You always have access to it.
Wound Poison	Lethal	Deals a small amount of damage and reduces the efficacy of healing and absorb effects on your target, depending on how many stacks you have applied. You always have access to it.
Crippling Poison	Non-Lethal	Applies a slowing effect to the targets it is applied to. Bosses are immune to it. You always have access to it.
Numbing Poison	Non-Lethal	Reduces the target's attack and cast speed. You can talent into it in the Class tree. The attack speed effect does not stack with similar effects from other classes, but the cast speed reduction does.
Atrophic Poison	Non-Lethal	Reduces the damage the target deals, not just to you, but also all your allies, as long as your target is the source of the damage dealt. You can talent into it in the Class tree.