Subtlety Rogue DPS Spell Summary — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, we present you with all spells and procs that you need to understand as a Subtlety Rogue in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.0.2.
If you were looking for WoW Classic content, please refer to our Classic DPS Rogue spells.
Subtlety Rogue Spell Summary
If you are new to Subtlety, it is recommended you read this before proceeding! In this section we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, and how they interact with important cooldowns. If you have played this spec before or have already achieved a level of comfort playing this spec in a practical environment, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.
Main Resources for Subtlety Rogue
Energy is the main resource of Subtlety Rogues. Energy is generated passively, the rate of which can be increased by Haste, active abilities, talents, and procs.
Combo Points are another primary resource utilized by Subtlety Rogues. Some of your abilities generate Combo Points, while finishing moves spend them, dealing increased damage per Combo Point.
Cooldowns such as Shadow Dance and
Vanish also
function as rotational "resources" for Subtlety, as they enable you to use
unique
abilities that can only be activated in
Stealth. Keeping careful
track of these abilities, which will be discussed at greater length later in
the guide, is just as important as managing your Energy and Combo Points.
Unlocking Abilities
This page lists spells that are used in our rotation, if you are interested in finding out more detailed information such as when you unlock these spells, make sure to check out the Rogue leveling page.
Basic Abilities for Subtlety Rogue
Standard Abilities
These abilities are available no matter what talents you chose, and form the bread and butter of this specialization.
Backstab is 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.
Eviscerate is your main finisher, and deals increased damage
per Combo Point consumed.
Black Powder is your AoE damage finisher, which you should use instead of
Eviscerate on 3+ targets.
Rupture is a finishing move that applies a damage over time
effect that deals Physical damage, and lasts longer per Combo Point consumed.
This should be maintained on your primary target at all times.
Shuriken Storm deals damage to all targets within 10 yards, and
generates 1 Combo Point per enemy hit. Shuriken Storm critical strikes apply
Find Weakness. You should use this as your primary Combo Point
generator on 2 or more targets, and only on 3 or more targets in Shadow Dance.
Slice and Dice is a finishing move that grants you 50% increased
attack speed and lasts longer per Combo Point spent. Maintain Slice and Dice
at all times.
Stealth Exclusive Abilities
Some of your abilities can only be used in Stealth, or while
your
Shadow Dance is active.
Shadowstrike is your main filler when
Shadow Dance
is active. Shadowstrike generates 2 Combo Points.
You should still spend Combo Points if you cap while Shadow Dance
is active.
Eviscerate is usable at all times.
To find out how these abilities interact with each other in our rotation, visit the rotation page below.
Important Procs
Deepening Shadows causes your finishers to reduce the cooldown of
Shadow Dance by 1 seconds per Combo Point spent.
Shadow Techniques grants your successful auto attacks to have a 50% chance
on your fourth and 100% of the fifth to proc Shadow Techniques. After it procs,
the cycle starts over from 0.
Relentless Strikes guarantees an Energy refund of 6 Energy per
Combo Point spent on finishers.
Poisons
Instant Poison should be applied at all times along with one of the
non-lethal
Numbing Poison or
Crippling Poison
depending on which one is the most useful for you.
DPS Cooldowns for Subtlety Rogue
Shadow Dance is your main DPS cooldown. It allows you to shift
into a state of
Stealth, accessing unique abilities. It has 1
charge (or 2 when talented into
Enveloping Shadows) with a 60-second
recharge time which is reduced by the amount of Combo Points you spend.
This ability is used strategically with
Symbols of Death to maximize
damage output. You should keep careful track of your Energy and Combo Points
before entering Shadow Dance so you can maximize the short time available to you.
Symbols of Death generates 40 Energy and increases damage done by
15% for 10 seconds, on a 30-second cooldown. This is one of our primary
cooldowns, and we like to pair it with a
Shadow Dance when
possible.
Shadow Blades is a powerful cooldown that causes your Combo
Point-generating abilities to generate 1 additional Combo Point and deal 50 %
additional damage as Shadow. This lasts for 20 seconds, and has a lengthy
3-minute cooldown. This ability does not need to be thought about too much and
can safely be used on cooldown.
Vanish instantly puts you in
Stealth and can be used to get an
extra
Shadowstrike.
Defensive Abilities
Crimson Vial heals you for 20% of your maximum Health over 4 seconds.
Costs 20 Energy and has a 30-second cooldown.
Feint reduces damage taken from AoE abilities by 40% for 5 seconds.
Costs 35 energy and has a 15-second cooldown.
Evasion increases your dodge chance by 100% for 10 seconds.
Has a 2-minute cooldown.
Cloak of Shadows removes all harmful spell effects and causes you to
resist all spells for 5-seconds. Cloak of Shadows costs nothing, is not on
the GCD, and has a 2-minute cooldown.
Utility Abilities
Blind causes your target to be crowd controlled for 1-minute, but
it breaks on damage. Can be useful to CC mobs in Mythic+ or just to use it as
an "interrupt" for a dangerous cast.
Shiv dispels Enrage effects from your target if you have applied
Numbing Poison.
Shroud of Concealment provides
Stealth for your whole party
for 15 seconds, as long as they are near you. This ability is insanely powerful
in Mythic+ and has a justified 6-minute cooldown.
Talented DPS Abilities of Subtlety Rogue
Gloomblade replaces
Backstab. It does shadow damage which
means it bypasses armor, resulting in more DPS.
Marked for Death marks your current target, generating 5 Combo Points.
If the target dies while it has the debuff, the cooldown is reset. 30-second
cooldown.
Secret Technique is a Combo Point finisher that deals AoE damage.
It has 45-second cooldown and gets reduced by 1 second for every Combo Point you
spend.
Shuriken Tornado causes you to automatically cast
Shuriken Storm every second for the next 4 seconds. 1-minute cooldown.
Changelog
- 23 Nov. 2020: Added new spells that are coming in Shadowlands.
- 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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