Subtlety Rogue DPS Guide — The War Within (11.1.5)

Subtlety Rogue is all about methodical planning. The vast majority of its damage comes from combining as many buffs and effects as possible into a short but hectic burst window. After that burst window is over the pacing slows down while the next window is being setup and prepared for. Defensively Subtlety is immensely powerful and can survive mechanics other classes struggle with while also controlling enemies to limit the amount of damage the group or tank takes in a Mythic+ environment.

Strengths

• Enormous burst damage on a 90 second cooldown.
• High single target damage with priority damage focus in AoE situations.
• Powerful defensive cooldowns such as Cloak of Shadows and Feint.

Weaknesses

• Unforgiving and complex rotation where mistakes can cost you a lot of damage.
• Damage outside of Shadow Dance is extremely low.
• Pacing outside of Shadow Dance is very slow.

Leveling a Rogue can be a bit tough as most of the powerful abilities arent learned until high levels. However Subtlety can move between mobs at lightning speed with Shadowstrike teleporting the Rogue behind the target when used from Stealth, it also has powerful cooldowns to dispatch large mobs or elites. If you want some more guidance you should check out our leveling guide to help you on your journey.

Subtlety Rogue is a spec that deals with multiple different resources and a bunch of different cooldowns. The core concept of the specialization is to stack as many cooldowns and buffs as possible to deal massive burst damage in a short timeframe.

You always want to use Shadow Dance and Symbols of Death twice during your Flagellation and Shadow Blades windows.

Maintain Rupture on your maintarget, cast Backstab, Shuriken Storm or Shadowstrike to generate Combo Points. Spend Combo Points on Secret Technique, Eviscerate or Black Powder.

For more information on the basics of the Spec, you can check out the Spell Summary to get a good idea of the abilities you will be using while playing Subtlety. If you are completely new to playing Subtlety Rogue, we suggest taking a look at our Beginner page below to get a general idea of how to set up your new character.

If you already have some experience playing a Rogue or have familiarized yourself with the basics of the Spec, you can also read up more information on how to optimize your Rotation and the individual strengths of the different Talents.

Since the game offers so many routes of gearing now, be it through Mythic+, PvP, Delves or Raiding, it is very difficult to list the exact best-in-slot items, as these often change for every character depending on what gear they are already wearing. Keep in mind that the best way to find out upgrades is by simulating your character. However, we will have Best in Slot items listed below from the current raid tier.

Important part of the gearing process is to make sure that you try to aim for gear that has good stats for Subtlety, along with proper gems, enchants and other consumables, as these provide you with a decent amount of DPS. Check out our dedicated stats page, as well as our enchants and gems page, to find out what to use as Subtlety Rogue.