Subtlety Rogue DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (Season 1)

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

Subtlety, at first glance, can seem very simple. You build combo points and spend them to deal damage. However, to maximize your damage potential it can be a very involved process which requires knowledge and understanding of the basics. This section aims to point players in a direction that allows them to play Subtlety by easing into the spec. This will not be the absolute best setup, but it will perform better for those who are getting up to speed with the intricacies of the specialization.

If you are completely new to Subtlety Rogue and are looking to understand what tools it has at its disposal, make sure to check out our spell summary page first to read what each ability does.

These choices are optimized for ease of use. There are a variety of builds that are floating around, and we may even see new builds floating around when more people experience the new raid. Although some talents might offer marginally higher gains when played perfectly, if played improperly they could cause the player do less damage. The talents recommended here aim to present the best setup that has very little punishment for unfamiliarity or mistakes.

You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Export Talents'.

You can easily import the talent tree below into the game by clicking 'Export Talents'.

If you are looking for the absolute best-performing talents for Subtlety, you can find a more in-depth analysis on our full talents page below.

The general single-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Mastery >= Versatility > Critical Strike > Haste

1. Mastery
2. Versatility
3. Critical Strike
4. Haste

The general multi-target stat priority for a Subtlety Rogue is:
Agility > Mastery >= Versatility > Critical Strike > Haste

1. Mastery
2. Versatility
3. Critical Strike
4. Haste

To learn more about how stats interact in different scenarios and why in the stats page below.

1. Try to always begin while in Stealth.
2. Cast Rupture if not up or has less than 9 seconds remaining on the duration. Do not cast it during Shadow Dance.
3. Cast Shadow Blades together with Flagellation.
4. Cast Cast Symbols of Death and Shadow Dance at the same time with low combo points. You want to use two of these during your Flagellation and Shadow Blades window, so don't use them if Flagellation has less than 40 seconds left on its cooldown.
5. Cast Cold Blood with Secret Technique always. You can macro these together as well.
6. Cast Secret Technique as your first finisher during every Shadow Dance with 6 or more combo points.
7. Cast Vanish on cooldown with low combo points.
8. Cast Eviscerate to spend combo points when you have 6 or more.
9. Cast Shadowstrike whenever you can, otherwise use Backstab to build combo points.

As mentioned above, try to combine and sync your offensive cooldowns together to deal maximum damage.

It is recommended to play Trickster in multiple target scenarios. The Trickster passive Nimble Flurry means we want to continue using Eviscerate and Shadowstrike even in multiple target scenarios, but outside of Shadow Dance you still want to use Shuriken Storm to generate combo points.

1. Try to always begin while in Stealth.
2. Cast Rupture if not up or has less than 9 seconds remaining on the duration on your main target. Do not cast it during Shadow Dance.
3. Cast Shadow Blades together with Flagellation.
4. Cast Cast Symbols of Death and Shadow Dance at the same time with low combo points. You want to use two of these during your Flagellation and Shadow Blades window, so don't use them if Flagellation has less than 40 seconds left on its cooldown.
5. Cast Vanish on cooldown with low combo points.
6. Cast Cold Blood with Secret Technique always. You can macro these together as well.
7. Cast Secret Technique as your first finisher during every Shadow Dance.
8. Cast Eviscerate to spend combo points when you have 6 or more if Flawless Form is up.
9. Cast Black Powder to spend combo points when you have 6 or more if Flawless Form is NOT up or there is more than 12 targets.
10. Cast Shadowstrike whenever you can, otherwise use Shuriken Storm to build combo points.

For the opener sequence and to find other damage optimizations visit the rotation page.