Subtlety Rogue PvP Guide — The War Within (11.0.5)

Subtlety Rogues have one of the best control toolkits in the game, with Blind and Kidney Shot, but most importantly, with Shadow Dance, enabling them to access Sap and Cheap Shot at will. They also have the well-known Smoke Bomb on a shorter cooldown than the other Rogue specializations, as well as the unique ability Shadowy Duel, making them true crowd control lords amongst the melee specializations. They also have strong on-demand burst damage, allowing them to score kills when the entire enemy team is in CC.

• The following talents have been removed: Invigorating Shadowdust and Sepsis. The removal of Invigorating Shadowdust is a heavy nerf for Subtlety Rogue in PvP.
• New Talent: Death Perception – Symbols of Death has [1/2] additional charge(s) and increases damage by an additional 3/6%. Very strong talent.
• Shadow Blades cooldown reduced to 1 minute 30 seconds (was 2 minutes) and duration reduced to 16 seconds (was 20 seconds). It looks like a buff, but due to the removal of Invigorating Shadowdust Subtlety Rogues still have Shadow Blades about as frequently as before the change.

• New Talent: Supercharger – Symbols of Death supercharges [1/2] Combo Points. Damaging finishing moves consume a supercharged combo point to function as if they spent 2 additional combo points.
• New Talent: Forced Induction – Increase the bonus granted when a damaging finishing move consumes a supercharged Combo Point by 1.
• Echoing Reprimand has been redesigned – After consuming a supercharged Combo Point, your next Backstab strikes with an Echoing Reprimand dealing Physical damage.
• Cut to the Chase now grants Slice and Dice duration, instead of requiring an existing Slice and Dice to extend.
• Feint no longer triggers a global cooldown when activated. Consequently the talent Elusiveness becomes a much more attractive option when Cheat Death is not required.

Strengths

• Excellent control.
• Powerful burst.
• Great mobility.
• Excellent utility.

Weaknesses

• Very prone to dying in stuns.
• Significant cooldown on defensive abilities.
• Often reliant on teammates to stay alive.
• Weak sustained damage.