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Assassination Rogue guide

Melee DPSRogue · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Assassination is the poison Rogue. Forever builds it around two new buttons: Mutilate, which strikes with both daggers and hits poisoned targets 20% harder, and Venom, a finisher that makes your poisons stronger. Forever change: Rogue poisons can crit and scale with Attack Power, and Energy now refills smoothly (10 per second).

Strengths

  • Big single target damage that scales with gear
  • Poisons now crit and scale with Attack Power
  • Lots of control: Sap, Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Gouge, Blind

Weaknesses

  • Busy rotation: Slice and Dice, Venom and Expose Armor all need upkeep
  • No area damage at all
  • Needs good daggers

Talent build (level 30) 21/0/0

Assassination 21 points

  • Malice5/5
  • Ruthlessness3/3
  • Murder2/2
  • Relentless Strikes1/1
  • Lethality4/5
  • Vile Poisons4/5
  • Cold Blood1/1
  • Mutilate1/1

21 points in Assassination: Malice and Lethality for crits, Ruthlessness and Relentless Strikes for finishers, Vile Poisons, Cold Blood and Mutilate at 30. Seal Fate and Venom come after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Mutilate
New in Forever: a dagger strike with both hands, +20% damage on poisoned targets.
Malice
+5% crit with attacks and poisons.
Vile Poisons
Stronger poisons that are harder to dispel.
Ruthlessness
Finishers can give you a free combo point.
Cold Blood
Your next big attack is a guaranteed crit.

New in Forever: Assassination talents

  • MutilateInstantly attacks with both weapons for 75% weapon damage plus an additional 13 with each weapon. Damage increased by 20% against Poisoned targets. Awards 2 Combo Points.
  • VenomFinishing move that increases the damage of your Poisons by 30% and your chance to apply Poisons by 10%. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 9 sec 2 points: 12 sec 3 points: 15 sec 4 points: 18 sec 5 points: 21 sec

Rotation

  1. Open from Stealth with Ambush or Cheap Shot.
  2. Build combo points with Mutilate (Sinister Strike if you have no daggers).
  3. Keep Slice and Dice up.
  4. Spend 5 combo points on Eviscerate; on bosses, keep Expose Armor up.
  5. Once you have Venom: use it at 5 combo points after Slice and Dice and Expose Armor are up.

Cooldowns

Cold Blood
Pair it with a 5-point Eviscerate or Mutilate.
Vanish
Drop threat or escape, then reopen.
Evasion
Big dodge boost when something hits you.

Stats

Agility first (Attack Power, crit and dodge). Attack Power matters more than in Classic because it powers your poisons, and crit matters because poisons can crit now. Some hit for raids.

Best races

Alliance

Human
Ruthless: +1% crit with all attacks, and Will to Survive breaks stuns.
Night Elf
Elune's Light: +10% crit for 15 sec, and you're harder to spot in Stealth.
Gnome
Eureka! (cheaper, stronger abilities for 8 sec) and +5% Energy.

Horde

Orc
Blood Fury: +10% Attack Power for 15 sec, and Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%.
Troll
Berserking (+10% attack speed) and Rapid Regeneration to recover between fights.
Undead
Will of the Forsaken breaks fear: the PvP pick.

Professions

Skinning and Leatherworking pair perfectly (gold while leveling, leather gear and armor kits). Engineering is the damage pick for raids.

Leveling

Poisons unlock at 20 through a quest. Level with daggers, open with Cheap Shot and keep Instant Poison on both weapons.