Subtlety Rogue PvP Class Guide

(Stat Priority)

1. Agility: (Increases your overall damage output)

2. Hit Rating/Expertise: Hit rating should be capped at 3% and expertise rating should be capped between 3-6% (to avoid miss/expertise penalties). Excess Hit is reforged into Mastery.

3. Mastery: (Increases Eviscerate’s damage)

4. Critical Strike: (Burst)

5. Haste: (Reforge haste into Mastery, haste is less valuable in PvP)

(Talents)

Level 15:

Subterfuge; Permanent Pick (Stealth persists 3 seconds after combat start; critical for setups.)

Level 30:

Nerve Strike; Default (Works well against all match ups, the target’s damage is reduced by 25% and their healing received by 10% for 6 seconds when you successfully land a stun.)

Combat Readiness; Situational (Extra defensive CD; works well against melee cleaves. Use if you’re the kill target.)

Level 45:

Elusiveness; Default (Feint gives +30% damage reduction.)

Cheat Death; Situational (This talent works well against bursty comps like Rogue/Mage and Rogue/Hunter.)

Level 60:

Burst of Speed; Default (Mobility, re‑stealth, snare removal. The playstyle for Subtlety Rogue in MoP involves going for re-stealths, this talent gives infinite mobility to kite to the nearest pillar to “reset”.)

Shadowstep; Situational (Works well for unpredictable swaps against bursty comps.)

Level 75:

Prey on the Weak; Default (+10% increased damage from all sources when you disable an enemy with Kidney Shot, Cheap Shot, Gouge, Sap, or Blind.)

Paralytic Poison; Situational (vs other Rogues for additional stun/root peel.)

Level 90:

Marked for Death; Permanent (for extra finishers during burst windows).

(Glyphs)

Major Glyphs:

Glyph of Blind: Permanent; (Purges all damage-over-time effects on the target when you Blind them. This is invaluable for neutralizing HoTs/regen when swapping targets mid-match.

Glyph of Hemorrhaging Veins: Permanent; Applies your “Sanguinary Vein” damage increase buff onto the target when inflicted by Hemorrhage. (Great for swapping targets.)

Glyph of Cheap Shot: Situational; Extends Cheap Shot stun by 1 s. A solid pick in melee cleaves or situations where multiple stuns help with peel or burst setups. (Works well against melee cleaves.)

Glyph of Garrote: Situational; Increases Garrote silence by 1 s. Strong against caster-heavy teams to disrupt heals or casts longer. (Works well against caster cleaves.)

Major Glyph Situational Alternatives:

Glyph of Stealth: Reduces the cooldown of Stealth by 4 s. Extremely powerful for frequent re-stealths in small-scale engagements.

Glyph of Cloak of Shadows: Enhances defensive utility by allowing you to drop all debuffs via CoS more reliably in tense melee pressure situations.

Glyph of Recuperate: Amplifies healing through Recuperate, improving survivability if you're being focused-down during downtime.

Minor Glyphs:

(Minor glyphs are flexible but still impactful in PvP scenarios)

Glyph of Distract: Increases range of Distract — useful for interrupting drinks or forcing target movement in arenas.

Glyph of Blurred Speed: Boosts mobility in battlegrounds (especially on water or uneven terrain), aiding in chase or retreat.

Glyph of Poisons: Accelerates poison application, helpful when you need to swap poisons rapidly or apply consistent pressure.

(Gems/Enchants)

Gems:

Red: Delicate Primordial Ruby

Yellow: Adept Vermilion Onyx

Blue: Assassin’s Imperial Amethyst

Meta: Agile Primal Diamond or Powerful Primal Diamond (10% stun reduction, good against Monks/Rogues)

(Ignore the socket bonus in the boots and legs and socket Delicate Primordial Ruby’s in all slots.)

Enchants:

Main-Hand: Enchant Weapon - Dancing Steel (increases Agility by 1,650 when dealing melee damage.)

Off-Hand: Living Steel Weapon Chain (reduces the duration of Disarm effects by 50% and increases your Expertise by 200.)

Shoulders: Greater Tiger Claw Inscription (200 Agility and 100 Critical Strike)

Legs: Shadowleather Leg Armor (285 Agility and 165 Critical Strike)

Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Superior Critical Strike (180 Critical Strike)

Chest: Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats (increases all stats by 80)

Bracer: Enchant Bracer - Greater Agility (increases Agility by 180)

Gloves: Enchant Gloves - Superior Mastery (increases Mastery by 170)

Boots: Enchant Boots - Blurred Speed (slightly increases movement speed and Agility by 140)

(Professions)

Tailoring: “Swordguard Embroidery”: (Can proc an extra 1,000 attack power for 15 seconds.)

Engineering: “Synapse Springs”: A glove enchant with an on use effect with a 1 minute cooldown that increases your primary stat by 1,920 for 10 seconds.)

(Tailoring & Engineering is going to be your best pick for Rogue PvP in MoP. You can also choose Alchemy, Enchanting, Inscription, Jewelcrafting, and Leatherworking. Avoid choosing gathering professions.)

(Ability Opener & Rotation)

Default Opener Rotation:

Stealth → Premeditation → Slice and Dice → Garrote (50% dmg increase from “Sanguinary Vein” for 16 seconds.) → Cheap Shot (10% healing reduction from Nerve Strike and 10% damage increase from Prey on the Weak) → Backstab/Eviscerate (5 combo)

Follow-Up Combat Rotation:

Marked for Death → Kidney Shot → Smoke Bomb → Burst → Kite/Re-Stealth or Preparation → Vanish

(After performing your opening rotation, try to line up your burst with a stun while Slice and Dice and Garrote/Rupture is active in order to effectively burst onto the kill target. When out of options, kite and reset.)

Burst rotation:

Blind (on off-target) → Shadow Dance/Shadow Blades/Tricks of the Trade (burst macro) → Ambush/Eviscerate (5 combo) → Cheap Shot (when Kidney Shot expires) → Ambush/Eviscerate → Vanish → Sap (on off-target) → Garrote → Ambush/Eviscerate (5 combo)

(Be sure to keep your “Sanguinary Vein” 50% damage increase buff active by keeping bleeds applied to the kill target before or as you are bursting to maximize damage output. Make sure to already have "Slice and Dice" active for at least 12 seconds as well as Garrote/Rupture onto the kill-target for at least 12 seconds before bursting. Also try to coordinate a "Blind" into a "Sap" onto the off-target before and while bursting to counter CC/heals onto the kill-target.)

DISCLAIMER: The content in this article is sourced from trusted & legitimate sites like skillcapped.com, mmo-champion.com. This article is for educational purposes. Actual gameplay results may vary depending on a case to case scenario. This article was written with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

⚙︎ Sources: skillcapped.com, mmo-champion.com, icyveins.com, wowtbc.gg