[EN] Rogue MoP PvE Guide - All specs (by Sanguinia)

Ventress90 · Last edited by Ventress90 on 10-06-2016, 17:59:44; edited 34 times in total

The Rogue Compendium - PvE
made by Sanguinia / Serris

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the Rogue Compendium!

As an introduction I would like to emphasize from the beginning that this guide is meant not just for players who are starting to play a rogue, but also to the more advanced or seasoned players, where some of you might find the information in here to be relevant in giving you the edge on your game-play.
This is a PvE guide. I won't take on PvP aspects, except if they have a direct repercussion on PvE environment.

Beware! This guide is long. It contains a lot of information. Links will be provided towards any section to make it easier for you to move around.

All the information can be found online, in various places. I will link the sources at the end. Don't expect me to have written this without taking info from different sites, blogs, and videos. All I have done is to centralize everything I have found in my time of playing as a rogue, which is around 6 years and counting. Please keep that in mind before posting a comment such as "you just copied and pasted this from X". Yeah, of course it is taken from somewhere else, just like ALMOST ALL OF THEM. But I have adapted most of the information, and compressed as much as I can so you receive only the essential parts.

Please enjoy your read and don't hesitate to ask any question you might have!

Structure:

1. General Information
2. Leveling your rogue
3. Specs
3.1 Assassination
3.2 Combat
3.3 Subtlety
4. Gear
5. Gemming & Reforging
6. Enchants
7. Professions
8. Mastering your rogue
9. Consumables
10. Macros
11. Addons
12. Videos
13. Sources

1. General Information
Just as Blizzard tells us:

Quote:

Rogues often initiate combat with a surprise attack from the shadows, leading with vicious melee strikes.
When in protracted battles, they utilize a successive combination of carefully chosen attacks to soften the enemy up for a killing blow.
Rogues must take special care when selecting targets so that their combo attacks are not wasted, and they must be conscious of when to hide or flee if a battle turns against them.

Rogues wear leather armor and focus on agility as primary stat. Other important stats are hit rating, expertise (both have caps), haste and mastery. Crit is the worst stat we can have on gear for most specs.

Rogues are a pure damage class: we cannot cover other roles, so all our three talent trees are about damage dealing. Our purpose in endgame raiding is to maximize this damage.

Mechanics are based on energy as resource: we start with 100 (120 as Assassination), and spend it to use our abilities. Energy regenerates by itself at a standard rate of 1 per 0.1 seconds; haste modifies this rate, so the more haste you have, the faster energy regenerates. Combat passive ability Vitality boosts energy regen even more.

Abilities are divided into 2 categories: combo moves and finishers. Combo moves generate combo points on your target that can be used later for performing finishers. The basic rotation is:

DETERMINED NUMBER OF COMBO POINTS -> FINISHER
(More combo points increase the potency of the finisher)

+

=

Ambush (2 CP) + SS (1 CP) + SS (1 CP) + SS (1 CP) = 36 sec SnD

POISONS: We also have the ability to put poisons on our weapons, making them deal more damage. With the new poison system we can have 1 lethal (Deadly or Wound) and 1 non-lethal poison active at the same time, and both have a chance to proc from both weapons.

Rogues specs are: Assassination, focused on poison; Combat, focused on weapon damage and being toe-to-toe with enemies; Subtlety, focused on stealth and mobility.

In a perfect world, each of these specs is viable, and the differences at end-game content in regards to damage are small. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and of course there will always be a “flavor of the month” spec, and many players will choose one over the other depending on the spreadsheets they see online in various places, or on other players while inspecting them.

Weapon skills: Daggers, Fist weapons, One-handed Swords / One-handed Maces / One-Handed Axes.

1.1 Choosing your race
When you choose your race, sometimes you should take into account is that some races offer better racial abilities compared to others.
Here is a list with of what useful racials each can offer:

Alliance:

Worgen - Viciousness, Darkflight

Human - Mace Specialization, Sword Specialization, Every man for himself

Dwarf - Stoneform, Mace Specialization

Night elf - Shadowmeld, Quickness

Gnome - Shortblade Specialization, Escape Artist

Horde:

Orc - Blood Fury, Axe Specialization, Hardiness

Undead - Cannibalize, Will of the Forsaken, Touch of the Grave

Troll - Berserking, Beast Slaying, Da Voodoo Shuffle, Regeneration

Blood Elf - Arcane Torrent

Goblin - Rocket Barrage, Rocket Jump, Time is Money

The new race:

Pandaren - Quaking Palm, Bouncy, Epicurean

Best races for PvE:
Alliance:
*Assassination* - Pandaren > Gnome
*Combat* - Pandaren > Gnome = Worgen
*Subtlety* - Night elf > Pandaren = Worgen

Horde:
*Assassination* - Pandaren > Orc > Goblin=Troll
*Combat* - Orc > Pandaren = Goblin = Troll
*Subtlety* - Pandaren > Orc > Troll

Regarding the Pandaren - even though the Epicurean is amazing in terms of doubling your agility food bonus (from 300 to 600) please keep in mind that this happens ONLY if you have that buff on you in the first place. That being said, even if you do not play a Pandaren, any of the other races listed are good enough to be chosen.

Food for thought:
Wherever you may look, there is debate over which race offers the best racial in terms of pure DPS output, or which spec is better out of all three. But we all must keep in mind that there is no clear winner. There will always be changes.

For example, in Throne of Thunder trolls will have a great advantage given their racial ability Beast Slaying. Other times, some specs will deal more DPS for a current tier set, but then they will be replaced by another, depending on the encounter and tier set bonuses offered from gear. Another good example would be the Combat spec, which as for the beginning of MoP is one good choice, and does a very good amount of DPS. But in Siege of Orgrimmar, Subtlety begins to be another valid option.

As a conclusion: it does not matter so much which race you pick, or which spec you pick. Changes happen. But what does matter is your skill. If you have to refrain, or not, from bursting in a certain phase of a boss, so that when there is need for more DPS to kill a boss in another phase. Knowing how to use your cooldowns. What each does and when to change your glyphs, and so on.
Experiment, practice, learn! In time you should be able to come with ideas and changes that will help you, even if in a guide they were not shown. Trial and error is the best way to learn.

1.2 Stats breakdown
>Agility (AGI): the best stat for rogues for every spec. It gives 2 attack power per point, crit % and dodge %. With leather specialization we get a passive 5% boost to it.
>Hit rating: the strongest and mandatory secondary stat to a certain cap, it affects the chance to hit of all our attacks and poisons. We absolutely want our special attacks to always hit - for this purpose the cap for raiding bosses is 7.5%, which will bring also the hit cap for poisons. More hit rating will make our auto-attacks land more often, but it's not worth it at all due to the insane requirement to cap for it.
>Expertise: our attacks can be dodged/parried other than miss. Expertise reduces this chance. Since we attack from behind the boss, we must worry only about dodges. Expertise cap is 7.5%, different races have expertise bonuses with some kind of weapons.
>Crit rating: simple as that, all our attacks have a chance to deal more damage; this chance is the crit %. Crit rating increases this chance, but it's a weak stat overall due to rogue mechanics not favoring attack crits.
>Haste: increases attack speed, as well as energy regeneration.
>Mastery: new stat introduced with Cataclysm. Its effect changes with the spec, and can be very powerful in some cases, while very lackluster in some others. You can learn it at level 80 from class trainers.

2. Leveling your rogue
Any spec is viable when it comes to leveling, and with the changes made with the 5.0.4 patch, there are no important glyphs/talents which you need to take while leveling your way towards level 90.

But there are a few things which help out, such as:
Leeching Poison & Glyph of Deadly Momentum - they both increase survivability, and please keep in mind that Slice and Dice now lasts a baseline of 36 seconds.

Specs for leveling:
Assassination: probably the most effective right now due to the new execute move (DISPATCH) which doesn't have positional requirements and the very fast CP generation. But it plays really slow due to very low energy regen compared to the other specs.

Combat: same as it has always been, very solid, with the strongest cleave in game and the more "tanky" one. But it can be boring, since it will be a Sinister Strike spam journey till 90; its cooldowns are really string when they are up and they are often table-turning. Stealth isn't so useful; it will be faster to just run at mobs.

Subtlety: due to the simplification of the DPS cycle (more info later on), it has become more performing in terms of leveling and it has the best burst due to the reliance on openings and Ambush, with a great synergy with Subterfuge. Still it relies on Backstab, and the Hemorrhage option isn't as good. A good move is to get this and open with Cheap Shot -> Rupture, to get all the debuffs you need in 2 GCD; if you cannot get the opener anyway it will take much longer to kill a mob.

2.1 Gear while leveling
The best stats are hands down AGI and STAM. AGI has an impact on every source of damage we have, STAM lets us live longer and thus stop less times to eat/bandage, other than sustain more blows from mobs. Also Recuperate works based on our max HP, so STAM is even more useful.

This doesn't mean anyway that you can roll on a leather helm with INT and call it an upgrade just because it has more STAM - get only proper gear.
As for secondary stats, hit and expertise are the best ones; it's highly unlikely that you will cap any of these with leveling gear, and as you level up the cap changes and rating becomes less and less effective. Anyway hitting more with your weapons is always good and represents the biggest damage increase.
Haste, crit and later mastery are always a DPS increase, just not as good as hit and exp. This changes a lot when you ding 85, read the next sections for the details.

2.2 I reached level 90. Now what?
A very important part of the game is the transition from leveling to endgame. You don't level up anymore, and if you plan to PvE, you want to maximize certain aspects of your rogue:

Your gear at level cap will be a mess

>Run scenarios & dungeons

>Do dailies!

>Plan your purchases

>STAMINA becomes useless

HP

>PvE gear is definitely better than PvP gear

>Take on some professions

3. Specs breakdown and details
So you've reached level 90 and you look forward to doing raids and getting the best gear for your rogue, and be the best DPS out there, to be the competition for those hunters, warlocks and warriors everybody else chooses. But before that, you need to make a choice and stick to it.

Try each spec out, see what makes it click, which of them you like, and then stick with it. Learn it in and out. Know your spells, each of them! A good rogue will know when to Feint, that Smoke Bomb is still valid, and what to do for each phase of a boss fight.

Please note: regarding stats, all three specs have Agility as their main one. But when it comes to squeezing out the best out of your rogue with reforging and gemming, all three specs diverge, and each has one best secondary stat over the others:
Assassination: Mastery > Haste
Combat: Haste > Mastery
Subtlety: Haste > Crit

3.1 Assassination - explained

Assassination Rogues perform very decently in single-target situations, and they are very well suited to fights with a lot of packed enemies. As is the case with all Rogues, Assassination Rogues provide many utilize and crowd control abilities to your raid. They also have a variety of survival abilities that will always come in handy.
Mastery: Assassination spec has Potent Poisons. It's a very strong mastery, it affects lots of the spec damage. That's the reason mastery stat is so valuable for assassination rogues.

3.1.1. Talents

Tier 1

Shadow Focus is the best choice here. It gives you a nearly-free Mutilate at the start of each encounter and every 2 minutes after that through [url=]Vanish[/url].

Tier 2

Combat Readiness should be the default choice and will prove useful when you will have to tank something (e.g., Will of the Emperor, Ji-Kun, or Dark Animus).
Nerve Strike should be taken in any encounters where you will have to stun an add (e.g., Spirit Kings, Tsulong, Lei Shi, or Ra-den).

Tier 3

Elusiveness is a must-have in any situation where you have to use Feint extensively to mitigate damage(most encounters) or when the additional 15% AoE damage reduction is needed for a particular mechanic (e.g., soaking sparks in Will of the Emperor).
In situations that do not require Elusiveness, Cheat Death should be the default choice, as it can be used to entirely bypass encounter mechanics (not to mention it can save your life on many occasions). Leeching Poison's usefulness is very debatable, as the healing it provides is rather weak.

Tier 4

Shadowstep should be the default choice here, as it allows you to easily reposition yourself behind your target, whether it is a friend or an enemy. Besides its numerous uses in most encounters, it always provides a DPS gain, as it will increase your uptime on your target.

Tier 5

Paralytic Poison can be useful in PvE content, especially for fights where you need to fight many adds and where you need to use Cheat Death as a Tier 3 talent (hence freeing the Non-Lethal poison spot occupied by Leeching Poison).
Similarly to Nerve Strike, Prey on the Weak should be taken in any encounters where you will make use of Cheap Shot or Kidney Shot.

Tier 6

Anticipation will be the best choice in nearly all situations. It will prevent you from wasting the Combo Points that Seal Fate will generate when Mutilate or Dispatch deals damage, and the extra Combo Points granted by Shadow Blades.
Marked for Death can be picked in fights with many adds (e.g., Horridon), where you can benefit from the 5 free Combo Points very often. However, even for such fights, there is still debate in the community as to whether Marked for Death is better than Anticipation or not.

3.1.2 Glyph choices
Glyph of Vendetta is the only mandatory major glyph. It increases the duration of Vendetta by 10 seconds (to make it last 30 seconds) but reduces its damage bonus by 5% (to make it 25%). The only time when this glyph should be skipped is if you will not be able to fully benefit from Vendetta if it lasts more than 20 seconds.
Glyph of Feint increases the duration of Feint by 2 seconds, making it last 7 seconds in total. It can be useful if a damaging AoE ability from a boss lasts more than 5 seconds. Given the extensive use you will make of Feint, this glyph very often is a must-have, as it increases your DPS by making you spend less Energy and CGDs refreshing Feint.

Several of your major glyphs offer you increased survivability:
>Glyph of Cloak of Shadows
>Glyph of Recovery
>Glyph of Redirect
>Glyph of Sharpened Knives
>Glyph of Smoke Bomb
>Glyph of Sprint

Notable Minor Glyphs:
>Glyph of Safe Fall
>Glyph of Poisons
>Glyph of Blurred Speed

3.1.3 Rotation and Cooldowns
3.1.4 Opening sequence
There are several possible opening sequences for Assassination and none has been proven to be significantly better than the others, in terms of final DPS output.

>Before the pull, use Tricks of the Trade on your TotT target (see next section).
>1 second before the pull, use your Virmen's Bite potion and get in Stealth.
1. When the boss is pulled:
2. Shadowstep it if the boss is far away, if you have picked this talent, and if you will not need it in the next 24 seconds;
3. Sprint to reach the boss if it is far away and you cannot use Shadowstep;
4. otherwise, simply run to the boss and continue your opening sequence.
5. Cast Mutilate to get out of Stealth.
6. Cast Slice and Dice immediately.
7. Cast Dispatch, if Mutilate gave you a Blindside proc.
8. Mutilate your way to 6 Combo Points, consuming every Blindside proc (if you reach exactly 5 Combo Point and have a Blindside proc, do not consume it yet).
9. Cast Rupture.
10. Cast Dispatch, if you have 0 Combo Point and a Blindside proc.
11. Cast Envenom with 1 Combo Point to refresh Slice and Dice.
12. Cast Vendetta & Shadow Blades.
13. Start your rotation.

3.1.5 Single target
Combo Point builders (by order of priority):
1. Use Dispatch, if the target's health is below 35% or when Blindside procs.
2. Use Mutilate, if the target's health is above 35%.
Finishing Moves (by order of priority):
1. Apply and maintain Slice and Dice at all times!
- This should only be done once, as Envenom refreshes it (thanks to Cut to the Chase).
- Do not let it drop, ever.
2. Apply and maintain Rupture.
- It is optimal to apply and refresh Rupture with 5 Combo Points. That said, if it is going to expire in less than 2 seconds, refresh it with whatever amount of Combo Points you have.
3. Use Envenom with 5 Combo Points.
- If Slice and Dice needs refreshing, then you can afford to cast Envenom with fewer Combo Points.
- If you do not have Anticipation stacks, use Envenom whenever you have 4 or 5 Combo Points.

3.1.6 Multiple Target Rotation
- When fighting 2 or 3 targets, maintain Deadly Poison (with Mutilate or Dispatch) and Rupture (cast with 3 or more Combo Points) on all targets. The rest of the time, keep performing your single-target rotation on one of the enemies. Vanish (thanks to Shadow Focus) and Redirect make maintaining Rupture easier, although they have rather long cooldowns.
- When fighting 4 to 8 targets, maintain Deadly Poison (with Fan of Knives) and Rupture (cast with 3 or more Combo Points) on all of them. The rest of the time, use your Combo Points on Envenom and generate them with Fan of Knives.
- When fighting more than 8 targets, you should simply spam Fan of Knives and use Envenom to spend your Combo Points.

If your main target will die in less than 1 minute and you have chosen Marked for Death as your Tier 6 talent, then use it on cooldown.

3.1.7 Cooldowns
You have 2 main DPS cooldowns: Vendetta & Shadow Blades.
> Vendetta (with Glyph of Vendetta) increases the damage you do on your target by 25% for 30 seconds, on a 2-minute cooldown. Naturally, it is more beneficial to use Vendetta during times when you deal increased damage to the boss.
> Shadow Blades greatly increases your Combo Point regeneration and the damage of your white melee attacks for 12 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown.
In addition to those, you have several minor DPS and utility cooldowns:
> Vanish makes you enter Stealth. Use this ability on cooldown, immediately followed by Mutilate. Because of Shadow Focus, Mutilate cost is reduced by 75% when using it in Stealth. The cooldown of Vanish can be reset with Preparation.
> Redirect is a DPS gain in fights where you have to fight different enemies.
> Sprint (in addition to its obvious survival role) can give you more uptime on the boss, which translates into a direct DPS increase. So, you can use Sprint as a DPS cooldown in some fights. Its cooldown can be reset with Preparation.
> Finally, you have a number of survival cooldowns, such as Feint, Cloak of Shadows, Preparation, Evasion, etc., which you can use to keep yourself alive.

3.1.8. Stats priority:
Agility > Hit(7.5%) > Expertise(7.5%) > Mastery > Haste > Crit
Remember: Hit & Expertise caps – both at 7,5%
More Mastery means your poisons deal more damage. It's as simple as that!
More Haste means your energy regenerates faster, which is also better!
Crit here is the worst.

3.1.9 Gemming
Meta: Capacitive Primal Diamond or Agile Primal Diamond
Red: Delicate Primordial Ruby, Delicate Serpent's Eye (JC)
Blue: Glinting Imperial Amethyst
Yellow: Adept Vermilion Onyx

3.1.10 Mastering Your Assassination Rogue
An assassination rogue is a fairly easy spec to play. The information given so far should be enough to help you on your way to mastering it. But there are always a few little details and subtle things which always help in giving you the edge.
Poisons are the bread and butter. They are you primary tools and deal most of your damage. Understanding how they work with your wide array of abilities will maximize your DPS output.

*Combo points, Energy and Anticipation*
As a Rogue, most of your abilities need Energy to be used. Your Energy bar has a capacity of 120 Energy (thanks to Assassin's Resolve, one of your Assassination-only passive abilities) and refills at a rate of 10 Energy per second. Your energy regeneration is increased by:
> your melee haste (Haste Rating + haste-enhancing buffs);
> your Relentless Strikes passive ability, which grants your Finishing Moves a 20% chance per Combo Point to restore 25 Energy;
> your Rupture and Garrote periodic damage ticks, which have a 75% chance to restore 10 Energy (thanks to Venomous Wounds).
The faster you regenerate Energy, the more Combo Points you generate, and the more casts of Envenom with 5 Combo Points you can fit in your rotation. This maintains a virtuous circle, thanks to Relentless Strikes, more Energy means more Combo Points, and more Combo Points means more Energy.

You should never be Energy capped (i.e., never let your Energy reach its maximum). If you find yourself at your maximum Energy, then you are losing DPS, because any Energy you generate is wasted.

Some abilities add one or several Combo Points on your target, up to a maximum of 5 Combo Points (10 with Anticipation). Other abilities, called Finishing Moves, consume up to 5 Combo Points on your target. The more Combo Points a Finishing Move consumes, the more powerful its effect is. Your Combo Point generation is increased by Seal Fate, which causes your critical hits with Mutilate and Dispatch to add an additional Combo Point on your target.

In a similar fashion as with Energy, you should never waste Combo Points by forgetting to spend them when you are at the maximum. Anticipation gives you extra storage room for Combo Points, which makes Combo Point management much easier (hence why this talent is so great). The implication of Anticipation is that you will never want to cast Mutilate after 3 stacks of Anticipation or Dispatch after 4 stacks of Anticipation (because of the potential extra Combo Point from Seal Fate. When playing without Anticipation, you can however let this extra Combo Point be lost and cast Mutilate at 3 Combo Points. Never use it at 4 Combo Points though.

*Envenom and Energy Pooling*
Envenom is your hardest hitting ability. It also gives you a temporary buff that increases your chance to apply your Poison by 15% for 1 second plus an additional second per Combo Point used.

In order to maximize your DPS, you need always delay Envenom so that it does not override (clip) your previous Envenom buff (if it is still running).
Doing so has two beneficial consequences:
>Not clipping Envenom results in a higher uptime on your Envenom buff.
>While you wait for your previous buff of Envenom to drop, your Energy will pool, and you will be able to perform more casts of Mutilate and Dispatch after re-applying your Envenom buff. This will result in more poison applications and thus more damage.

Note that the Envenom buff is applied on you before Envenom deals its damage, therefore Envenom will always benefit from its own buff, even it misses your target or if it is parried or dodged.

Clipping Envenom is not always a DPS loss:
>When there is less than 1 second remaining on your current Envenom buff. In this case, the time remaining on your former Envenom buff will be added into your new Envenom buff.
>When your Energy regeneration is high enough that you will be Energy capped if you do not clip Envenom. Being Energy capped is a much higher DPS loss than clipping Envenom. This happens mostly when you benefit from haste buffs such as Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp, trinket procs or set bonuses (e.g., Shadow Blades with the Rogue T15 4P Bonus).

Pooling Energy is also useful in other situations than Envenom management, for example when you expect a damage increase (trinket procs, cooldowns, encounter-specific buff, etc.). The idea is that pooling Energy is not a magical DPS gain by itself. It allows you to slightly adjust the timing of your abilities so that you fit more attacks during periods of increased damage (provided you can properly identify when such periods are going to come).

*Rupture, Garrote and Venomous Wounds*
The DoTs left by Rupture and Garrote do not deal much damage by themselves, but, thanks to Venomous Wounds, each tick has a 75% chance to deal additional Nature damage (shown as Venomous Wounds in your combat logs) and to make you regain 10 Energy.

Venomous Wounds is the reason why you want to maintain Rupture on your target. Garrote should never be used, even on the pull. Indeed, Rupture ticks every 2 seconds, while Garrote ticks every 3 seconds, making Rupture the better choice when it comes to triggering Venomous Wounds.

Rupture takes a snapshot of your stats at the moment you apply it on your target. This means that if you benefit from a large trinket proc when you apply Rupture, then all subsequent ticks of Ruptures (until the next refresh) will benefit from that large trinket proc, even after it expires.

Rupture interacts dynamically with your target's debuffs. This means that if you cast Vendetta halfway through a Rupture, then only the ticks following the application of Vendetta will benefit from the 25% increased damage. Similarly, if you cast Rupture on your target a few seconds before Vendetta finishes, then only the first few ticks of Rupture will benefit from the increased damage.

*Dispatch and Blindside*
When your target is below 35% health, Dispatch becomes available and it replaces Mutilate as your Combo Point builder. Dispatch costs almost twice less Energy than Mutilate, gives less Combo Points, and does slightly more damage.

When you are using Mutilate, Blindside grants you a 30% chance per hit to trigger an Energy-free Dispatch that you can use even if the target is above 35 health.

You need to watch out for procs of Blindside, so that you never cast Mutilate before first consuming your Blindside proc with Dispatch (otherwise, you run the risk of wasting the proc, by overriding it with a new proc). If you have to choose between Dispatch and a Finishing Move, cast your Finishing Move first.

*Applying and refreshing Slice and Dice*
Whenever you have to apply Slice and Dice, do not bother doing it with 5 Combo Points. Indeed, thanks to Cut to the Chase, Envenom will always refresh your Slice and Dice to a 5 Combo Point duration.

This is true regardless of how many Combo Points you had applied Slice and Dice with in the first place and regardless of how many Combo Points you use on Envenom. As a result, it is suboptimal to apply Slice and Dice with a high number of Combo Points, as you would be essentially wasting Combo Points.

If your Slice and Dice ever drops, re-apply it as soon as possible.

3.2 Combat - explained

Combat Rogues currently lack behind Assassination and Subtlety Rogues in single-target fights. However, Blade Flurry enables them to shine in multiple-target encounters. As is the case with all Rogues, Combat Rogues provide many utilities and crowd control abilities to your raid. They also have a variety of survival abilities that will always come in handy.
Mastery: Combat rogues posses Mastery: Main Gauche, which allows you to to hit with your main-hand weapon for 120% damage of it.

3.2.1. Talents

Tier 1

Shadow Focusis the best choice here. It gives you a nearly-free Ambush at the start of each encounter and every 2 minutes after that through Vanish.

Tier 2

Combat Readinessshould be the default choice and will prove useful when you will have to tank something (e.g., Will of the Emperor, Ji-Kun, or Dark Animus).
Nerve Strikeshould be taken in any encounters where you will have to stun an add (e.g., Spirit Kings, Tsulong, Lei Shi, or Ra-den).

Tier 3

Elusiveness is a must-have in any situation where you have to use Feint extensively to mitigate damage (most encounters) or when the additional 15% AoE damage reduction is needed for a particular mechanic (e.g., soaking sparks in Will of the Emperor). In situations that do not require Elusiveness, Cheat Death should be the default choice, as it can be used to entirely bypass encounter mechanics (not to mention it can save your life on many occasions).
Leeching Poison's usefulness is very debatable, as the healing it provides is rather weak (when it is not overhealing)

Tier 4

Shadowstep should be the default choice here, as it allows you to easily reposition yourself behind your target, whether it is a friend or an enemy. Besides its numerous uses in most encounters, it always provides a DPS gain, as it will increase your uptime on your target.

Tier 5

Paralytic Poison can be useful in PvE content, especially for fights where you need to fight many adds and where you need to use Cheat Death as a Tier 3 talent (hence freeing the Non-Lethal poison spot occupied by Leeching Poison).
Similarly to Nerve Strike, Prey on the Weak should be taken in any encounters where you will make use of Cheap Shot or Kidney Shot.

Tier 6

Anticipation will be the best choice in nearly all situations, especially since Ruthlessness came back in Patch 5.4.
Marked for Death can be picked in fights with many adds (e.g., Horridon), where you can benefit from the 5 free Combo Points very often. However, even for such fights, there is still debate in the community as to whether Marked for Death is better than Anticipation or not.
Shuriken Toss can be used in fights where the boss will be out of melee range for a long time. There is currently no encounter where it surpasses Anticipation.

3.2.2. Glyph choices
Glyph of Blade Flurry is highly recommended. It shines while clearing packs of trash mobs, and it increases your chance of applying your non-lethal poison by 30% when Blade Flurry is active. An example would be rooting certain mobs during specific phases, to help your raid out.
Glyph of Feint increases the duration of Feint by 2 seconds, making it last 7 seconds in total. It can be useful if a damaging AoE ability from a boss lasts more than 5 seconds. Given the extensive use you will make of Feint, this glyph very often is a must-have, as it increases your DPS by making you spend less Energy and CGDs refreshing Feint.

Several of your major glyphs offer you increased survivability:
>Glyph of Cloak of Shadows
>Glyph of Recovery
>Glyph of Redirect
>Glyph of Sharpened Knives
>Glyph of Smoke Bomb
>Glyph of Sprint

Notable Minor Glyphs:
>Glyph of Safe Fall
>Glyph of Poisons
>Glyph of Blurred Speed
>Glyph of Killing Spree - causes Killing Spree to return you to your original location. Some encounter mechanics may make this glyph beneficial.

3.2.3 Rotation and Cooldowns
3.2.4.1 Opening sequence & Single Target Rotation:
>Before the pull, use Tricks of the Trade on your TotT target.
>1 second before the pull, use your Virmen's Bite potion and get in Stealth.
1. When the boss is pulled:
2. Cast Ambush when you are in Stealth.
3. Cast Revealing Strike only to keep its debuff up.
4. Cast Sinister Strike.
Finishing Moves (by order of priority)
5. Apply and maintain Slice and Dice (with 5 Combo Points preferably, because of Ruthlessness).
6. Apply and maintain Rupture with 5 Combo Points.
7. There are cases when you should not maintain Rupture.
8. Use Evasion with 5 Combo Points.

3.2.4. Multiple target rotation
- When fighting less than 8 targets, turn on Blade Flurry if there are 3 enemies or more and proceed with your single-target rotation on one of the enemies. Do not use Rupture, as it is not transferred by Blade Flurry. Only use Fan of Knives to apply Deadly Poison when the enemies will live long for the poison to actually tick.

- When fighting 8 or more targets, you should abandon your single-target rotation and spam Fan of Knives instead. When you reach 5 Combo Points on your target, use Crimson Tempest to spend them, if the bleed effect it leaves will tick for its full duration. Otherwise, use Eviscerate.

If your main target will die in less than 1 minute and you have chosen Marked for Death as your Tier 6 talent, then use it on cooldown.

3.2.5. Cooldowns
You have three main DPS cooldowns: Adrenaline Rush, Shadow Blades, Killing Spree.
>Adrenaline Rush greatly increases your Energy regeneration for 15 seconds. It should be used on cooldown. Do not hesitate to stack it with Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp, as you will still benefit from the increased attack speed (but the increased Energy regeneration will, for the most part, be wasted).
>Shadow Blades increases your Combo Point regeneration for 12 seconds,on a 3-minute cooldown. Use this ability whenever you can. Do not hesitate to use a macro to combine it with Adrenaline Rush (their cooldowns have the same duration), this will enable you to make numerous casts of 5 Combo Point Eviscerates. Shadow Blades increases your Combo Point regeneration and the damage of your white melee attacks for 12 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown.
>Killing Spree performs a series of attacks against your target (or a nearby enemy, if you have no target). If Blade Flurry is active, Killing Spree will perform its attacks against random enemies. Use this ability on cooldown and make sure that you are low on Energy before casting it, as you will not be able to spend any Energy while Killing Spree is active. In AoE situations, activate Blade Flurry before using Killing Spree.

IMPORTANT: Because of your Restless Blades passive ability, the cooldowns of Adrenaline Rush, Killing Spree, and Shadow Blades is reduced by 2 seconds every time a damaging Finishing Move consumes a Combo Point (i.e., 10-second reduction for each 5 Combo Point Rupture and Eviscerate). As a result, try to always use Killing Spree before Adrenaline Rush + Shadow Blades. This will cause the cooldown of Killing Spree to be greatly reduced, thanks to the numerous Finishing Moves you will get to use while Adrenaline Rush and Shadow Blades are active.

In addition to those, you have several minor DPS and utility cooldowns:
>Vanish makes you enter Stealth. Use this ability on cooldown, immediately followed by Ambush. Because of Shadow Focus (your Tier 1 talent), Ambush's cost is reduced by 75% when using it in Stealth. The cooldown of Vanish can be reset with Preparation.
>Redirect is a DPS gain in fights where you have to fight different enemies.
>Sprint (in addition to its obvious survival role) can give you more uptime on the boss, which translates into a direct DPS increase. So, you can use Sprint as a DPS cooldown in some fights. Its cooldown can be reset with Preparation.
>Finally, you have a number of survival cooldowns, such as Feint, Cloak of Shadows, Preparation, Evasion, etc., which you can use to keep yourself alive.

3.2.6. Stats priority:
Agility > Hit(7.5%) = Expertise(7.5%) > Haste > Mastery > Crit
Remember: Hit & Expertise caps – both at 7,5%
More Haste means more energy regen, which means more damage. It’s as simple as that!
Mastery helps, especially when using 2.6 speed weapons in both hands, it shows it especially when using Killing Spree, as your off-hand weapon damage is greater with a 2.6 speed weapon rather than a 1.8 speed weapon, such as a dagger.
Crit here is the worst, yet again.

3.2.7. Gemming
Meta: Capacitive Primal Diamond or Agile Primal Diamond
Red: Deft Vermilion Onyx, Delicate Serpent's Eye (JC)
Blue: Lightning Wild Jade
Yellow: Deft Vermilion Onyx

3.2.8. Mastering Your Combat Rogue
A combat rogue is a fairly easy spec to play. The information given so far should be enough to help you on your way to mastering it. But, there are always a few little details and subtle things which always help in giving you the edge.
Learning when and how to use your abilities will make you able to reach a higher DPS than you can imagine.

*Combo points, Energy and Anticipation*
As a Rogue, most of your abilities need Energy to be used. Your Energy bar has a capacity of 100 Energy and refills at a rate of 10 Energy per second. Your energy regeneration is increased by:
>your melee haste (Haste Rating + haste-enhancing buffs);
>your Vitality passive ability, which increases Energy regeneration by 20%;
>your Combat Potency passive ability, which grants your off-hand melee attacks and Mastery: Main Gauche attacks a chance to generate 15 Energy;
>your Relentless Strikes passive ability, which grants your Finishing Moves a 20% chance per Combo Point to restore 25 Energy;
>your Adrenaline Rush cooldown, which temporarily increases your Energy regeneration by 100%.
The faster you regenerate Energy, the more casts of Eviscerate you can fit between your refreshes of Slice and Dice and Rupture.

Note that, whenever you are in Blade Flurry, your Energy regeneration is reduced by 20%.

Letting your Energy reach its maximum is something to avoid. You should always try to spend your Energy by (literally) spamming your buttons. Unlike for Assassination Rogues, Energy pooling is not beneficial for Combat Rogues. There are many situations when you will generate more Energy than you can spend (haste trinket procs, Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp, Adrenaline Rush, etc.), and you should spam your buttons even harder than usually during such times.

Some abilities add one or several Combo Points on your target, up to a maximum of 5 Combo Points (10 with Anticipation). Other abilities, called Finishing Moves, consume up to 5 Combo Points on your target. The more Combo Points a Finishing Move consumes, the more powerful its effect is.

Your Combo Point generation is increased by the debuff that Revealing Strike applies on your targets. This buff lasts 24 seconds and causes, among other things, Sinister Strike to have a 20% chance to generate an additional Combo Point. You should never ever use Revealing Strike before its debuff drops.

Ruthlessness causes your Finishing Moves cast at 5 Combo Points to generate a Combo Point. This is an incentive to use Slice and Dice with 5 Combo Points.

You should never waste Combo Points. Never cast a Combo Point-generating ability when you are at 5 Combo Points if you are not using Anticipation. With Anticipation, never cast Sinister Strike if you have 4 or more stacks of Anticipation (3 or more when Shadow Dance is up).

*Bandit's Guile*
Bandit's Guile is an important mechanic for Combat Rogues. It causes your character to cycle through different buffs of increased damage dealt to your current target:
>no buff: 0% increased damage;
>Shallow Insight: +10% increased damage;
>Moderate Insight: +20% increased damage;
>Deep Insight: +30% increased damage.

Attacking your current target 4 times with any combination of Sinister Strike and Revealing Strike will cause the cycle to progress to the next buff. For Shallow Insight and Moderate Insight, you need to make one attack every 15 seconds at least, otherwise the buff will drop and the cycle will restarts from 0% increased damage. Deep Insight cannot be refreshed and at the end of the 15 seconds, the buff drops and the cycle restarts from 0% increased damage.

Switching to a new target does not reset your cycle of Bandit's Guile.

Bandit's Guile is largely out of your control and the cycle will repeat itself as the encounter progresses. That said, you can try and time your cooldowns so that they are used during one of the buffs, possibly the highest one. Also, thanks to Anticipation, you can save Combo Points and use them for Bandit's Guile.

Since Bandit's Guile and Slice and Dice are self-buffs, switching to a new target only requires you to reapply Rupture and Revealing Strike.

Redirect helps with target swapping because it transfers your existing Combo Points to your new target.
Also, when an enemy dies, your unused Combo Points remain on it, which means that you can transfer them through Redirect. This is very useful for transferring Combo Points from a dead trash mob to the boss prior to the pull.

3.3 Subtlety - explained

Subtlety Rogues currently provide very good single-target DPS, better than Combat Rogues and on par with Assassination Rogues. However, they lack proper AoE damage tools.As is the case with all Rogues, Subtlety Rogues provide many utilities and crowd control abilities to your raid. They also have a variety of survival abilities that will always come in handy.
Mastery: Subtlety Rogues have Mastery: Executioner, which increases the damage of your Finishing Moves and the effectiveness of your Slice and Dice.

3.3.1. Talents

Tier 1

Subterfuge is the best choice here, as it enables you to cast Ambush at least twice in a row, when getting out of Stealth. This increases your Find Weakness uptime.

Tier 2

Combat Readinessshould be the default choice and will prove useful when you will have to tank something (e.g., Will of the Emperor, Ji-Kun, or Dark Animus).
Nerve Strikeshould be taken in any encounters where you will have to stun an add (e.g., Spirit Kings, Tsulong, Lei Shi, or Ra-den).

Tier 3

Elusiveness is a must-have in any situation where you have to use Feint extensively to mitigate damage (most encounters) or when the additional 15% AoE damage reduction is needed for a particular mechanic (e.g., soaking sparks in Will of the Emperor). In situations that do not require Elusiveness, Cheat Death should be the default choice, as it can be used to entirely bypass encounter mechanics (not to mention it can save your life on many occasions).
Leeching Poison's usefulness is very debatable, as the healing it provides is rather weak (when it is not overhealing)

Tier 4

Shadowstep should be the default choice here, as it allows you to easily reposition yourself behind your target, whether it is a friend or an enemy. Besides its numerous uses in most encounters, it always provides a DPS gain, as it will increase your uptime on your target.

Tier 5

Paralytic Poison can be useful in PvE content, especially for fights where you need to fight many adds and where you need to use Cheat Death as a Tier 3 talent (hence freeing the Non-Lethal poison spot occupied by Leeching Poison).
Similarly to Nerve Strike, Prey on the Weak should be taken in any encounters where you will make use of Cheap Shot or Kidney Shot.

Tier 6

Anticipation is a major DPS gain and will be, by far, the best choice in most situations, It will prevent you from wasting the Combo Points generated by Honor Among Thieves.

3.3.2. Glyph choices
Glyph of Ambush is a double-edged sword and you must be careful when using it. First, you will often open with Shadowstep or Sprint, so you may not always need this glyph. Even when you use it, it can sometimes be a DPS loss if you forget to move into melee range of the boss after casting Ambush.

Glyph of Hemorraghing Veins causes Sanguinary Vein to also increase damage done to targets affected by Hemorrhage. This glyph is a must-have in any situations where you will need to target swap, as you will not be required to set up a Garrote or a Rupture on your target to benefits from Sanguinary Vein. It is useless on single-target situations, because you automatically benefit from Sanguinary Vein from the fact that Rupture is part of your rotation. It is also useless in AoE situations, as you benefit from Sanguinary Vein when you use Crimson Tempest.

Several of your major glyphs offer you increased survivability:
>Glyph of Feint
>Glyph of Recovery
>Glyph of Redirect
>Glyph of Sharpened Knives
>Glyph of Smoke Bomb
>Glyph of Sprint

Notable Minor Glyphs:
>Glyph of Safe Fall
>Glyph of Poisons
>Glyph of Blurred Speed

3.3.3 Rotation and Cooldowns
3.3.3.1 Opening sequence:
>Before the pull, (assuming you have chosen Subterfuge) use Tricks of the Trade on your TotT target.
>1 second before the pull, use your Virmen's Bite potion and get in Stealth.
1. When the boss is pulled:
2. Shadowstep it if the boss is far away, if you have picked this talent, and if you will not need it in the next 24 seconds;
3. Sprint to reach the boss if it is far away and you cannot use Shadowstep;
4. otherwise, simply run to the boss and continue your opening sequence.
5. Cast Garrote.
6. Cast Ambush as many times as possible (usually twice). It should be possible thanks to Energetic Recovery and Subterfuge.
7. Extra Combo Points will be stored, thanks to Anticipation.
8. Continue with your normal rotation (starting with Slice and Dice), with the following tweaks:
9. do not refresh Rupture until Garrote fades;
10. use Shadow Dance ( + Shadow Blades if you have the Rogue T15 4P Bonus) right before Find Weakness runs out (so that the first Ambush during Shadow Dance benefit from Find Weakness).
11. use Vanish right before Find Weakness runs out again.

3.3.3.2 Single Target Rotation
Combo Point builders (by order of priority)
1. Use Ambush when you are in Stealth.
2. Use Hemorrhage to apply and maintain the bleed effect it causes on your target.
>Reapply Hemorrhage after the bleed effect ends.
3. Use Backstab as your default Combo Point builder.
4. When you cannot attack your target from behind, then you cannot use Backstab, so Hemorrhage becomes your primary Combo Point builder.
Finishing Moves (by order of priority)
1. Apply and maintain Slice and Dice, with 5 Combo Points preferably: always refresh Slice and Dice when there are between 0 and 2 seconds remaining.
2. Apply and maintain Rupture with 5 Combo Points.
3. If Garrote or Crimson Tempest is applied on the target, there is no need to apply Rupture (thanks to Sanguinary Vein)
4. Use Eviscerate with 5 Combo Points.

3.3.3.3 Multiple Target Rotation
When fighting 2 or 3 enemies simply keep doing your single-target rotation on one of them. If you have to often swap target or if you need to burn an add fast, then you can use Glyph of Hemorrhaging Veins, this will save you the trouble of having to apply Rupture.

When fighting 4, 5, or 6 enemies, you should sometimes replace Eviscerate with Crimson Tempest in your rotation. The idea is to keep the 12-second bleed effect, from Crimson Tempest, applied on the enemies.
Note that Crimson Tempest causes you to benefit from Sanguinary Vein, so you no longer need to apply and refresh Rupture. You can first apply Crimson Tempest with 1 Combo Point to benefit from Sanguinary Vein right away (the Crimson Tempest bleed always lasts 12 seconds, regardless of Combo Points).

When fighting 7 or more enemies, you should abandon your single-target rotation and spam Fan of Knives instead. When you reach 5 Combo Points on your target, use them to keep Slice and Dice up or to cast Crimson Tempest.

If your main target will die in less than 1 minute and you have chosen Marked for Death as your Tier 6 talent, then use it on cooldown.

3.3.4. Cooldowns
You have four main DPS cooldowns:
> Shadow Dance enables you to cast your Stealth-only abilities for 8 seconds. While active, this ability also reduces the Energy cost of Ambush by 20. This ability only has a 1-minute cooldown, so you should use it whenever it is available.
> Shadow Blades increases your Combo Point regeneration for 12 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown. Use this ability whenever you can.
> Vanish makes you enter Stealth. Use this ability on cooldown, immediately followed by 1 or 2 casts of Ambush (depending on whether Subterfuge is your tier 1 talent). Proper usage of Vanish greatly increases your Find Weakness uptime (not to mention that you can reset its cooldown with Preparation).
> If Rupture is about to expire, you can apply Garrote after breaking out of Stealth (thanks to Subterfuge); this will make you benefit from Sanguinary Vein for 18 seconds (during which time you do not need to apply or refresh Rupture).
> Premeditation adds two Combo Points on the target, but it can only be used while in Stealth, which means that you will have to use it at the pull, when you use Vanish and whenever you use Shadow Dance.

In addition to those, you have several minor DPS and utility cooldowns:
> Redirect is a DPS gain in fights where you have to fight different enemies.
> Sprint (in addition to its obvious survival role) can give you more uptime on the boss, which translates into a direct DPS increase. So, you can use Sprint as a DPS cooldown in some fights. Its cooldown can be reset with Preparation.
Finally, you have a number of survival cooldowns, such as Feint, Cloak of Shadows, Preparation, Evasion, etc., which you can use to keep yourself alive.

3.3.5. Stats priority:
Agility > Hit(7.5%) = Expertise(7.5%) > Haste > Crit > Mastery.
Remember: Hit & Expertise caps – both at 7,5%
More Haste means your energy regenerates faster, which is also better!
Crit is second, because your spells can reach very high crits as a subtlety rogue.

3.3.6. Gemming
Meta: Capacitive Primal Diamond or Agile Primal Diamond
Red: Delicate Primordial Ruby, Delicate Serpent's Eye (JC)
Blue: Glinting Imperial Amethyst
Yellow: Deft Vermilion Onyx

3.3.7. Mastering Your Assassination Rogue
The Subtlety specialization is not very hard to play, and even though the information given above will yield good results, there is much more you need to understand before you can play your Subtlety Rogue to its full potential.

*Combo points, Energy and Anticipation*
As a Rogue, most of your abilities need Energy to be used. Your Energy bar has a capacity of 120 Energy (thanks to Assassin's Resolve, one of your Assassination-only passive abilities) and refills at a rate of 10 Energy per second. Your energy regeneration is increased by:
> your melee haste (Haste Rating + haste-enhancing buffs);
> your Relentless Strikes passive ability, which grants your Finishing Moves a 20% chance per Combo Point to restore 25 Energy;
> your Slice and Dice ability, which restores 8 Energy every 2 seconds (thanks to Energetic Recovery, one of your passive abilities).

The faster you regenerate Energy, the more casts of Eviscerate you can fit in your rotation.
You should never let your Energy reach its maximum. This a DPS loss, as you are wasting every Energy point generated during this time.

Some abilities add one or several Combo Points on your target, up to a maximum of 5 Combo Points (10 with Anticipation). Other abilities, called Finishing Moves, consume up to 5 Combo Points on your target. The more Combo Points a Finishing Move consumes, the more powerful its effect is. Your Combo Point generation is increased by Honor Among Thieves, a passive ability that grants you 1 Combo Point every time you or an another raid/party member scores a critical hit with a spell or an ability (with a limit of 1 Combo Point every 2 seconds).

You should never cap Combo Points (i.e., reach 5 stacks of Anticipation) for more than 1 second after the last proc of Honor Among Thieves. Similarly, you should never use Backstab or Hemorrhage at 4 or 5 stacks of Anticipation. Capping Combo Points means that you run the risk of wasting Combo Points generated either by Honor Among Thieves or by Backstab and Hemorrhage.

Anticipation can also be used to improve your DPS slightly. By keeping a high amount of Anticipation stacks where there is no damage increase (i.e., periods of time without Find Weakness uptime, without trinket procs, etc.), you have extra Combo Points to spend whenever you enter a period of increased damage done. Also, it can help you refresh Slice and Dice and Rupture if they are going to expire at the same time.

*Honor Among Thieves*
The most important aspect of your resource management is to learn how to rely on procs from Honor Among Thieves. This passive ability grants you a Combo Point every time a party or raid member critically hits or heals (with a limit of 1 Combo Point every 2 seconds). This effect only procs from spells and abilities (but not from white melee attacks) and is only active while you are in combat.

Before Mists of Pandaria, Subtlety Rogues had to take Honor Among Thieves into account in their resource management (in order to prevent the extra Combo Points generated from going to waste).

Thanks to the introduction of Anticipation, it has become much harder to waste these Combo Points and this is why this talent is so valuable for Subtlety Rogues.

*Find Weakness and Master of Subtlety*
Find Weakness is the most important thing to keep in mind when playing a Subtlety Rogue. This temporary damage increase is only available after using Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot. These abilities require Stealth to be cast so you will have Find Weakness uptime at the pull, every time you use Shadow Dance and every time you use Vanish (the cooldown of which you can reset with Preparation).

Master of Subtlety is a passive ability that you get from choosing the Subtlety specialization. It grants you 10% increased damage after you break out of Stealth or after dealing damage in Stealth (typically while using Ambush). Note that Master of Subtlety will not proc during Shadow Dance.

As Find Weakness and Master of Subtlety are often up at the same time, please keep this in mind:
> You should always time your Shadow Dance and Vanish cooldowns in such a way that you do not have to refresh Slice and Dice or Rupture (which does not benefit from Find Weakness) while these cooldowns are active. This way, you will be able to maximize the damage you will do with melee attacks, Backstab, Hemorrhage, and Eviscerate, while Find Weakness and Master of Subtlety are active.

> For increased effect, you should also try to have Find Weakness and Master of Subtlety up when raid DPS cooldowns are being used (for example, Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp), when you use your Potion and on-use trinkets, and when the boss takes increased damage.

> Finally, one last trick can be used when Vanish and Shadow Dance come off cooldown at the same time. Use Shadow Dance first. After Shadow Dance expires, you will still benefit from the Find Weakness given by the last Ambush you cast during Shadow Dance. Wait for that Find Weakness to have about 1 second left on its duration. Then, cast Vanish + Ambush. This will cause Ambush to benefit from the Find Weakness that was about to expire and to apply a new Find Weakness.

*Hemorrhage Weaving*
It is a small DPS increase to keep the Hemorrhage bleed on your target, but you should wait until it has dropped from the target before refreshing it. It should also be noted that this bleed highly relies on the initial damage of Hemorrhage, so it may be better to delay it for a few seconds if you are about to gain Find Weakness or another damage increase. For similar reasons, you can also refresh Hemorrhage early if you benefit from a large increase in your damage done.

*Rupture and Sanguinary Vein*
Sanguinary Vein is a passive ability that increases the damage of your Rupture ability by 50% and that causes you to deal 35% increased damage to enemies afflicted by Rupture, Garrote, or Crimson Tempest (your AoE Finishing Move).

The most obvious implication of having this passive ability is that Rupture should always be on the target, so that you always deal 20% increased damage. If Garrote or Crimson Tempest are already on the target, then you do not need to apply Rupture.

Another, less obvious implication is that you can use Garrote for breaking out of Stealth at the pull. This will instantly grant you a 18-second duration on Sanguinary Vein (and during this time, you do not need to apply or refresh Rupture).

*Find Weakness and Shadow Blades*
As a general rule, avoid using Shadow Blades when Find Weakness is up.
The reason for that is that part of Shadow Blades will be wasted, as your auto-attacks bypass 100% of your enemy's armor during Find Weakness (so them dealing pure Shadow damage would not be an improvement). As a result, you want to avoid casting Shadow Blades and Shadow Dance at the same time.
An exception to this rule is when casting Shadow Blades during Find Weakness would enable you cast Shadow Blades more times during the encounter.

When you have the Rogue T15 4P Bonus, you should always cast Shadow Blades and Shadow Dance at the same time. This set bonus reduces the cost of all abilities by 15% and reduces the GCD of your abilities by 0.3s. The combination of the set bonus and the additional Combo Points you get from some of your abilities during Shadow Blades is so powerful that it more than outweighs wasting part of Shadow Blades during Shadow Dance.

*Building Combo Points during Shadow Dance*
When using Shadow Dance, Ambush takes the place of Backstab as your Combo Point builder. This is very beneficial as Ambush deals more damage and generates more Combo Points than Backstab.

*Bosses That Cannot Be Attacked From Behind*
Certain bosses cannot be attacked from behind, for example Ultraxion in Dragon Soul. This means that you need to use Hemorrhage, instead of Backstab, to build Combo Points.

On such bosses, you will gain Find Weakness uptime by using Garrote to break out of Stealth. This ability, unlike Backstab has no positioning requirement.

4. BiS Gear

Maybe you’ve already known this, but rogues wear leather armor. So upon your journeys while leveling, finding suitable leather armor will be one of your goals.

Dungeon BiS Gear

Head - Windblast Helm (Wing Leader Ner'onok in Siege of Niuzao Temple), Agile Retinal Armor (Engineering only)
Neck - Scorched Scarlet Key (Flameweaver Koegler in Scarlet Halls)
Shoulders - Fizzy Spaulders (Yan-Zhu the Uncasked in Stormstout Brewery)
Cloak - Wind-Soaked Drape (Wise Mari in Temple of the Jade Serpent)
Chest - Nimbletoe Chestguard (Ook-Ook in Stormstout Brewery)
Wrists - Saboteur's Stabilizing Bracers (Saboteur Kip'tilak in Gate of the Setting Sun)
Hands - Tombstone Gauntlets (Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance)
Waist - Icewrath Belt (Instructor Chillheart in Scholomance)
Legs - Wall-Breaker Legguards (Raigonn in Gate of the Setting Sun)
Feet - Dashing Strike Tread (Commander Durand in Scarlet Monastery)
Ring 1 - Signet of Dancing Jade (Liu Flameheart in Temple of the Jade Serpent)
Ring 2 - Seal of Hateful Meditation (Taran Zhu's Personal Stash in Shado-Pan Monastery)
Trinket 1 - Searing Words (Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance)
Trinket 2 - Windswept Pages (Lorewalker Stonestep / Strife/ Zao Sunseeker – all in Temple of the Jade Serpent)
Main Hand - Claws of Gekkan (Gekkan, Mogu’shan Palace) for Combat
Koegler's Ritual Knife Flameweaver (Koegler, Scarlet Halls) for Subtlety & Assassination
Off Hand - Koegler's Ritual Knife (Flameweaver Koegler, Scarlet Halls)

Raid BiS Gear
Raid BiS items lists have been updated for the Siege of Orgrimmar patch!

As an Assassination Rogue, you will always want to use Daggers in both your Main-hand and Off-hand slots. Your most damaging weapon should always be in your Main-hand slot (unless it only fits in an Off-hand slot). When gearing up, I advise you to always prioritize pieces of Tier sets over non-set pieces of higher item level.

MAIN HAND: Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
OFF HAND: Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
HEAD: Helmet of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
NECK: Immerseus' Crystalline Eye (drop from Immerseus)
SHOULDERS: Spaulders of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Siegecrafter Blackfuse)
CLOAK: Fen-Yu, Fury of Xuen > Tigerfang Wrap (both from the Legendary Cloak questline) > Poisonmist Nightcloak (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
CHEST: Tunic of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Sha of Pride)
WRISTS: Bomber's Blackened Wristwatch (drop from Siegecrafter Blackfuse)
HANDS: Gloves of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from General Nazgrim)
WAIST: Cord of Black Dreams (drop from Garrosh Hellscream)
LEGS: Riou's Vigilant Leggings (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
FEET: Pandaren Roofsprinters (drop from The Spoils of Pandaria)
RING 1: Kil'ruk's Band of Ascendancy (drop from The Paragons of the Klaxxi)
RING 2: Swift Serpent Signet (drop from Galakras)
TRINKET 1: Assurance of Consequence (drop from Sha of Pride)
TRINKET 2: Haromm's Talisman (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)

As a Combat Rogue, you will always want to have a 2.6 speed weapon in your Main-hand slot.
In your Off-hand slot, you can use a Dagger or a 2.6 speed weapon (the latter being viable thanks to Combat Potency).
If you are dual-wielding 2.6 speed weapons, then your most damaging weapon should always be in your Main-hand slot (unless it only fits in an Off-hand slot).

You have 2 options for your weapons, but it's up to you on which you go for. You can either have Seismic Bore in both MH and OF, or you can go for Enchanted Shao-Tien Saber in MH + Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker in OH.

OPTION 1:
MAIN HAND: Seismic Bore (drop from Iron Juggernaut)
OFF HAND: Seismic Bore (drop from Iron Juggernaut)
OPTION 2:
MAIN HAND: Enchanted Shao-Tien Saber (drop from The Spoils of Pandaria)
OFF HAND: Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)

HEAD: Helmet of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
NECK: Immerseus' Crystalline Eye (drop from Immerseus)
SHOULDERS: Shoulderguards of the Righteous Stand (drop from General Nazgrim)
CLOAK: Fen-Yu, Fury of Xuen > Tigerfang Wrap (both from the Legendary Cloak questline) > Poisonmist Nightcloak (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
CHEST: Tunic of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Sha of Pride)
WRISTS: Bomber's Blackened Wristwatch (drop from Siegecrafter Blackfuse)
HANDS: Gloves of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from General Nazgrim)
WAIST: Damron's Belt of Darkness (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
LEGS: Legguards of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from The Paragons of the Klaxxi)
FEET: Stonetoe's Tormented Treads (drop from The Fallen Protectors)
RING 1: Kil'ruk's Band of Ascendancy (drop from The Paragons of the Klaxxi)
RING 2: Ring of Restless Energy (drop from Malkorok)
TRINKET 1: Assurance of Consequence (drop from Sha of Pride)
TRINKET 2: Haromm's Talisman (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)

As a Subtlety Rogue, you will always want to use Daggers in both your Main-hand and Off-hand slots.
Your most damaging weapon should always be in your Main-hand slot (unless it only fits in an Off-hand slot).

MAIN HAND: Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
OFF HAND: Hvitserk's Formidable Shanker (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
HEAD: Helmet of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
NECK: Gleaming Eye of the Devilsaur (drop from Thok the Bloodthirsty)
SHOULDERS: Spaulders of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Siegecrafter Blackfuse)
CLOAK: Fen-Yu, Fury of Xuen > Tigerfang Wrap (both from the Legendary Cloak questline) > Poisonmist Nightcloak (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
CHEST: Tunic of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from Sha of Pride)
WRISTS: Bomber's Blackened Wristwatch (drop from Siegecrafter Blackfuse)
HANDS: Gloves of the Barbed Assassin (TOKEN drop from General Nazgrim)
WAIST: Cord of Black Dreams (drop from Garrosh Hellscream)
LEGS: Riou's Vigilant Leggings (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)
FEET: Stonetoe's Tormented Treads (drop from The Fallen Protectors)
RING 1: Kil'ruk's Band of Ascendancy (drop from The Paragons of the Klaxxi)
RING 2: Swift Serpent Signet (drop from Galakras)
TRINKET 1: Assurance of Consequence (drop from Sha of Pride)
TRINKET 2: Haromm's Talisman (drop from Earthbreaker Haromm)

NOTE:
- The list above has been put together by using data gathered from SimulationCraft which is one of the best tools you can use in order to min-max your characters, not just your rogue! Download links: SimCraft 32 bit version / SimCraft 64 bit version / Simcraft for OSX x86.
- Also, do not forget that you also MUST do Wrathion's Legendary Cloak questline, so that you will obtain the amazingly overpowered cloack (Fen-Yu, Fury of Xuen) and the amazingly overpowered meta gem (Capacitive Primal Diamond). These 2 items will boost your DPS unlike you've imagined, and they are a must-have!
- Doing Wrathion's Legendary Cloak questline will in the end reward you with a 2/4 upgraded cloak not a 0/4 upgraded cloak.
- In Siege of Orgrimmar, all gear can be upgraded 4 times, which will in the end cost you a total of 16000 Valor Points (15500 with the Legendary Cloak).
- Follow this guide for more information on the Legendary Cloak questline: https://forum.wow-freakz.com/EN-Legendary-Cloak-Questline-t422362.html

5. Gemming & Reforging

5.1 Gemming in MoP
With MoP, gems have changed a lot. The most noticeable thing is that secondary stat gems are immensely stronger than before, because they have double the amount of rating compared to primary gem stats. This brings them actually very close if not better than pure Agi gems.
Given the points above, it's clear that aiming to match socket colors to get the bonus is something generally worth to, but still the best way to proceed is to calculate EP weights for the stat and go for the highest EP combination.

Example:
A colorless single-socket item with no bonus
(taking Elitist Jerks combat EPs)
Agi 2.77 EP * 160 (gem) = 443.2
Haste 1.6345 EP * 320 (gem) = 532.04
It's clear that Haste wins over it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But what if the socket was RED, and the bonus is 60 agility? Let's see:
Agi 2.77 EP * 160 (gem) + 2.77 * 60 (bonus) = 609.4
Haste 1.6345 EP * 320 (gem) = 532.04
Now an AGI gem becomes better.

There is no easy/fast solution - you can use one of the many software/sites to get the calculations done, but the optimal way is no more than this: math...

A gem list that can be useful for us rogues, sorted by colour:
> Meta: Capacitive Primal Diamond > Agile Primal Diamond
> Red: Delicate Primordial Ruby and Delicate Serpent's Eye
> Orange: Deft Vermilion Onyx and Adept Vermilion Onyx
> Yellow: Quick Sun's Radiance and Fractured Sun's Radiance
> Green: Lightning Wild Jade and Sensei's Wild Jade
> Blue: Rigid River's Heart
> Purple: Glinting Imperial Amethyst and Accurate Imperial Amethyst
Critical strike rating gems are also available, but with crit being usually low in EP values, they are a sub-optimal solution.

5.2 Reforging
The new feature introduced with Cataclysm, this lets you to have some degree of customization on you gear.

Basic rules are:
> you take away 40% of a secondary stat (hit, crit, haste, expertise, mastery) and put it into another secondary stat;
> you cannot reforge into a stat that is already on the item (example: hit to mastery if it is already present)
> try to reforge the worst stat on the item to the best one for the maximum gain.

Put that, reforging simply follows the stat priority defined per spec. It's recommended to use a calculator of some sort, since getting the nearest possible the stat caps can be tricky sometimes and other times the common sense doesn't give the optimal solution. Last tip, when you reach a stat cap, obviously that stat becomes the better to reforge out.

6. Gear Enchants

Not much to discuss in this section, since enchants are static bonuses some enchant are just the best compared to others. Sometimes there are cheaper options for the same slot, but you can do that at the price of lowering DPS.

Following is the list of best enchants for available slots:
Head: <no longer in the game>
Shoulder: Greater Tiger Claw Inscription (Inscription)
Back: Superior Critical Strike
Chest: Glorious Stats
Wrist: Greater Agility
Hands: Superior Mastery or Greater Haste, depending on spec; Superior Expertise is viable if you have problems capping it
Waist: Living Steel Belt Buckle, crafted by blacksmiths; it allows you to put another gem on your belt
Legs: Shadowleather Leg Armor, crafted by leatherworkers
Boots: Blurred Speed; there are mastery, hit and haste enchants, but they are sub-optimal
Weapons: Dancing Steel is the best enchant, followed by Windsong
Rings (if you are an enchanter): Greater Agility on both

7. Professions

For your main profession, there is only one true option:
Engineering is currently the best profession for Rogues, as it provides you with Synapse Springs, which you can line up every 2 minutes with many of your major CDs, for increased benefits. The rest of the time, you should use Synapse Springs on cooldown.

Blacksmithing is my personal choice for the second profession, as it gives me the 2 extra armor sockets which allows me more flexibility while gearing up to balance out my stats.

But, for your second profession, any of the passive Agility gain will do:
Blacksmithing - Provides a 320 Agility gain through 2 extra sockets, Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves, in which you can fit 2 Delicate Primordial Ruby
Jewelcrafting - Provides a 640 Agility gain through the ability of using 2 Delicate Serpent's Eye
Inscription - Provides a 520 Agility and 100 critical strike gain through Secret Tiger Claw Inscription
Leatherworking - Provides a 500 Agility gain through Fur Lining - Agility
Alchemy - Provides an increased effect of your flask through Mixology
Enchanting - Provides a 320 Agility gain through Enchant Ring - Greater Agility
Herbalism - Provides a 2880 Haste gain through Lifeblood

8. Mastering your rogue

8.1 Poisons
Your Lethal Poison should always be Deadly Poison;
Your Non-Lethal Poison depends on the encounter:
> Use Crippling Poison when you need to slow down a target (e.g., on Will of the Emperor, Sha of Fear, Council of Elders, Tortos, etc.). Using Shiv on a target afflicted by Crippling Poison slows them by an additional 20%.
> Use Mind-Numbing Poison against casters (on Horridon for the adds, for example). Using Shiv doubles the cast time of their next spell.
> Use Paralytic Poison when you need to root (with Shiv) or stun enemies (e.g., on Lei Shi, Council of Elders, Ji-Kun, etc.).
> Use Leeching Poison otherwise.

8.2 Tricks of the Trade
Tricks of the Trade was originally designed to be cast on tanks in order to help them keep aggro.

With the changes that threat generation has undergone in WotLK and Cataclysm, it is now more beneficial to your raid if you use Tricks of the Trade on one of the best DPS players in order to increase their damage done.
Indeed, Tricks of the Trade provides a 15% DPS increase on its target for 6 seconds, on a 30-second cooldown.

Tricks of the Trade costs 15 Energy to cast, but is not on the GCD. The damage bonus that it grants to your target is so beneficial to your raid that you should never refrain from sacrificing 15 Energy for it. Glyph of Tricks of the Trade should never be used, as it removes the damage increase.

Regarding usage of Tricks of the Trade, you should always cast it on cooldown, unless your target asks for it to be slightly delayed (to line it up with cooldowns, for example).

Since Tricks of the Trade is off the global cooldown, you should cast it together with Vanish in order to reduce its Energy cost by 75% every 2 minutes (because of Shadow Focus). You can also cast it on the tank before the pull, as you have a 20-second window to make your first attack and proc its effect (which will increase the threat generation of the tank). After the pull, you should start using Tricks of the Trade on a DPS player.
Tricks of the Trade does not stack with itself! Someone getting 2 Tricks of the Trade simultaneously from two Rogues will only benefit from one and the second one will be wasted!
How to choose your TotT target:
> Avoid players that rely on their pet's DPS, such as Frost Mages or Beast Mastery Hunters.
> Avoid players that massively rely on DoTs, such as Warlocks or Balance/Feral Druids.
> Avoid players that have damage-increasing buffs, such as Retribution Paladins, Arcane Mages, or Warriors. Tricks of the Trade does not stack with those buffs.
> Prefer players with a relatively constant damage output, such as Rogues.

8.3 Swapping target & Redirect:
Swapping target has never been as easier as it currently is. Indeed, you only need two things on your new target to start dealing damage as if you had stayed on your former target:
> Deadly Poison, which will be applied pretty much instantly;
> Rupture, which can be cast with any amount of Combo Points.
> Redirect helps with target swapping because it transfers your existing Combo Points to your new target.
> Also, when an enemy dies, your unused Combo Points remain on it, which means that you can transfer them through Redirect. This is very useful for transferring Combo Points from a dead trash mob to the boss prior to the pull.

8.4 Survival Cooldowns
One of the greatest strengths of Rogues is their survivability, which they owe to a large number of powerful survival cooldowns:
> Feint (with Glyph of Feint) reduces your damage taken from AoE attacks by 50% for 7 seconds. With the Tier 3 talent Elusiveness, damage taken from AoE attacks is reduced by 65% and damage taken from all other types of damage attacks is reduced by 30%. Feint has a very low Energy cost and has no cooldown, WHICH MAKES IT YOUR PRIMARY SURVIVAL TOOL (as you can use it whenever you need).

> Cloak of Shadows removes all harmful spell effects on you and makes you resist all spells for 5 seconds, on a 1-minute cooldown. This 5-second window consists of 2 seconds of immunity against spells (both damage and application of harmful effects) followed by 3 seconds during which spells will miss you. Some fight mechanics can only be bypassed during the first two seconds (e.g., Ionization against Jin'rokh the Breaker in Heroic mode).

> Evasion increases your dodge chance by 100% for 10 seconds, on a 2-minute cooldown. It should be used whenever you receive physical damage that can be dodged (e.g., Ji-Kun's Quills or Sha of Fear's Death Blossom) or when you have to tank an add. The cooldown of Evasion can be reset with Preparation.

> Combat Readiness causes you to take 50% less damage from melee attacks. The damage reduction builds up gradually by stacks of 10%, until you have 5 stacks. Each enemy hit grants you a stack. The effect lasts 20 seconds, but it is removed after 10 seconds without receiving melee attacks.

> Growl (given by Druids through Symbiosis) increases your armor by 330%, your stamina by 20% and renders you immune to critical attacks for 30 seconds, on a 3-minutes cooldown. In addition, it makes you taunt your target, but this effect rarely works against raid bosses.

> Smoke Bomb reduces damage taken by your raid by 20% on a 8 yard radius during 5 seconds (7 seconds with Glyph of Smoke Bomb). It is the only raid cooldown you have. You can use Smoke Bomb to force ranged enemies to come to melee range or to prevent those inside the smoke to be targeted by mechanics.

9. Consumables

Food: You should always eat food that gives you Agility.
You will be granted:
> 300 Agility by Sea Mist Rice Noodles, Seasoned Pomfruit Slices, or Pandaren Treasure Noodle Soup;
> 275 Agility by Valley Stir Fry, Deluxe Noodle Soup, Banquet of the Wok, or Great Banquet of the Wok;
> 250 Agility by Sauteed Carrots, Noodle Soup, or any of other banquets.
Flask: Your flask should be a Flask of Spring Blossoms.
Potion: During the encounter, your best choice for a potion will be Virmen's Bite.

10. Macros

>Mashable Stealth

Code:

#showtooltip
/cast [nocombat] !Stealth

A spammable macro which will not unstealth you, no matter how much you spam it.

>Mount/Sprint

Code:

#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift] Sprint
/use [nomod, flyable] Flying Mount; [nomod] Ground Mount

Uses your flying mount if you are able to fly, if not, it will use your ground mount. Casts Sprint while holding shift.

>Vanish/Stealth

Code:

#showtooltip
/stopattack
/cast [combat] Vanish; [nocombat] Stealth

Casts Vanish only in youre in combat, and casts Stealth if you’re out of combat.

>Tricks of the Trade

Code:

#showtooltip
/cast [@focus, help, nodead]; Tricks of the Trade; [@targettarget, help, nodead] Tricks of the Trade; Tricks of the Trade

Casts TotT at your focus if you have one, at your enemys target if its targeting an ally, or on the targeted party member.

>Tricks of the Trade (mouseover)

Code:

#showtooltip Tricks of the Trade
/cast [@mouseover] Tricks of the Trade

This macro will cast Tricks of the Trade on your mouse over target.

>Tricks of the Trade (focus)

Code:

#showtooltip Tricks of the Trade
/cast [@focus] Tricks of the Trade

This macro will cast Tricks of the Trade at your focus. This can be useful if you prefer this over the mouseover option.

>Tricks of the Trade (mouseover & focus)

Code:

#showtooltip Tricks of the Trade
/cast [@mouseover, help] [@focus, help] [@targettarget, help] Tricks of the Trade

This macro combines the two macros from above. Also, if you have no mouseover target and no focus, then it casts Tricks of the Trade on your target's target (who is most likely going to be the tank if you are targeting the boss).

>Kick (with modifier)

Code:

/cast [mod:ctrl,@focus] Kick; Kick

This macro casts Kick at your target. If you are pressing Control, it casts Kick at your focus, instead.
Other modifiers: shift, alt.

>Kick (with focus)

Code:

#showtooltip Kick
/cast [target=focus, exists] Kick; Kick;

This macro casts Kick at your target. If you have a focus set, it instead casts it at your focus target. (Useful in situations. e.g. ToeS – Protectors)

>Emergency heal

Code:

#showtooltip Recuperate
/use Healthstone
/use Master Healing Potion
/cast Recuperate

This macro is very useful in dangerous situations where you need to heal up fast, if one of the healers cannot reach you. It uses the warlock Healthstone, a Master Healing Potion, and your Recuperate.

>Blind

Code:

#showtooltip Blind
/cast [mod:shift, harm, nodead] Blind;[@focus, harm, nodead] Blind; [@target, harm, nodead] Blind

Will Blind a living enemy focus, or living enemy target without a focus, or living enemy target if you have a focus with shift.

>Kidney Shot/Gouge

Code:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast [mod:shift] Gouge; Kidney Shot

Casts Kidney Shot or Gouge with shift. Will also start autoattacks even if you don't have the energy/combo points for the ability. Gouge will turn off autoattacks.

Assassination macros:
>Vendetta/Stealth

Code:

#showtooltip
/cast [nocombat] !Stealth
/cast [stealth] Vendetta; [combat] Vendetta

Casts Stealth if you’re able to. Casts Vendetta only if you’re in Stealth or in combat.

>Burst macro

Code:

#showtooltip
/cast Vendetta
/cast Shadow Blades
/use (link the gloves if you have Synapse Springs)
/use (link your “use trinket”)

Given the great synergy between Vendetta and Shadow Blades, it is highly recommended to use them together, in a macro, along with your Synapse Springs (if you have Engineering), and on use trinket.

>Mutilate macro

Code:

#showtooltip Mutilate
/startattack
/cast Mutilate

This is useful for switching targets if you have Stop Auto Attack checked in the Interface > Combat menu (it is unchecked by default). If you do not have enough Energy to start casting Mutilate, you will at least start auto-attacking.

>Mutilate/Backstab

Code:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast [mod:shift] Backstab; Mutilate

Mutilates or Backstabs for below 35% with shift. Will also start autoattacks even if you don't have energy for the ability

>Envenom/Rupture

Code:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast [mod:shift] Rupture; Envenom

Envenoms or Ruptures when you need to reapply with shift. Will also start autoattacks even if you don't have the energy/combo points for the ability.

Combat macros
>Burst Macro

Code:

#showtooltip Adrenaline Rush
/use Virmen's Bite
/cast Adrenaline Rush
/cast Shadow Blades
/use (link gloves)

This macro will make use of your potion first, then Adrenaline Rush & Shadow Blades, and your gloves with Synapse Springs. This is extremely useful after Bloodlust is cast.

>Killing Spree

Code:

#showtooltip Killing Spree
/use (link gloves)
/use (link Use trinket)
/cast Killing Spree

Similar to the one above, this macro casts Killing Spree after using your Synpase Springs from your gloves, or a potion.

Subtlety macros
>Multipurpose macro

Code:

#showtooltip Shadowstep
/cast [nocombat] !Stealth
/cast Premeditation
/cast [stealth] Shadowstep; [combat] Shadowstep
/cast [stealth] Sap; [combat] Backstab

Casts Stealth if you’re able to. Casts Premeditation if you’re able to. Casts Shadowstep only if you’re in Stealth or in combat, and will Sap while in Stealth or Backstab while in combat. You could also swap out Backstab for Kidney Shot/Dismantle/etc to ensure that the ability will land.

>Hemo/Backstab

Code:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast [mod:shift] Hemorrhage; Backstab

Starts your autoattack along with Backstab. Casts Hemorrhage while holding shift.

11. Addons

Addon Control Pannel - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/acp/809374
ACP adds the "Addons" button to the game's main menu (The one you get when you hit ESC). It allows you to manage your addons in game, with an interface which looks similar to the blizzard addon manager.

Atlas Loot Enhanced - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/atlasloot-enhanced/792691
AtlasLoot Enhanced is an UI mod allowing for loot tables of bosses to be browsed whenever needed within the game.

Bandit’s Guile Helper - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/bandits-guile-helper/707336
This Addon supports Combat Rogues to have a better view on Bandit's Guile Status. It shows the internal number of the single stages and displays a countdown for the last stage.

Elphie’s Interrupt Say - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/iinterruptedthat/733100
This addons announces whenever you interrupt a spell, in any channel you choose it to do so.

ElvUI - https://www.wow-freakz.com/addons/elvui-6.9997-7dg2o6x67exia3cz7b7lhkvx2zeph3lg-78.zip
A popular UI addon, which comes with a wide array of customizable options.

gUI - https://www.wow-freakz.com/addons/gUI-v3-Release-r174-ni7weqnze1s15z0u0o3av8u742tvl971-79.zip
A popular UI addon, which comes with a wide array of customizable options.

Deadly Boss Mods - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/deadly-boss-mods/812329
A must-have for any PvE player, providing on-screen key information about any boss fight.

Fatality - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/fatality/790183
Addon which announces in chat when a player dies and what caused it.

Looter - http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info9284-Looter.html#info
Addon which makes it easier to manage loot.

Mik Scrolling Battle Text - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/mik-scrolling-battle-text/734888
MSBT is designed to be an extremely lightweight, efficient, and highly configurable mod that makes it easier to see combat information by scrolling the information on the screen in separate, dynamically creatable scroll areas. It is a replacement for Blizzard's Floating Combat Text and Damage output.

OmniCC - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/omni-cc/758201
OmniCC is an addon that adds text to items, spell and abilities that are on cooldown to indicate when they will be ready to use. In other words: it turns all the standard analogue cooldowns into digital ones.

Rogue Power Bars - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/rpb-20/617218
Addon for showing resizable bars to track a rogue’s important buffs and debuffs.

RSA (Raeli's Spell Announcer) - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/rsa/764243
RSA, Raeli's Spell Announcer, by Raeli of Arathor-EU (Now Maintained by Jenneth), is an addon that aims to help players with the announcement of certain spells, as well as reminding you of important missing buffs.

Simple iLevel - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/simple-ilevel/795099
Simple iLevel shows the Average Item Level (AiL) of people you target or who are in your group in the tooltip. There are many checks in place to make sure you aren't repeatedly scanning their gear when it isn't required.

Skada - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/skada/794191
Skada is a modular damage meter with various viewing modes. It is inspired mainly by Assessment, but also by Recount.

TellMeWhen - http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/tellmewhen/799328
TellMeWhen provides visual, auditory, and textual notifications about cooldowns, buffs, and pretty much every other element of combat.

12. Videos

Assassination Rogue Dps Guide 5.4
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Nvp6YmJhgeI:

Combat Rogue Dps Guide 5.4
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hmwjYi4jbFE:

Subtlety Rogue Dps Guide 5.4
https://youtube.com/watch?v=P2QFV2m488Y:

Tell Me When Advanced Setup
https://youtube.com/watch?v=43ThiwAGtzo:

WoW Keybinding Guide https://youtube.com/watch?v=kZLPzCuejWQ:

Hansol’s PvP Keybinding Guide
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5R5rBBeU9TI:

Evylyn - 5.4 Subtlety & Assassination Rogue Spec Rotation macros - PVP guide
https://youtube.com/watch?v=8nA5xqpxJO4:

Swifty Rogue 1 Shot Macro
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZLKW-b6xhpw:

Garuda - Combat Rogue Guide
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fdbw8b10RTU:

13. Sources

WoW Freakz Database

Preach Gaming

WoWhead guides

Elitist Jerks

Engadget

Methodwow

MoP-veins

Skill-capped

Roguebuilds.com

Wowwiki

Mmo-champion

Shadowpanther.net

| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |

silentcontrol · Posted: 09-12-2015, 21:23:15 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

super! De fapt scuze, nu e. E foarte super!

Ventress90 · Last edited by Ventress90 on 31-12-2015, 10:20:59; edited 2 times in total

Thank you!

It's nearly complete, I just need to figure out how to link the Structure with the body of the guide, to make it easier to move around.
So the links aren't currently working.

EDIT: The links are working now! Enjoy!

| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |

xboy_xero · Posted: 09-12-2015, 21:37:01 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Nicely done. Congratz!

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/twisting-nether/X%C3%A9rofour/advanced

Devillish · Posted: 09-12-2015, 22:35:13 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Fain.

Ashcool · Posted: 10-12-2015, 00:36:15 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Great job, Ventress!
Keep it up.

Ashcool - TEMPORARY UNAVAILABLE - Please contact Denim.

ryangg · Posted: 10-12-2015, 08:39:27 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Great job with the guide its nice to see fellow rogues from time to time..since myself started playing rogue 7 years ago

Woozy · Posted: 10-12-2015, 12:08:00 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

This guide looks great! Congrats Ventress!

LethalFactorLK · Posted: 10-12-2015, 12:22:19 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

A very well done in-depth guide. Good job

Ventress90 · Posted: 10-12-2015, 13:09:09 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Thank you for your kind words, everyone. I appreciate it very much

| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |

Atzone · Posted: 14-12-2015, 10:09:48 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Nice guide, but for combat spec, all rogues that i know, are playing Rupturless rotation.

Ashcool · Posted: 14-12-2015, 10:42:52 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Thats mainly because ruptureless rotation is much easier and is only like 1-3% dps loss.

Ashcool - TEMPORARY UNAVAILABLE - Please contact Denim.

Ventress90 · Posted: 14-12-2015, 12:47:28 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Precisely. Rupture can be useful in some situations, but most people agree that it is not a necessary thing to be added in your rotation.

You can cast Rupture whenever you need to move away from the boss, and deal with some adds. It helps. And there are other situations too.

I like adding Rupture in my rotation because it makes a Combat rogue a bit more harder to play.

| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |

Atzone · Posted: 14-12-2015, 13:12:30 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

i used to play rupture rotation, but i dident see any dps difference between rupture and ruptureless at low ilvl, so i will test again now.

Ventress90 · Posted: 14-12-2015, 13:52:29 | Translate post to: ... (Click for more languages)

Atzone wrote:

i used to play rupture rotation, but i dident see any dps difference between rupture and ruptureless at low ilvl, so i will test again now.

You'll most likely see a +2% or +3% in your DPS.

| The COMPLETE Rogue PvE guide | Legendary Cloak Questline - GUIDE |