Subtlety Rogue DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Subtlety Rogue abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2.5).

Single Target

Start in Stealth with Instant Poison applied.

Use when >5 combo points, Shadow Blades ready, and Symbols Of Death & Shadow Dance charges align.
Use with Shadow Dance.
Use during Flagellation and Shadow Dance.
Use at 6+ combo points during Shadow Dance when Darkest Night is active.
Use during Shadow Dance with Cold Blood if Shadow Blades is active.
Maintain if <9 seconds remaining.
Primary builder during Shadow Dance.
Use outside Shadow Dance or when Premeditation is active.

Begin in Stealth with Instant Poison. Use Flagellation during optimal cooldown alignment, followed by Symbols Of Death and Shadow Dance. Spend combo points on Eviscerate or Secret Technique during burst windows, and maintain Rupture uptime.

AoE

Start in Stealth with Instant Poison applied.

Use when >6 combo points, Shadow Blades ready, and Symbols Of Death & Shadow Dance charges align.
Use with Shadow Dance.
Use during Flagellation and Shadow Dance.
Use during Shadow Dance with Cold Blood if Shadow Blades is active.
Use at 6+ combo points with 4+ targets.
Primary builder during Shadow Dance with 4+ targets.
Use as builder during Shadow Dance with fewer targets.
Use outside Shadow Dance or when Premeditation is active.

Start in Stealth with Instant Poison. Use Flagellation during cooldown alignment, followed by Symbols Of Death and Shadow Dance. Spend combo points on Black Powder for 4+ targets or Secret Technique during burst. Build with Shuriken Storm or Shadowstrike based on target count.

Cooldowns

Use during cooldown alignment for burst.
Pair with Flagellation and Shadow Dance.
Use with Shadow Dance for energy regeneration.
Use during Symbols Of Death for max DPS.
Use with Secret Technique during Shadow Blades.

Align Flagellation, Shadow Blades, and Symbols Of Death for burst phases. Use Shadow Dance frequently during Symbols Of Death, and pair Cold Blood with Secret Technique for optimal damage.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

Single-Button Assistant
Assisted Highlight
Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.