Assassination Rogue WotLK Guide
Assassination Rogue DPS guide for WotLK 3.3.5a: rotation, cooldowns, the 51/13/7 talent build, glyphs, stat priority and BiS gear for ICC and Ruby Sanctum.
Assassination is the poison Rogue. It bleeds and poisons the target, and it turns those two into a steady stream of damage that is strong on long single-target fights. It brings a strong raid debuff through Master Poisoner, the Tricks of the Trade damage buff, and the same crowd control and defensive tools as the other Rogue specs.
This guide covers the priority, the poisons, the cooldowns, the talents and glyphs we run, the stats to reach and the mistakes that cost the most. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short overview is in the class guide.
1.How the Assassination Rogue plays
The spec rests on three things you keep up: Hunger for Blood, Slice and Dice and Rupture. Hunger for Blood needs a bleed on the target, and Rupture gives it one. When those are up, you build combo points with Mutilate and spend them on Envenom, which consumes the poison you have applied and deals damage for it.
Your poisons are a real part of your damage. Deadly Poison is your main poison, and Instant Poison on the other weapon is the usual pair. Learn to keep your poisons and your finishers in step, and to use Cold Blood on an Envenom so the finisher lands as a critical hit.
2.Rotation and priorities
- Slice and DiceKeep it up. It is the attack speed buff of the class.
- RuptureKeep it on the target. It is the bleed that keeps Hunger for Blood active.
- Hunger for BloodKeep it up. It increases all of your damage.
- EnvenomAs your finisher, at four or five combo points.
- MutilateYour builder. It does more damage against a poisoned target.
- CooldownsUse Cold Blood on an Envenom, and Vanish to reset your energy and open with a strong hit.
Keep an eye on your energy, and do not let it cap. If Slice and Dice, Rupture and Hunger for Blood are all up, spend energy on the builder and the finisher and never let a buff run out just to press one more button.
3.Cooldowns and raid utility
Assassination has fewer damage cooldowns than Combat, and the poison and bleed uptime carries most of the damage.
Makes your next damaging ability a critical hit. Use it on an Envenom for the largest gain.
Lets you disappear and reopen with a strong attack, and Overkill gives you extra energy after you leave stealth. Use it when it is safe for the fight.
Gives a damage increase to another player and the threat goes to them. The raid leader will tell you who.
A large increase to your dodge. Your personal defensive cooldown.
Removes harmful magic effects and gives spell resistance. Learn which fights ask for it.
Reduces the damage you take from area attacks and reduces your threat. Useful on fights with a lot of area damage.
4.Talents and glyphs
Our recommended Assassination build is the 51/13/7 with Mutilate in the calculator, and there are variants for a deeper Combat hybrid and for Blade Flurry. The talents that define the spec are Hunger for Blood, Mutilate, Master Poisoner, Cut to the Chase, Overkill and Cold Blood.
The major glyphs are Mutilate, Hunger for Blood and Tricks of the Trade.
Enrages you, increasing all damage caused by 5%. Requires a bleed effect to be active on the target. Lasts 1 min.
Requires Daggers. Instantly attacks with both weapons for 100% weapon damage plus 44 with each weapon. Damage is increased by 20% against Poisoned targets. Awards 2 combo points.
Increases the critical hit chance of all attacks made against any target you have poisoned by 3%, reduces the duration of all Poison effects applied to you by 50%, and gives Envenom a 100% chance not to consume Deadly Poison.
Your Eviscerate and Envenom abilities have a 100% chance to refresh your Slice and Dice duration to its 5 combo point maximum.
While stealthed, and for 20 seconds after breaking stealth, you regenerate 30% additional energy.
When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next offensive ability by 100%.
Reduces the cost of Mutilate by 5 energy.
Increases the bonus damage from Hunger For Blood by 3%.
The bonus damage and threat redirection granted by your Tricks of the Trade ability lasts an additional 4 sec.
5.Stats, gems and gear
Assassination wants hit, then expertise, then critical strike, then attack power, then haste and armor penetration. The hit and expertise caps are the same as for the other Rogue specs.
The best weapons are daggers, which are needed for Mutilate, and the BiS list below shows the strongest options for the tier. Poisons are a real expense, so keep a stack of them in your bags.
- Hit (poison threshold)
- Expertise
- Agility
- Armor Penetration
Poison hit threshold (~315 as a rough guide)
Depends on Precision talent points and raid hit debuffs — this needs calculating per exact talent/raid setup rather than one universal number.
26 expertise (214 rating base)
Reduced by racials.
Valuable, but less central than for Combat
Blood Fury is the standard pick. Axe Specialization also covers fist weapons (+5 expertise), which matters for Combat fist builds — daggers get nothing from it.
Sword / Mace Specialization suits Combat sword builds with +3 expertise; Every Man for Himself for utility. Night Elf’s Quickness (+2% dodge) is DPS-neutral flavour.
Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings *
Scourgeborne Waraxe
Fal'inrush, Defender of Quel'thalas
Sharpened Twilight Scale
Deathbringer's Will
Sanctified Shadowblade Helmet
Ikfirus's Sack of Wonder
6.Common mistakes
• Letting Hunger for Blood or Rupture fall off.
• Using Envenom at low combo points and wasting the poison.
• Sitting at capped energy.
• Not applying your poisons before the pull.
• Using Cold Blood on a builder instead of on a finisher.
7.On the bosses
Assassination is at its best on long single-target fights. A few notes:
Use Cloak of Shadows where the raid plan asks for it, and keep your bleeds up on the target you are assigned.
A long single-target fight, and your bleeds and poisons do the work. Watch the breaths.
Keep your finishers up through the transitions. See the Lich King guide.
Follow the raid leader's plan for your realm and your target. See the Ruby Sanctum guide.
8.Questions people ask
Yes, especially on long single-target fights, and it brings a poison debuff to the raid.
Deadly Poison on the main weapon and Instant Poison on the other is the usual pair.
A bleed on the target. Rupture gives it one.
Yes. Mutilate needs daggers.