Subtlety Rogue Raid Guide (2024)

Tier Set

• 2-Set: Using Eviscerate, Rupture, or Black Powder has a chance to summon a shadow clone to echo your finishing move for 70% additional Shadow damage.
• 4-Set: Your shadow clones deal 20% increased damage with all attacks and grant you 2 combo points per clone when summoned.

The Tier bonuses for Subtlety Rogue are mainly passive but there is an interaction with Secret Technique and the 4-Set. Secret Technique spawns 2 clones allowing it to generate 4 combo points.

Single-Target

Opener Rotation

• Your main goal with your cooldowns as a Subtlety Rogue is stacking as many of them as possible for maximum burst potential. There are a few priorities and rules when it comes to using your cooldowns as efficiently as possible.

• Use your active trinkets, Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power and racials like Blood Fury together with Shadow Blades

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

The rotational priority for Subtlety Rogue changes based on whether you have Shadow Dance active or not:

Shadow Dance Priority

1. Cast Eviscerate or Black Powder if above 5 combo points and Secret Technique if 3+ Danse Macabre stacks.
2. Cast Shadowstrike if under 5 combo points.

No Shadow Dance Priority

1. Cast Slice and Dice if it's not active.
2. Cast Rupture inside of a pandemic window (30% of the spell's original duration).
3. Cast Eviscerate or Black Powder if above 6 combo points.
4. Cast Shuriken Tornado if neither Shadow Blades or Shadow Dance are active.
5. Cast Backstab.

Cooldown Usage

1. Cast Flagellation with 6+ combo points or if your next spell would be Shuriken Tornado in AoE. You typically hold this for Shadow Blades.
2. Shadow Blades is typically used together with your next spell after Flagellation.
3. Cast Symbols of Death on cooldown except if the buff is already active with more than 3 seconds left to not waste duration if you reset its cooldown with Invigorating Shadowdust
4. Sepsis is used with Shadow Blades except if you are talented into Invigorating Shadowdust.
5. Thistle Tea is normally paired with your Shadow Dance to buff your finisher damage. The most optimal usage is for it to give you energy and buff your Shadow Dance damage at the same time.
6. Shadow Dance is almost always used together with Symbols of Death. Exceptions may come, for example, if you play Dark Brew over Invigorating Shadowdust.
7. Use Vanish together with Invigorating Shadowdust when all of Symbols of Death, Shadow Dance, Flagellation, Shadow Blades, Shuriken Tornado in AoE and Secret Technique is on cooldown.
8. Use Vanish without Invigorating Shadowdust when you are not in Shadow Dance with low combo points.

Multi Target

2 Target Opener Rotation

• Below, you see an example of how your opener looks like using the recommended Multi-Target talent spec.

• Your opener for single-target and 2 targets does not change at all, the only difference is the Replicating Shadows talent applying Rupture to both of your targets.

2 and 3 Target Priority List

• The 2 and 3 target priority remains the same as single-target, except for keeping your Rupture active on all important targets and replacing Backstab with Shuriken Storm as your main builder. Furthermore, for 3 or more targets, replace Eviscerate with Black Powder as your main finisher.

4+ Targets Opener Rotation

• Depending on how fast you need to pop your cooldowns, consider spreading a few more Ruptures, this varies based on the situation but it is recommended to keep Rupture on as many targets as you can.
• Depending on the number of targets, you might not reach full combo points after every Shuriken Tornado tick. This means that if you land at 4 combo points before your Secret Technique is supposed to be used, you would instead wait for the next tick of Shuriken Tornado and then use Secret Technique.

4+ Target Priority List

Similarly to 2 or 3 target priority, you replace Backstab with Shuriken Storm and Eviscerate with Black Powder.

The biggest switch-up from having fewer targets is that your combo point generation is significantly higher. Additionally, aim to keep Rupture active on as many priority targets as possible.

Invigorating Shadowdust Optimizations

• Invigorating Shadowdust is a very "love it or hate it" talent because of its many ways to be played depending on fight timers. It can be very confusing starting out as a Subtlety Rogue with this talent due to the high APM and the importance of pressing the right spells in your cooldown windows.
• Invigorating Shadowdust is unique because it allows you to adjust your playstyle based on where you need your damage the most, adding both complexity and a strategic element. This means you need to thoughtfully plan your cooldowns ahead of time, especially for boss encounters, to optimize your performance.

Eviscerate vs Black Powder

• When to use Eviscerate over Black Powder might seem obvious or easy if you simply refer to your priority. However, the reality is not as black and white.
• A lot of people who play Subtlety Rogue see a bunch of targets and instantly start pressing Black Powder without much thought behind it, however, there are situations where you would want to press Eviscerate, even if at the cost of DPS.
• Priority damage to your main targets is often more useful than so called "pad damage" to targets of lesser importance, which is your main consideration when deciding what finisher you opt to use.

Understanding Secret Technique

• Secret Technique is your hardest hitting spell, so it's important that you understand how it works and some common mistakes.
• Secret Technique has an initial instant damage part and two delayed shadow clone attacks, one of them being delayed by 1 second and the other by 1.3 seconds. To clarify, this means that the latest time you can press Secret Technique to get its damage in your Shadow Dance window is 1.3 seconds before it ends. This is very important since you lose a lot of damage not getting the damage inside of your Shadow Dance.

Understanding Danse Macabre

• Danse Macabre is very straightforward in its function. However, there are a few misconceptions about how to maximize its effectiveness. Although it may be tempting to gain as many stacks as possible before using your Secret Technique, this is typically not the best approach. Instead, focus less on the number of stacks and more on your order of operations.
• For most scenarios, Secret Technique should either be your first or second finisher in Shadow Dance during your cooldowns. Otherwise, it can become too delayed for the next time you want to use it. Additionally, it might end up being cast too late, causing it to miss the damage buff from Shadow Dance, which was mentioned in the previous segment.

Understanding Mechanics

Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.

• Pandemic
• Spell Queue Window
• Stat Diminishing Returns

Vault, Aberrus & Amirdrassil

The current focus is on the relevant bosses from Season 4, covering important aspects such as talent specs, cooldown management, and other crucial details. For the upcoming Raid in "The War Within," you receive a comprehensive look at all the bosses in the next update.

← Scroll for more Bosses →

Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Raid boss fights as a Subtlety Rogue. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.

• All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!

Tertiary

• Avoidance - Avoidance works similarly to Feint, as it provides you with passive AoE damage reduction. However, due to the significant amount of avoidance you already receive from Feint, it loses value compared to other classes.
• Leech - Leech is a great stat to help you maintain Blue silken lining uptime and stay alive in general.
• Speed - Speed is the worst out of the three tertiary stats because you are already very fast, it is of course better than nothing.

Trinkets

Below you can find active and passive alternatives to the recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the scenario.

Active Trinket alternatives

• Ashes of the Embersoul
  • This is your strongest active trinket option and should always be used if possible.
• Manic Grieftorch
  • This is your second best option for most scenarios, this trinket offers a massive amount of burst damage and its cooldown is reduced by 90 seconds whenever somebody in your group dies.
• Irideus Fragment
  • This is a decent option if you got unlucky with loot and are low on bullions.

Passive Trinket alternatives

• Spiteful Storm
  • Very strong alternative to Manic Grieftorch
• Whispering Incarnate Icon
  • Is better or worse depending on how many people in your Raid are using it.
• Cataclysmic Signet Brand
  • Good single-target trinket on long encounters such as Fyrakk or Raszageth.
• Ominous Chromatic Essence
  • Is better or worse depending on how many different buffs your raid has active.

Simcraft

To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.

• 2x Blue Silken Lining
  • It doesn't matter too much which slot you craft out of Bracers, Boots, Belt, Neck or Ring. Sim your own character and replace whichever slots are your weakest slots.

• 1x Blue Silken Lining 1x Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch
  • This is another strong alternative, as it lets you proc your rings more frequently. Both of the embellishment options are viable, and the difference between them is very small. However, Blue Silken Lining becomes increasingly valuable with more targets and higher uptime.

Remaining Sparks

• Make sure to apply Alchemical Flavor Pocket if you have an additional crafted item equipped.
• Crafted items are 525 item level and regular items are 528 on max item level therefor it's not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.

Phials

• Phial of Tepid Versatility This is your default Phial for most cases. It provides versatility which boosts both your damage and survivability.
• Iced Phial of Corrupting Rage This Phial is a solid alternative. It does however come with a downside, because of that, consider using this in trivial content.

Food

• Great Cerulean Sea Is your food of choice for all content. It's better than main stat food so don't eat a feast even if your party members put one down.

Combat Potion

• Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power
• Residual Neural Channeling Agent
  • Can be used while being dead if your potion is ready.

Health Potion

• Dreamwalker's Healing Potion This is the recommended potion for most scenarios.
• Potion of Withering Dreams This potion is more situational. You are well off only using the Dreamwalker's Healing Potion potion if you don't feel like adding an extra keybind for situational occurrences.

Weapon Rune

• Hissing Rune

Augment Rune

• Dreambound Augment Rune -- Requires Reputation
• Draconic Augment Rune

Sockets

• Skillful Illimited Diamond -- Unique, made by work order
• Zen Neltharite

For min-maxing a Subtlety Rogue in raiding, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your characters. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.

• Stoneform -- Dwarf
  • Can dispel Magic and Bleed debuffs. Has been useful in the past on some bosses with Bleeds.
• Bull Rush -- Highmountain Tauren
  • Charge forward and stun enemies for 1.5 seconds, not the most useful ability for raiding but you do get access to Mountaineer which is a passive versatility increase.
• Blood Fury --Orc
  • Strong racial for damage thanks to your Shadow Blades being a 2 minute cooldown.
• War Stomp -- Tauren
  • Typically not the most useful spell for raiding but similar to dwarf, the Brawn Passive is the main reason why Tauren is a strong dps race.
• Spatial Rift -- Void Elf
  • This ability can be quite nice as it acts similar to blink that you first shoot out as a projectile, then re-activate to teleport to the projectile's location. However, the reason why it's a strong dps race is Entropic Embrace.
• Will to Survive -- Human
  • There are rarely any good use cases for this spell but it can happen. The main reason why human is a strong choice is thanks to the The Human Spirit passive.

Recommendation

In general, it's safe to say that if you care about min-maxing your DPS you should go with the highest DPS racial. That being said the story is a bit different if it's about progression raiding. Some help out massively to speed up the progression of certain bosses. Notably Dwarf with their Stoneform helped out on Tindral Sageswift & Fyrakk the Blazing in the latest Race to World First by having easy access to dispelling yourself at crucial points of the fights mentioned.

Discover recommended macros for Subtlety Rogues during Raid encounters and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.

Macro Import Guide Video

#showtooltip Rupture/cast [target=mouseover,harm,exists,nodead] rupture; rupture

#showtooltip Kidney Shot/use [@mouseover,exists][]Kidney Shot

/focus [@mouseover,exists][]

Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Subtlety Rogue, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Raids to make your life easier.

Credits

Written By: Kush

Reviewed By: Perfecto