WoW Forever Rogue guide: Assassination, Combat and Subtlety talents

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The Rogue preview makes its three branches distinct through the resource they spend. Assassination turns poisoned targets into stronger Mutilate and Venom windows. Combat turns finishing moves into cooldown reduction and changes attacks by weapon type. Subtlety connects stealth openers and Rupture to a later energy discount. Blizzard confirms Rogue as a shared class option for both factions of the Skyborne; the checked recaps do not publish Rogue-specific talents. The observed Wowhead calculator supplies the branch details.

The three Rogue trees

The calculator displayed 51 points available. Blizzard’s Deep Dive recap confirms the 11-, 16-, 21- and 31-point milestones while retaining the familiar row structure. The named final-row talents and prerequisites above show the observed routes through each branch without choosing one for you.

Assassination: poison state and two-point attacks

The observed Assassination tree names poison as a condition for its core attack. Mutilate attacks with both weapons, awards two Combo Points and deals more damage against poisoned targets. Venom requires Mutilate and temporarily increases poison damage and the chance to apply poisons. Its duration grows with Combo Points.

The surrounding nodes reinforce that link. Improved Poisons raises application chance and can avoid consuming a poison charge. Vile Poisons increases poison damage and adds resistance to dispel effects. Seal Fate can add an extra Combo Point when an ability that generates points critically strikes. Improved Kidney Shot raises poison and attack damage against targets stunned by Kidney Shot.

For a player comparing Assassination, the core interaction is a poisoned target feeding Mutilate, then Venom with a duration scaled by Combo Points; Improved Poisons and Seal Fate add support around that link.

Combat: finishers reduce cooldowns

Combat’s distinctive node is Restless Blades. Damaging finishing moves reduce the remaining cooldown of Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry, Evasion, Sprint and Vanish by two seconds per Combo Point. Adrenaline Rush is the final-row talent and raises Energy regeneration for its duration.

The branch also makes weapon type visible. Blade Flurry increases melee attack speed and makes melee attacks strike a nearby opponent. Hack and Slash gives different benefits for Axe/Sword, Dagger/Fist and Mace weapons. Weapon Expertise requires Blade Flurry and lowers the chance for attacks to be Dodged or Parried. Dual Wield Specialization requires three Precision points and raises off-hand damage.

Combat therefore combines finisher-driven cooldown reduction with weapon-specific and off-hand choices.

Subtlety: stealth openers and Rupture ticks

Subtlety begins with Camouflage, Master of Deception and Opportunity. Initiative can add a Combo Point after Ambush, Garrote or Cheap Shot. Premeditation adds two Combo Points with a short window to use them, while Preparation resets other Rogue ability cooldowns and gates Thousand Cuts.

The deeper branch changes how a bleed pays back. Serrated Blades increases armor penetration and Rupture damage. Hemorrhage requires three Serrated Blades points and makes the target take more Rupture damage. Thousand Cuts makes each Rupture periodic tick reduce the Energy cost of the next Hemorrhage or Backstab, stacking up to five times. Quietus requires two points in Dirty Deeds and raises the damage of selected builders against targets below 35% health. Cutthroat can let a Backstab enable an Ambush without Stealth.

For a player comparing Subtlety, the branch connects stealth openers to Combo Points, Rupture ticks to a lower builder cost and Quietus to a below-35% health window.

What Blizzard has confirmed, and what remains open

The What’s Next recap lists Rogue among the classes available to both factions of the Skyborne. The Deep Dive recap does not publish a complete Rogue talent list, weapon table or tested role comparison. The Rogue calculator and observed data response provide the tree names, talent descriptions and prerequisite links used here.

Wowhead says the calculator was reconstructed from BlizzCon testing and streams before beta data was available for datamining, and that damage numbers may vary. Beta verification is required before the poison, cooldown and Rupture links can support a build recommendation.

Use the Rogue class page and Forever class index for the roster. The Hunter guide covers another class with explicit melee and ranged branches, while the Warrior guide follows Rage, weapon and stance-linked effects. The character-creation overview lists Skyborne faction paths and the six new race-and-class combinations.

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