This post contains info for specs prior to patch 3.1. It will be left here for reference, but for updated specs please click here

 

This article is our compilation of the rogue specs that we feel are currently most viable. With the expansion came an additional ten talent points, allowing for increased diversity and ambiguity in what comprises the best specs. Whereas in the past things were more rigid and only certain specs excelled, things seem to be less clear and more based on preference. You can be a lot more flexible when trying to choose a good spec.

Bellow are the current specs we consider viable. This list will be updated and expanded as the game evolves and develops.

MUTILATE

Mutilate went from a somewhat underwhelming and under-utilized Burning crusade spec to a contender in both PvE and PvP as a top spec. Hunger for Blood is an optimal PvE talent, and speccing around it provides one of the best builds for sustained dps in a level 80 raiding environment. In pvp regards, mutilate preparation hybrid spec will be one of the most versatile and strongest specs entering into season 5.

PvE Mutilate

51 / 13 / 7

Talent Options - If you have a crit buff in your raid group, get 3/3 Turn the Tables. If you do not, then get 3/3 master poisoner. For content such as Naxx, murder is useless as the majority of the mobs are undead. Instead you can pick up fleet footed or quick recovery. Another option is moving the point from vigor to ruthlessness. This will offer more sustained dps for single target encounters, but for encounters where you are mobile and there is downtime for your energy to regen to full, vigor is superior.

Preparation Mutilate

4x / 5 / 2x

Talent Options – The basis of this spec is assassination down to mutilate and subtlety down to preparation and dirty deeds. This leaves you with 2 spare talent points. Focused attacks is essential to the strength of this spec, so we see a choice between filling out find weakness, going 2/3 find weakness and picking up 2/2 Heightened Sense, or putting 3/3 find weakness and putting this talent elsewhere. This comes down to preference. Also, you can choose between improved eviscerate, ruthlessness, and vile poisons. Personally I feel eviscerate is stronger at the moment as burst is essential, but as resilience is reintroduced, vile poisons will likely be best when playing with a healer in arena.

COMBAT

Combat is another very strong tree, especially if you value raw damage. Combat remains very competitive in regards to pve encounters. Abilities like blade flurry make combat’s damage unmatched in many PvE encounters. Killing spree has it’s issues but remains extremely strong and has a lot of pvp potential. If the burst style we see dissipates and arena matches resemble that of burning crusade, we can expect combat to have it’s place in high end arena. The combination of nerves of steel and the Persistent Earthsiege Diamond meta should be great for pvp as well, as stuns kill rogues more than anything else.

PvE Combat

15 / 51 / 5

Talent Options – As with mutilate’s pve build, dropping a point in lethality and putting one into vigor is an option for a raid build. Obviously if you are using fists or a fist with an offhand dagger you’ll be putting your points into close quarters combat rather than sword specialization. Endurance is picked up as an optional lower tier talent, this is a prefence choice.

PvE Combat Serrated Blades

7 / 51 / 13

Talent Options – Once again, endurance is optional. The three points in camouflage can be spent in feint as well, and consider the upcoming change to feint:

“Feint ( Rank 8 ) – now reduces the damage taken from area of effect attacks by 50% for 6 seconds in addition to its existing effects.”

it may become a considerably better choice for a pure pve build.

*There isn’t a clear choice between these two builds as it stands, although personally I wouldn’t consider the serrated blades variation of pve combat unless I had an exceptional mace (potentially stacking armor ignore, although this is problematic as armor ignore has become somewhat of a weak damage statistic for rogues).

Deep Combat PvP

11 / 55 / 5

Talent Options – The lower tier assassination talents are very much concerned with preference. If you want to keep Blood Splatter and pick up Imp. Evis, you can drop points in ruthlessness. You could also consider dropping 2 in Blood Splatter for Improved Eviscerate, or going 3/3 Improved Eviscerate and 2/3 Ruthlessness. Lower tier combat talents like endurance and precision can be substituted and interchanged based on playstyle and gear level (ie. if you have excessive hit for PvP precision is less valuable).

SUBTLETY

Subtlety, although a tree that feels somewhat without direction in my view, still has a ton of potential and may end up the strongest PvP spec, particularly in burst arena compositions. Shadowdance is fairly easy to utilize with macros. Backstab still isn’t what many hope it to be, but it’s certainly competetive with hemo in PvP subtlety builds. Many opt for a more comfortable hemhorage and utilize a weapon swap macro, equipping a dagger for the shadow dance and a slower mainhand for other times.

Honor Among Thieves, for one reason or another is bugged in that having multiple rogue with honor among thieves multiplies the talent’s effect. In this it is very much viable, so we’ve included a HaT PvE build for now.

PvE Honor Among Thieves

13 / 15 / 43

Talent Options – This spec is designed specifically for the use of fist or dagger weapons (with a MH first being highly preferred) but with a mace or sword mainhand it is still viable. You change the points from close quarters combat and put them into talents like vigor and slice and dice. You can also move away from assassination if mutli-mob encounters are important to you and go as deep as bladeflurry.

PvP Shadowdance + Hemo Weapon Swap

16 / 0 / 55

Optional Talents – Improved eviscerated, Ruthlessness, Master of Subtlety (which does not apply to Shadow Dance), ghostly strike, deadliness, and setup are all possibilities for this spec. Talents can be moved around fairly easily according to personal preference.

PvP Shadowdance + Backstab

Optional Talents - The same choices that exist for the hemo / weaponswap variation of shadowdance exist for the backstab variation. I feel even moreso that a burst talent such as master of subtlety lends itself to the backstab Sh. Dance because it is more of a burst oriented spec.

The following are some specs that we came up with that we see as being potentially viable on some scale. This will be expanded.

ADDITIONAL SPECS

PvP

Trispec Vigor + Adrenaline Rush + Preparation

11 / 37 / 23

Surprise Attacks Preperation

5 / 43 / 23