Subtlety Rogue DPS Guide (Legion 7.3.5)

Welcome to our Subtlety Rogue DPS guide for World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing a Subtlety Rogue in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Gray_Hound, a Subtlety Rogue and theorycrafter who raids in Strawberry Puppy Kisses. You can find him on Twitch and Twitter.

1. Class Overview

Subtlety has received an array of changes in Legion, altering both their core identity and their strengths and weaknesses. Subtlety Rogues continue to provide strong single-target pressure, but it now brings respectable AoE to the table as well. Much of the rotation involves actively shifting between two stances, in and out of Stealth Icon Stealth. Some abilities can be used at anytime, however, certain abilities can only be used while you are in Stealth. There are only a limited number of ways to activate Stealth during combat, and therefore the core component of this specialization revolves around managing your abilities to correctly time windows of burst.

2. Patch 7.3 Changes for Subtlety Rogue

None

3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes for Subtlety Rogue

New legendary items added.
All damage dealt increased by 20%.
Backstab base damage increased by 35%.
Backstab damage bonus from being behind the target reduced to 20% (was 30%).
Dark Shadow is a new talent at level 90: While Shadow Dance is active, all damage you deal is increased by 30%.
Deepening Shadows now causes your finishing moves to reduce the remaining cooldown on Shadow Dance by 1.5 seconds (was 3 seconds) per Combo Point spent.
Energetic Stabbing now has an increased proc chance of 50% (was 25%), now refunds 2 Energy per point (was 5), and now also works with Backstab.
Enveloping Shadows redesigned. Deepening Shadows reduces the remaining cooldown of Shadow Dance by an additional 1.0 second per Combo Point spent. Shadow Dance gains 1 additional charge.
Etched in Shadow is now named Weak Point: Increases the critical strike damage of Backstab and Shadowstrike by 8% per point.
Feeding Frenzy now lasts for 30 seconds (was 20 seconds).
Flickering Shadows redesigned: Now reduces the cooldown of Sprint by 10 seconds and Vanish by 30 seconds.
Gloomblade damage increased by 10%.
Marked for Death's cooldown reduced to 40 seconds (was 60 seconds) for Subtlety.
Master of Shadows now gains 25 Energy over 3 seconds when you enter Stealth or Shadow Dance.
Nightblade now increases your damage dealt to the target by 15%, with damage over time component reduced by 35%.
Relentless Strikes now causes your finishing moves to generate 6 Energy per Combo Point spent.
Second Shuriken damage increased by 200%.
Shadow Dance now has 2 charges (was 3), and is no longer on the global cooldown.
Shadow Dance’s base duration increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds).
Shadow Nova damage increased by 67%.
Shadow's Whisper now increases Energy gain by 8 (was 5).
Shadowstep now has 2 charges for Subtlety.
Shadowstrike now hits at melee range (was a 15 yard range) and generates 2 Combo Points (was 1). Additionally, when used while Stealthed, now deals 25% increased damage (was 9%) and teleports you up to 25 yards behind your target. This does not happen while in Shadow Dance or during Subterfuge.
Shuriken Combo is a new passive available at level 70: Shuriken Storm increases the damage of your next Eviscerate by 10% for each enemy hit beyond the first. Stacks up to 5 times.
Shuriken Storm base damage increased by 67%.
Sprint now allows Subtlety Rogues to run over water. This is only possible when running forward.
Subterfuge's duration increase to Shadow Dance reduced to 1 second (was 2 seconds).
Symbols of Death redesigned. Now generates 40 Energy and increases your damage done by 15% for 10 seconds.
The Quiet Knife now increases damage dealt by Backstab by 5% (was 3%) per point.
Weak Point now increases the critical strike damage of Backstab and Shadowstrike by 8% per point.
Shuriken Storm's damage can now only be increased by 100% during Stealth and Shadow Dance.
Symbols of Death is now usable outside Stealth.

4. Subtlety Rogue Strengths

Cleave fuels additional single target damage
Good burst damage
Good burst AoE

5. Subtlety Rogue Weaknesses

Extraordinarly weak single target damage if there are no additional enemies to fuel Combo Point generation
Cooldown dependent
Demands cerebral management of Combo Points and Energy to be effective
Dependent on legendary items

6. Subtlety Rogue Viability in the Current Patch

Subtlety is currently the weakest Rogue specialization overall in Antorus, though it has potential to deal solid numbers on a limited number of encounters, particularly those that are short-lived or have periods of increased damage. Subtlety is outperformed by Assassination on every encounter. Outlaw is, generally speaking, a superior specialization, however Subtlety is favored on certain encounters (Eonar, Imonar, and Aggramar). Subtlety is at its best in Antorus when fights have certain amounts of downtime, allowing our cooldowns to recharge. Unfortunately, Subtlety's single target damage is arguably the weakest in the game if there are no additional targets to fuel our resource generation.

7. Contents

To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 11 pages:

Easy Mode: TL;DR to own without reading much;
Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
Artifact Traits and Relics: discover how to level up your Artifact;
Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths: choose the right paths on your Netherlight Crucible;
Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear;
Battle for Azeroth: learn how to play your class in Battle for Azeroth.

Easy Mode⋙

8. ChangeLog

28 Jun. 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Added description of Shadow Techniques and updated screenshots of talent tree.
29 May 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Page added.
05 Mar. 2018 (artifact page): Updated relic priority, added weapon item levels.
05 Mar. 2018 (Netherlight Crucible page): Redesigned entire page; Tier 2 and Tier 3 sections removed.
27 Feb. 2018 (this page): Updated strengths/weaknesses/viability in accordance with current item levels.
21 Feb. 2018 (easy mode page): Updated talent choices.
28 Nov. 2017 (talents page): Added a note about Gloomblade with Tier 21 set bonus.
28 Nov. 2017 (artifact page): Updated relic priority for Antorus.
28 Nov. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Updated relic priority for Tier 3 crucible.
28 Nov. 2017 (gear page): Added a Tier 21 section, updated best in slot and trinkets, and updated legendary items section.
28 Nov. 2017 (stats page): Added Tier 21 4-piece bonus stat priority and scale factors.
28 Nov. 2017 (enchants page): Added Trained Soldier and Crit gems for Tier 21 set bonus.
13 Oct. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Swapped positions of Dark Sorrows and Light Speed in Tier 2 hierarchy.
13 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Updated Tier 2 priority after recent rebalancing based on new SimCraft results.
13 Sep. 2017 (rotation page): Small fix to the FotD opener.
12 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Added Netherlight Crucible page for Subtlety Rogue.
10 Sep. 2017 (gear page): Added legendary tier list, added trinket tier list, updated legendary descriptions, and added the "stat stick" legendaries.
10 Sep. 2017 (addons page): Added a Shadow Dance to Shadowstrike Macro.
10 Sep. 2017 (talents page): Updated T5 talent descriptions.
10 Sep. 2017 (rotation page): Updated opener and added an opener for players using The First of the Dead.
10 Sep. 2017 (this page): Updated strengths.
03 Sep. 2017 (gear page): Re-added "The First of the Dead", which was accidentally removed in an update.
31 Aug. 2017 (stats page): Slight updates to stat weights and stat priority.
31 Aug. 2017 (artifact page): Updated relic priority and 35+ path (mostly moved Soul Shadows a bit higher).
31 Aug. 2017 (talents page): Removed mention of Weaponmaster bugs, as they have been fixed.
31 Aug. 2017 (gear page): Updated legendary items and Ring #2 in BiS.
29 Aug. 2017 (enchants page): Added a note about Healthstones in Patch 7.3. Cleaned up "Consumables" section.
28 Aug. 2017 (this page): Updated viability and removed 7.2 changes. Added 7.3 changes.
28 Aug. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lightforged Augment Rune and new 7.3 epic gems.
28 Aug. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (talents page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
20 Aug. 2017 (gear page): Small update to Best-in-Slot list.
28 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated rotation and APL, added section pertaining to Dark Shadow and Death from Above, updated opener.
28 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated several talents.
28 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Updated relic priority and 35+ path.
28 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated rotation slightly.
28 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated 7.2.5 changes with new hotfixes.
24 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Made some tweaks to the legendary item section.
24 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Added Marked for Death as General Use level 100 talent.
24 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Updated some spell descriptions to match 7.2.5 changes.
18 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added Tomb of Sargeras Best-in-Slot and Tier 20 set bonus, updated legendaries.
17 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated strengths/weaknesses/viability.
15 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated to provide a more definitive answer on which talents are our go-to in 7.2.5.
15 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Large update to all sections.
14 Jun. 2017 (stats page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
14 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
14 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated ability priority list and removed mentions of Premeditation.
14 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated talent build.
14 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added The Soul of the Shadowblade and The First of the Dead to the Legendary items section.
14 Jun. 2017 (enchants page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
14 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Minor update to 35+ pathing and updated relic priority.
14 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated Tier 2, 6, and 7 talent discussions.
14 Jun. 2017 (this page): Added 7.2.5 changes, updated strengths/weaknesses.
03 Apr. 2017 (artifact page): Swapped Soul Shadows and Fortune's Bite in the priority order for 7.2.
03 Apr. 2017 (easy mode page): Changed the recommended default talent tree.
03 Apr. 2017 (rotation page): Slight adjustments in the Shadow Dance advice for the single-target rotation.
03 Apr. 2017 (talents page): Slight update to the discussion between Master of Subtlety and Weaponmaster.
01 Apr. 2017 (this page): Broke down the patch additions in greater detail, added/change strengths/weaknesses/viability.
29 Mar. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lavish Suramar Feast.
27 Mar. 2017 (gear page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
27 Mar. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
27 Mar. 2017 (this page): Added Patch 7.2 changes.
27 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Added a path for the new 7.2 traits.
27 Mar. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
24 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Fully updated Best-in-Slot for Nighthold.
23 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Added a section explaining the Finality bug for Anticipation.
23 Jan. 2017 (this page): Small update to viability section.
23 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Updated APL for Anticipation bug.
23 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added a separate section dedicated to Mantle of the Master Assassin further explaining its use.
17 Jan. 2017 (this page): Updated viability section.
14 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Added new legendary items.
12 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Updated legendary priority.
09 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (artifact page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (easy mode page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (this page): Added Patch 7.1.5 changes list and updated strengths/weaknesses and viability sections.
09 Jan. 2017 (enchants page): Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
22 Dec. 2016 (easy mode page): Added easy mode for Subtlety Rogues.
08 Dec. 2016 (this page): A few updates to viability and strengths/weaknesses following Kiwifruit's review.
08 Dec. 2016 (enchants page): Update enchants, gems, and consumables to reflect the slight adjustment to the stat priority.
08 Dec. 2016 (stats page): Updated stat weights and added a short Versatility vs Mastery discussion.
08 Dec. 2016 (artifact page): Updated paths to include a split for single target vs. dungeon oriented & updated Relic priority.
06 Dec. 2016 (talents page): Updated T1 talents (Weaponmaster>=MoS) and added a note about situational uses of Alacrity and Death From Above.
06 Dec. 2016 (rotation page): Big update; Action Priority List split into single/multi target, resource management updates, many tweaks to "Important Notes" sections.
11 Oct. 2016 (gear page): Updated trinket list.
11 Oct. 2016 (talents page): Updated talent build and descriptions.
08 Oct. 2016 (this page): Updated strengths, weaknesses, and viability.
29 Aug. 2016 (this page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (spells page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (stats page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (artifact page): Added.
29 Aug. 2016 (gear page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated Weapon Enchants with a note on Shadowmoon ICD.
20 Jul. 2016 (stats page): New stat priority to account for Bleeding Hollow Toxin Vessel.
20 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Made enchants match new stat priority.
19 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Tweaked Level 30 talent recommendations.
19 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Many small improvements (more notes on Pandemic, Subterfuge, and many tweaks).
19 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Removed the trinket sims and added BiS recommendations.
19 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated Level 45, 75, 90, and 100 talent recommendations.
18 Jul. 2016 (this page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (spells page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
18 Jul. 2016 (addons page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.