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About Author
This guide is written exclusively for onlyfarms.gg. It is a unique resource, crafted from years of experience playing as a Subtlety Rogue. This is the only comprehensive text-based guide on the internet where you can find everything you need to master the Subtlety spec.
Hello, fellow arena enthusiasts! I’m Frozenbyte, a seasoned Subtlety Rogue player with over 100,000 arena matches under my belt in both 2v2 and 3v3 formats. With 3k arena experience and the honor of being a 7-time Gladiator, I’ve dedicated my career to mastering the art of stealth and precision. Since my journey began in Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK), I’ve helped countless players sharpen their skills in the arena.
Throughout my journey, I’ve developed numerous unique builds for Rogues, experimenting with different setups and play styles to match various class combinations. I have a deep understanding of how a Rogue can synergize with every other class, and I’m excited to share these insights with you. In this guide, I’ll reveal strategies, tips, and techniques to help you excel in arena matches, whether you’re just starting out or aiming to elevate your gameplay.
Rogue Overview
Sub rogue is a unique spec in World of Warcraft PvP. Unlike most other dps specs it relies more on so-called “go” playstyle when it lands the stun on a kill target and commits the damage in those short burst windows using his signature ability called “Shadow dance” in combination with other modifiers to his damage to kill the target.
Base damage of the spec is really low and modifiers are the only source of damage. Therefore game requires player to understand when to commit those modifiers in order to be effective in PvP combat.
Blizzard has changed sub rogue in a recent patch 11.0.5 by taking away his very important talent “Invigorating shadow dust” (reducing cooldown of all abilities on each vanish use) which made sub rogue really versatile and able to adopt to many comps and game conditions in the past .
Instead they gave sub rogue new talent called “Supercharger”. This talent supercharges 2 combo points to let rogue use his finishers as if they were used off current combo points + ⅔ additional ones (depending if additional talent is picked – Forced Induction ) after use of “Symbols of death”.
As a net result burst damage of the sub rogue went up but utility (mobility, cc, defensive potential went down quite a lot).
This left sub rogue with not so many talent choices and builds.
Patch 11.0.5 Changes
Blizzard has changed sub rogue in a recent patch 11.0.5 by taking away his very important talent “Invigorating shadow dust” (reducing cooldown of all abilities on each Vanish use) which made sub rogue really versatile and able to adopt to many comps and game conditions in the past .
Instead they gave sub rogue new talent called “Supercharger”. This talent supercharges 2 combo points to let rogue use his finishers as if they were used off current combo points + ⅔ additional ones (depending if additional talent is picked – Forced Induction) after use of “Symbols of death”.
As a net result burst damage of the sub rogue went up but utility (mobility, cc, defensive potential went down quite a lot).
This left sub rogue with not so many talent choices and builds
Gear and Stat Priority
Crit stat is nerfed in pvp and gives only 150% damage (200% in PVE scenarios). Haste stat is not so useful for sub rogue because classes with energy have 1 second global cooldown baseline and haste only increases energy regeneration and auto attack speed therefore sub rogue prefers mastery as a main stat.
Stat priority: mastery=>versatility(should not exceed 30% soft cap)>crit>haste. All gear but set pieces should have mastery+versatility secondary stats. Crafting gear or buying it from a conquest vendor makes sub rogue a bit more survivable with more versatility or doing a bit more damage with mastery (I personally go for full crafted gear).
Tier set: Sub rogue goes for 2 tier set pieces in PvP (Shoulders and Legs) because of acceptable secondary stats (versatility and mastery on shoulders, mastery and crit on legs) and bonus of 10% to secret technique ability damage in PvP. 4-set effect, which increases damage of finisher moves after secret technique is nerfed in PvP by 50% (to 8% total) and therefore not worth it because of secondary stats trade off (hands and chest have no mastery, only versatility, crit and haste). By equipping 4-set sub rogue loses around 7% damage to the finishers baseline.
Embellishments: best embellishment for sub rogue is elemental focusing lens, which can be added to any crafted gear and stacks with itself (you can have 2 embellished items of the same type and the damage will scale 2x). WARNING: in order to work this embellishment requires at least one socketed gem in your gear (one which provides any secondary stats – in case of sub rogue – Versatile onyx). For a unique gem sub rogue goes for main stat + 5% damage reduction in cc – Enduring bloodstone.
Trinkets: Sub rogue prefers badge of ferocity because of passive crit bonus and on use agility bonus which works best for “GO” play style.
Enchants:
– Cape: Chant of leeching fangs (really useful heal out of combat and some leech of damage) or Chant of burrowing rapidity (passive movement speed increase);
– Chest: Crystalline Radiance (agility);
– Wrist: Chant of armored speed (passive movement speed increase);
– Legs: Stormbound armor kit (agility+stamina);
– Feet: Defender’s march (stamina);
– Rings: Radiant Mastery (mastery);
– Weapons: Authority of radiant power (damage + main stat on proc);
BUILDS | Rotation | Crowd Control(CC)
1) ONESHOT playstyle CUQAA0tw2gAD7pPTLoW5IGZDeAAMz2MAAAAAAMbzMzyEswMzMjhZGzMzMzYWmlZYW2GmhZGDYZMAAAAMDwiZbGz2MMWYYZmtpFaZWYM
PVP talents: Shadowy duel, Smoke bomb – mandatory win condition talents. optional talent: dismantle (vs rogues, warriors, MM hunters); veil of midnight (vs assa rogues and feral druids). if there are only caster enemies – can go for thick as Thieves or Control is King.
PROS:
– high burst (additional 6% crit from talent Planned execution, flagellation ability for additional mastery – up to 38,5% in pvp on 30 stacks);
– double vanish + subterfuge for utility and survivability;
CONS:
– low energy regeneration and energy pull (absence of Vigor and Thistle tea talents);
– requires perfect execution, tracking of stacks of Deathstalker’s Mark on a kill target, tracking of buff from Finality talent;
– predictable burst which can be countered by good PvP players;
OPENER for max burst (non orc): shadowstrike, flagellation, kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate, cheap shot, eviscerate.
OPENER for max burst (orc): shadowstrike, flagellation, kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, cheap shot, eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate.
Remark: second cheap shot is not guaranteed, because on orc there will be 0,2 sec gap and they have time to react.
MAX DAMAGE: max damage in this build requires certain conditions related to hero talents and finality talent of sub rogue. in order to align all the modifiers in one big eviscerate. The rotations stay the same as above, but require having 1 stack of deathstalker’s mark left on a kill target and active finality: Eviscerate buff on a sub rogue before landing kidney shot on a target. These conditions guarantee Darkest night hero talent to proc of secret technique usage (consuming last charge of Deathstalker’s mark) and buffing next Eviscerate for 19% damage and guaranteed crit. Buff from symbolic victory (18% damage for next Eviscerate) also applies as well as finality: eviscerate bonus of 30%. All these modifiers combined give sub rogue opportunity to crit around 2-2,4 million eviscerates with bonus from shadowed finishers and shadow blades.
One of variants how to set up all modifiers:
Non Orc:
Orc:
It is also possible to do max damage on a non orc target with a cheap shot (if kidney shot is on CD):
2) 3s, 2s with healer more sustain damage playstyle:
This playstyle has 2 options:
– more energy less survivability: CUQAA0tw2gAD7pPTLoW5IGZDeAAMz2MAAAAAAMbjxy0YG8AzwYMzMmZmxMmlZxYmlthZYmxYMzyYAAAAYGMsY2mxsNDjFGWmZbahWmNYA
– more utility less energy regen:
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PVP talents: Shadowy duel, Smoke bomb – mandatory win condition talents. optional talent: dismantle (vs rogues, warriors, MM hunters); veil of midnight (vs assa rogues and feral druids). if there are only caster enemies – can go for thick as Thieves or Control is King.
PROS:
– better sustain damage;
– less scripted gameplay because there is no need to stack any modifiers from heroic talents;
CONS:
– less burst damage;
– dampening playstyle;
– lower sustain damage than any other class/spec in pvp;
This build is more simple and better for switching targets as it doesn’t require applying deathstalker’s mark on a kill target. Openers are the same as in oneshot playstyle build but the difference is that they are also MAX damage rotations for this build.
OPENER for max burst (non orc): shadowstrike, flagellation, kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate, cheap shot, eviscerate.
OPENER for max burst (orc): shadowstrike, flagellation, kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, cheap shot,eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate.
3) 2s Rogue mage playstyle:
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PVP talents: Thief’s bargain , Smoke bomb – mandatory win condition talents. optional talents: dismantle (vs rogues, warriors, MM hunters); veil of midnight (vs assa rogues and feral druids). if there are only caster enemies – can go for thick as Thieves or Control is King. Shadowy duel – more defensive option in this playstyle (to protect mage/yourself, cc healer or finish low hp kill target).
This build is not using Flagellation talent due to the fact that there is no free global to apply flagellation before stun due to the fact that every go in rogue/mage playstyle has to be clean so enemies cannot use PRE defensives or PRE cc on one of you.
Example of one go against warrior/priest comp: mage starts in invisibility and uses dragon breath/poly on warrior while rogue uses double cheap shot on a priest (giving mage time 6 seconds to apply frost bomb on a warrior and to polymorph/ring of frost priest on top of second cheap shot). Then rogue proceeds to kidney shot warrior on top of polymorph. This ensures that neither warrior nor priest can cc/use defensives.
PROS:
1) burst has lower cd because of pvp talent Thief’s bargain, that reduces cooldown of shadow blades by 20%;
2) flexible for quick switches on targets and no requirement to apply deathstalker’s mark;
3) best survivability and mobility (additional cooldown reduction on vanish from Thief’s bargain);
CONS:
1) lowest burst of all builds;
2) additional damage reduction of 10% from pvp talent Thief’s bargain;
OPENER for max burst (non orc): kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate, cheap shot, eviscerate.
OPENER for max burst (orc): kidney shot, burst (badge of ferocity, shadow dance, symbols of death, shadow blades), shadowstrike, secret technique, shadowstrike, cheap shot, eviscerate, cheap shot, symbols of death, eviscerate.
General playstyle:
As mentioned in the beginning, the sub rogue playstyle is “GO” based and therefore you need to set up constant goes when you have at least shadow dance and symbols of death available. Rotations for those “small goes” are flexible and pretty much require sub rogue to land kidney shot or cheap shot on a kill target, generate combo points with shadow strikes and spend them on secret technique and eviscerates while keeping target stunlocked:
Examples of “small goes”:
These are really flexible and just based of amount of combo points you are able to generate.
SImple logic: Keep target stun locked for as long as possible and try to use as many finishers as possible.
CROWD CONTROL:
All above information was related to damage part of the spec. CC (crowd control) part of sub rogue is also VERY important but it is much more complicated for description in simple rotations.
Basic logic of cc: Sub rogue can chain his cc abilities to keep healer CCed for rly long time.
Examples of CC rotations:
Longest cc chain on a target with no trinket:
Kidney shot (5 sec), blind (5 sec), target drops combat if it wasn’t attacked in kidney shot, sap (6 sec), sap (3 sec), sap (1,5 sec), cheap shot (2 sec), cheap shot (1 sec), shadowy duel (5 sec)
Shorter cc chain on target with no trinket when target was attacked into kidney shot and combat wasn’t dropped:
CC chains without blind:
and other shorter variations.
Sub rogue is often initiator of CC chain for other teammates with 
to prolong it with trap/fear/polymorph, etc. depending on the type of CC to chain with.
General thoughts about the spec: Sub rogue is rly complex spec and one of those specs which can be categorized as “hard to learn, hard to master”. It requires big time investment and has no room for mistakes in PvP.
Good luck my fellow rogues and feel free to visit my stream and ask your questions:
https://www.twitch.tv/frozentherogue
Special Note
This guide was written exclusively for Onlyfarms.gg. As a token of appreciation, use the promo code ROGUE15 to receive a 15% discount on all services available on the platform. Happy gaming, and may your victories be swift!
CHANGELOG
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