Subtlety Rogue Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Stealth and openers, with control and burst for player-versus-player fights.

A leather-wearing melee fighter who builds combo points with Energy and spends them on finishing moves. Rogues open from stealth, stun and blind enemies, and poison their weapons. More about the rogue

Class: Rogue
Roles: Damage
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent: Premeditation
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Subtlety is the player-versus-player tree. Preparation resets Vanish, Evasion, Sprint and your other cooldowns, Premeditation adds two combo points before the opener, and Initiative, Setup and Improved Sap make openers stronger. Hemorrhage is a builder that works from the front with any weapon.

A typical fight: Sap one enemy, Premeditation and Cheap Shot another, Hemorrhage to five points and Kidney Shot, then Hemorrhage and Eviscerate while the stun lasts. When it goes wrong, Vanish, and Preparation gives you a second one.

In raids Subtlety does less damage than Combat, so most rogues keep a separate set of talents for each.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Sap one enemy and open on another with Premeditation and Cheap Shot (or Ambush).
2Hemorrhage to build combo points; Ghostly Strike when you need dodge.
3Kidney Shot at five points to chain the stun, then Eviscerate in the next window.
4Gouge, then bandage or reposition; Blind the healer.
5Vanish when losing, then Preparation for a second round.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

The strongest openers and control in Classic.
Preparation gives you a second Vanish, Evasion and Sprint.
Hemorrhage works with any weapon, from the front.

Weaknesses

Weak in raids.
Chaining stuns and cooldowns takes practice.
Little area damage.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Agility
2
Staminafor player-versus-player play
3
Critical strike
4
Hit
5
Attack power
6
Strength

What to look for

A slow main-hand weapon of any type for Hemorrhage and Eviscerate, and a fast off-hand for poisons.
Stamina and Agility for battlegrounds.
Crippling and Mind-numbing Poison against players.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Assassination
Combat
Subtlety

Hemorrhage Shade
DamagePvE
71331
7/13/31
Subtlety in raids: Hemorrhage raises physical damage taken for the whole melee group, while Serrated Blades and Deadliness keep your own damage up.
- Ghostly Strike 1/1
- Preparation 1/1
- Hemorrhage 1/1
- Deadliness 5/5
- Premeditation 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Preparation Shadowstalker
DamagePvP
2130
0/21/30
For world PvP and duels: Preparation resets Vanish and Evasion, Ghostly Strike and Hemorrhage keep pressure up, and Combat adds Blade Flurry and Lightning Reflexes.
- Blade Flurry 1/1
- Heightened Senses 2/2
- Preparation 1/1
- Hemorrhage 1/1
- Deadliness 5/5
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Premeditation · top talent, up to 1
When used, adds 2 combo points to your target. You must add to or use those combo points within 10 sec or the combo points are lost.
Initiative · tier 3, up to 3
Gives you a 75% chance to add an additional combo point to your target when using your Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot ability.
Ghostly Strike · tier 3, up to 1
A strike that deals 125% weapon damage and increases your chance to dodge by 15% for 7 sec. Awards 1 combo point.
Setup · tier 4, up to 3
Gives you a 45% chance to add a combo point to your target after dodging their attack or fully resisting one of their spells.
Improved Sap · tier 4, up to 3
Gives you a 90% chance to return to stealth mode after using your Sap ability.
Serrated Blades · tier 4, up to 3
Causes your attacks to ignore 300 of your target's Armor and increases the damage dealt by your Rupture ability by 30%. The amount of Armor reduced increases with your level.
Heightened Senses · tier 5, up to 2
Increases your Stealth detection and reduces the chance you are hit by spells and ranged attacks by 4%. More effective than Heightened Senses (Rank 1).
Preparation · tier 5, up to 1
When activated, this ability immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Rogue abilities.
Hemorrhage · tier 5, up to 1
An instant strike that damages the opponent and causes the target to hemorrhage, increasing any Physical damage dealt to the target by up to 3. Lasts 30 charges or 15 sec. Awards 1 combo point.
Deadliness · tier 6, up to 5
Increases your Attack Power by 10%.

Subtlety abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.