Subtlety Rogue leveling guide
Stealth openers and burst. Pick this if you enjoy picking fights one at a time. How the Subtlety talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page7 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Subtlety talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 20/0/31 (20 Assassination, 31 Subtlety)
- 16-point milestone
- Premeditation, level 25
- Last Subtlety talent
- Thousand Cuts, level 40
- In a group
- Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Rogue
- Combat
How Subtlety plays
- Subtlety decides fights in the first few seconds. Improved Ambush adds 45% critical strike chance to Ambush, Opportunity adds 10% to the damage of Backstab, Garrote, Ambush and Mutilate, and Initiative gives Ambush, Garrote and Cheap Shot a 99% chance of an additional combo point.
- Premeditation, the milestone, puts 2 Combo Points on your target outright, to be used within 20 sec.
- Camouflage makes Stealth less of a crawl: at five points, 15% less speed penalty and 10 sec off its cooldown.
- Once the opener is spent, Ghostly Strike and Hemorrhage are the strikes the tree gives you, and both hit harder with a Dagger in the main hand.
- Late on it becomes a Rupture tree. Serrated Blades adds 30% to Rupture, Hemorrhage makes the target take 15% more Rupture damage from you, and Thousand Cuts makes your next Hemorrhage or Backstab cheaper each time Rupture deals periodic damage.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Start every fight you can from Stealth
Camouflage reduces Stealth's speed penalty and cooldown.
- 2
Open with Ambush
Improved Ambush adds 45% to its critical strike chance.
- 3
Use Premeditation at the start of a fight
Premeditation adds 2 Combo Points to your target.
- 4
Build with Hemorrhage
Hemorrhage is an instant strike that awards 1 Combo Point.
- 5
Keep Rupture on anything that will live a while
Serrated Blades adds 30% to it, and Hemorrhage and Thousand Cuts both build on it.
- 6
Keep Preparation for when your cooldowns are spent
Preparation immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Rogue abilities.
Talents that change how you play · 11
From Opportunity at level 10 to Thousand Cuts at 40.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 10–11
Backstab, Garrote and Ambush hit harder.
- Levels 15–17
Ambush becomes a likely critical strike.
- Level 20
A strike that also raises your dodge chance.
- Levels 21–23
Openers give an extra combo point.
- Level 25
Premeditation16-point milestone
Two Combo Points from one button.
- Levels 26–28
Rupture is worth using: 30% more damage at three points, and your attacks ignore some armor.
- Level 30
Hemorrhage becomes the builder.
- Level 31
A second set of cooldowns.
- Levels 32–33
Cheap Shot and Garrote cost less, and Garrote works from the front.
- Levels 35–39
More damage against targets below 35% health. How much at each rank is not in the data.
- Level 40
Rupture starts discounting your next Hemorrhage or Backstab, stacking up to 5 times.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items.
- A Dagger in the main hand. Ghostly Strike deals 180% weapon damage with one and 125% without, and Hemorrhage 145% against 100%.
- Both are a share of weapon damage, so the main-hand weapon's own damage matters.
Groups and dungeons
In a group: damage. New group talents before 2 dungeons.
In a group these talents support damage.
- The opener talents need Stealth, and in a dungeon you get one opener a pull. In our view the tree gives up more of its talents in a group than Combat does.
- Serrated Blades makes your attacks ignore 9% of the target's Armor.
- Dirty Tricks, which makes Sap and Blind cheaper, is not in this build, and the talent data does not confirm its value at each rank.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
2 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- A strong first few seconds: a likely critical Ambush with extra combo points behind it.
- Preparation gives every cooldown a second use.
Trade-offs
- A fight you do not start from Stealth loses Improved Ambush and Initiative.
- Thousand Cuts needs Rupture running. Most questing fights are short, so in our view it matters more against tough enemies than ordinary ones.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard
- Per-rank values of Quietus, which the build takes at levels 35 to 39
- Per-rank values of Dirty Tricks, which the build does not take
Not announced
- Item names and stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every claim on this page is read from the Subtlety talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.