DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

A general priority guide for Outlaw Rogue abilities and cooldowns. Helpful for understanding the spec's fundamentals and getting comfortable with core synergies. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: Midnight (12.0.1).

Single Target

Ensure Weapon Poisons are applied before combat begins.

• Roll The BonesView detailsUse on cooldown if at stage 1 or less.
• Keep It RollingView detailsUse if Roll The Bones is at stage 2 or higher.
• Adrenaline RushView detailsUse on cooldown at 2 or fewer combo points.
• Blade RushView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Between The EyesView detailsUse at 6 or more combo points.
• Killing SpreeView detailsUse at 6 or more combo points.
• DispatchView detailsUse at 5 or more combo points.
• Pistol ShotView detailsUse if Opportunity has 6 stacks or 3 stacks with 1-3 combo points.
• Sinister StrikeView detailsUse at 5 or fewer combo points.

Maintain Roll The Bones and Keep It Rolling buffs. Use Adrenaline Rush and Blade Rush on cooldown. Spend combo points on Between The Eyes, Killing Spree, or Dispatch. Use Pistol Shot with Opportunity stacks and Sinister Strike to build combo points.

AoE

Ensure Weapon Poisons are applied before combat begins.

• Blade FlurryView detailsActivate with 2+ targets or refresh at 4 or fewer combo points with 4+ targets.
• Roll The BonesView detailsUse on cooldown if at stage 1 or less.
• Keep It RollingView detailsUse if Roll The Bones is at stage 2 or higher.
• Adrenaline RushView detailsUse on cooldown at 2 or fewer combo points.
• Blade RushView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Between The EyesView detailsUse at 6 or more combo points.
• Killing SpreeView detailsUse at 6 or more combo points.
• DispatchView detailsUse at 5 or more combo points.
• Pistol ShotView detailsUse if Opportunity has 6 stacks or 3 stacks with 1-3 combo points.
• Sinister StrikeView detailsUse at 5 or fewer combo points.

Activate Blade Flurry for AoE. Maintain Roll The Bones and Keep It Rolling buffs. Use Adrenaline Rush and Blade Rush on cooldown. Spend combo points on Between The Eyes, Killing Spree, or Dispatch. Use Pistol Shot with Opportunity stacks and Sinister Strike to build combo points.

Cooldowns

• Adrenaline RushView detailsBoosts energy regeneration and reduces GCD. Use on cooldown.
• Roll The BonesView detailsProvides random buffs. Use on cooldown to maintain buffs.
• Keep It RollingView detailsExtend Roll The Bones buffs when at stage 2 or higher.
• PreparationView detailsUse when Between The Eyes, Adrenaline Rush, and Blade Rush are on cooldown.

Use Adrenaline Rush for energy and GCD reduction. Maintain Roll The Bones buffs and extend them with Keep It Rolling. Use Preparation strategically when key abilities are on cooldown.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.