DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

A general priority guide for Subtlety 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 Stealth is active before the encounter begins.

• ShadowstrikeView detailsUse from Stealth
• Secret TechniqueView detailsUse at 6+ Combo Points during Shadow Dance
• EviscerateView detailsUse at 6+ Combo Points
• ShadowstrikeView detailsUse as Combo Point builder
• BackstabView detailsUse as Combo Point builder outside Shadow Dance

Start with Shadowstrike from Stealth, then prioritize Secret Technique and Eviscerate at high Combo Points. Use Shadowstrike or Backstab to build Combo Points as needed.

AoE

Switch to AoE rotation with 2+ targets.

• ShadowstrikeView detailsUse from Stealth
• Secret TechniqueView detailsUse at 6+ Combo Points during Shadow Dance
• Black PowderView detailsUse at 6+ Combo Points
• Shuriken StormView detailsUse as Combo Point builder
• EviscerateView detailsUse instead of Black Powder with Darkest Night

For AoE, prioritize Secret Technique and Black Powder at high Combo Points. Use Shuriken Storm to build Combo Points and Eviscerate situationally with Darkest Night.

Cooldowns

• Shadow DanceView detailsUse with low Combo Points when Secret Technique is ready or during Shadow Blades
• Shadow BladesView detailsUse with Shadow Dance
• VanishView detailsUse on cooldown with low Combo Points

Use Shadow Dance and Shadow Blades together for max DPS. Activate Vanish on cooldown to reset Stealth abilities.

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.