Assassination Rogue Class Guide - MoP Classic

Welcome to our Mists of Pandaria Classic (MoP Classic) Assassination Rogue Class Guide for Phase 1, it focuses on getting you up to speed with the Spec for PvE content, Dungeons and Raiding. The guide includes key information for what has changed going into MoP, the best Talent builds, Major Glyphs, your Rotation, Gearing and Consumables for Assassination Rogue.

Table of Content:

• Changes from Cataclysm to MoP
• Talents
• Rotation & Abilities
• Gearing & Consumables

What’s New for Assassination Rogues in Mists of Pandaria Classic

MoP Classic brings a lot of changes to the game, and a lot of classes are getting changed. Rogues are one of the classes that are getting the most attention from Cataclysm to Mists of Pandaria. Poisons are getting changed, they get a lot more group utility, a lot of new spells, and more. Here are the most important changes:

• No more ranged weapons. Throw becomes a base ability, and you can’t equip a ranged weapon.
• Poisons are reworked, and you no longer need to craft them or to carry them in your bags. You can now put any combination of 1 lethal poison and 1 non-lethal poison on your weapons.
• Shroud of Concealment has been added.
• Shadow Blade has been added.
• Shadowstep has been added.
• Master poisoner has been added.
• Fan of Knives now gives a combo point.
• Crimson Tempest has been added.
• Evasion has been buffed, with a lower cooldown and more dodge.
• Expose Armor is now a combo point builder.
• Smoke Bomb is reducing damage to everyone in it.
• Cold blood, Overkill, Ruthlessness, Vile poison are deleted.

Is Assassination Rogue Good?

In MoP Classic, Rogues are getting a lot more utility, so it’s easier to find groups regardless of your Specialization. Sadly, there is a lot of competition with other melees and the other Rogue specializations, and Assassination tends to struggle a bit more than Combat and Subtlety. If you really like Assassination’s gameplay, the spec has what it takes to succeed in PvE, but you’ll have to play better than others.

Best Talents & Glyphs for Assassination Rogue in MoP Classic

As for a lot of classes with the new revamped talent system, you can pretty easily set up 2 talent builds: one for Single Target, usually more for Raids, and AoE, more for Dungeons and Challenge mode. But we would recommend you to swap talents depending on the encounter you are about to do, and what it requires in terms of utility, damage profile and movement.

Assassination Rogue Raiding Talent Build

The Raiding Talent Build is pretty much the same for every specialization. In the level 15, 30, 45 and 90 rows, there is pretty much no competition. In some niche situations, where you need the extra DR, Cheat Death can be better than Elusiveness.

You can swap Shadowstep for Burst of Speed if an encounter asks for extra mobility without a target to Shadowstep to.

Best Assassination Rogue Raid Glyphs

Regarding Major Glyphs, the major choice is Glyph of Vendetta. Outside of that, you don’t really have any major Glyphs that you want to keep all the time. The best should be Glyph of Feint and Glyph of Redirect, but outside of that, Glyphs are situational: Glyph of Smoke Bomb to help your raid, Glyph of Cloak of Shadows to get tankier, Glyph of Hemorrhaging Veins and Glyph of Sharp Knives for AoE, Glyph of Sprint for movement, Glyph of Expose Armor if you’re assigned to it.

Glyph of Safe Fall and Glyph of Blurred Speed are the only minor glyphs you should consider.

Assassination Rogue Dungeons & Challenge Mode Talent Build

In the Dungeon Talent Build, the options are pretty much the same as in the Raiding Talent Build. Cheat Death finds a bit more of its place in dungeons, but that’s it.

Best Assassination Rogue Dungeon Glyphs

Glyph choices are the same as raid, but you can pick Glyph of Sharp Knives.

Rotation for Assassination Rogue in MoP Classic

Assassination Rogues use Energy to generate Combo points, and spend Combo points to cast strong and unique abilities. The following is a list of priority, not a straight rotation.

Single Target Rotation & Priority

1. Maintain Expose Armor if assigned.
2. Maintain Deadly Poison and Leeching Poison.
3. Maintain Slice and Dice at 5 Combo points.
4. Maintain Rupture.
5. Use Shadow Blades on Cooldown.
6. Use Vendetta on Cooldown.
7. Use Vanish on Cooldown at low energy.
8. Use Preparation when Vanish is on Cooldown.
9. Use Envenom at 5 Combo points.
10. Use Dispatch when available if you have a Blindside proc or if your target as less than 35% HP.
11. Use Mutilate.

AoE Rotation & Priority

• Maintain Blade Flurry.
• Maintain Rupture on 2 targets.
• Use your single target rotation. If there are more than 3 targets, use Fan of Knives and try to maintain Rupture on your targets.

Best Gear & Stats for Assassination Rogue in MoP Classic

Best in Slot (BiS Gear) aren’t as big in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Reforging is the new hype, so you can tailor your gear better than before.

The gear you should aim for are: Trinkets, Tier Sets and Weapons.

Assassination Rogue Best in Slot (BiS) Gear in MoP Classic (Pre-Raid)

The best weapons you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Tolakesh, Horn the Black Ox, Wing Leader Ner’onok, Siege of Niuzao Temple.
• Amber Slicer of Klaxxi’vess, The Klaxxi - Exalted.
• Masterwork Ghost Shard, from Blacksmithing.
• The Gloaming Blade, World drop.
• Mantid Trochanter, Commander Ri’mok, Gate of the Setting Sun.

The best pre-raid trinkets are:

• Relic of Xuen if you have Inscription.
• Searing Words, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.
• Quilen Statuette, from Archeology.
• Windswept Pages, from Temple of the Jade Serpent.

Assassination Rogue Best in Slot (BiS) Gear in MoP Classic (Tier 14)

Upgrading your character with the best gear is an important part of increasing your damage.

Below is a BiS Gear List containing your theoretical Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Assassination Rogue. This information is based on the MoP original release and PTR data, and so is subject to change. But this list should give you a good target for gearing.

There can be some key stat breakpoints and targets that you need to hit for maximum performance. You can find those in the Stats Section below, and use reforging to adjust your gear stats to achieve them.

MoP Classic Assassination Rogue Stat Priority

Reach your Hit and Expertise cap, so around 7.5% for both. Then, Agility is your best stat. As soon as a gear piece gives you more Agility, it’s a good idea to equip it.

After that, it goes: Mastery before anything else, then Haste and finally Critical strike, in that order. You can then try and reach a Hit Rating of 26.5% to be 100% sure that your off-hand will hit 100% of the time, but it’s often less valuable than more secondary stats.

Best Consumables, Enchants & Gems for Assassination Rogue in MoP Classic

The following tables outline the recommended Consumables, Enchants and Gems for Assassination Rogue in Raiding and Dungeon content.

Consumables

Enchants

Gems

We hope this guide helped you improve your Assassination Rogue Gameplay and better understand the spec. To check out all of our MoP Classic content, such as Class Guides, Tier Lists and more, you can browse our full library of MoP Classic Guides.