Subtlety Rogue PVE Guide – Cataclysm

Welcome to the PVE Subtlety Rogue Guide for World of Warcraft Cataclysm!

This guide will teach you how to play a Subtlety Rogue in a raid. It covers talents, glyphs, gems, enchantments, rotation, and gameplay tips.

This build takes standard talents.

Prime Glyphs

• Glyph of Backstab
• Glyph of Hemorrhage
• Glyph of Slice and Dice

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Feint
• Glyph of Sprint
• Glyph of Tricks of the Trade

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Blurred Speed
• Glyph of Poisons
• Glyph of Safe Fall

Gems are situational and depend on the build and equipment. They are used to reach the required stat caps.

• Meta – Agile Shadowspirit Diamond
• Red/Prismatic – Delicate Queen’s Garnet, Delicate Inferno Ruby (cheaper), or Delicate Chimera’s Eye (Jewelcrafting)
• Yellow
  • If Socket Bonus is not at least +10 Agility – Delicate Queen’s Garnet or Delicate Inferno Ruby (cheaper)
  • Otherwise, Deft Lava Coral or Deft Ember Topaz (cheaper)
• Blue
  • If Socket Bonus is not at least +10 Agility, Delicate Queen’s Garnet or Delicate Inferno Ruby (cheaper)
  • Otherwise, Glinting Shadow Spinel or Glinting Demonseye (cheaper)

• Head – Arcanum of the Ramkahen
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal or Swiftsteel Inscription (Inscription)
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Major Agility or Swordguard Embroidery (Tailoring)
• Chest – Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats
• Bracers – Enchant Bracer – Agility or Draconic Embossment – Agility (Leatherworking) with Socket Bracer (Blacksmithing)
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Major Agility with Synapse Springs (Engineering) or Socket Gloves (Blacksmithing)
• Waist – Ebonsteel Belt Buckle or Grounded Plasma Shield (Engineering)
• Legs – Dragonscale Leg Armor or Dragonbone Leg Reinforcements (Leatherworking)
• Boots – Enchant Boots – Assassin’s Step
• Rings – Enchant Ring – Agility (Enchanting)
• Weapon – Enchant Weapon – Landslide

• Agility
• Hit Rating (to 8% hit cap)
• Haste
• Expertise (to 26 cap)
• Critical Strike
• Mastery

Single Target Rotation

• Use Ambush (from Stealth)
• Use Hemorrhage and maintain bleed effect from Glyph of Hemorrhage
• Combo Point Builders
  • Use Backstab
  • Use Hemorrhage if you can’t attack the target from behind
• Finishing Move (at 5 Combo Points)
  • Use and refresh Slice and Dice
  • Use Rupture and refresh with Eviscerate
  • Use Recuperate and refresh

Multi Target Rotation

• Use Fan of Knives

Poisons

• Use Instant Poison on your Main-hand weapon
• Use Deadly Poison on your Off-hand weapon
• Use Wound Poison on your Thrown Weapon if you’re using Fan of Knives

Cooldowns

• Use Shadow Dance and Vanish to enable Ambush and increase Find Weakness‘ uptime
• Use Shadowstep while using Vanish or Shadowdance
  • When using it with Vanish, use Shadowstep before Ambush
  • When using it with Shadow Dance, use Shadowstep for the second Ambush
• Use Preparation to refresh the cooldown on Vanish
• Use Premeditation after using Vanish or Shadow Dance, and make good use of the combo points