Rogue Talents

This page is formatted with rogue talents listed by skill and tier. Comments follow talents in italics.

Assassination

Tier 1 - Malice/Remorseless Attacks

Malice

Increases your critical strike chance by 1% per rank for each of 5 ranks
This is a great Talent for builds where critical hits are important.

Remorseless Attacks

After killing an opponent that yields experience, gives 8% critical strike chance per rank for each of 5 ranks on your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Ghostly Strike
This is useful when you are killing a large number of relatively weak enemies.

Tier 2 - Improved Slice and Dice/Murder/Ruthlessness

Improved Slice and Dice

Prereq: 5 pts in Assassination

Increases duration of Slice and Dice by 15s per rank for each of 3 ranks
This is of very limited use. The default duration of Slice and Dice seems to be just fine.

Murder

Prereq: 5 pts in Assassination

Increases chance to hit with Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot by 3% for 1 rank or 5% for 2 ranks
This is quite useful. You want a high chance of your openers hitting.

Ruthlessness

Prereq: 5 pts in Assassination

Critical strikes from abilities that add combo points have a 20% chance per rank for each of 5 ranks, of adding an additional combo point
Another good one. More combo points means faster finishers for more damage.

Tier 3 - Lethality/Improved Expose Armor/Relentless Strikes

Lethality

Prereqs: 5 pts in Malice, 10 pts in Assassination

Increases critical strike damage of Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ambush, Ghostly Strike, or Hemorrhage by 6% per rank for each of 5 ranks

Improved Expose Armor

Prereq: 10 pts in Assassination

Increases armor reduction of Expose Armor by 15% per rank for up to 3 ranks

Relentless Strikes

Prereqs: 3 pts in Ruthlessness, 10 pts in Assassination

Finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy

Tier 4 - Improved Instant Poison/Vile Poisons/Improved Eviscerate

Improved Instant Poison

Prereq: 15 pts in Assassination

Increases chance to apply Instant Poison by 2% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Vile Poisons

Prereq: 15 pts in Assassination

Increases damage dealt by your poisons by 3% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Improved Eviscerate

Increases Eviscerate damage by 5% per rank for up to 3 ranks

Tier 5 - Cold Blood/Improved Deadly Poison/Improved Kidney Shot

Cold Blood

Prereq: 20 pts in Assassination

Instant cast

3 minute cooldown

Increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%

Improved Deadly Poison

Prereq: 20 pts in Assassination

Increases the chance to apply Deadly Poison to your target by 3% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Improved Kidney Shot

Prereq: 20 pts in Assassination

Reduces cooldown of Kidney Shot by 2s/4s/5s for ranks 1/2/3

Tier 7 - Vigor

Vigor

Prereq: 30 pts in Assassination

Increases your maximum Energy by 10

Combat

Tier 1 - Improved Gouge/Improved Sinister Strike/Lightning Reflexes

Improved Gouge

Increases duration of gouge by 0.5s per rank for up to 3 ranks

Improved Sinister Strike

Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike by 3 for 1 rank or 5 for 2 ranks

Lightning Reflexes

Increases chance to dodge by 1% per rank for each of 5 ranks

Tier 2 - Deflection/Improved Backstab/Precision

Deflection

Prereq: 5 pts in Combat

Increases parry chance by 1% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Improved Backstab

Prereq: 5 pts in Combat

Increases the critical strike chance of backstab by 10% per rank for up to 3 ranks

Precision

Prereq: 5 pts in Combat

Increases chance to hit with melee weapons by 1% per rank for each of 5 ranks

Tier 3 - Improved Evasion/Improved Sprint/Riposte

Improved Evasion

Prereq: 10 pts in Combat

Increases the duration of evasion by 2s for 1 rank or 4s for 2 ranks

Improved Sprint

Prereq: 10 pts in Combat

Reduces cooldown of your Sprint by 30 seconds per rank for each of 3 ranks

Riposte

Prereqs: 5 pts in Deflection, 10 pts in Combat

10 Energy

Instant Cast

6 second cooldown

5 yd range

A strike that becomes active after parrying. Deals 150% weapon damage and disarms the target for 6 seconds

Tier 4 - Dagger Spec/Dual Wield Spec/Improved Kick

Dagger Specialization

Prereq: 15 pts in Combat

Increases critical strike chance with daggers by 1% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Dual Wield Specialization

Prereq: 5 pts in Precision, 15 pts in Combat

Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 10% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Improved Kick

Prereq: 15 pts in Combat

Gives your kick 50% chance per rank, for each of 2 ranks, to silence the target for 2 seconds

Tier 5 - Blade Flurry/Fist Weapon Spec/Mace Spec/Sword Spec

Blade Flurry

Prereq: 20 pts in Combat

25 Energy

Instant cast

2 minute cooldown

Requires melee weapon

Increases attack speed by 20%. Attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15s

Fist Weapon Specialization

Prereq: 20 pts in Combat

Increases critical strike chance with fist weapons by 1% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Mace Specialization

Prereq: 20 pts in Combat

Gives a 1%/2%/3%/4%/6% chance for ranks 1/2/3/4/5 to stun your target for 3 seconds with a mace.

Sword Specialization

Prereq: 20 pts in Combat

Gives a 1%/2%/3%/4%/6% chance for ranks 1/2/3/4/5 to get an extra attack after dealing damage with your Sword

Tier 6 - Aggression/Throwing Weapon Spec

Aggression

Prereq: 25 pts in Combat

Increases damage of Sinister Strike and Eviscerate by 2% per rank for up to 3 ranks

Throwing Weapon Specialization

Prereq: 25 pts in Combat

Increases the damage of your throwing weapons by 10% for 1st rank and range by 10 yds for 2nd rank

Tier 7 - Adrenaline Rush

Adrenaline Rush

Prereq: 30 pts in Combat

Instant Cast

6 minute cooldown

Increases energy regen by 100% for 15s

Subtlety

Tier 1 - Camouflage/Master of Deception/Rapid Concealment

Camouflage

Increases speed while stealthed by 3% per rank for up to 5 ranks

Master of Deception

Reduces chance to be detected when in Stealth mode. 5 ranks of increasing effect

Rapid Concealment

Reduces cooldown of Stealth by 1s per rank for each of 5 seconds

Tier 2 - Elusiveness/Opportunity

Elusiveness

Prereq: 5 pts in Subtlety

Reduces the cooldown of your evasion, vanish, and blind abilities by 15 seconds per rank for up to 5 ranks

Opportunity

Prereq: 5 pts in Subtlety

Increases damage dealt with Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush by 4% per rank for each of 5 ranks

Tier 3 - Ghostly Strike/Improved Ambush/Improved Garrote/Initiative

Ghostly Strike

Prereq: 10 pts in Subtlety

50 Energy

Instant cast

20 second cooldown

5 yd range

Strike that deals 125% weapon damage, awards 1 combo point, and increases chance to dodge by 15% for 7 seconds

Improved Ambush

Prereqs: 5 pts in Opportunity, 10 pts in Subtlety

Increases critical strike chance of ambush by 15%/30%/40% for ranks 1/2/3

Improved Garrote

Prereqs: 5 pts in Opportunity, 10 pts in Subtlety

Increases duration of Garrote by 3 seconds per rank, but reduced damage by 5% per rank for each of 2 ranks

Initiative

Prereq: 10 pts in Subtlety

Gives a 15% chance per rank for each of 5 ranks, to add an addition combo point when using Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot

Tier 4 - Improved Rupture/Improved Sap/Improved Vanish

Improved Rupture

Prereq: 15 pts in Subtlety

Increases damage dealt by Rupture by 10% per rank for each of 3 ranks

Improved Sap

Prereq: 15 pts in Subtlety

Adds a 30% chance per rank, for each of 3 ranks, to return to stealth mode after using your Sap

Improved Vanish

Prereq: 15 pts in Subtlety

Increases movement speed while vanished by 10% per rank for each of 3 ranks

Tier 5 - Improved Cheap Shot/Improved Distract/Preparation

Improved Cheap Shot

Prereq: 20 pts in Subtlety

Reduces energy cost of Cheap Shot by 10 for 1 rank or 20 for 2 ranks

Improved Distract

Prereq: 20 pts in Subtlety

Increases radius of Distract by 3 yds for 1 rank or 5 yds for 2 ranks

Preparation

Prereq: 20 pts in Subtlety

Instant cast

10 minute cooldown

Immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Rogue abilities

Tier 6 - Hemorrhage/Setup

Hemorrhage

Prereq: 25 pts in Subtlety

35 Energy

Instant cast

5 yd range

Requires melee weapon

Strike that damages the opponent, awards 1 combo point, and applies debuff that increases physical damage taken by up to 3. Lasts for 30 strikes or 15 seconds.

Setup

Prereqs: 1 pt in Ghostly Strike, 25 pts in Subtlety

15% chance per rank for each of 3 ranks, of adding a combo point to a target after dodging their attack

Tier 7 - Premeditation

Premeditation

Prereq: 30 pts in Subtlety

10 Energy

1 second cast

2 minute cooldown

5 yd range

Requires Stealth

Adds 2 combo points to your target. Must engage target within 5 seconds or combo points are lost