Rogue Talents
This page is formatted with rogue talents listed by skill and tier. Comments follow talents in italics.
Assassination
Tier 1 - Improved Eviscerate/Malice/Remorseless Attacks
Improved Eviscerate
Increases Eviscerate damage by 5% per rank for up to 3 ranks
This is a key Talent in many builds. 15% more damage to your most used Finishing move and you cannot go wrong.
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.
If you're considering Dagger Spec, get this first - it does the same thing, but isn't restricted to daggers - Malaclypse
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 15% 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
Gives your finishing moves a 20% chance per rank for each of 5 ranks to add a combo point to your target.
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
Very very useful. Rogue crits are in the 75-200% extra damage range. Rogue crits seem to happen about 10% of the time at the default rate. Mix that with crit chance boosting Talents and you can do monster damage.
Improved Expose Armor
Prereq: 10 pts in Assassination
Increases armor reduction of Expose Armor by 15% per rank for up to 3 ranks
Expose Armor has limited use as it does not stack with the Warrior armor class reduction talent. You have better things to spend both combo points and Talent points. Give this one a pass.
Relentless Strikes
Prereqs: 3 pts in Ruthlessness, 10 pts in Assassination
Finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy
There are mixed schools of thought on this one. More energy is good. It may be a bit buggy with some finishing moves not triggering this Talent. Needs more observation.
Tier 4 - Improved Instant Poison/Vile Poisons
Improved Instant Poison
Prereq: 15 pts in Assassination
Increases chance to apply Instant Poison by 2% per rank for up to 5 ranks
Not so useful a skill. Applying poisons does not appear to be a problem.
Vile Poisons
Prereq: 15 pts in Assassination
Increases damage dealt by your poisons by 3% per rank for up to 5 ranks
This is a semi-useful Talent. It does increase your overall average DPS when using Poisons. It is often easy to find more valuable places to put your Talent points. Many builds use one point to get to Cold Blood.
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%
Guaranteed crits. What more needs to be said? This is a key talent in the Assassination tree.
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
See the Improved Instant Poison Talent discussion. Same applies here. Only for poison fanatics.
Improved Kidney Shot
Prereq: 20 pts in Assassination
Reduces cooldown of Kidney Shot by 2s/4s/5s for ranks 1/2/3
Good for stun based builds. Otherwise it is very far into the tree to improve a skill that would be used in place of Eviscerate.
Tier 6 - Seal Fate
Seal Fate
Prereq: 25 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
Tier 7 - Vigor
Vigor
Prereq: 30 pts in Assassination
Increases your maximum Energy by 10 The best of the 30 point Rogue Talents. That's not saying much.
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
Gouge is one of the Rogues few means of CC. This can improve that ability. However, most people play Rogues as damage machines.
Improved Sinister Strike
Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike by 3 for 1 rank or 5 for 2 ranks
Almost every Rogue should have this Talent. There are very very few builds that will not have this. You will probably use this skill more any other skill. Making it cheaper is good buy it first. Look at a fight beginning with 100 energy without ISS: you make SS at seconds 0, 1.5, 4, 8. With 2 ranks of ISS: 0, 1.5, 3, 6 - a full 2 seconds faster to get 4 SSs in and 4 combo points
Lightning Reflexes
Increases chance to dodge by 1% per rank for each of 5 ranks
Very good Talent for a defensive Rogue. Not a bad overall Talent.
Tier 2 - Deflection/Improved Backstab/Precision
Deflection
Prereq: 5 pts in Combat
Increases parry chance by 1% per rank for up to 5 ranks
Another good Talent for a defensive Rogue and a pre-req for Riposte.
Improved Backstab
Prereq: 5 pts in Combat
Increases the critical strike chance of backstab by 10% per rank for up to 3 ranks
This is a great skill for a Rogue in a group. You will be backstabbing your heart out come instance groups. Not so useful in one on one combat however.
This is an integer addition to your base crit chance (e.g. 10% crit becomes 40% crit, not 19% crit.) - Artega
Precision
Prereq: 5 pts in Combat
Increases chance to hit with melee weapons by 1% per rank for each of 5 ranks
This is a decent Talent for a Combat build Rogue.
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
A nice to have kind of skill. Preparation is better in every way however.
Improved Sprint
Prereq: 10 pts in Combat
Reduces cooldown of your Sprint by 30 seconds per rank for each of 3 ranks
See Improved Evasion.
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
Good for a defensive build Rogue. Only useful when fighting one on one.
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
Would be nice to have for a dagger based build. Unfortunately it is very hard to work into such a build.
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
Useful combat build Talent. Overall increase in DPS is pretty low however.
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
This is a great Talent to get if you can. Very useful in AvH and when fighting caster mobs.
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
Can be worked into some Combat builds.
Fist Weapon Specialization
Prereq: 20 pts in Combat
Increases critical strike chance with fist weapons by 1% per rank for up to 5 ranks
Only for the very rare fist weapon Rogue.
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.
Great Talent for stun based builds. Just remember that if you are not using a dagger you give up many Rogue abilities.
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
This is a very good Talent for a combat build. More attacks means more chances for crits and overall more damage. Same caveat applies here as to the Mace Talent as far as daggers goes.
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
Very good Talent for combat builds.
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
This is virtually useless.
Tier 7 - Adrenaline Rush
Adrenaline Rush
Prereq: 30 pts in Combat
Instant Cast
6 minute cooldown
Increases energy regen by 100% for 15s
The second most useful 30 point Talent.
Subtlety
Tier 1 - Camouflage/Master of Deception/Rapid Concealment
Camouflage
Increases speed while stealthed by 3% per rank for up to 5 ranks
You will still move slower than anyone else. COuld be useful in a stealther vs stealther situation.
Master of Deception
Reduces chance to be detected when in Stealth mode. 5 ranks of increasing effect
This is the default tier 1 Subtlety Talent.
Apparently each rank adds [the equivalent of] +3 Subtlety; 5 ranks is the equivalent of being 3 levels higher for stealth purposes - Malaclypse
Rapid Concealment
Reduces cooldown of Stealth by 1s per rank for each of 5 seconds
Preparation is better in every way.
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
Preparation is the way to go.
Opportunity
Prereq: 5 pts in Subtlety
Increases damage dealt with Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush by 4% per rank for each of 5 ranks
Another great Rogue Talent. Bigger Backstabs and Ambushes rock.
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
Not much to say about this one. It is rarely seen in many popular Talent templates.
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
Very nice Talent. 40% higher chance for the biggest opener to crit. Unless you are going for a sword and mace build, ambush is probably your best opener. With this talent even level mobs are often knocked down to half to 2/3 their health with your first swing.
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
Good Talent for a DoT build. Stack this with Hemorrhage and poison and your target has little chance.
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
More combo points are good. They lead to finishing moves happening sooner.
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
Another Talent for the DoT build. Stack this with Garrotte, poison and Hemorrhage.
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
This is the Talent groups will expect Rogues to bring into instances for CC.
Improved Vanish
Prereq: 15 pts in Subtlety
Increases movement speed while vanished by 10% per rank for each of 3 ranks
Limited usefulness. You will not spend alot of time Vanished. If you are playing a hit and run type Assassin type of Rogue this could be useful.
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
Very useful in many circumstances. Dagger based builds will open with Ambush, while DoT builds open with Garrote. Cheap shot with ICS would make a great opener for a non-dagger build: Cheap shot, a couple or three sinister strikes, and a kidney shot to restun the opponent.
Improved Distract
Prereq: 20 pts in Subtlety
Increases radius of Distract by 3 yds for 1 rank or 5 yds for 2 ranks
Distract works just fine without this Talent.
Preparation
Prereq: 20 pts in Subtlety
Instant cast
10 minute cooldown
Immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Rogue abilities
Insane things can be done here. Two ambushes and two kidney shots in one fight. Get this one if you can.
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 - 7). Lasts for 30 strikes or 15 seconds.
Useful for the DoT build. Otherwise avoid it.
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
Could be useful if you plan on tanking or in a defensive build.
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
Combo points are good. 30 point pre-reqs are not.