Note that this page covers general Rogue PvP stuff. For details on each spec, including talents, see the pages under More Detail:
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It used to be the case that…
Subtlety was the PvP spec, Combat for raiding, and Assassination decent at both. All were good for leveling. With the changes that have come over the last couple of expansions this is less true than before. Combat is generally still best for raiding, but not by a lot. Sub falls a bit behind there due to a more complicated rotation and is still more PvP/Burst oriented. Assassination is just good all over. And, depending on the patch changes, one or the other might well be “better” than Sub at any given moment.
| Spec | Pros | Cons |
| Assassination |
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| Combat |
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| Subtlety |
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War Mode PvP Notes
Used to be you joined a PvP or PvE server. Battle for Azeroth changed things, and now there is War Mode.
All of the servers are now the same regarding PvP, in that they are PvE by default. But now you can choose to activate world PvP. Head over to Stormwind or Orgrimmar, open your talents window, and click on (or off) War Mode.
With War Mode on you will gain 10% XP from quests and mobs, and also gain +10% from appropriate World Quest rewards, such as gold or Azerite.
PvP Talents are gained at level 20, 40, 70, and 110 and all of them are in addition to your regular talents. So you do not have separate PvE and PvP pages. Though, of course, you might want to switch a few over…
Your level 20 PvP talent is the PvP trinket, others are from a pool. All of your later picks will come from this pool. You can read all about War Mode on Gamepedia.
For more details on each spec, see these pages:
For your gear, see this post: How to get 470+ Item Level in BFA 8.3
Video PvP Guides for the Rogue
Assassination PvP Guide
Outlaw Rogue PvP Guide. The uncorrupted version
Subtlety Rogue PvP Guide. The uncorrupted version
Tips for Sneaking and Striking
1 – Know how to re-stealth
If you can’t re-stealth in combat, you are drastically reducing your survivability. The main techniques for acheiving this are:
- blind, move away, and wait to leave combat
- gouge/kidney shot your opponent and run out
- get your opponent crippled and sprint away
- vanish
- Note: When running away (to re-stealth) it helps if you can break “line of sight” with a convenient building or object.
2 – Don’t blow all your energy
If you sit on a person and spam your main strike, you won’t have enough energy for legitimate burst.
- for example, get 5 combo points, wait for full energy, then KS (Kidney Shot) and you will be able to, assuming you are Assassination, mutilate twice then eviscerate/envenom.
- It’s more efficient burst than if you were to KS with 25 energy and maybe get 1 mutilate and some auto attacks in.
3 – Know the different play-styles and adapt
You don’t try and beat a warrior the same way you beat a priest do you? There are unique ways of handling each class. Generally though, the two main styles a rogue can play are burst and control.
- Burst: When you do a lot of damage in a short period of time. This usually involves getting back into stealth again multiple times to get max damage possible.
- Control: When you use all CC (Crowd Control) methods available to control an opponent and take them out of the game, so to speak. This means you have to always leave enough energy to gouge and be ready to kick the right school magic. Also blinding into a sap can be a game breaker when speaking in terms of arena.
- Defensive: A rogue who needs to be”defensive” would simply try and avoid as much damage as possible. This would include moves like evasion, vanish, blind, dismantle, gouge, and trying to re-stealth.
Like a Warrior – if you have a pocket healer then you will lay waste. Without one you will have to be somewhat careful about picking and choosing.
Otherwise, obviously, the best pvp build depends on who’s in your team, if you have one, and who the other guy is.
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