Changes are a’comin.
Cataclysm somewhat simplified the talent system and added a few new abilities. Mists of Pandaria is taking that a couple of steps further and revising it completely.
Contents
- Dead talents – These have been removed in M of P.
- Rogue Abilities – A list of the abilities common to all Rogues.
- Spec Abilities – Abilities unique to each Rogue spec
- Talents – The new talents
- Video overview of the Talents
- Other changes
Dead Talents
The following talents have been removed from the game with Mists of Pandaria. Some of their utility has been rolled into other talents and abilities.
Aggression, Blackjack, Blade Twisiting, Cold Blood, Coup De Grace, Deadened Nerves, Deadly Momentum, Enveloping Shadows, Improved Ambush, Improved Expose Armor, Improved Gouge, Improved Kick, Improved Recuperate, Improved Sinster Strike, Improved Slice And Dice, Improved Sprint, Initiative, Lethality, Lightning Reflexes, Opportunity, Overkill, Precision, Puncturing Wounds, Quickening, Reinforced Leather, Savage Combat, Serrated Blades, Slaughter From The Shadows, Throwing Specialization
Rogue Abilites in Mists of Pandaria.
All Rogues will get all of these abilities, eventually. Note that some abilities are unchanged except for the level at which they are learned. New abilities, or those that have changed significantly are linked and should pop up a tooltip when you hover over the link.
| Ability | Level learned | Notes |
| Detection |
1
|
|
| Parry |
1
|
Was 12, now is level 1 |
| Sinister Strike |
1
|
|
| Symbiosis |
1
|
Druids can give you an ability for 1 hour. |
| Throw |
1
|
|
| Eviscerate |
3
|
|
| Stealth |
5
|
|
| Ambush |
8
|
|
| Evasion |
9
|
Tooltip changed, no note of ranged attacks now. |
| Deadly Poison |
10
|
Now is an ability |
| Sap |
10
|
|
| Recuperate |
12
|
|
| Kick |
14
|
|
| Slice and Dice |
14
|
Was level 22 |
| Pick Pocket |
15
|
Was level 7 |
| Pick Lock |
16
|
|
| Crippling Poison |
20
|
Now is an ability |
| Gouge |
22
|
Was level 16 |
| Cheap Shot |
26
|
|
| Sprint |
26
|
Was level 16 |
| Distract |
28
|
|
| Mind-numbing Poison |
28
|
Now is an ability |
| Swiftblade’s Cunning |
30
|
New |
| Wound Poison |
30
|
Now is an ability |
| Blind |
34
|
|
| Vanish |
34
|
Was level 24 |
| Expose Armor |
36
|
No longer a finisher. Now applies armor debuff and generates 1 combo point. |
| Kidney Shot |
40
|
Was level 30 |
| Detect Traps |
42
|
Was level 32 |
| Feint |
42
|
No longer reduces threat. |
| Rupture |
46
|
|
| Garrote |
48
|
Was level 40 |
| Safe Fall |
48
|
|
| Dismantle |
52
|
Was level 38 |
| Relentless Strikes |
54
|
used to be a talent, finishers restore energy. |
| Disarm Trap |
56
|
Was level 44 |
| Cloak of Shadows |
58
|
|
| Fleet Footed |
62
|
used to be a talent, faster overall movement. |
| Master Poisoner |
64
|
used to be a talent, adds 5% to poison damage |
| Fan of Knives |
66
|
Was level 80, can now award a CP it it hits current CP target. |
| Shiv |
70
|
|
| Shadow Walk |
72
|
More stealthy for a few seconds |
| Tricks of the Trade |
75
|
|
| Shroud of Concealment |
76
|
Conceal your entire group |
| Crimson Tempest |
83
|
Aea effect finishing strike |
| Redirect |
83
|
|
| Smoke Bomb |
85
|
|
| Shadow Blades |
87
|
Generate more combo points and auto-attacks do Shadow damage for a few seconds. |
| Mastery |
Rogue Spec Abilites
These are the abilities for each spec, you’ll pick them up from your trainer as you level. New abilities are linked. Note that certain abilities (eg: Backstab) are now only available to one spec. Dispatch replaces Backstab for Assassination.
Abilities in bold are your “core” abilities.
| Assassination | Combat | Subtlety | |||
| 10 | Assassin’s Resolve – more energy and damage while using daggers. | 10 | Ambidexterity increasesd off-hand weapon damage. | 10 | Hemorrhage – adds a bleed, replaces Sinister Strike. |
| 10 | Improved Poisons – increases chance to apply lethal poisons. | 10 | Blade Flurry – strike additional oppnent, regen less energy. | 10 | Master of Subtlety – more damage when attacking from stealth. |
| 10 | Mutilate – Basic strike, awards 2 combo points. | 10 | Vitality – Increased energy regeneration and attack power. | 10 | Sinister Calling – increases total agility by 30%. |
| 20 | Envenom – Replaces Eviscerate and delivers Instant Poison damage. | 20 | Revealing Strike – Improves effectiveness of finishing strikes and Sinister Strike. | 20 | Find Weakness – openers bypass 70% off opponent armor. |
| 30 | Seal Fate – more combo points from crits. | 30 | Combat Potency – off-hand and Main Gauche strikes have a chance to recover energy. | 30 | Premeditation – adds 2 combo points to target before attack. |
| 40 | Dispatch – Hard hitting, replaces Sinister Strike, usable when opponent is at 35% health. | 40 | Adrenaline Rush | 40 | Backstab – requires man hand dagger, must be behind target. |
| 50 | Venomous Wounds – Rupture and Garrote do more damage and return energy. | 50 | Restless Blades – your damaging finishing moves reduce several cooldowns. | 50 | Honor Among Thieves – Gain combo points from the crits of party members. |
| 60 | Cut to the Chase – Eviscerate (and Envenom?) refreshes Slice and Dice. | 60 | Bandit’s Guile – Your Sinister Strike and Revealing Strike abilities increase your damage dealt | 60 | Sanguinary Vein – Improves Rupture and all bleeds. |
| 70 | Blindside – Performing a successful Mutilate has a chance of leaving you in an advantageous position, enabling a single use of Dispatch with no energy cost | 80 | Killing Spree – strike many targets | 70 | Energetic Recovery – Slice and Dice for faster energy recovery. |
| 80 | Mastery: Potent Poisons – increases all poison damage. | 80 | Mastery: Main Gauche – chance for extra attacks | 80 | Mastery: Executioner – Increases damage done by finishing strikes |
| 80 | Vendetta – Marks an enemy for death. More damage and they can’t hide. | 80 | Shadow Dance – now 8 seconds, allows use of abilities out of stealth. | ||
Rogue Talents
As mentioned above the talent system has been completely revised. Now, any spec can pick any of the talents. Yes, that means than Combat Rogues can take Shadowstep. There are six tiers of three talents and you can pick one from each tier. Tiers are gained at levels 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90.
Here’s the Talent view:
(Tome of the Clear Mind is used for Glyph swapping at level 86+.)
The talents. Hover over the links for more info.
|
Level 15
|
Nightstalker – faster stealth and more damage coming out of stealth. | Subterfuge – Stealth doesn’t break immediately. (This allows the use of two openers when attacking. ) | Shadow Focus – Abilities no longer cost Energy while you are stealthed. |
|
30
|
Deadly Throw – Reduces movements speed and can interrupt. | Nerve Strike – Opponents does less damage when coming out of Cheap Shot or Kidney Shot. | Combat Readiness – Take less damage as fight gets longer. |
|
45
|
Cheat Death – Avoid fatal attacks. | Leeching Poison – your strikes heal you. | Elusiveness – Feint reduces all damage, not just A of E. |
|
60
|
Preparation – Finished cooldowns. | Shadowstep – Teleport to target, but no damage increase. | Burst of Speed – Break free from CC, run faster in not CCed. |
|
75
|
Deadly Brew – Apply crippling poison to target along with your other poisons. | Paralytic Poison – Your poisons can stun. | Dirty Tricks – Gouge and Blind cost no energy and don’t break from your bleeds or poisons. |
|
90
|
Shuriken Toss – Ranged attack, adds 1 combo point. | Versatility – Eliminates Redirect cooldown. | Anticipation – Stores excess CPs on target and applies them after a finishing strike. |
An overview of the talent system for Rogues
Other Changes in Mists of Pandaria
Poisons
Poisons are now buffs and work like any other buff. You cast them and they’re on you. You do not apply them to your weapons directly and if you switch weapons you do not need to reapply them, they are already there.
You can apply one lethal and one non-lethal poison. No more Instant Poison on both weapons. By the way, Instant Poison is gone (and it’s the only one that’s gone, the others remain.) If you have any Instant in your bags and try to apply it you will find that Wound Poison is applied instead. By the way, you no longer have to buy poisons or stock them in your bags. You learn them as abilities and use them like spells.
Weapons
Your thrown weapons slot is gone (that third slot is gone from all classes, even those who have relics there.) In addition you can no longer equip, or use, ranged weapons. You still have a Throw ability, which uses no ammo, and you have the Deadly Throw and Shuriken talents.
All weapons of a type have the same speed. All daggers are 1.8 speed, swords/axes/etc. are 2.6. You should be able to put any usable weapon in either hand.
How to Get to the Level Cap Fast!
Rogue leveling is easy. All specs work well, but Subtlety is more fun. Regardless of which build you choose you will find leveling to be relatively easy. Still, there are thousands of quests and a bazillion mobs to kill (not to mention other players, but they don’t count here.) Sorting out which quests are best and which series of quests will get you to 85 the fastest is another game, which is why we highly recommend Zygor’s Guide.
Zygor’s is an in-game guide and it nearly automates the whole leveling process: you just pick your starting point, at any level, and the guide tracks which quest you’re on, tracks the quest objectives, and automatically advances and updates as you complete your tasks and quests. In addition, a waypoint arrow is set automatically, so you never have to wonder where to go. All of the important quest info is included in the guide so you never have to wonder what to do.
Playing with Heirlooms and/or Recruit a friend? Gaining a few levels in the dungeons or in PvP? Zygor’s has your back. The guide knows what level you are and will correctly suggest where to go next. It will also dump all of your obsolete quests. And you will probably never need to look at your quest log again.
Grab your copy here or read our review.