Rogue PvP guide UPDATED FOR 4 . 3 . 2 . A commonly used Subtlety PVP tree can be found here . Before you use this and complain when smashing your face on the keys doesn ' t work , please read the rest of this guide , especially the spec breakdown at the bottom . Subtlety ' s tree is very customizable for PVP . " A spec that works fine for someone else may not work for you , and vice versa . " A good habit to get into is to ask other rogues why they do what they do , and nicely point them on their way if they seem not to understand something . I ' ve made friends across servers that have found me after and thanked me for giving them tips . My name is Batymen on Durotan US ( horde side ) . If you see a subtlety rogue with a sword , ask them why . Chances are , they just haven ' t read this guide yet . Don ' t be a jerk about it . It ' s just for Cataclysm any future expansion this guide will be its " out - dated " . Introduction . In Catacylsm - era PvP , control is the most important tool a Rogue has . Controlling the tempo of a fight is the main utility of a rogue with modern levels of resilience and health . The " Glass Cannon " paradigm is no longer the mantra of the class . A geared and skilled rogue can still put out some impressive numbers , but that ' s not the primary function of the class any longer . Many of Blizzard ' s central design paradigms were challenged in 4 . 0 , one of them being the rotation system . In its place stands the priority system , which is more rewarding to effective critical thinking and gut calls than repeating a single pattern . While this has had more profound ramifications to PVE , it has also changed how PVP works . In this guide , you will not find a single chain of abilities that , when used against other players , will result in their death . There are still class - by - class sections , yes , some of which go into details about specs , but they merely list priorities and situations to be aware of . In general , ranged classes will most likely try to kite you , mages and hunters are the most notorious for it . Melee classes will either try to shut you down or burn you down . In a competitive PVP setting , anyone that ' s trying to kill you and failing is doing exactly what you want them to . As a modern rogue , you must be intimately aware of almost every one of your abilities and cooldowns . For anyone that may have missed a few patches ( or expansions ) , here ' s some mechanical changes you may not be fully aware of : Knowing what other classes do and how each spec works is a critical part of learning to be effective in PVP , and some of that is what this page covers with its class - by - class priority guides . I strongly encourage you to roam through other class guides and learn their toolkits and strategies . Techniques . As has always been true , the stealth game is still a very important part of a rogue ' s skillset . Positioning , surprise , and timing are critical to separating a great rogue from a good one . Along with those other three things , stealth provides survivability , damage output , and control options . Following is a list of methods for a rogue to get back into stealth during combat . Using combined with any of these is likely to help . Unfortunately , bandaging is no longer as viable a heal as it once was . outdoes it by a landslide , and is applicable from stealth . If you can find cover , eating conjured food will quickly bring your health bar up , but it will remove you from stealth . While eating conjured food , it is possible and recommended that a rogue re - enter stealth . You will keep healing . You will not keep healing if you attempt to re - enter stealth while eating buff food . Against Melee . Every melee class deals primarily physical damage . Unholy death knights , paladins , enhancement shamans , and assassination rogues apply a great deal of magical damage , but a well - timed disarm is still a great loss to them ( Dismantle was removed in WoD ) . The only melee class that isn ' t greatly hindered by is a feral druid . However , that ' s far from the only control you have over them . You still have three slows available to you through as a rogue , as , and the talent at level 30 . You have at least four stuns , with , , , , and your disorient spell , . Stuns and slows are of the greatest detriment to melee characters , but they ' re incredibly useful against all enemies . Also , if you can stack it enough , the level 75 talent will stun for 4 sec ( removed in WoD ) . Melee characters generally have much higher avoidance stats and armor levels . You can circumvent block and parry by positioning yourself behind an enemy , but armor and dodge will remain the same . Since almost all of the rogue ' s moves are melee - based , this can easily throw off your timing if your stuns start being mitigated . Against melee characters wielding a slow weapon , stuns are even more important . A carefully timed Kidney Shot / Gouge can mean avoiding an ugly chunk of . The best time to stun them is right before they swing . The worst time to stun is right after a swing . Just think of as a big spell with a 3 . 50 casting time . You want to interrupt it as late as possible . Against Casters . Against pure casters ( and even paladins and other classes like Elemental shamans which rely heavily on spells ) , consider opening with a . Since Garrote silences the opponent for three seconds unglyphed , ( completely shutting down mages , priests , shamans , caster druids , and warlocks , ) you can think of it as a three second Cheap Shot that costs 10 less energy and leaves a bleed on the opponent , as well as not interfering with your stun DR . With Blizzard ' s newfound love of class homogenization , other classes are likely to have stuns that rival yours . Not as many , surely , but enough that it can be a problem . Gone are the days when you can just shadowstep to a mage and two - shot them . In geared PVP , extended duels happen between skilled players that are both on their game . is a godsend . With the effect on all PVP set gloves since WOTLK , Kick costs a marginal amount of energy ( see ) and is usable at almost all times . However , your enemies are also aware of this . They may try to game your interrupts and bait you into interrupting a spell they don ' t care about . For example , let ' s pretend you ' re fighting a frost mage . They want to cast , but they know you ' re ready to interrupt it . What they may do instead is begin casting , since your kick will only lock them out of the fire tree ( unless you ' re combat ) . With your on cooldown , they ' re free to cast whatever they ' d like . Keep in mind a few things : Strategy . In the past , rogues have been unstoppable killing machines that have only needed a few buttons to be greatly effective . The idea of what a rogue is has changed since then . A rogue used to be considered " good " if they could win a duel without popping a cooldown ; today , that simply isn ' t possible against a similarly geared player with a base in their class . As I said before , control is the most used and the most unique application of the class . Subtlety is the best fit for this role , but both other specs borrow tricks from its playbook . Obviously , objective is king . While you may think you ' re being helpful by joining the team fight in the middle of Warsong Gulch , you ' re more effective putting pressure on the EFC or reducing pressure on your own . With the honor gained from winning a battleground , you ' re almost guaranteed to get much more honor for your effort as well . However , sometimes a team fight is the objective , like in arenas . As I keep mentioning , you should focus more on setting up situations for a win condition , rather than smashing your face against the keyboard to get a kill . As Reckful shows in his video ( linked below ) , in any kind of serious PVP , going for the throat isn ' t always the answer . Subtlety is the maestro of the arena , deciding who gets to fight who . A skilled sub rogue can essentially act as a tank , neutralizing and redirecting his enemies ' attacks from his more crucial teammates . Assassination is the mindless tunneler , dealing much damage through poisons . However , there ' s great mobility issues and they have a smaller toolbox . Combat plays exactly like you ' d expect it to : brawling out of stealth , playing like a warrior . I have no experience with this spec in PVP , so there is little information on it here . If you want to learn how to PVP as combat , sorry . Controller . Taking on this unique role is the closest WoW has come to having a Mesmer class . In other games , Mesmers control their opponents by using a wide toolbox of psychic spells to confuse their opponents and trick them into hurting themselves and their teammates . While there are no literal mind games in the rogue ' s pocket , and certainly no friendly fire mechanic in the game , there are some very advanced maneuvers that rogues can use to frustrate and neutralize their opponents without killing them outright . Subtlety is typically the spec used for this role , and while it has the most options , the other specs can do a pretty good job of it as well . Because of this reliance on the effect of your abilities rather than the damage output , this spec can be considered " viable " at competitive levels even without great gear . One rogue did very well for himself in 4 . 0 . 6 - era arenas using the original level 70 Warglaives of Azzinoth . Keep in mind , just because one is controlling a fight doesn ' t mean they shouldn ' t be dealing damage . As Reckful explains in his video below , damage is important , just not " as " important as keeping your opponents suppressed . As Subtlety , rogues can throw out impressive burst through Ambush and Backstab . Tunneler . Another role the Cataclysm - era rogue can take on is that of the straight - forward damage dealer . With the current model of PVP you ' ll still regularly be borrowing some tactics from the controller by necessity , but with more serious , consistent damage output . Primarily , you ' ll see those taking on this role choosing to play Assassination . This spec provides a great deal of damage through its poisons , bypassing enemy armor . While this damage can be mitigated through nature resistance , it typically isn ' t . As a result , this spec is just as good against characters in plate as it is against characters wearing cloth . As Assassination rogue , as opposed to Subtlety , there are certain things you have to give up in terms of mobility and defensive cooldowns . , cooldown reductions through Elusiveness ( depending on how you spec ) , and are the main ones . While you are guaranteed 15 % movement speed through Quickening , you ' re more susceptible to kiting . The cooldowns you gain via Assassination are and , which are both damage cooldowns on two - minute timers . You gain a certain form of control through Deadly Brew , which is almost guaranteed to apply within the first few seconds of a fight ( even though other specs can use with minimal drawback ) . PvP Trinkets . As of Patch 2 . 1 . 2 , This means that Kidney Shot and Cheap Shot , but also the Deadly Throw debuff , poisons , Sap , Blind and Gouge can be removed by any class at any time . Daze ( from Blade Twisting ) is surprisingly also affected - this misconception exists because there is in fact a difference between player Daze and mob Daze . Mob Daze is in fact only removable by complete immunity effects ( paladin bubble , Ice Block ) , while player Daze is treated as any other movement - impairing effect . Players are most likely to trinket out of your Kidney Shot and your Blind , for obvious reasons . This also means that the 3 second silence from Garrote is more important than ever , completely shutting down casters without the threat of being removed . You can expect anyone that has dipped their toes in PVP to have this ability . Every Human player has this ability as a racial , through , with an identical cooldown to the trinket ( two minutes ) . Undead players have a watered - down version of this in , which only removes certain types of CC . It is highly recommended that the trinket is your first PVP purchase if you ' re any race other than Human . Classes . Rogue . When fighting another rogue , it is important to get the first hit . Obviously , both of you are playing with similar hands , and you must do your best to make sure you play yours first . A good move to get the other person out of stealth is to use to remove them without removing yourself . Many players use a macro to accomplish this . As an Incapacitate effect , this doesn ' t affect your Stun DR . While there are certain situations where it may be worth it to kite an enemy rogue through a certain cooldown ( , ) , don ' t forget that their energy is pooling and their Recuperate is ticking too . During those abilities would also be a good time to use your . As far as defensive cooldowns go , is likely to be a better shot than , and obviously is your best friend . Remember that rogues can cloak any kind of DOT except a bleed , so it may be worth it to drop a cheap or ( glyphed ) if your opponent looks like they ' re getting ready to run . Ticks every two seconds means you will quickly be able to locate them should they try to vanish away from you . Warrior . The archetypal melee class , Warriors are especially weak to , as all of their damage comes through their weapon . They have a few defensive cooldowns that make it hard to manage them , but for the most part all of your control options will remain the same as any other melee attacker . Slows , disarms , and maybe even if you ' re feeling like you ' re not doing enough damage . One method that is very successful against warriors is to employ all the DoTs available to you , and then kiting him with Crippling Poison , dive - bombing occasionally to either incur large damage or go for the killing blow . Warrior s have abilities which feed off of their opponents dodging , so be careful of using Evasion against them . Be mindful of and the warrior ' s other charges when doing this , because they can close the gap . Priest . Shadow Shadow priests are similar to warlocks in practice , with the notable exception of , as it ' s essentially a bubble . Their reliance on DOTS makes cloaking an easy way to clear the way for a kill . Interrupting almost any of their spells means they ' re completely unable to do damage , as all of their harmful spells are in the same tree . Healers Discipline and Holy priests are indistinguishable to us , and are fought the same way as every other healer : interrupt , stun , annoy . The more you get them to focus on you , the less they can focus on keeping their teammates up . It ' s unlikely you ' ll actually kill a healer by yourself ( presuming you ' re both geared and awake ) , but when the opportunity arises you should do your best to take it . However , more often than not , you just want to neutralize an enemy healer rather than kill them . Remember and that stuns interrupt heals . Mage . Many beginning players overlook the defensive abilities of the mage because it wears a dress . Any seasoned gladiator knows from experience that Frost mages are one of the most feared opponents one can encounter because of their nearly endless snares , slows , and stuns . However , the rogue has many abilities at his or her disposal that can used to defeat all types of mages , if used correctly . Frost Frost mages are the most common , and the most annoying spec of mage to fight . Frost mages have a passive chance to freeze melee attackers , combined with legions of roots and snares and freezes . Frost mages gain a huge damage buff against frozen enemies , so avoid this the best you can . With the fixes to Diminishing Returns , if you can survive the first 15 seconds of a fight , it ' s likely that you ' ll overtake them and kill them . Fire The Fire mage ' s primary defense is his offense . These mages can produce an insane amount of damage very quickly , but they lack many of the key defensive cooldowns used by Frost mages . With the talent Blazing Speed can be choose on level 10 , you ' ll often see them running far faster than you , doing much more damage than you can hope to counter at range . Slows and stuns are your friends , as always , along with a Smoke Bomb if you find yourself backed in a corner . They don ' t kite by making you slower , they kite by making themselves faster . Crippling poison is a great answer to this . Arcane Arcane mages are a rare breed these days , and they usually have little to offer in the realm of defensive spells . What they do have is a broken mastery and insane throughput . There ' s nothing you can do about how much mana is in their bar , but you can interrupt key spells to lock them down . Making them waste Arcane Missiles is a big blow to their damage , but interrupting any of their other arcane spells is just as good . Luckily , locking them out of damage also prevents them from sheeping you . They still have their frost control , but it ' s nothing compared to their icy counterparts . Druid . Druids will almost always fight in one of their forms : moonkin , cat , bear , or caster ( sometimes using tree as well ) . When fighting a druid in Cat Form , treat them as another rogue . When fighting a druid in Bear Form , treat them as a warrior . When fighting a druid in caster form , make sure to go into full suppression mode and try to prevent the most healing possible . When fighting a druid in moonkin form , fight them like you would an elemental shaman . Any druid worth his salt will most likely shift forms during combat ; that ' s the strength of the class . In this case , try to catch them in Cat or caster form where they are weakest . Expect every druid to use Nature ' s Grasp , which will afflict you with Entangling Roots on hit . No longer can druids shapeshift to remove roots . Snares will go away with changing form , but they ' re not as bad as they used to be . Frankly , in PVP , Cat druids are the obvious Rogue counterpart , but with far fewer cooldowns , but having DoT , Heals and HoT . Their threat is their sheer damage and mobility in the battlefield . You can ' t disarm them , but you can still use Evasion to neutralize their damage and take them down with the greatest of ease . Bear druids have a high dodge chance and massive health pool , which you can ' t really do much about , but they often lack in throughput . Boomkin have a knockback ( with talent on level 45 ) , but little else . Left to their devices they can put down some serious damage , but they ' re much easier to control than most other casters . If you see a druid in tree form , do your best to control them by interrupting , stunning ( let your run to its full duration if you can ) and by putting a Smoke Bomb over the people they ' re trying to heal . Again , neutralizing a healer is much more important than banging on your keys , trying to burn down a paladin that ' s being healed . Hunter . Once considered the hard counter to rogues , hunters are a pale shadow of the doom they used to spell for those with daggers . A skilled hunter is still a serious serious threat , but if you get them off their guard there ' s little they can do . Hunters are known for their defensive cooldowns , ( which is often combined with a parachute effect to extend the distance ) and , which is essentially a bubble to those of us not casting spells . is no longer as potent as it used to be , as it doesn ' t prevent you from entering stealth anymore . Now , it increases the hunter ' s stealth detection against you , and marks you on the minimap when you ' re visible to them . When you see a pet turn red and attack you , use a defensive cooldown . It ' s possible to an enraged pet like this , but it ' s a big cooldown that is almost never worth burning for that . Most of what you want to do is keep a hunter at arm ' s length . and the ten - yard range on can help close the gap if shadowstep is on cooldown . As a Subtlety rogue , it ' s best to save that for Disengage . A common maneuver used by hunters is to place a flare , then put all their traps in the center and wait for you to make your move . If you ' re quick enough and lag isn ' t an issue , you can disarm the traps from outside the radius of the flare ( your arm is 20y long as opposed to flare ' s 15y ) , shadowstep and open on the hunter before the debuff from flare can remove you from stealth . Warlock . Warlocks are possibly the easiest fight for a rogue post - TBC and the addition of Cloak of Shadows . The only things you need to worry about in particular are demon form and stay out of the purple circle they leave on the ground . They have the ability to set up an instant teleport during a fight , but it ' s not much different than a mage blinking . You ' ll likely lose line of sight , but at that point you ' ve successfully repelled your enemy and it may not be worth pursuit in a battleground . Paladin . Fighting a paladin is very similar to fighting warriors , except they can heal themselves . As a melee class , they ' re affected by Dismantle , and Evasion can prevent a good amount of damage . The best time to use Evasion or Combat Readiness ( you probably won ' t need to cloak anything ) is when their guardian is out . Protection paladins have multitudes of cooldowns that heal them or reduce their damage taken , so try to line yourself up for one big shot at them . Save your big nukes for right after they ' ve popped their bubble , and then try to get the most damage in as you can before they can heal it back . Holy paladins are the same as other healers , just with no knockbacks and only one stun . The infamous is still widely used , and it is equatable to a rogue ' s kidney shot in its timing . It ' s either cast in preparation of a big attack , or used to cover one ' s tracks whilst running away . Treat it as such . Shaman . Enhancement Because of how the spec is built , you ' re likely to find either incredibly skilled players of this spec or completely unskilled , with very little in between . They ' re weak to disarms , and they can lay down a flurry of damage if left alone . They ' re rare to find in battlegrounds , but they can be potent . Their heals are weak , compared to either of the other shaman specs , so they ' re not something to worry about . Instant ghost wolf can make them hard to catch , but Deadly Throw / Sprint / Shadowstep makes it easy to catch up . Elemental Typically an easy fight , but they can sometimes go wrong . Their knockback is usable while stunned , and the cooldown is just as long as Shadowstep ' s ; A preferred strategy is to simply run up and Garrote rather than shadowstepping and ambushing . Many inexperienced players are confused when they are suddenly silenced , are effectively stunned as well . Hybrid classes are especially weak to a well - timed Kick , their good spells being mostly from the same tree . Restoration Shamans are very mobile healers , and keeping them slowed isn ' t enough to render them helpless by a long shot . Stuns are your top priority , with interrupts as a very close second . If your teammates are competent they ' ll try to LOS your shaman ' s team , so they ' ll do the work for you . Death Knight . Death knights in general can be pretty difficult for a rogue , but if you keep them managed , there ' s little they can do to you . DK spec roles have been tossed around since their creation , but since Cataclysm dropped there ' s been little shift . Blood is tank , Frost and Unholy are DPS specs . Blood Blood is the most common spec , but Frost looks to be on its way up , especially with the impending removal of Vengeance . Typically , a Blood DK will deal some serious vampiric damage with , often healing themselves for upwards of 20k and getting an absorption shield for more than that . Combined with their high armor and health levels , that can be a serious pain in the ass . They also have an average amount of control with Chains of Ice and Death Grip . For defensive cooldowns , they have , which makes them immune to stuns as well as reducing their damage taken for the duration . Frost Frost is a pure DPS spec with AOE elements built right into its rotation . Their ability to slow an entire enemy team at once is formidable , and their damage output is just as impressive . They also have IBF , so don ' t rely too heavily on stuns . The only way you ' re going to get them down is through straight damage and disarms . Unholy Unholy , once the favored PVP spec of DK ' s , seems to have fallen out of favor . They have a constant pet out , and it has abilities similar to that of a hunter ' s . It has a charge , a short stun , and it can be transformed into a bigger , meaner ghoul . That , Death Coil , and diseases are where a lot of the DK ' s damage is going to be coming from , so pop evasion when the big pet comes out and focus the caster to topple him over . Similar to a rogue , much of this spec ' s appeal is in its utility rather than damage , so it can be effective at surprisingly low gear levels . Spec Breakdown . As a sub rogue , not all specs are built equal . One thing Blizzard was successful with in Cataclysm was loosening up the trees to allow some subjectivity in most specs . this is one of them . Subtlety My spec as of 4 . 3 . 2 Firstly , the most important choice I made was the spec . I enjoy the role of the controller , so Subtlety was my first pick . Nightstalker is a great boon to most rogues , because you want to be in stealth as much as possible , and that makes it much easier . Improved Ambush helps because it ' s my preferred opener . Against someone with no resilience it ' s been known to crit for upwards of 40k . With full honor gear and buffs , I have over 100 % chance to crit with Ambush . Relentless Strikes helps keep momentum during combat , and it makes Recuperate net you only - 5 energy . Given the combo points from HAT , you should be able to keep up Recuperate all the time . Elusiveness adds a great deal of utility to my build , for obvious reasons . I ' ve used Waylay off and on all expansion , trading it for Crippling . Currently , I ' m using it for the guaranteed slow the second the fight starts . The attack speed reduction is also a godsend versus warriors , who I ' ve been having trouble with recently . Opportunity , again , is a straight throughput increase . It helps . I didn ' t take Initiative because I already have enough combo points . That is never my problem . Energetic Recovery is an absolute must - have for any Subtlety player , PVE or PVP . It ' s the most potent energy regen available , and it ' s baked into an effect you should always have up anyway . Find Weakness lets me take Remove Armor off my bar . Hemorrhage is an obvious choice . Honor Among Thieves is a shoe - in . I see many rogues take Premeditation , but I choose not to because HAT gives me enough that I can count on sitting outside of stealth long enough to bank up points on a target before opening . I didn ' t take points in Enveloping Shadows because I don ' t run into AOE damage enough for it to be worth it . I ' ve forgone taking points in Cheat Death because if I ' m cutting it that close , it usually means I ' m screwed anyway . Preparation is an obvious " yes " . Many rogues forgo points in Sanguinary Vein because they don ' t use Gouge often or because they don ' t think their targets live long enough for it to be useful . However , with the glyph of hemo , you gain another 16 % damage added to the target with no change to your opening , and you can freely use gouge . Slaughter from the Shadows is necessary for Subtlety to be a viable damage - dealing spec . I didn ' t take points in Serrated Blades because I don ' t use Rupture for more than the 16 seconds or so that it lasts . Shadow Dance is both a control and burn cooldown , as it lets you use Cheap Shot and Garrote freely , Sap if a newcomer is about to enter the fray , and Ambush . It ' s fantastic . I commonly see rogues taking points in Improved Recuperate . It essentially provides 6 % resilience while recuperate is active , as well as adding a small increase to its effectiveness . This is very helpful to those without good gear , but less essential for me now that I ' m comfortable with my levels of resilience . Assassination has a couple good options for PVP , and I took full Lethality and partial Coup de Grace . Lethality offers throughput in abilities I use constantly , and Coup de Grace is just better than Ruthless Momentum ; it only counts killing blows , so it ' s especially hard to rely on in PVP . Quickening makes your recuperate tick harder along with the obvious speed increase ( bringing you up to 126 % run speed while stealthed ) , and Puncturing Wounds makes my Backstab crit over 50 % of the time , activating the glyph and refunding energy , as well as dealing ~ 35k damage . When every backstab deals similar damage to an eviscerate , it makes it less punitive to spread the pain amongst several targets . For prime glyphs , I chose Glyph of Backstab , Glyph of Shadow Dance , and Glyph of Hemorrhage . Glyph of Ambush , Glyph of Garrote , and Glyph of Preparation fill out my majors , and the minors are all subjective . UI . While I ' m sure there ' s better ways to set up my UI , I keep mine fairly rough . I ' ve gotten used to it , but it may not be for you . My UI is a simple configuration of Bartender , Shadowed Unit Frames , TitanPanel , Recount , and every serious player ' s essential mod , Sexymap . I also use Gladius for arenas , DeadlyPVPMods for battlegrounds and arenas , and Kong UI Hider for aesthetics . I only use a few macros , those being a mount macro ( easily moddable , I know ) and a Recup / SnD macro . My keybinds are sloppy , I ' m sure , but I ' m a casual PVP player . UI shown Keybinds shown Obviously , everything is kept on the left side of the keyboard . Clutch spells ( Kick , Kidney Shot ) are kept right under my hand at all times , while more situational spells are further out ( Cloak , Evasion ) . My offensive cooldowns , I admit , are out of the way somewhat , but I don ' t find it limits my gameplay . I never use Expose Armor , that ' s something that ' s evaded my cleanings . When you ' re setting up your own UI , don ' t be afraid to put things on letter keys . While it does make it difficult to find a push - to - talk key for vent , you may be wasting important keys . Another thing to consider is that the placement of your spells has an effect on how aggressively you use them . When I was getting into PVP , I found I wasn ' t using Dismantle as often as I should . I put it next to Shadowstep , and now I use it more than I should , if anything . There ' s a balance to be struck , and you shouldn ' t be afraid to put your thumb on the scale .