Rogue DPS in the Season of Discovery Guide

In Season of Discovery, Rogue DPS maintains its core gameplay from Classic Era but introduces exciting rune abilities that seamlessly integrate with set bonuses and talents. Familiar moves like Sinister Strike now synergize with new runes, offering improved energy cost reduction for abilities like Shiv. The addition of potent combo point builders, such as Saber Slash and the familiar Mutilate, provides Rogues with versatile options for their rotation.

New finishing moves and powerful passive abilities, like the Lethal Draught rune complementing the Poison rune, add depth to the Rogue's toolkit. Despite these enhancements, the fundamental Rogue experience of managing energy, building combo points, and delivering devastating finishing moves remains unchanged. The leather-wearing melee damage dealer continues to thrive, with the Season of Discovery offering Rogues fresh opportunities for precision strikes and stealthy assaults.

Best Runes for Rogue DPS

Chest Rune

Legs Rune

Gloves Rune

Best Talent Builds for Rogue DPS - Phase 1

Assassination: With so few points to spend in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery, it is hard to call yourself either a "Combat" or "Assassination" or "Subtlety" specialization for Rogue DPS. That being said, the majority of your talent points will be spent in Assassination to reach the  Relentless Strikes talent which is extremely strong. The build will play more like a traditional "Combat" build with a slow main hand weapon and  Sinister Strike or  Saber Slash.

Strengths and Weaknesses for Rogue DPS

Rogues emerge as robust melee damage dealers in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery, leveraging potent abilities like Saber Slash and Deadly Brew for high sustained single-target damage. However, their toolkit lacks meaningful multi-target damage options, limiting their effectiveness in scenarios requiring damage spread across multiple targets. As Rogues progress to higher levels, they will unlock additional abilities to address this limitation.

Strengths:

1. Exceptional sustained single-target damage facilitated by Saber Slash and Deadly Brew.

2. Control over threat levels with the utility of Vanish.

Weaknesses:

1. Limited multi-target damage capability.

How to Play Rogue DPS

At level 25 there is not a whole lot to do when it comes to your rotation. Move up to the enemy to be in melee range and start smashing your  Saber Slash button. When you reach 5 combo points, hit them with a powerful finishing move.

Rotation

1. Use  Saber Slash to generate combo points.

2. Use finishing moves when you reach 5 combo points. Your primary finisher will be  Slice and Dice, and use  Envenom when you're at 5 points and already have  Slice and Dice active.

3. If any enemies are attacking you instead of your tank, use  Vanish to make them stop attacking you.

Stats and Gear for Rogue DPS

1. Stat Priority

2. Attack Power

3. Agility

4. Critical Strike Chance

5. Hit Chance

6. Strength

7. Stamina

Attack power and agility are the stats you will looking out for the most to improve your damage. Hit and Critical Strike chance are good stats as well, but aren't found on very much gear until the later levels. While stamina doesn't help you directly deal more damage, it does help you stay alive.

Gear Recommendations for Rogue DPS - Phase 1

1. Mantle of Thieves: This shoulder drops in Razorfen Kraul, which is a level 30 Dungeon and will be quite dangerous in Phase 1. But 10 Agility and 4 Stamina is perfect for a Rogue DPS.

2. Troll's Bane Leggings: These Legs are a Bind on Equip item that can drop from mobs in the level 26-33 range, which means they could be difficult to find.

3. Humbert's Helm: Humbert's Helm comes from the elite dwarf NPCs in Hillsbrad Foothills. These can only be obtained by Horde players since the dwarves are friendly to all Alliance players. Any Alliance rogues looking for this helm will have to keep an eye on the neutral auction house for any horde who are willing to sell it.

4. Thunderbrow Ring: While Strength isn't normally a priority stat for rogues, this item simply has MORE stats on it than most other rings available at level 25, making it an excellent choice for rogue.

Best Races for Rogue DPS

Best Alliance Races

Three of the four available races on Alliance are good considerations for Rogue DPS in Season of Discovery. Humans offer a very powerful bonus weapon skill racial to passively boost your attack damage. Gnomes offer  Escape Artist to get out of slows and immobilize effects. When this is good, its very good, but often times it will not be relevant at all. Dwarves offer  Stoneform and similar to the Gnome racial, when this is good, its very good - but that might not be very often. Night Elves don't have any racial bonuses that particularly boost rogue DPS.

The normal default choice for melee classes in Classic has been Human for the massively powerful weapon skill bonus. Having at least 5, or preferably 8, weapon skill massively improves your auto attack damage against bosses. In Classic Era, weapon skill is found on very very few items so it is quite hard to get this bonus, which is why Human was so good. Blizzard has vaguely suggested that weapon skill will not be such a big issue in Season of Discovery - but we'll have to discover exactly what they are going to do about it.

Best Horde Races

For horde, you have two race choices that directly impact your damage output with Troll and Orc. Troll offers a massive +5% damage against any Beast type enemy as well as  Berserking which will be strong against any enemy. Orc offers  Blood Fury which is also good against all enemies... unless you plan on receiving any heals! Undead can be rogues as well, but their racial  Will of the Forsaken is another one that is only situationally good - but when its good, its VERY good.

Best Professions for Rogue DPS

Engineering & Leatherworking

As it stands, Engineering and Leatherworking are the only two professions that give exclusive access to items that boost your DPS, making them a great choice for PvE rogues. Access to  Heavy Dynamite from Engineering will be a big deal at level 25, giving you access to your only multi target damage as well as being usable as a single target damage boost.  Void-Touched Leather Gloves are the best gloves available, although only a little bit better than the next best option,  Heavy Earthen Gloves.

Conclusion

Rogue DPS in Season of Discovery retains the essence of its Classic Era counterpart while introducing exciting rune mechanics. With a focus on precision strikes and sustained single-target damage, Rogues excel in scenarios demanding precision and control. While multi-target engagements may pose challenges, Rogues are poised to evolve and adapt as they progress through the season.

Embark on your journey as a Rogue in the Season of Discovery, mastering the art of stealth and precision strikes. As you navigate the challenges that await, may your strikes be swift, and your enemies unaware. Best of luck in your endeavors as a Rogue in World of Warcraft!

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