Outlaw Rogue DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents - The War Within Pre-Patch (2024)

Hidden Opportunity Single-Target TalentsHidden Opportunity AoE/Mythic+ TalentsTalents/Pathing Explained

This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.

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This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE andcleave fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.

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This section goes into detail about the possible choices you can make, thatmight deviate from the linked single-target and Mythic+ builds. Note that wedo not explain every single talent here, but instead explain why certaintalents are picked, and if there are any alternative choices you can make. Formore information on all the individual talents, please consult our Spells pagevia the button instead.

Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison	Theattack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness fromWarlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus,Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Underhanded Upper Hand OR Sepsis	Sepsisgrants us access to more stealth abilities, but since this does not countfor the purposes of Crackshot, Underhanded Upper Hand simply providestoo much uptime on Adrenaline Rush and is a mandatory pick.
Cheat Death OR Elusiveness	Cheat Deathis almost always going to be the better choice for progression. Elusiveness hasits strengths on encounters where there is no big burst damage that might killyou, but instead constant damage over time. Even then, Cheat Death will likelyserve you better during progression.
Reverberation OR Resounding Clarity	Similarto the previous choice, there is a clear DPS winner here in all situations:Resounding Clarity.
Airborne Irritant OR Gouge	Both talentsallow you to disrupt enemies in Mythic+, giving you additional control. AirborneIrritant is likely going to be the choice for Mythic+, as AoE interrupts are hardto come by, and Blackjack allows it to also serve as a defensive toolfor your tank.
Blackjack OR Tricks of the Trade	In a raidenvironment, Tricks is likely the better choice. However, in Mythic+, the combinationof Blackjack and Airborne Irritant offers incredible control and also helpsthe tank.
Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush	Thisis a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambushcasts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation.
Float Like a Butterfly OR Sting Like a Bee	Thischoice comes down to whether or not you and your group or raid might getvalue out of Sting Like a Bee. It applies to all players and can be a verypowerful way to help DPS on adds that can be stunned. If there are no suchadds in a fight, then the cooldown reduction on Feint is slightly betterdefensively.
Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons	Thisis a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increasethan Virulent Poisons.

All the talents here are utility talents, offering survivability, mobility, orcrowd-control abilities, with the exception of Subterfuge. All theselected talents offer the most use in a raid or Mythic+ environment, while stillopening up pathing to the 3 central nodes later down the line. As we need toallocate Deadly Precision, Recuperator and Tight Spenderto access all the talents in Rows 8-10, there are only a few free talent pointsavailable to us in Rows 1-7. Most of the early talents in Rows 1-4 are strongerthan the later ones, so we pick up more than the required 8 talents in this part.

Shadowstep	Mandatory mobility talent. We already have Grappling Hook baseline, but more mobility options never hurt.
Cheat Death	A must-pick for progression fights, although Elusiveness might be useful on the occasional encounter.
Improved Sprint and Featherfoot	Incredible mobilitycombo, giving you a 12-second 100% speed boost every minute, which is reducedfurther by Restless Blades, allowing for incredible mobility all throughoutthe fight.

Similar to the first handful of rows, you will have to allocate many points hereto open up the pathing to the last section of the tree. Many of the talents hereare too situational, and there are stronger talents in Rows 1-4 for survivabilityor utility.

Iron Stomach and Deadened Nerves are the go-to choice as some ofthe few flex-points, but if you run Mythic+ and use Shroud of Concealmenta lot, Stillshroud can be the difference maker between wiping andhaving to end the run because Shroud is still on cooldown, or being able toshroud again thanks to the large cd-reduction Stillshroud provides.

Deadly Precision OR Virulent Poisons	Thisis a simple matter of DPS, and Deadly Precision offers a higher DPS increasethan Virulent Poisons.
Atrophic Poison OR Numbing Poison	Theattack-speed slow can be provided by another class (Curse of Weakness fromWarlocks and Insidious Chill from Death Knights), and thus,Atrophic Poison will almost always be the better choice outside of Mythic+.
Recuperator	Strong self-sustain talent that isrequired to open up the middle section of the tree in the following rows,especially if you aim to get Acrobatic Strikes.
Tight Spender OR Improved Ambush	Thisis a another simple matter of DPS. Due to the large amount of Ambushcasts in our rotation, Improved Ambush wins out in every situation.

Your choices in this part will be centered around whether or not you want topick up Acrobatic Strikes. As all the talents in this section areactive DPS increases, the choice ultimately comes down to which options end upbeing the best DPS increase.

Subterfuge	Grants you access to stealth-abilities for6 seconds after breaking stealth.
Without a Trace	Offers you a second charge of Vanish.Synergizes incredibly well with Crackshot and allows for even moreAmbush casts.
Deeper Stratagem	Adds a maximum Combo Point. Stacks with Devious Stratagem.
Echoing Reprimand and Resounding Clarity	ER empowers your 2nd, 3rd and 4th ComboPoints, while RC only increases the damage of the ability itself. Casting a finisherwith empowered Combo Points changes it to instead be cast as if you used 7 ComboPoints on it. Make sure to use up all of them before the next ER is ready, as theunused ones will be overwritten.
Alacrity	Passive Haste buff. This might rarely run outon single-target, but there is no ways to avoid that.
Cold Blood	Cold Blood is too weak of a talent to becompetitive with the other choices like Resounding Clarity or DeeperStratagem. Do not play this.
Acrobatic Strikes	A talent that increases your meleeattack range, which often allows you to stay out of trouble in Mythic+, andalso means that you will be able to hit enemies sooner if you have to move to them,or even away from them. If you want to play this, drop a point in Lethality.

Most of the picks here are simply gateways to talents further down the line,with some choices based off of how strong and situational their utility is. Thechosen setup allows for pathing to all parts of the tree, and the only swap youmake is for AoE, picking up Deft Maneuvers.

For Mythic+, you can make a choice between Combat Stamina, which improvesyour own survivability, and picking up Blinding Powder, which would furtherreduce the cooldown on your Airborne Irritant and Blackjackcombo.

In this part of the tree, you get to choose between optimizing your build forsingle-target or multi-target encounters, as well as picking a variety of minorDPS improving passives. After picking all the potent DPStalents for the content you engage with in these rows, you allocate one morepoint in Rows 1-4 to unlock the last three Rows.

For Mythic+, you can also pick up Heavy Hitter instead of Deft Maneuversfor slightly more single-target, at the cost of a bit of AoE.

Devious Stratagem	Adds another maximum Combo Point, fora total of 7. Mandatory.
Dancing Steel	Mandatory talent for AoE.
Audacity	A mandatory talent for almost all builds, asit allows you extra casts of Ambush at the same rate as your extra casts of PistolShot procs.
Loaded Dice	A core ability for all Outlaw builds that buffsRtB, which can provide a variety of different combat enhancements. Mandatory
Audacity	Mandatory. Allows you to weave in Ambushinto your rotation, which greatly increases your ability to generate CP.
Ace Up Your Sleeve	Combined with Crackshot, thistalent potentially allows you to spam Between the Eyes during Subterfuge.

You will once more allocate talents based on whether you engage in multi-targetor single-target combat, and this is where you truly define your build by picking Hidden Opportunity and Crackshot as your capstone.

Hidden Opportunity	Key talent for HO builds, which grantsyour Ambush casts to hit twice and grant Opportunity procs.
Count the Odds	Greatly improves the number of RtB buffsyou have active on any given time.
Keep It Rolling	Key talent for KIR builds, which allowsyou to extend the duration of your RtB buffs.
Fan the Hammer	Greatly enhances your CP generation, thanksto all the extra procs you get from other talents.
Killing Spree	Powerful finisher that also reduces thedamage you take during its duration. Sadly, it doesn't do enough damageto be worth picking up.
Precise Cuts	Mandatory Talent for Mythic+ and cleave.
Greenskin's Wickers	This changes your rotational priorityslightly, making you use Between the Eyes on cooldown instead of justusing it to maintain the debuff.