Rogue specializationDPS

Assassination Rogue

Assassination is one of the three Rogue talent trees in WoW Forever. Its tree has 17 talents: 2 new, 7 changed, 5 moved and 3 same as in Classic. Our best-in-slot (BiS) list treats it as a DPS spec.

Class: Rogue
Talents: 17
New in Forever: 2
Abilities: 11

Assassination talents

The 17 talents of the Assassination tree in the beta, row by row. Each one opens its own page: what every rank does, its requirements and what changes from Classic.

Try Assassination in the calculator

What changes in Forever

What is new and changed for Assassination compared with Classic Era: our change list, its talent tree and its abilities.

In our change list

Our change list has nothing specific to Assassination yet. What the beta client changes in its tree and its abilities is right below.

Class-wide changes

They affect every Rogue, whatever tree they play:

New talents

Mutilate
Instantly attacks with both weapons for 75% weapon damage plus an additional 17.3 with each weapon. Damage increased by 20% against Poisoned targets. Awards 2 Combo Points.
Venom
Finishing move that increases the damage of your Poisons by 30% and your chance to apply Poisons by 10%. Lasts longer per combo point: 1 point : 9 sec 2 points: 12 sec 3 points: 15 sec 4 points: 18 sec 5 points: 21 sec

Changed or moved talents

Improved GougeChanges: tree, text. In Classic it was in Combat.
Remorseless AttacksChanges: text.
MaliceChanges: text.
MurderChanges: text, numbers.
Improved Expose ArmorChanges: text, numbers.
LethalityChanges: text, numbers.
Vile PoisonsChanges: position.
Cold BloodChanges: position, text.
Improved PoisonsChanges: text, numbers.
VigorChanges: position, ranks, text, numbers.
Improved Kidney ShotChanges: ranks, text, numbers.
Seal FateChanges: position.

New abilities

Changed abilities

EviscerateChanges: tooltip.
Expose ArmorChanges: tooltip.
RuptureChanges: tooltip.
Cold BloodChanges: level, tooltip.

Assassination abilities

The 11 abilities the beta spellbook groups under Assassination, by the level they are learned at. Each one opens its own page with its ranks, cost and changes.

EviscerateLv. 1
Slice and DiceLv. 10
Expose ArmorLv. 14
GarroteLv. 14
AmbushLv. 18
RuptureLv. 20
Cold BloodTalentLv. 25
Cheap ShotLv. 26
Kidney ShotLv. 30
MutilateTalentLv. 30
VenomTalentLv. 40

See Assassination in the spellbook →

Assassination best-in-slot (BiS) gear

The site’s suggestion, not an official list: we score the beta items with our stat weights for each level. The beta is capped at level 30.

Full list by levelLevel 20 Level 30beta Level 40 Level 50 Level 60

Top picks at level 60

Main hand
1. Kingsfallitem level 89 · Drops from Kel'Thuzad · Naxxramas (Classic data)
2. Harbinger of Doomitem level 83 · Drops from Shade of Naxxramas · Naxxramas (Classic data)
Head
1. Bonescythe Helmetitem level 88 · Quest: Bonescythe Helmet · Naxxramas (Classic data)
2. Deathdealer's Helmitem level 81 · Quest: Deathdealer's Helm · Ahn'Qiraj (Classic data)
Chest
1. Bonescythe Breastplateitem level 92 · Quest: Bonescythe Breastplate · Naxxramas (Classic data)
2. Deathdealer's Vestitem level 88 · Quest: Deathdealer's Vest · Ahn'Qiraj (Classic data)

The two highest-scoring pieces in three slots. It is a forecast: until the beta reaches 60, items and their sources may change.

Full Assassination list at level 60 →

Why these weights

Dagger required in the main hand for Backstab. 1 agility = 1 AP + crit (≈29 agi per 1%) + dodge; 1 strength = 1 AP, hence roughly half the value. Seal Fate turns crits into extra combo points, so crit weighs a lot, and hit even more since dual wielding misses 19% more and poisons miss too. Main-hand dagger DPS weighs more than for Combat because Backstab scales with weapon damage; the off hand only applies poisons, the faster the better.