Assassination, the specialization built on poison and combo points
In vanilla, Assassination is the Rogue’s most understated spec: not Combat’s brutal burst, nor Subtlety’s stealth game, but tight management of poison and combo points. Malice and Lethality push your critical strike chance across the board, Vile Poisons and Improved Poisons strengthen how reliably your poisons land and resist being dispelled, and Cold Blood guarantees a critical hit at a moment of your choosing rather than leaving it to chance. It’s a spec that rewards discipline over improvisation: an armor debuff applied at the right time and well-timed finishers matter more than any piece of gear. In both PvE and PvP, it gives the Rogue a steady, poison-based damage source rather than occasional spikes.
What Forever changes in the Assassination tree
Of seventeen talents, two are entirely new and ten have been reworked, with none removed. Mutilate is an instant two-weapon attack that grants two combo points at once, dealing 20% extra damage against a poisoned target: exactly the tool a poison-based spec was missing. Venom is a finisher that boosts your poisons’ damage and chance to apply, with its duration growing along with the number of combo points spent. Both new talents deepen what Assassination was already doing in vanilla rather than reinventing it. Cold Blood and Remorseless Attacks, already in the tree, are reworked to fold Mutilate into the list of abilities they affect.
Interactive talent calculator
Try the three Rogue specializations yourself below: the Assassination tree is featured in the first column. Hover over a talent to see its full description, or switch to full screen for more room.
The detail of every talent and spell is in the WoW Forever Spellbook →
Talents: reference build simulated by MythicSim (692 DPS single target, 2-minute fight, dungeon and crafted gear with the best trinket pair, October 2026).
Gear used by the simulation
The pieces worn by the simulated character to reach the 692 DPS quoted above (dungeon and crafted gear). Without trinkets the simulation gives 674 DPS; the two trinkets, picked by MythicSim, add 2.6%.
HeadMask of the Unforgivenitem level 57
NeckMark of Fordringitem level 63
ShouldersTruestrike Shouldersitem level 61
BackCape of the Black Baronitem level 63
ChestDawn Armoritem level 61
WristsBracers of the Eclipseitem level 62
HandsDevilsaur Gauntletsitem level 58
WaistAssassin's Waistguarditem level 60
LegsDevilsaur Leggingsitem level 60
FeetShadowcraft Bootsitem level 59
Finger 1Tarnished Elven Ringitem level 61- Finger 2Tarnished Elven Ringitem level 61
Trinket 1Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalasitem level 62
Trinket 2Hand of Justiceitem level 58
Main handHeartseekeritem level 63
Off handBonescraperitem level 62
RangedSatyr's Bowitem level 58
Gear from the MythicSim simulation (October 21, 2026).
See the full BiS for this spec → BiS is the best gear you can reach, not the gear of the simulation.
Simulation details
What the simulated character does during the 120 s of the fight, where its 674 DPS without trinkets come from (692 DPS quoted above with the trinket pair), which effects it has and in which order it casts.
Damage breakdown
Each line is an ability: the damage per second it adds, its share of the total, how many times it is cast in a fight, the damage of an average cast and, for a lasting effect, the part of the fight where it is active.
| Ability | DPS | Share | Casts | Per cast | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MeleeCrit 30.7% · Miss 11.7% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 40.1% | 166.6 | 24.7% | 83.3 | 240 | - |
 EviscerateCrit 33.5% · Dodge 6.4% | 125.8 | 18.7% | 13.2 | 1,141 | - |
| Melee (off hand)Crit 30.8% · Miss 11.7% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 40.0% | 107.5 | 15.9% | 112.4 | 115 | - |
 MutilateCrit 45.9% | 100.8 | 15.0% | 37.9 | 319 | - |
 Deadly PoisonCrit 0.0% · Miss 1.7% | 60.8 | 9.0% | - | - | 97.5% |
| Melee (extra attack)Crit 30.7% · Miss 11.8% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 40.0% | 43.7 | 6.5% | 19.7 | 266 | - |
 Instant PoisonCrit 17.8% · Miss 1.7% | 31.9 | 4.7% | - | - | - |
 FrostboltCrit 17.8% · Miss 1.7% | 17.7 | 2.6% | - | - | - |
 Dragonbreath ChiliCrit 17.6% · Miss 1.8% | 13.8 | 2.0% | - | - | - |
 Goblin Sapper ChargeCrit 17.3% · Miss 1.1% | 5.6 | 0.8% | 1.0 | 669 | - |
Buffs and debuffs
The percentages are coverage times, meaning the share of the fight during which the effect is active: they are not proc chances. “91.0×” is the average number of applications in a fight.
Procs and cooldowns
Slice and Dice91.3%
Holy Strength34.8%
Major Frenzy Potion26.7%
Blade Flurry14.4%
Windfury Totem (2)4.0%
Cold Blood0.6%
Debuffs on the target
Curse of Recklessness100.0%- Deadly Poison97.5%
Hatched: the debuff is applied, but its armor effect is not (another armor debuff takes over).
Active the whole fight
Battle Shout
Fire Resistance
Fire Resistance Aura
Gift of the Wild
Grace of Air
Greater Blessing of Kings
Greater Blessing of Might
Leader of the Pack
Moonkin Aura
Strength of Earth
Trueshot Aura- Windfury Totem
Curse of the Elements
Faerie Fire
Gift of Arthas
Sunder Armor
Rotation
Simulation rotation: Mutilate. At each decision the simulator goes through the list from top to bottom and casts the first ability whose condition is met.
Priority
- Slice and Diceif combo points are at least 1 and Slice and Dice is not active and the remaining fight time is at least 6 s
- Other cooldownsif Slice and Dice is active
- Cold Bloodif combo points are at least 4 and Slice and Dice is active
- Eviscerateif combo points are at least 3 and (Slice and Dice is active or energy is at least 79 or the remaining fight time is below 6 s)
- Mutilateno condition
Simulation details from MythicSim (October 21, 2026), reproduced with the author’s permission.
Mutilate and poison: the synergy still has to be tested
Mutilate and Venom deepen what Assassination was already doing in vanilla, without reinventing it. The build guide will confirm or disprove that once the spec has been tested in game, from the beta’s opening on September 17, 2026 through to launch on November 4, 2026.
Going further
You can also check out our Combat and Subtlety pages to compare the Rogue’s three trees, along with the full list of WoW Forever builds on the section hub. To gear a poison-focused Rogue before Forever, our Rogue BIS List WoW SoD – Phase 2 is still available.
2 Commentaires
je me pose la question a wow forever les poison scale avec attack power ou comme a vannilla avec de la spell power
Salut reaper212, petite précision sur la prémisse d’abord : en vanilla, les poisons du voleur (Poison instantané, Poison mortel) infligeaient déjà des dégâts fixes par rang, ils ne scalaient ni avec l’attack power ni avec le spell power. La comparaison avec du spell power part donc d’une base un peu fausse. Pour Forever : j’ai fouillé les données Wowhead qu’on a récupérées pendant la bêta, et les poisons y sont toujours affichés en valeurs fixes par rang, sans coefficient AP ou SP, exactement comme en vanilla. Rien n’indique de changement à ce stade. Je reste honnête, je n’ai pas de patch note officiel qui le confirme noir sur blanc, donc si tu vois tes dégâts de poison bouger avec ton stuff en jeu, dis-le-moi et je creuse. Bonne bêta ! 🗡️