Subtlety, the specialization built on stealth and the explosive opener
In vanilla, Subtlety is the Rogue’s spec built around stealth: Master of Deception and Heightened Senses control who spots you and who slips past you, Premeditation and Improved Ambush set up a critical opener from stealth, and Preparation resets your other cooldowns to relaunch that cycle. It’s the most timing-demanding of the three specs: all of its potential lives in that opening window from stealth, and then in the ability to get back into it via Vanish to repeat it. In PvP, it’s the classic pick for a duelist who wants to decide when the fight starts. In PvE, it mostly shines in dungeons, where stealth opens up fights that Combat or Assassination have to walk straight into.
What Forever changes in the Subtlety tree
Of nineteen talents, five are entirely new, eleven have been reworked, and three are gone: this is the most heavily reworked of the Rogue’s three trees. Two new talents change how you play the stealth opener. Cutthroat gives your Sinister Strike a chance to make your next Ambush usable without stealth within the next ten seconds. Thousand Cuts lowers the energy cost of your next Hemorrhage or Sinister Strike every time Rupture ticks, stacking up to five times. The other three new talents, Dirty Tricks, Improved Distract, and Quietus, tighten up energy economy and stealth play. The three removed talents, Sleight of Hand, Improved Sap, and Deadliness, were only minor, isolated bonuses.
Interactive talent calculator
Try the three Rogue specializations yourself below: the Subtlety 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 (703 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 703 DPS quoted above (dungeon and crafted gear). Without trinkets the simulation gives 681 DPS; the two trinkets, picked by MythicSim, add 3.3%.
HeadShadowcraft Capitem level 62
NeckMark of Fordringitem level 63
ShouldersShadowcraft Spauldersitem level 60
BackCape of the Black Baronitem level 63
ChestDawn Armoritem level 61
WristsShadowcraft Bracersitem level 57
HandsDevilsaur Gauntletsitem level 58
WaistShadowcraft Beltitem level 58
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 handIronfoeitem level 60
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 681 DPS without trinkets come from (703 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 28.4% · Miss 17.5% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 39.9% | 205.5 | 30.2% | 83.2 | 296 | - |
 HemorrhageCrit 26.3% · Dodge 6.5% | 150.4 | 22.1% | 44.1 | 409 | 99.9% |
| Melee (off hand)Crit 28.2% · Miss 17.5% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 40.0% | 80.7 | 11.9% | 109.5 | 88 | - |
 RuptureCrit 0.0% · Dodge 6.3% | 74.4 | 10.9% | 7.6 | 1,177 | 75.3% |
| Melee (extra attack)Crit 28.0% · Miss 17.6% · Dodge 6.5% · Glancing 40.2% | 55.2 | 8.1% | 20.3 | 326 | - |
 Deadly PoisonCrit 0.0% · Miss 7.5% | 38.9 | 5.7% | - | - | 89.4% |
 EviscerateCrit 26.6% · Dodge 6.8% | 30.5 | 4.5% | 2.8 | 1,313 | - |
 Instant PoisonCrit 13.1% · Miss 7.5% | 21.2 | 3.1% | - | - | - |
 Dragonbreath ChiliCrit 13.1% · Miss 7.5% | 12.3 | 1.8% | - | - | - |
 FrostboltCrit 12.9% · Miss 7.4% | 6.0 | 0.9% | - | - | - |
 Goblin Sapper ChargeCrit 13.9% · Miss 1.1% | 5.5 | 0.8% | 1.0 | 657 | - |
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 Dice94.7%- Thousand Cuts48.7%
Holy Strength64.2%
Quietus35.0%
Major Frenzy Potion26.4%
Eureka!8.3%
Windfury Totem (2)5.3%
Stealth1.0%
Debuffs on the target
Curse of Recklessness100.0%- Hemorrhage99.9%
- Deadly Poison89.4%
- Rupture75.3%
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: Hemorrhage (automatic). 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) or (combo points are at least 5 and the remaining duration of Slice and Dice is below 3 s and the remaining fight time is above 9 s)
Vanishif energy is at least 60 and combo points are at most 1 and Slice and Dice is active and the remaining fight time is above 10 s
Premeditationno condition
Ambushno condition- Ruptureif combo points are at least 3 and Rupture is not active on the target and the remaining fight time is above 8 s
- Other cooldownsif Slice and Dice is active
- Eviscerateif combo points are at least 4 and (Slice and Dice is active or energy is at least 79 or the remaining fight time is below 6 s)
- Hemorrhageno condition
Simulation details from MythicSim (October 21, 2026), reproduced with the author’s permission.
The Rogue’s most reworked tree still has to be played
Of the Rogue’s three trees, Subtlety is the one Forever reworks the most, between Cutthroat and Thousand Cuts. Chaining the two from stealth still has to be tested in game: the build guide will follow, from the beta on September 17, 2026 through to full launch on November 4, 2026.
Going further
You can also check out our Assassination and Combat pages to compare the Rogue’s three trees, along with the full list of WoW Forever builds on the section hub. For stealth-focused PvP play before Forever, our Subtlety Rogue PvP Guide (MoP Classic) is still available.
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