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 eighteen talents, four are entirely new, twelve have been reworked, and three are gone: this is the most heavily reworked of the Rogue’s three trees. Two new talents from the November 2 launch notes change how you play combo points. Boot Knife gives Shank up to a 100% chance to add 2 combo points to the target. Death Mark is a 25-Energy finishing move: it marks the target, stores a portion of the damage dealt by your attacks per combo point (twice as fast for Garrote and Rupture) and deals it after 6 seconds. The other two new talents, Dirty Tricks and Quick Getaway, tighten up energy economy and stealth play: Quick Getaway lets you Sap one more target at once and speeds up your movement by 15 / 30% for 3 seconds after a Sap. 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 (918 DPS single target, 2-minute fight, dungeon and crafted gear with the best trinket pair, November 2026).
Build adapted by Kami Labs to the November 2 launch notes, until MythicSim updates its simulations.
Gear used by the simulation
The pieces worn by the simulated character to reach the 918 DPS quoted above (dungeon and crafted gear). Without trinkets the simulation gives 889 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 2Don Julio's Banditem level 60
Trinket 1Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalasitem level 62
Trinket 2Adaptive Combat Assistantitem level 65
Main handIronfoeitem level 60
Off handFelstrikeritem level 63
RangedSatyr's Bowitem level 58
Gear from the MythicSim simulation (November 9, 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 889 DPS without trinkets come from (918 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 31.3% · Miss 14.6% · Dodge 4.5% · Glancing 40.0% | 213.9 | 23.3% | 83.1 | 309 | - |
 Death MarkCrit 0.0% | 156.4 | 17.0% | 7.1 | 2,653 | - |
 HemorrhageCrit 32.7% · Dodge 4.5% | 97.8 | 10.7% | 29.0 | 405 | 95.2% |
 RuptureCrit 0.0% · Dodge 4.6% | 86.8 | 9.5% | 6.7 | 1,560 | 94.4% |
| Melee (off hand)Crit 31.2% · Miss 14.7% · Dodge 4.5% · Glancing 40.0% | 85.3 | 9.3% | 90.1 | 114 | - |
 GarroteCrit 0.0% | 81.0 | 8.8% | 4.7 | 2,090 | 94.4% |
| Melee (extra attack)Crit 31.5% · Miss 14.6% · Dodge 4.5% · Glancing 40.1% | 55.2 | 6.0% | 19.3 | 344 | - |
 Deadly PoisonCrit 0.0% · Miss 5.5% | 41.0 | 4.5% | - | - | 87.2% |
 Instant PoisonCrit 20.4% · Miss 5.5% | 25.2 | 2.7% | - | - | - |
 EviscerateCrit 32.7% · Dodge 4.5% | 21.1 | 2.3% | 1.6 | 1,565 | - |
 Ghostly StrikeCrit 32.7% · Dodge 4.3% | 20.0 | 2.2% | 4.9 | 493 | - |
 Dragonbreath ChiliCrit 20.7% · Miss 5.6% | 13.9 | 1.5% | - | - | - |
 ShankCrit 33.4% | 8.4 | 0.9% | 12.3 | 82 | - |
 Goblin Sapper ChargeCrit 18.6% · Miss 1.0% | 6.0 | 0.7% | 1.0 | 715 | - |
 FrostboltCrit 19.7% · Miss 5.5% | 5.9 | 0.6% | - | - | - |
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 Dice93.0%
Holy Strength76.7%- Death Mark35.4%
- Ghostly Strike27.7%
Major Frenzy Potion26.4%
Ghostly Strike (2)13.2%
Elune's Light12.5%
Felstriker5.4%
Windfury Totem (2)4.3%
Stealth0.4%
Leader of the Pack0.0%
Poised0.0%
Debuffs on the target
Curse of Recklessness100.0%- Hemorrhage95.2%
- Garrote94.4%
- Rupture94.4%
- Deadly Poison87.2%
Hatched: the debuff is applied, but its armor effect is not (another armor debuff takes over).
Active the whole fight
Battle Shout
Gift of the Wild
Grace of Air
Greater Blessing of Kings
Greater Blessing of Might- 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.
Before the fight
- −1 sStealth
Priority
Premeditationif combo points are below 4- Garroteif Garrote is not active on the target and combo points are below 5
Ambushif combo points are below 5- Shankif energy is below 80 and combo points are below 5
- Ruptureif Rupture is not active on the target and the remaining fight time is above 8 s
- Slice and Diceif Slice and Dice is not active and the remaining fight time is at least 6 s
- Death Markif combo points are at least 5 and more than 6 s of the fight remain and Death Mark is not active
- Eviscerateif combo points are at least 5 and (less than 8 s of the fight remain or energy is at least 80)
Vanishif Stealth is not active and (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 and (it is not true that (Ghostly Strike is ready and Garrote is active on the target)))- Other cooldowns (Elune's Light, Major Frenzy Potion, Thistle Tea, Goblin Sapper Charge)if Slice and Dice is active
- Ghostly Strikeif the remaining duration of Garrote on the target is below 1 s or the remaining duration of Garrote on the target is above 20 s
- Hemorrhageif energy is at least 60 and combo points are below 5
Show all 13 lines (1 more)
Preparationif Vanish is not ready
Simulation details from MythicSim (November 9, 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 Boot Knife and Death Mark. Chaining them 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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