Introduction

Assassination remains largely the same it has been for some years now. There are a few old friends making a return and some small changes here and there.

Talents

Single Target

  • Level 15: Blindside or Elaborate Planning
  • Level 25: Master Assassin
  • Level 30: Vigor or Deeper Stratagem
  • Level 35: Optional
  • Level 40: Optional
  • Level 45: Alacrity
  • Level 50: Poison Bomb

Multi Target(f.ex 5 man instances)

  • Level 15: Elaborate Planning
  • Level 25: Subterfuge
  • Level 30: Vigor or Deeper Stratagem or Marked for Death
  • Level 35: Optional
  • Level 40: Optional
  • Level 45: Alacrity
  • Level 50: Crimson Tempest

You should always run a simulation of your character to check which talents are best for you. Multi target setups might vary based on the keystone or personal preference.

Gearing & Stats

Items are back to being just items.

“Stat Weights,” is a term you might have heard many times. What is actually being discussed, is scale factors, because they usually change the moment you change a piece of equipment. This is why we recommend that you sim your character to compare items rather than relying on weights.

For stats you should be aiming for the following:

Single Target

  • Agility
  • Haste
  • Critical Strike
  • Versatility
  • Mastery

Multi Target

  • Agility
  • Haste
  • Critical Strike
  • Versatility
  • Mastery

For your food buff while raiding you should be eating the feast for the primary stat or, in case of no feast, food for the secondary stat that your scale factors says is highest.

For potions you should go with Potion of Phantom Fire.

For your flask you should always use Spectral Flask of Power.

For your ring enchants you should use the secondary stat that your scale factors says is highest.

For your weapon enchants you might want to use one Celestial Guidance and Sinful Revelation.

For your boots enchant you should use 15 agility.

For your chest enchant you should use 30 all stats or Eternal Skirmish.

For your weapon you should also use Shadowcore Oil.

Covenants, Soulbinds and Conduits

Kyrian

Pelagos

  • Pelagos is solid all around soulbind thanks to Combat Meditation.

Kleia

  • Heavily reliant on having full stacks of Pointed Courage.

Forgelite Prime Mikanikos

  • Does not perform too well but summons a cool minion every once in a while.

Necrolord

Plague Deviser Marileth

  • By far the worst of the three.

Emeni

  • Lead by Example is a decent trait that also offers something for the party.

Bonesmith Heirmir

  • Forgeborne Reveries offers decent dps on top of possibly beneficial effect upon death. This prolonged death effect can be very useful in some niche cases.

Night Fae

Niya

  • A simple and great soulbind that has multiple final row picks.

Dreamweaver

  • Offers a possibly handy extra cheat death.

Korayn

  • A situational soulbind that can shine in content where new enemies are plentiful.

Venthyr

Nadjia the Mistblade

  • Thrill Seeker is a solid out of the box trait you get to combo with Dauntless Duelist later on down the line.

Theotar the Mad Duke

  • A decent rival to Nadja in terms of output if Thrill Seeker just does not work out in an encounter.

General Draven

  • Not really a practical soulbind for a dps role.

Assassination potency conduits

Well-Placed Steel

  • Go to conduit for single target damage.

Lethal Poisons

  • Decent for both single and multi target situations.

Mail, Mangle

  • Worst of the three single target focused conduits.

Poisoned Katar

  • Should only be used in multi target scenarios.

For more information you can check out Herodamage for the traits or run a simulation for your character.

Legendaries

Dashing Scoundrel

  • High single target output, but falls off hard the more enemies you have.

Doomblade

  • Very similar legendary power to Dashing Scoundrel in terms of power, but lacks the gameplay feel that the Dashing offers via increased energy generation.

Zoldyck Insignia

  • A well rounded legendary that is somewhat behind on single target, but can still offer execute for progression.

Mark of the Master Assassin

  • Another well rounded legendary that is even more behind on single target, but works in other situations than single target raid encounters, on Outlaw and on Subtlety aswell. Versatile.

For more information you can check out Herodamage for the legendaries or run a simulation for your character.

Rotation

Pre-Pull

  • 18 seconds on the pull timer, Marked for Death when talented

Pull

Subterfuge

  • Garrote
  • Slice and Dice
  • Mutilate till 4+ combo points
  • Rupture
  • Vendetta
  • Shiv
  • Mutilate till 4+ combo points
  • Envenom
  • Move on to normal rotation
  • Vanish when Garrote hits 5.4 seconds or less

Master Assassin talented

  • Mutilate
  • Slice and Dice
  • Mutilate
  • Garrote
  • Rupture
  • Vendetta
  • Shiv
  • Vanish
  • Mutilate till 4+ combo points
  • Envenom

Cool Downs

  • Marked for Death on cool down at low combo points unless you can quickly reset it via a dying mob.
  • Shiv on cool down
  • Vendetta on cool down
  • Vanish paired up with vendetta

At 4-5 Combo Points or 5-6 Combo Points with Deeper Stratagem

  • Rupture, refresh with 7.2 seconds remaining at 5 combo points, or 6 seconds remaining at 4 combo points
  • Envenom

Note: You do not want to overwrite a Nightstalker empowered Rupture or Garrote until it has expired.

Building combo points

  • Garrote when your current Garrote is below 5.4 or there is an additional target.
  • Ambush when you have a blindside proc
  • Fan of Knives, if there are 4 or more targets
  • Mutilate

Cleave

  • Crimson Tempest, if the dot has less than 2 seconds remaining
  • Garrote, if the target will live long enough
  • Rupture, if the target will live long enough
  • Envenom, the priority target

AddOns & Macros

There aren’t really any hard requirements for AddOns you should use. Look into using Weak Auras and/or an energy bar AddOn.

Weak Auras

You can find a number of Weak Auras available on wago.io.

Macros

There aren’t really any significant macros for Assassination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s up with Ambush?

  • You should only cast Ambush when you get a free Ambush proc from the talent Blindside. Even with Sepsis, Ambush is not worth casting due to it not being free of the energy cost.

How do I Shiv?

  • You aim to use Shiv on cool down as it is already a very short cool down. You want to avoid applying bleeds during Shiv and instead cast as many high combo point envenoms as possible. It is also fine to cast Shiv while you are already at maximum combo points. Lastly, you might want to hold on to some combo points and energy prior to Shiv cooling off to increase the amount of Mutilates and Envenoms you are able to cast.

Why are my simulations showing I need x and not y?

  • Every character is different. Typically Assassination wants a good amount of haste and critical strike to get started, but this does not mean other stats are useless.

Changelog

I’ll make a note of any changes to the guide and the date it was updated here if you want to come back in the future to check for changes.

Last updated: Thursday, 11th March 2021 – Assa is back on the menu

Author

This guide has been written and is maintained by wEak. wEak has played rogue for over 10 years and raids with Memento.

If you have questions, please visit Ravenholdt Discord.