Throughout the World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth expansion, we’ve kept track of all the hotfixes and patch changes that directly affected the rogue class. So, you know, here they are.
Gamewide or multi-class changes are usually not included unless they feel especially noteworthy, since this is a rogue-specific summary. Only changes to the live game are listed here; you won’t find any PTR news. Anywhere you see quote marks, we’re quoting from official WoW patch/hotfix notes. If it’s not in quotes, we’re paraphrasing.
- Patch 8.3 (Visions of N’Zoth, Jan. 14, 2020 – now)
- Patch 8.2 and 8.2.5 (Rise of Azshara, June 25 – Jan. 14, 2020)
- Patch 8.1 and 8.1.5 (Tides of Vengeance, Dec. 11, 2018 – June 24, 2019)
- Patch 8.0.1 (BfA Launch, Aug. 13 – Dec. 10, 2018)
- Patch 8.0.1 (BfA Pre-Patch, July 17 – Aug. 12, 2018)
- Sources
- Legion Expansion Changelog
Patch 8.3 (Visions of N’Zoth, Jan. 14, 2020 – now)
Jan. 28, 2020: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix (PvP): “Resolved an issue that prevented PvP Talent weapon disarm effects (e.g. Rogues’ Dismantle) from correctly having diminishing returns on their duration when cast against players that were recently affected by other disarm effects.”
Jan. 27, 2020: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix (raid boss — N’Zoth the Corruptor): “Slightly expanded the distance at which melee characters can attack Exposed Synapses on Normal and Heroic difficulties.”
- Bug fix (Horrific Visions): “Fixed an issue where Split Personality and Dark Delusions removed players from stealth.”
Patch 8.2 and 8.2.5 (Rize of Azshara, June 25, 2019 – Jan. 14, 2020)
Temporary Aug. 14, 2019 – Jan. 7, 2020 Gap Here (Will Fill in Soon)
Aug. 13, 2019: Hotfixes
Outlaw
- Blade Flurry: “now strikes nearby enemies for 30% of normal damage (was 45%)”
- Keep Your Wits About You (Azerite trait): “now increases the chance for Sinister Strike to strike again by 3% (was 5%) and the maximum number of stacks has been increased to 33”
- The developers included a note with this hotfix: “While multi-target cleave is an iconic strength for Outlaw Rogue, we feel that Blade Flurry is currently too strong, particularly in Mythic Keystone dungeons. Likewise, the Azerite Trait Keep Your Wits About You provides too much added value to their area-of-effect rotation at only a single instance of the trait. These changes should keep Outlaw Rogues very strong at multi-target cleave, but no longer significantly ahead of other specs.”
Aug. 7, 2019: Hotfixes
- Bug fix (item): “Azshara’s Font of Power now correctly removes stealth and applies Subterfuge when channeled by a stealthed Rogue.”
July 26, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix (raiding: The Queen’s Court in Azshara’s Eternal Palace): “Fixed a bug causing Rogues to be removed from stealth at the beginning of the fight.”
July 23, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix (item): “Fixed a bug that sometimes Gloves of Incomparable Beauty’s proc effect to break its wearer out of stealth.”
- Bug fix (questing): “Fixed an issue where some Rogues could not interact with the injured soldiers required to complete ‘Fear No Evil.'”
- Bux fix (raiding: Stormwall Blockade in Battle of Dazar’alor): “Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Rogues who used Shadowstep on Laminaria to be ported behind the boss and into the Roiling Tides.”
July 19, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- The Well of Existence (Essence): “now becomes stealthed when its wielder enters stealth (e.g. Druids’ Prowl or Rogues’ Shroud of Concealment)”
July 15, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix (gear): “Benthic gear’s damaging spells and heals (e.g. Poen’s Deepsea Gloves) no longer remove the caster from stealth.”
- Bug fix (world): “Nazjatar followers now respawn if the player drowns after activating stealth.”
July 11, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Potion of Unbridled Fury (item): “should no longer break stealth when used”
July 9, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fixes were applied to many Heart of Azeroth essences to stop them from de-stealthing us.
- Potion of Focused Resolve (item): Using the potion should no longer break stealth.
July 2, 2019: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Bug fix: “Resolved an issue that prevented Sap from breaking when specific spells were cast on affected targets such as Concentrated Flame (Essence).”
- Bug fix: “Applying the Crucible of Flame Essence’s debuff, Ancient Flame, no longer removes a rogue from Stealth.”
- Bug fix (PvP): “Fixed an issue that caused Rogues to die when casting Death from Above while participating in a Black Rook Hold Arena match.”
June 27, 2019: Hotfixes
Outlaw
- Bug fix: “Blade Flurry again deals the correct percentage of damage from Between the Eyes critical strikes.”
June 25, 2019: Patch Notes
A small number of rogue-specific changes were included in the official patch notes:
All Specs
- Bug fix: “Rogues can no longer sometimes re-enter stealth earlier than intended after killing another player.”
Outlaw
- Keep Your Wits About You (Azerite trait): “now stacks once per instance of Blade Flurry dealing damage (was once for every target Blade Flurry hits). Each stack now provides 5% Sinister Strike chance (was 2%).”
- This change was accompanied by the following developers’ note: “In very large packs of enemies, especially in dungeons, Keep Your Wits About You provides much more damage than one copy of one Azerite Trait was intended to provide. With this change, you’ll still feel this trait accelerate as you build stacks, but the size of the group that you’re fighting won’t affect how much damage the trait is giving you. This will be a damage increase against two targets, and a damage reduction against 3 or more targets.”
Patch 8.1 and 8.1.5 (Tides of Vengeance, Dec. 11, 2018 – June 24, 2019)
March 15, 2019: Hotfixes
Assassination
- Fan of Knives has had two bug fixes:
- “Fixed an issue that allowed Rogues to remain in stealth if they cast Fan of Knives but did not strike a target.”
- “Fixed an issue that caused Fan of Knives to generate a combo point when no targets were hit by the ability.”
March 12, 2019: Patch 8.1.5
A small number of rogue-specific changes were included in the official patch notes:
All Specs
- Vigor (talent): “Players who select the Vigor talent now resurrect with full Energy.”
- “Fixed a bug causing Rogues to sometimes remain visible and targetable immediately after casting Vanish.”
Outlaw
- Adrenaline Rush: “now increases maximum Energy by 50 for its duration”
Feb. 14, 2019: Hotfixes
Assassination
- Neurotoxin (PvP) has had three changes:
- “now increases the cooldown of affected spells by 1 second (was 3 seconds)”
- “now has a 45 second cooldown (was 25 seconds)”
- “now has a 3 second duration (was 10 seconds).”
- These changes are accompanied by a developers note: “Unfortunately, we are unable to fix several technical issues with this spell at this time. We’re working on a fix for it that we hope to include in 8.1.5.”
Jan. 29, 2019: Hotfixes
Subtlety
- The First Dance (Azerite trait) “haste reduced by 40%”
- Replicating Shadows (Azerite trait): “shadow damage increased by 30%”
Jan. 9, 2019: Hotfix
All Specs
- (PvP) “Resolved an issue that could cause Vanish to be incorrectly removed early by Azerite Traits such as Dagger in the Back.”
Dec. 12, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- “Fixed a bug that caused Vanish to end before the normal duration when taking damage and harmful effects.”
Assassination
- Echoing Blades: “Fan of Knives explosion now always critically hits. Its base damage has been reduced by 75%.” A related developer’s note reads: “This change allows the trait to scale with the talent Master Assassin in a more reasonable way. The total reduction of the Echo comes out to around 50%, with some variance depending on your Critical Strike chance.”
- “Fixed a bug that caused Subterfuge to not be applied when attacking during Vanish.”
Subtlety
- “Fixed a bug that caused Subterfuge to not be applied when attacking during Vanish.”
Dec. 11, 2018: Hotfixes
Assassination
- Nothing Personal (Azerite trait) PvP hotfix: “reduced to 50% effectiveness when engaged in combat with enemy players”
Outlaw
- Snake Eyes (Azerite trait) PvP hotfix: “reduced by 30% when engaged in combat with enemy players”
Dec. 11, 2018: Official Patch Notes
This patch includes several general game changes that will affect rogues as well as other classes; see the full Tides of Vengeance patch notes for those. The list below only includes rogue-specific changes.
All Specs
- Lying in Wait added as new Azerite trait: “While no enemy is within 12 yards, heal for 689 every second. While any enemy is within 12 yards, gain 173 Speed.”
Assassination
- Fan of Blades (Azerite trait) replaced with Echoing Blades: “Fan of Knives damage is increased by 321. For each of the first 5 critical strikes, it will fire a second spray of knives at that location, dealing 1282 damage to enemies within 8 yards.”
- Poisoned Wire (Azerite trait) replaced with Nothing Personal: “Vendetta poisons the target, dealing 11049 damage over 20 seconds, and grants you 40 energy over 20 seconds.”
- Deadly Brew (PvP) has been removed.
- Shiv (PvP): “now costs 35 Energy, and now applies Deadly, Wound, and Crippling Poison to the target”
Outlaw
- Storm of Steel (Azerite trait) replaced with Keep Your Wits About You: “Each time an attack Blade Flurries, increase the chance for Sinister Strike to strike again by 2%. Additional strikes of Sinister Strike deal 1844 more damage.”
Subtlety
- Shuriken Combo has been removed.
- Shuriken Storm: “damage increased by 35%”
- Blade in the Shadows (Azerite trait) now reduces the cost of Shadowstrike by 2 Energy as a non-stacking bonus. Damage bonus reduced by 40%.
- The First Dance (Azerite trait) has been redesigned: “Activating Shadow Dance now grants you Combo Points and increases your Haste for its duration.”
- Perforate (Azerite trait): “now reduces the cooldown of Shadow Blades by 0.5 seconds when Backstabbing an enemy from behind”
- Sharpened Blade (Azerite trait) replaced with Replicating Shadows: “Each combo point spent has an 2% chance to cause your Nightblade to deal 5843 Shadow damage and spread to a nearby enemy.”
Patch 8.0.1 BfA Launch (Aug. 13 – Dec. 10, 2018)
Oct. 10, 2018: Hotfixes
Assassination
- (PvP) “All damage reduced by 6% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) System Shock: “damage reduced by 33%”
Oct. 5, 2018: Hotfixes
Assassination
- (PvP) “The Fan of Knives radius increase granted by Flying Daggers (PvP Talent) and Fan of Blades (Azerite Trait) no longer stack.”
- (PvP) Fan of Blades: “effectiveness reduced by 75% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
Sept. 25, 2018: Hotfixes
Though the official hotfix notes for these changes were posted on Sept. 24, a Sept. 21 official forum post states that they took effect with weekly maintenance (Sept. 25 in the U.S., Sept. 26 in Europe).
Assassination
- Poisoned Wire (Azerite trait): “critical strike increased by 50%”
- Sharpened Blades (Azerite trait): “benefit from having multiple copies of this trait active has been reduced”
Outlaw
- Brigand’s Blitz (Azerite trait): “haste increased by 50%”
Subtlety
- Blade in the Shadows (Azerite trait): “damage reduced by 25%”
- Sharpened Blades (Azerite trait): “damage reduced by 30% (unchanged in PvP). The benefit of having multiple copies of this trait active is reduced.”
- The First Dance (Azerite trait): “now grants 2 stacks of the buff, and critical strike bonus reduced by 25%”
Sept. 17, 2018: Hotfixes
According to an official forum post, the Azerite trait change in today’s list took effect after weekly maintenance — Sept. 17 in the U.S., Sept. 18 in Europe.
Assassination
- Shrouded Suffocation (Azerite trait): “damage bonus reduced by 40%”
Sept. 10, 2018: Hotfixes
According to the official hotfix notes, the non-PvP DPS balance changes in today’s list took effect after weekly maintenance — that means Sept. 11 in the U.S. and Sept. 12 in Europe.
Outlaw
- “All damage reduced by 5%.”
- Deadshot (Azerite trait): “reduced by 20%”
- (PvP) Deadshot: “deals 30% less damage in PvP (was 45% less damage)”
Subtlety
- “All damage reduced by 5%.”
Sept. 7, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- (PvP) Sharpened Blades (Azerite trait): “effectiveness reduced by 65% when when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
Outlaw
- Spells
- (PvP) Between the Eyes: “damage reduced by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) Dispatch: “damage reduced by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- Talents
- (PvP) Killing Spree (talent): “damage reduced by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) Turn the Tables: “increases damage by 10% (was 15%).”
- Azerite Stuff
- Ace Up Your Sleeve: “damage significantly increased”
- (PvP) Deadshot: “effectiveness reduced by 45% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
Subtlety
- Spells
- (PvP) Eviscerate: “damage reduced by 15% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) Shadowstrike: “damage reduced by 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- Talents
- (PvP) Phantom Assassin: “increases critical strike by 10% (was 35%).”
- Azerite Stuff
- Blade in the Shadows: “damage provided slightly reduced”
- Night’s Vengeance: “damage increased against non-player targets”
Aug. 24, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Shrouded Suffocation (Azerite trait): “Damage reduced by 11%. Fixed an issue that caused this trait’s damage increase to fail.”
Items & Enchants
- Tiny Electromental in a Jar (trinket): damage increased by 233%
- Gale-Force Striking (weapon enchant): trigger rate increased by 100%
Aug. 23, 2018: Hotfixes
Items & Enchants
- Wolfpelt Greatcloak (cloak): “now has the same amount of stamina as other, similar cloaks”
Aug. 22, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- “The spec restrictions on some Azerite traits have been loosened, to allow selection when the power of the trait can be utilized by a different specialization.”
Items & Enchants
- “Players whose Heart of Azeroth did not receive its item level upgrade at Friendly, Honored, and/or Revered will now receive those upgrades by taking it off and re-equipping it.”
Aug. 21, 2018: Hotfixes
Items & Enchants
- Incessantly Ticking Clock (trinket): “procs now scale properly with item level”
Aug. 20, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- Dagger in the Back (Azerite trait): fixed issue where this trait “failed to stack properly when applied by multiple users”
Items & Enchants
- Darkmoon Deck: Blockades (trinket): fixed issue where item “was providing far less Stamina and Health than intended”
- Darkmoon Deck: Fathoms (trinket): damage reduced by 9%
Aug. 17, 2018: Hotfixes
Items & Enchants
- “Substantially lowered the Heart of Azeroth level required to activate the outer ring of Azerite armor obtained from World Quests and Mythic dungeons.”
- PvP: “Miniaturized Plasma Shield and Personal Space Amplifier engineering belt enchants can no longer be used in Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds.”
Aug. 15, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- “7th Legionnaire’s Tunic and Honorbound Outrider’s Vestments now correctly have an Outlaw Rogue trait. The extra Subtlety Rogue trait has been removed.”
- “Fixed an issue where the Azerite Trait Reckless Flurry was incorrectly increasing ability damage, in addition to auto attack damage.
Items & Enchants
- Harlan’s Loaded Dice: “now scales correctly with item level for its spells”
Patch 8.0.1 BfA Pre-Patch (July 17 – Aug. 12)
Aug. 10, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- (PvP) Prey on the Weak: “increases damage dealt to the target by 5% when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 10%)”
- (PvP) Death from Above: “increases Eviscerate/Envenom/Dispatch damage dealt by 10% (was 15%)”
Assassination
- Crimson Tempest: “damage reduced by 10%
- Subterfuge: damage bonus reduced from 100% to 80%
- (PvP) “Fixed a bug that caused Creeping Venom (PvP Talent)’s duration to be refreshed to a longer duration than intended.”
- (PvP) “Creeping Venom (PvP Talent)’s damage has been reduced by 50%.”
- (PvP) “Deadly Poison deals 20% less damage when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) “Vendetta increases damage dealt to the target by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 30%).”
- (PvP) “Toxic Blade increases Poison damage dealt to the target by 20% when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 30%).”
- (PvP) “Garrote deals 20% less damage when engaged in combat with enemy players.”
- (PvP) “Subterfuge causes Garrote to deal an additional 50% damage when cast from stealth in PvP situations (was 100%).”
Outlaw
- (PvP) “Plunder Armor (PvP Talent) reduces the target’s max health by 10% (was 15%).”
- (PvP) “Plunder Armor (PvP Talent) increases the Rogue’s max health by 10% (was 15%).”
- (PvP) “Thick as Thieves (PvP Talent) increases the damage you and your Tricks target deal by 10% (was 15%).”
- (PvP) “Brigand’s Blitz (Azerite Trait) is no longer gained from Control is King’s Adrenaline Rush.”
Subtlety
- (PvP) “Shuriken Combo increases Eviscerate damage by 3% per stack when engaged in combat with enemy players (was 5%).”
- (PvP) “Night’s Vengeance (Azerite Trait) effectiveness reduced by 66% in PvP situations.”
Aug. 7, 2018: Hotfixes
Assassination
- “All damage abilities reduced 4%.”
Outlaw
- “All damage abilities reduced 3%.”
Subtlety
- “All damage abilities reduced 4%.”
Aug. 6, 2018: Hotfixes
All Specs
- (PvP) Cloak of Shadows: “will now correctly clear any Hunter’s Mark debuffs from the Rogue when activated.”
Class Hall
- “Fixed an issue that prevented some players from progressing in the Rogue class hall campaign.”
Aug. 3, 2018: Hotfixes
Outlaw
- “Offhand hits from Killing Spree are no longer able to activate Main Gauche.”
Subtlety
- “Regalia of the Dashing Scoundrel 2-piece and 4-piece bonuses now work properly with the Secret Technique talent.”
Items
- “Toe Knee’s Promise should now deal reasonable damage.”
- “Stormchops should now deal reasonable damage.”
July 23, 2018: Hotfixes
Subtlety
- “Fixed a bug where The First of the Dead did not work with Shadowstrike and Gloomblade.”
July 20, 2018: Hotfixes
Assassination
- “Fixed a bug where Blindside was not learnable until level 40.”
July 19, 2018: Hotfixes
Items
- “The effectiveness of trinkets that are obtained via PvE sources such as Dungeons and Raids have been reduced by 75% in PvP.”
July 17, 2018: Pre-Patch Goes Live
- see our “What’s Changing” article for a rundown of, yknow, that.
Sources for Our Rogue BfA Changelog
- Official patch notes:
- Patch 8.0.1 (Aug. 13 ’18)
- Patch 8.1 (Tides of Vengeance, Dec. 11 ’18)
- Patch 8.1.5 (March 12 ’19)
- Patch 8.2 (Rise of Azshara, June 25 ’19)
- Patch 8.2.5 (Sept. 24 ’19)
- Patch 8.3 (Visions of N’Zoth, Jan. 14 ’20)
- Official WoW BfA hotfix summaries: