Assassination Rogue Priority Explained
· 5 min read
Assassination Rogue is a bleed-and-poison spec. Nearly every decision in the rotation protects the same idea: your bleeds are the foundation, and everything else is built on top of them.
Bleeds first
Garrote and Rupture do a large share of your damage over time, so they are refreshed in the last seconds of their duration before anything else is considered. Refreshing early wastes duration; refreshing late loses damage.
Cooldowns on a healthy setup
Deathmark and Kingsbane are strongest when both bleeds are already running, so the LUX rotation only uses them once Garrote and Rupture are both active.
Slice and Dice, finishers and builders
With bleeds and cooldowns handled, Slice and Dice is kept up, combo points are spent on Envenom at a threshold you set, and Mutilate (or Ambush on a Blindside proc) builds them back. Spending at a consistent threshold avoids both wasting points and starving your finishers.
- Bleeds are refreshed in their last seconds
- Deathmark and Kingsbane need both bleeds up
- Slice and Dice is refreshed once the bleeds are safe
- Envenom is spent at your minimum combo points (default 4)
- Builders fill the rest
Out of combat
Between fights the rotation keeps your poisons applied, goes back into stealth and can open with the spell you chose. Read how those choices work in opener and stealth.
Where to change it
Every threshold above is a setting. The settings guide walks through each tab, and the Assassination page lists every option with its default.