Assassination Rogue (PVE)

Talents

This is the best version of an Assassination (Mutilate) build you can run in TBC. While [Mutilate] itself is a powerful ability, the surrounding Assassination talents are generally weaker than the deep Combat package—so dagger builds will output noticeably less damage than Combat Swords. This spec is included for players who simply prefer the dagger playstyle and want to optimize within the constraint of only using daggers.

Why Mutilate

The Mutilate playstyle appeals to players who enjoy a deliberate, burst-oriented dagger build with strong combo point generation and poison synergy. Assassination Rogues excel at short, controlled damage windows where positioning is clean and uptime is high. Mutilate generates combo points extremely efficiently when attacking from behind, allowing for consistent finishing move usage and strong single-target pressure. The spec also benefits heavily from poison damage, making it feel very smooth once properly geared. While Mutilate does not match Combat Swords in overall raid DPS due to lacking powerful cooldowns like Adrenaline Rush and Blade Flurry, it remains a fully functional PvE build. It is best suited for players who prefer dagger gameplay, tighter rotations, and a more methodical damage profile rather than sustained cleave and cooldown stacking.

Improved Expose Armor Flex

This build can include [Improved Expose Armor] when your raid needs you to maintain [Expose Armor]. If another Rogue is already assigned to Expose, you can move those points into [Vile Poisons] for a small personal DPS gain.

Murder vs Vile Poisons

Whenever you’re fighting lots of *Murderable* enemies, swap **two points** from [Vile Poisons] into [Murder]. This is especially relevant in Phase 2 raids like Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. If you do **not** need [Improved Expose Armor], you can also place those freed points into [Murder] as well for even more value on applicable targets.

Key Talents