How It Feels
Assassination is the poisoner among Rogues. You sneak up, apply Garrote, coat your daggers in poison and watch your enemy slowly wither. Death does not come with one big blow, but with many small wounds.
It feels calmer and more controlled than the other Rogues. Instead of reacting to random effects, you keep your bleeds and poisons up and plan your finishers. If you like keeping track of several effects, this is a very satisfying spec.
How Assassination Works
The Rogue uses energy and combo points:
- Poisons: your weapons are coated in poisons that deal extra damage on hit.
- Build combo points: Mutilate attacks with both weapons and grants two combo points, Garrote applies a bleed and grants one.
- Keep Rupture up: the Rupture finisher opens a wound that deals damage over time and lasts longer with more combo points.
- Envenom: your main finisher deals instant Nature damage and briefly raises your chance to apply poisons.
- Deathmark: your big cooldown greatly empowers bleeds and poisons on the target and gives you energy back.
Key Abilities
- Mutilate: an attack with both weapons that generates two combo points.
- Garrote: garrotes the enemy, deals bleed damage and grants a combo point.
- Rupture: a finisher that opens a long-lasting bleed.
- Envenom: the main finisher, driving your poisoned blades deep into the enemy.
- Deathmark: empowers bleeds and poisons on the target and restores energy.
Lore: The Assassins of Ravenholdt
Assassination stands for the Rogues who kill for money or conviction. The best-known guild in Azeroth is the Ravenholdt brotherhood, whose manor lies hidden in the Alterac Mountains. The craft of silent killing has been passed down there for generations.
A legendary assassin is Garona Halforcen, half orc and half draenei, who once killed King Llane of Stormwind while controlled by another's will. Her story shows the dark side of the spec: an assassin is a weapon, and weapons get used.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- a calm, plannable playstyle with little randomness,
- strong against targets that live long,
- Stealth lets you choose your fights,
- poisons and bleeds keep ticking when you briefly have to dodge.
Weaknesses
- leather, less sturdy than plate wearers,
- slow ramp-up, part of the damage fizzles against enemies that die fast,
- keeping track of several effects at once takes practice.
Who Is the Assassination Rogue For?
A good fit if you …
- want to play the assassin with poisoned daggers,
- like effects over time and planning ahead,
- prefer calm playstyles over hectic ones.
Probably not if you …
- want big, explosive moments, in which case Subtlety fits,
- want a sturdy melee in plate.
Assassination, Outlaw or Subtlety?
Outlaw is the pirate with saber and pistol, Subtlety the ninja from the shadows. Assassination is the choice for everyone who wins with poison and patience.
More about the class on the Rogue in WoW Midnight page.
Images: © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Source: worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com
