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1. Assassination Rogue Mage Tower Challenge
2. Assassination Rogue Mage Tower Guide 7.3.5
3. Assassination Rogue Mage Tower

Jul 01, 2017  This covers the The God-Queen's Fury artifact appearance challenge from an Assassination Rogue perspective. I'll give a basic overview of the fight with tips and talents and legendaries to use.

I'm about ready to get started on the Guardian Druid one. I'm at 897 currently though, and I feel like I should wait until I'm around 910-920 before I dive into that.
910 if you have luffas. 920 if you don't. Also be careful with videos for guardian. Guardian spec and how you do the fight depends highly on your legendaries. It's been done with both incarnation and galactic guardian and it's done somewhat differently based on which way you go. If you use incarnation you wanna go all out in the beggining staying in to very high level and using stuns/damage reduction and orbs to not get hit at all. then dipping in and out. if you go galactic guardian you'll go in very rarely mostly spamming moonfire on the the dude.
Ya I did mine as GG with latc/fon and balance affinity.
You only ever go in the puddle to interrupt. Thrash and moonfire spam takes care of literally everything else. Did it at 910~ishGeneral Information

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything fromtalent choices, PvP talents, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. Itis most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses willwork in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.

1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta for Assassination Rogues

Assassination Rogues have the strongest consistent damage out of all threeRogue specializations. With an emphasis on poisons and using them forsustained damage, they are a threat to all classes. This strong sustaineddamage in combination with stuns, Blind, and countless other forms ofcrowd control means the Assassination Rogue has some of the best control a speccan have.

1.1. Strengths of Assassination Rogues

• Great control
• Decent mobility
• Strong burst damage

1.2. Weaknesses of Assassination Rogues

• Weak to teams with two melee on it
• Predictable burst damage
• Very few defensive cooldowns

The stat priority for Assassination Rogues in PvP is as follows:

1. Agility;
2. Haste;
3. Mastery;
4. Critical Strike;
5. Versatility.

Agility is the best stat in all situations. Haste is the strongest secondarystat at all times due to it reducing the Global Cooldown on abilities andincreasing your attack speed.

2. Azerite Essences for Assassination Rogues

Essences allow players to customize their characters while adding a new abilityto use. This section will cover the best overall Azerite Essences forAssassination Rogues in PvP. For a general guide to all the essences, as well ashow to obtain them and increase their ranks, check out ourEssence Guide.

2.1. Major Essences

Memory of Lucid Dreams increases your Energy regeneration by 100% for 12seconds. This is by far the best Major Essence you can have as an AssassinationRogue. More Energy regeneration results in being able to use moreMutilates and this will allow you generate Combo Points quicker whilethis is active.

Concentrated Flame gives you a Major Power that blasts the target fordamage. Each time you use this ability, it increases the damage dealt by 100%and stacks up to 2 times. If you do not have Memory of Lucid Dreams, this is asolid Essence that deals good single target damage.

2.2. Minor Essences

In addition to having a Major Essence, you can choose two Minor Essences toplace in your neck at Heart of Azeroth Levels 55 and 65.

Vision of Perfection reduces the cooldown of Vendetta.This is a good choice because most players will line up theirGladiator's Medallion with your Vendetta (both have 2 minute cooldowns).This trait gives you a small window to use your burst cooldowns on a player thatwill not have a trinket.

Conflict and Strife grants a very powerful Versatility Minor Power.Not only do your spells have a chance to give you Versatility, but any loss ofcontrol to your character does too. This means that, if teams stun you and try toswap to you, you have additional Versatility and take less damage.

3. Azerite Traits for Assassination Rogues

Azerite traits are unlocked in you helm, shoulders and chest. With eachAzerite level in your neck, you get closer to unlocking the center trait inyour gear. These traits vary from increasing damage of certainabilities to helping increase your survivability. Depending on what traits youuse, it can completely alter your playstyle and what talents you should beusing.

3.1. Outer Rings

Below are the best Outer Ring traits.

Assassination Rogues do not depend on one single trait to increase theirdamage. Instead, they want a mix of the above traits.It is crucial to have Shrouded Suffocation in at least one piece ofAzerite gear. This gives you an additional Combo Point and Garrote willdeal additional damage when used from Stealth.Scent of Blood, Twist the Knife, andDouble Dose all increase your overall single target damage.Nothing Personal significantly increases your burst damage.

3.2. Middle Ring

Below are the best Middle Ring traits.

The Middle and Inner rings are important for additional damage.Elemental Whirl, Overwhelming Power, andEarthlink give an increase to your stats. These are minor statboosts, but still increase your damage. Heed My Call will helpincrease your single target pressure.

3.3. Inner Ring

Below are the best Inner Ring traits.

All of these traits give you additional ways of surviving. These are allpassive, but are crucial to have.

4. Gear Recommendations

4.1. General Guidelines

In general, Assassination Rogues want to get trinkets that line up well withVendetta. These trinkets can have a passive or on-use effect. Thestat you want to be increasing is Agility. The reason you want to increaseAgility is because it drastically increases your overall damage output.

To be successful in 3v3 arena, you need to have at least 2 pieces of gearwith either Scent of Blood or Shrouded Suffocation.You will also want either Heed My Call orOverwhelming Power in the second tier.

Below, we list the items that have these traits.

4.1.1. Helms

• Crown of A'akul's Dark Reign;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Hood;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Hood;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Skullguard;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Skullguard;
• Hood of the Slithering Loa;
• Cowl of Righteous Resolve.

4.1.2. Shoulders

• Phantom Stalker Shoulders;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Shoulderguards;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Shoulderguards;
• Gilded-Wing Shoulderguards;
• Dire-Tooth Spaulders;
• Gold-Tasseled Epaulets.

4.1.3. Chest

• Grongpelt Vest;
• Mekkatorque's Bomber Jacket;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Vest;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Vest;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Jerkin;
• Notorious Gladiator's Leather Jerkin;
• Venture Co. Plenipotentiary Vest;
• Gore-Splattered Vest.

4.2. Recommended Items

Notorious Gladiator's Maledict is absolutely the best trinket you canhave. The on-use damage and healing absorption is capable of forcing defensivesby itself. This can be used by itself or while you are using your burst rotationto force multiple cooldowns out of enemy teams.

Notorious Gladiator's Safeguard is a mandatory trinket if you think theenemy team can swap to you and kill you. This provides an additional defensivefor when you drop to low health. If you do not think a team will swap to you andkill you, you can use replace this one with any of the trinkets below.

Notorious Gladiator's Badge is strong for the versatility and the on-useAgility effect. The 2-minute cooldown lines up well with Vendetta.

Notorious Gladiator's Insignia has a good amount of Versatility on it andhas a passive effect. This effect increases your Agility. This increases yoursustained damage.

Darkmoon Deck: Fathoms is not an item you get from PvP. Instead,you will have to look at the auction house or find an someone with theInscription profession. This trinket also gives a passive effect. You cannotcontrol the proc, but the damage this trinket can do is substantial. You willquickly notice a large increase to your overall damage.

Notorious Gladiator's Medallion is good because of the on-use Versatilityeffect. This increases your overall damage and lines up well with your burstcooldowns.

4.3. Weapon Enchant

Enchant Weapon - Quick Navigation andEnchant Weapon - Masterful Navigation are the best weapon enchants. You willbe duel wielding weapons and having one of each of these enchants on yourweapons. These enchants give you a strong Haste and Mastery buffthat can be crucial in multiple ways. Both of these procs increase yourdamage output and are great if you can line it up with your burst.

5. Regular Talents for Assassination Rogues

Level	Choices
15	✔Master Poisoner	✘Elaborate Planning	✘Blindside
30	✘Nightstalker	✔Subterfuge	✘Master Assassin
45	✘Vigor	✘Deeper Stratagem	✔Marked for Death
60	✘Leeching Poison	✘Cheat Death	✔Elusiveness
75	✔Internal Bleeding	✘Iron Wire	✘Prey on the Weak
90	✘Venom Rush	✔Toxic Blade	✘Exsanguinate
100	✔Poison Bomb	✘Hidden Blades	✘Crimson Tempest

While the above table provides a generally accurate overview of theviability of talents, some finer points are discussed in the sections thatfollow, and we recommend you read those for a deeper understanding.

5.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents

Master Poisoner is the best choice in this tier. As most of yourdamaage comes from your poisons, this talent greatly increases your overalldamage output.

5.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents

Subterfuge is the best choice in this tier. This talent gives youmore control when you leave Stealth. You can use multipleCheap Shots or Garrotes on enemy teams. Garrote willnot have a cooldown and an 80% increase in damage.

5.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents

Marked for Death is the best choice in this tier. This is a veryversatile talent and crucial for your utility. This talent can be used inmultiple situations. For example, you can use Marked for Death for an instantKidney Shot on an enemy. If you want to be even more aggressive with it,you can use it on an Envenom.

5.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents

Elusiveness is an all-around solid choice, and the best talent inthis tier. Just make sure to use Feint before you think you are aboutto get stunned or when the enemy team uses their burst cooldowns.

5.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents

Internal Bleeding is the best choice in this tier. This gives youan additional Bleed and makes Kidney Shot a very crucial stun to use onyour main target.

5.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents

Toxic Blade is the best choice in this tier. This increases youroverall sustained damage dramatically and is very strong when using offensivecooldowns.

5.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents

Poison Bomb is the best choice in this tier. Although you cannotcontrol the proc from this talent, you will be using Envenom andRupture often and will see it often. This is a solid talent to increaseyour sustained and burst damage.

6. PvP Talents for Assassination Rogues

You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each ofthem has their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others.The top three choices are the most useful, but can be replaced with other PvPtalents, depending on your team's goal.

Smoke Bomb creates a cloud around you. Enemy players who are outsidethe cloud will not be able to target anyone inside of it. This talent ismandatory for multiple reasons. The first is to land a kill while your targetis stunned without a trinket. The enemy healer will not be able to heal and youwill easily secure a kill while Smoke Bomb is active. The second is to stopincoming spells. This is not done often, but you can use Smoke Bomb on yourhealer to prevent enemies from crowd controlling them. It all depends on thesituation, which is why this PvP talent is so good.

System Shock reduces the enemy's movement speed by 90% when you usean Envenom with 5 Combo Points on a target with Garrote,Rupture, or any lethal poisons. This is great for keeping a mobiletarget from kiting your damage or to peel for teammates that are introuble. This is also a good choice to play when your main target is the enemyhealer.

Maneuverability makes Sprint suppress allmovement-impairing effects for 4 seconds when used. This is a great talentversus teams with multiple slows. You should take this versus classes likeMages and Death Knights. You can replace Honor Among Thieves with thisPvP talent.

Mind-Numbing Poison causes your Deadly Poison andWound Poison to also apply Mind Numbing Poison. This will cause theenemy to take damage every time they cast a spell. This should be taken whenyour primary target is a caster. You should replace Maneuverabilitywith this PvP talent.

Creeping Venom makes your Envenom applyCreeping Venom, dealing Nature damage over 4 seconds. Creeping Venom'sduration is refreshed when the target moves. This is a great talent versusclasses that have high mobility. Feral Druids, Monks, Rogues, and Hunters areexamples of classes you should take this talent against. You can replaceManeuverability with this PvP talent.

7. Racial Bonuses

Racial bonuses can provide interesting PvP benefits. Here are the bestraces to choose for each faction.

7.1. Horde

Xcom 2 facility build order. The passive Orc racial bonus (Hardiness) is also great if you findyourself being stunned a lot and having a hard time against melee classes.

7.2. Alliance

The Human racial bonus (Every Man for Himself) is a great way to getout of stuns. This helps with survivability and when kiting away fromplayers.

The Dark Iron Dwarf racial bonus (Fireblood) is a great defensiveand can also increase your burst damage. You also have a passive physicaldamage reduction in the form of Forged in Flames.

8. Playstyle for Assassination Rogues

The Assassination Rogue has two roles in PvP: shutting down casters/healerswith relentless mobility and crowd control and having strong sustained damageoutside of burst cooldowns. With high damage, high control and great sustaineddamage, this is one of the top PvP specs for Rogues.

To lock down healers, you will aim to push in and get crowd control on thehealer (Sap, Blind when they do not have trinket,Kidney Shot or Cheap Shot).

The ability to deal sustained damage is what makes Assassination Rogues sodeadly. They have the ability to damage an enemy down to below 50% withoutusing a single cooldown. It is at this point that they can stun you and usetheir burst rotation.

8.1. Before Gates Open

Have a plan for who you will be mainly using your crowd control on. Roguecrowd control is powerful, but dealing any damage to the target and will breakand waste it. Also, remember to enter Stealth and apply yourWound Poison and Crippling Poison.

8.2. Offensive Rotation

8.2.1. The Opener

The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage doneas soon as you get out of the gates. The main goal in the opener is to forceyour enemies to use their cooldowns.

If the enemy healer uses their trinket in the opener, they are in trouble.Blind is one of the most devastating crowd control abilities in thegame, with very few ways of getting out of it without having a trinket. SaveBlind for when the enemy healer does not have their trinket. You canfollow this up with a Vanish to Sap the enemy healer.

If an enemy DPS uses their trinket, you can crowd control the healer andstun the DPS without a trinket. This means they can be burst down in a stun andpossibly killed.

When opening, always try to Sap the enemy DPS player who is tryingto bring you out of Stealth,then Sap the healer. Then, use yourburst rotation. After you are done with yourburst rotation, perform your sustained damage rotation until your burstabilities are available again.

This is the rotation you should use on your target at the beginning of thegame. This opener stuns your target and applies your bleeds.

1. Use Marked for Death.
2. Use Garrote.
3. Use Mutilate if you do not have 5 Combo Points.
4. Use Cheap Shot.
5. Use Rupture.
6. Use Mutilate until you have 5 Combo Points.
7. Use Envenom.

After this the rotation is a priority list of things you should be doing.Make sure you are maintaining your Rupture and Garrote onyour main target. Use Mutilate to generate Combo Points for theseabilities. If your main target has these Bleeds already and they can be stunned,use your Toxic Blade and Kidney Shot your main target. You canthen generate Combo Points to use Envenom.

8.2.2. Burst Damage

When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and you are trying to killan enemy, you use your burst damage.

1. Use Garrote.
2. Use Mutilate until you have 5 Combo Points.
3. Use Rupture.
4. Use Mutilate until you have 5 Combo Points.
5. Use Memory of Lucid Dreams.
6. Use Kidney Shot. This will apply Internal Bleeding.
7. Use Vendetta.
8. Use Toxic Blade (if you have taken this talent).
9. Use Mutilate until you have 5 Combo Points.
10. Use Envenom.
11. Use Marked for Death.
12. Use Envenom.
13. Use Garrote.

Important note: If you are using Cheap Shot instead ofKidney Shot while using your burst cooldowns, you can useMarked for Death for a Kidney Shot on the healer for additional crowdcontrol. This is the versatility of Marked for Death. It can be used aggressivelyon a second Envenom or you can use it for additional crowd control.

8.2.3. Sustained damage

Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are notavailable.

1. Use Mutilate to generate Combo Points.
2. Maintain your Rupture on multiple enemies. If you cannot keep iton multiple enemies, at least keep it on your main target.
3. Maintain your Garrote on multiple enemies. If you cannot keep iton multiple enemies, at least keep it on your main target.
4. Use Envenom at 5+ Combo Points when you do not have to refreshRupture.
5. Use Toxic Blade right before you put your target in a fullKidney Shot. This will deal a large amount of damage and might makethe enemy player panic and use defensive cooldowns.
6. If the enemy team has pets nearby or is stacked, use Fan of Knives togenerate Combo Points quickly.
7. Use Poisoned Knife if your target is far away or to apply yourpoisons to a target that you cannot reach.

8.3. Defensive Techniques

Cloak of Shadows is a strong defensive cooldown when playing againstcasters. Use this when in trouble against caster teams and run to your healeror re-enter Stealth.

Evasion is a strong defensive when playing against melee. This grantsyou 100% Dodge chance. Use this when the enemy team has melee and is focusing you.

Vanish is a very versatile ability. You can use this offensively, touse Cheap Shots and Garrotes on enemies, or defensively. If you are overextendedor need to get away quickly, use Vanish to get away from the enemy team.

Feint (with the Elusiveness talent) grants you a flat 30%damage reduction from everything. This is a buff that should be active on youat all times. A Rogue is very weak against stuns, so having Feint up whenstunned greatly increases your chance of surviving heavy damage from the enemyteam.

Crimson Vial is the trickiest, but most useful defensive ability aRogue has. If you feel a hard swap onto you or you are about to be stunned,use Crimson Vial. Using this efficiently can enable you and your teammates tosave your other cooldowns.

9. Best Team Compositions for Assassination Rogues

Now that you have the correct talents and understand your damagerotation, it is time to step into the Arena with your team. Assassination Rogueswant to stay aggressive and get a kill on an enemy without a trinket usingKidney Shot and Vendetta.

9.1. 2v2 Arena

In 2v2 Arena you will be focusing on single target damage. Depending on whathealer you are playing with, use Cheap Shot on the enemy healer tosetup crowd control. For example, if you are playing with a Discipline Priest,you should use Cheap Shot on the enemy healer so your Priest can get closeenough to use Psychic Scream.

Here is a list of the best team compositions for 2v2:

• Assassination Rogue + Discipline Priest
• Assassination Rogue + Restoration Druid
• Assassination Rogue + Fire Mage

9.2. 3v3 Arena

Your role in 3v3 is similar to 2v2 Arena. You will likely be focusing onmaximizing your single target damage. If you are playing against a healer thatis not mobile (Discipline Priest, Holy Paladin, or Restoration Shaman), you canopen on them and try to force a trinket or major defensive. If the enemy healertrinkets, you can use Blind with your next setup. Your overall goal isto focus an enemy without a trinket. When you and your teammate have damage,use Cheap Shot on the enemy healer. After this, use Kidney Shoton your kill target and continue with your burst rotation. It is important tonote that Rogues are very easy to kill in 3v3 Arena. Make sure you aremaintaining your Feint buff and play defensively when your team doesnot have much damage.

Here is a list of the best team compositions for 3v3:

• RMP (Assassination Rogue + Fire Mage + Holy Paladin/Discipline Priest)
• RLS (Assassination Rogue + Destruction/Affliction Warlock + Restoration Shaman)
• Assassination Rogue + Retribution Paladin + Restoration Druid

10. Useful Macros for Assassination Rogues

Assassination Rogue Mage Tower Challenge

Macros are crucial to be successful in PvP. They allow players to useabilities on enemies without having to target them. This helps increase overalldamage/healing and general awareness in the arena. Here are a few macros thatall Assassination Rogues can benefit from.

10.1. Shadowstep + Kick Focus Macro

• #showtooltip Polymorph
• /cast [target=focus] Shadowstep
• /cast [target=focus] Kick

Using this macro will use Shadowstep on your focus enemy.If you press this macro again, it will use Kick on your focus target.This makes it easier to interrupt an enemy while staying focused onyour target.

10.2. Blind Focus Macro

• #showtooltip Blind
• /cast [target=focus] Blind

Put an enemy on focus and this macro will use Blindon that player while you are still focused on your target.

Assassination Rogue Mage Tower Guide 7.3.5

10.3. Kidney Focus Macro

• #showtooltip Kidney Shot
• /cast [target=focus] Kidney Shot

Put an enemy on focus and this macro will use Kidney Shoton that player while you are still focused on your target.

10.4. Sap Focus Macro

• #showtooltip Sap
• /cast [target=focus] Sap

Put an enemy on focus and this macro will use Sapon that player while you are still focused on your target.

10.5. Stealth Macro

• #showtooltip Stealth
• /cast !stealth

This makes it so when you use Stealth it will not cancel if youclick it a second time.

11. Changelog

• 29 Jun. 2019: Updated Guide for Patch 8.2.
  • Added Azerite Essence section.
  • Added Major and Minor Essences sections.
  • Updated Gear section.
  • Updated PvP talents.
  • Updated Burst rotation.
• 09 May 2019: Several changes made to the guide.
  • Updated Azerite Traits.
  • Updated Gear section.
  • Updated Talent table.
  • Updated Tier 1 regular talent.
• 14 Mar. 2019: No major changes needed for Patch 8.1.5.
• 31 Jan. 2019: Updated Gear Recommendations.
• 25 Dec. 2018: Updated guide for Patch 8.1.
  • Updated Azerite traits.
  • Updated Tier 3 Regular talent.
  • Updated Playstyle section.
  • Updated Burst damage section.
  • Updated Best Team Compositions section.
• 07 Dec. 2018: Added Gear Recommendations section.
• 08 Oct. 2018: Added Azerite traits section and talent table.
• 02 Oct. 2018: Removed PvP Gear and War Mode sections.
• 02 Sep. 2018: Updated guide for Patch 8.0.1.
  • Updated Introduction and spec overview.
  • Added Stat priority.
  • Updated tier 1, 2, 5, and 7 regular talent sections.
  • Added PvP (War Mode) talents and gear sections for the new BfA system.
  • Updated Racial Bonuses section.
  • Updated Burst Damage and Sustained Damage sections.
  • Updated Macros section.
  • Removed Gear section.
  • Updated Artifact Traits and Relics sections.
• 13 Jun. 2018: Added an Arena Compositions section.
• 24 Apr. 2018: Made several updates to the guide and its structure.
  • Added sections for Macros, Strengths, and Weaknesses.
  • Moved Gear, Artifact Traits, and Relics sections to the end, since they are not that important.
• 07 Feb. 2018: No major changes needed for Patch 7.3.5.
• 24 Dec. 2017: No major changes needed for Patch 7.3.2.
• 09 Sep. 2017: Removed Artifact Trait descriptions and changed recommended tier 6 honor talents.
• 21 Jun. 2017: Updated guide for Patch 7.2.5.
  • Changed recommended talent for Tier 6 regular talents.
  • Changed recommended talent for Tier 3 regular talents.
  • Made adjustments to 'Burst Rotation'.
• 10 May 2017: Guide created.

Assassination Rogue Mage Tower

This guide has been written by Mysticall,a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved Arena Master and 2500 rating.You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you canalso check out his YouTubechannel.