Assassination Rogue

Assassination Rogue puts 31 points into Assassination and 20 points into Combat by level 60, with no respec on the way.

Key talents: Riposte at 34 and Mutilate at 50.

Venom is left out on purpose: in our sim it does less for leveling than the same points spent elsewhere.

By our sim, this build gets you from 10 to 60 in about 18% less time than playing with no talents.

At level 40 most of your ability damage comes from Sinister Strike (51%), Eviscerate (44%) and Riposte (5%).

Each talent gets a tier for how much it helps this build level, by our sim: S best, A strong, B solid, C small, Filler needed to reach deeper talents.

1. 10-11
   

   Improved Sinister Strike 1-2 S

   Combat. S tier: one of this build's best points for leveling.
2. 12-16
   

   Malice 1-5 A

   Assassination. A tier: a strong point for leveling.
3. 17-22
   First, filler points:

   • Improved Eviscerate 1-3C

   

   Precision 1-3 A

   Combat, at level 20. A tier: a strong point for leveling.
4. 23-30
   First, filler points:

   • Lightning Reflexes 1-5
   • Puncturing Wounds 1-2

   

   Flawless Execution 1 B

   Combat, at level 30. B tier: a solid point for leveling.
5. 31-34
   First, filler points:

   • Deflection 1-3

   

   Riposte 1 B

   Combat, at level 34. B tier: a solid point for leveling.
6. 35-50
   First, filler points:

   • Remorseless Attacks 1-2
   • Ruthlessness 1-3
   • Murder 1-2
   • Improved Slice and Dice 1-3
   • Improved Gouge 1-3
   • Relentless Strikes 1
   • Lethality 1

   

   Mutilate 1 B

   Assassination, at level 50. B tier: a solid point for leveling.
7. 51-54
   

   Lethality 2-5 C

   Assassination. C tier: a small gain for leveling.
8. 55-56
   

   Improved Expose Armor 1-2 Filler

   Assassination. Filler: little value on its own, but it moves you down the tree.

1. 
   Sinister Strike

   combo point builder
2. 
   Eviscerate

   finisher at 5 combo points
3. 
   Riposte

   after a parry

Share of your ability damage

• Sinister Strike51%
• Eviscerate44%
• Riposte5%

What our sim found levels best at this level with this build: DoTs once per mob, cooldowns on cooldown, and the rest on your best filler. Auto attacks are always on, so they are not listed.

Stamina > Agility > Strength > Attack power > Spirit

• Stamina1.00
• Agility0.55
• Strength0.41
• Attack power0.39
• Spirit0.09

1% hit is worth about 5 Stamina. 1% crit is worth about 3 Stamina.

Stat values like Pawn: point for point, your best stat is 1.00 and the rest are worth that share of it. MP5 is mana regen per 5 seconds, as item tooltips show it. Your own gear shifts these: the Character page works them out for you.

• This build assumes daggers. Talents for other weapon types are skipped.
• Watch for Riposte: it only lights up after a parry, and it is cheap damage.
• At level 40, for the same item budget, Stamina helps most, then attack power. Look for gear with those first.
• Some points (Lightning Reflexes, Deflection and Remorseless Attacks and others) are filler to reach the next tier; they do little for leveling on their own.

How this is made: a typical character at each level (Classic-like stats, quest greens for gear) pulling same-level mobs one at a time, with downtime counted. It is an early version, refined as players’ combat logs measure what each talent really does. Weapon assumed: daggers.