Assassination One of the favorite tools of the assassin is a pair of daggers coated with vicious poisons. The damage they inflict is deceiving at first—the initial wounds often seem survivable, even superficial. Then the toxins set about their business. Wounds don’t close, and blood loss continues unabated. Assassins begin their work stealthily, choosing their targets and methods of engagement carefully—but once committed to a course of action, they stick to their target until the job is done rather than disappearing into the shadows to avoid their quarry’s blows.

"Assassins begin their work stealthily, choosing their targets and methods of engagement carefully" Gameplay

For Rogues, no specialization describes itself better than Assassination, which also remains closely aligned with its existing fantasy. And we’re further enhancing those themes through their gameplay. First, this is now the only Rogue spec with access to poisons and bleeds, making much of your damage a little more delayed, but nonetheless massive. In addition, Venomous Wounds triggers based on a combination of bleeds and poisons now to accentuate that gameplay. Assassination is home to the most volatile combo-building. Mutilate is already effective in this regard, but Seal Fate needed some improvement—it now can trigger from both hands with Mutilate.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Assassination Rogues:

Garrote 45 Energy, Melee Range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown Garrote the enemy, causing strong damage over 18 sec and awarding 1 combo point. Silences the target for 3 sec when used from Stealth. Mutilate 55 Energy, Melee Range, Instant Attack with both weapons, dealing strong Physical damage. Awards 2 combo points. Envenom 35 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant Finishing move that drives your poisoned blades in deep, dealing instant Nature damage and increasing your poison application chance by 30%. Damage and duration increased per combo point. Rupture 25 Energy, 1 to 5 Combo Points, Melee Range, Instant Finishing move that tears open the target, dealing bleed damage over time. Lasts longer per combo point. Seal Fate Passive When you critically strike with a melee attack that generates combo points, you gain an additional combo point. Venomous Wounds Passive You regain 10 Energy each time you deal Bleed damage to a poisoned target. Mastery: Potent Poisons Increases the damage done by your poisons by 70% (with Mastery from typical gear). Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Assassination-specific talents:

Elaborate Planning Passive Your finishing moves grant 20% increased damage done for 4 sec.