In this article, we present you with various talent trees for Subtlety Rogues (WoW 4.3) that you can use in specific situations. We also give you pointers for customising your talent tree and adapting it to a particular boss. The other articles of our Subtlety Rogue guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the left.

1. Standard Talent Build↑top

The following talent build is standard these days and should cover all your needs. Almost all the possible variations are derived from this build, as we will see in the next section.

2. Hemorrhage Talent Build↑top

Some bosses cannot be attacked from behind (like Ultraxion in Dragon Soul). For these bosses, you can choose to use a customised build where every talent and glyph that boosts Backstab (that can only be used from behind) is ignored. Instead, talents and glyphs that boost Hemorrhage and Eviscerate are taken.

3. Customising Your Build↑top

The talent builds that we listed above will yield very good results. However, there are times when you will want to customise them and this section will provide you with the necessary information to adapt your build to your needs.

3.1. Customising Your Standard Talent Build

In the following image, the fixed talents have been hightlighted in green, while the optional talents have been hightlighted in red:

Your customisation choices are as follows:

• In the Subtlety tree, you have 2 points that you can invest in the following talents:
  • spend 1 point in Improved Ambush to make it 3/3 and increase the damage of Ambush;
  • spend 1 point in Initiative to give Ambush a chance to add an extra Combo Point on your target;
  • spend 1 or 2 points in Enveloping Shadows for better survivability with Feint.
• Between the Assassination and Combat trees, you have 3 points that you can invest in the following talents:
  • spend 1 point in Coup de Grace to make it 3/3 and further increase your damage with Eviscerate;
  • spend 1 point in Puncturing Wounds to make it 3/3 and further increase your damage with Backstab;
  • spend 1 or 2 points in Quickening to increase your survivability.
  • spend 1, 2, or 3 points in Precision, depending on how much Hit Rating your gear is currently providing you with (the goal is to not miss with special melee attacks);

3.2. Customising Your Hemorrhage Talent Build

In the following image, the fixed talents have been hightlighted in green, while the optional talents have been hightlighted in red:

The customisation choices are the same as in the Standard Build, just that Ruthlessness (which speeds up Combo Point generation) replaces Puncturing Wounds.

3.3. Glyphs

Choosing your glyphs as a Subtlety Rogue is very straightforward.

3.3.1. Prime Glyphs

In most cases, you will want to use the Prime Glyphs presented above for the Standard Build:

• Glyph of Backstab, which increases your Energy regeneration when using Backstab;
• Glyph of Hemorrhage, which adds a bleed effect to Hemorrhage;
• Glyph of Slice and Dice, which increases the duration of Slice and Dice, making it easier to refresh it.

If you are using the Hemorrhage build, then you need to replace Glyph of Backstab with Glyph of Eviscerate.

If you are happy with your Energy regeneration and always find yourself refreshing Slice and Dice ahead of time, then you can replace Glyph of Slice and Dice with Glyph of Shadow Dance.

3.3.2. Major Glyphs

Your Major Glyphs should be:

• Glyph of Feint, which reduces the Energy cost of Feint;
• Glyph of Tricks of the Trade, which removes the Energy cost of Tricks of the Trade and reduces the damage bonus that the recipient receives;
• Glyph of Sprint, which increases your movement speed while using Sprint.

3.3.3. Minor Glyphs

Your Minor Glyphs should be:

• Glyph of Blurred Speed, which enables you to run on water, when using Sprint;
• Glyph of Poisons, which decreases the time it takes you to apply your poisons;
• Glyph of Safe Fall, which reduces the damage you take from falls.