On this page, we explain what the best statistics are for AssassinationRogues in World of Warcraft MoP 5.4, how the class benefits fromeach of them, andwhat your reforging strategy should be. We also detail what the various capsare (if any) and why they should be attained.

The statistics priority is important as itinfluences reforging strategies as well as itemisation choices(gear, enchants, and gems).

Make sure to check our GearOptimisation Guide, which serves as a support guide for thisarticle.

The other pages of our Assassination Rogue guide can be accessedfrom the table of contents on the right.

1. Basics↑top

The stat priority for an Assassination Rogue is:

1. Agility;
2. Hit Rating (until the 7.5% cap);
3. Expertise Rating (until the 7.5% cap);
4. Mastery Rating;
5. Haste Rating;
6. Critical Strike Rating.

2. Getting a Better Understanding↑top

Agility is your primary statistic. You should look for it in allof your upgrades. It provides you with Attack Power, which determines thedamage your abilities do, and it increases your critical strike chance.

Hit Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks and poisonswill miss their target (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is toreach the 7.5% hit cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacksand poisons never miss.

Rogues are dual-wielding, which means that reaching the 7.5% hit cap willonly prevent your special melee attacks (yellow attacks) and poisons frommissing. Your normal melee attacks (white attacks) will still miss becausewhen dual-wielding, they have a 26.5% chance to miss by default. Even in thiscase, it is unnecessary to keep stacking Hit Rating after the 7.5% hit cap.

Expertise Rating decreases the chance that your melee attacks willbe dodged (7.5% against a raid boss). Therefore, your goal is to reach the7.5% expertise cap (see section below), which will ensure that your attacksare never dodged. Note that you should always be attacking bosses from behind,which prevents them from parrying your attacks. Therefore, it is usuallyunnecessary (unless the boss cannot be attacked from behind) to decreasethe chance that your attacks will be parried (something that you can do bystacking Expertise Rating after reaching the 7.5% cap).

The reason why Expertise Rating is below all other secondary statistics at lower gearlevels is because all dodged or parried attacks are refunded 80% of their cost andbecause you always get the Envenom buff, even if Envenom does not hit. At highergear level, everything is amplified and the DPS cost of missing an attack gets muchhigher, especially when cooldowns and trinket procs are up.

Mastery Rating increases the damage that your poisons deal(through Mastery: Potent Poisons), which is extremely beneficial toAssassination Rogues.

Haste Rating provides you withincreased attack speed and Energy regeneration. This statistic is importantto properly execute your rotation (keeping Rupture up, while castingas many Envenoms as possible).

Critical Strike Rating increases your chance to critically hitwith attacks. As an Assassination Rogue, this statistic also contributesto granting you extra Combo Points through Seal Fate.

2.1. Hit Cap

At level 90, you need 2,550 Hit Rating to reach the melee hit cap.

2.2. Expertise Cap

At level 90, most races require 2,550 Expertise Rating to reachthe expertise cap. Some races, in some cases, only need 2,210 ExpertiseRating, thanks to passive racial skills:

• Gnomes when dual-wielding Daggers (because of Shortblade Specialization).

3. Changelog↑top

• 10 Sep. 2013: Patch 5.4: nothing to change.
• 20 May 2013: Dryaan's second review of the guide: added explanations regarding stat priority at lower gear levels.

Buffs, Debuffs, and Useful Abilities

Gems, Enchants, and Professions