Sinister Strike

Sinister Strike
Sinister Strike Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 45 Energy Instant Requires One Handed Melee Weapon Viciously strike an enemy, causing (21.762% of Attack power)/(88% of Attack power) Physical damage. Awards 1 combo point each time it strikes.
Properties
Class	Rogue
School	Physical
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Level learned	1
Improvements	[Deal Fate], [Destiny Defined], [Opportunity], [Unseen Blade]

It adds injury to insult.

Sinister Strike (commonly abbreviated to SS) is a level 1 rogue ability. You must have a melee weapon equipped to use the ability. Sinister Strike can be used on any mob, in any position, in any combat state, and has no refresh rate beyond its energy requirement. You must be facing your target.

This ability is replaced with [Mutilate] for Assassination rogues and [Backstab] for Subtlety rogues.

Trivia

In the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and Hearthstone.

• Sinister Strike is a basic Rogue spell in Hearthstone. The flavor text reads: "There's something about this strike that just feels off. Sinister, even."
• Sinister Strike is one of Valeera's basic abilities in Heroes of the Storm.

Gallery

• 

  Icon for Valeera's Sinister Strike ability in Heroes of the Storm.

Patch changes

Retail

• Hotfix (2025-04-03): Damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  
• Hotfix (2024-08-22): Damage no longer increased in PvP combat (was 5%).
  
• Patch 11.0.2 (2024-08-13): Damage increased by 10% for Outlaw.
  
• Patch 10.2.0 (2023-11-07): Damage increased by 10%.
  
• Patch 10.1.0 (2023-05-02): Damage increased by 5% in PvP combat.
  
• Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Rank 2 converted into the [Opportunity] talent.
  
• Hotfix (2022-08-03): Fixed an issue that could cause bonus Sinister Strike hits to break [Vanish] under certain conditions.
  
• Patch 9.2.5 (2022-05-31): Sinister Strike damage increased by 20%. This change does not apply to PvP.
  
• Patch 9.1.0 (2021-06-29): Now deals 20% more damage in PvP Combat (was 10% more damage).
  
• Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): Rank 2 added at level 12 for Outlaw: Has a 35% chance to hit an additional time, making your next Pistol Shot half cost and double damage.
  
• Patch 7.3.5 (2018-01-16): Damage increased by 30%.
  
• Patch 7.1.0 (2016-10-25): Re-added.
  
• Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Removed.
  
• Patch 6.2.0 (2015-06-23): Now deals 10% more damage.
  
• Patch 5.4.0 (2013-09-10): Deals an increased 240% of weapon damage (up from 145%), but now costs 50 Energy (up from 40 Energy).
  
• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Weapon damage increased from 100% to 145%. Energy cost reduced from 45 to 40.
  
• Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Sinister Strike only awards a Combo Point at level 3, when [Eviscerate] becomes available.
  
• Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08): The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
  
• Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-10): Now uses normalized attack power.
  

Classic

• Patch 5.5.0 (2025-07-01):
  • Energy cost decreased to 40 (was 50).
  • Weapon damage decreased to 192% (was 240%).
    

See also

• Sinister Strike, TCG card

Other versions

• Classic

  Sinister Strike
  Sinister Strike (8 ranks) Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 45 Energy Instant Requires Melee Weapon An instant strike that causes 3 damage in addition to your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.
  Properties
  Class	Rogue
  School	Physical
  Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
  Other information
  Level learned	1
  Improvements	[Aggression] [Improved Sinister Strike], [Lethality]

• BC Classic

  Sinister Strike
  Sinister Strike (10 ranks) Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 45 Energy Instant Requires Melee Weapon An instant strike that causes 3 damage in addition to your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.
  Properties
  Class	Rogue
  School	Physical
  Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
  Other information
  Level learned	1
  Improvements	[Aggression] [Improved Sinister Strike], [Lethality], [Surprise Attacks]

• Wrath Classic

  Sinister Strike
  Sinister Strike (12 ranks) Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 45 Energy Instant Requires Melee Weapon An instant strike that causes 3 damage in addition to 100% of your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.
  Properties
  Class	Rogue
  School	Physical
  Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
  Other information
  Level learned	1
  Improvements	[Aggression], [Improved Sinister Strike], [Surprise Attacks]
  Glyphs	[Glyph of Sinister Strike]

• Cataclysm Classic

  Sinister Strike
  Sinister Strike Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 45 Energy Instant Requires Melee Weapon An instant strike that causes 167 damage in addition to 101% of your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.
  Properties
  Class	Rogue
  School	Physical
  Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
  Other information
  Level learned	1
  Improvements	[Aggression], [Bandit's Guile], [Improved Sinister Strike], [Lethality]
  Glyphs	[Glyph of Sinister Strike]

• MoP Classic

  Sinister Strike
  Sinister Strike Level 1 rogue ability Melee range 40 Energy Instant Requires Melee Weapon An instant strike that causes 280 damage in addition to 192% of your normal weapon damage. Awards 1 combo point.
  Properties
  Class	Rogue
  School	Physical
  Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
  Other information
  Level learned	1
  Improvements	[Bandit's Guile]

External links

Base	Outlaw
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

Rank 1	Rank 11
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

Rank 1	Rank 10
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

Rank 1	Rank 12
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

• Wowhead
• WoWDB

• Wowhead
• WoWDB