My intention for making this post is to illustrate how saturated the spec trees are with utility and survivability that could be opened up and made available for all rogue specs. The most recent talent revamps across all specs are heavily moving in the direction of having utility and survivability exist solely on the class tree while the throughput talents exist almost exclusively on the spec trees. So far, that approach seems to be proving itself as a successful design philosophy.
Of note, Assassination has the least amount of “utility/survivability” talents and abilities saturating its spec tree, and (in my opinion) its gameplay is the smoothest of the three.
From Assassination
Intent to Kill - Talent, Passive
Shadowstep’s cooldown is reduced by 33% when used on a target affected by any of your rogue damage over time effects.
Iron Wire - Talent, Passive
Ambush, Garrote, Cheap Shot, and Shadow Strike silence their targets for 6 seconds when used from stealth. Targets silenced this way deal 15% reduced damage for 8 seconds.
Precision Poison - NEW, Talent, Passive - Inspired By Poisoned Knife
Poisoned Knife, Pistol Shot, and Shuriken Toss always apply your active Lethal and Non-Lethal poisons.
Cut to the Chase - (Was recently made baseline for all rogue specs)
From Outlaw
Grappling Hook - Talent, Active
Launch a Grappling Hook and pull yourself to the target location.
Retractable Hook - Talent, Passive
Reduces the cooldown of Grappling Hook by 15 seconds, and increases its retraction speed.
Active Readiness - NEW, Talent, Passive - Inspired By Restless Blades
Finishing moves reduce the cooldown of non-damaging rogue abilities by 1 second per combo point spent.(Would obviously require a tweak to Restless Blades)
Blinding Powder - Talent, Passive
Reduces the cooldown of Blind by 25% and increases its range by 5 yards.
Dirty Tricks - Talent, Passive
Gouge, Cheap Shot, and Sap no longer cost energy.
Float Like a Butterfly - See “Active Readiness” Above
Combat Stamina - Talent, Passive
Stamina increased by 5%.
Debilitating Precision - NEW, Talent, Passive - Inspired by Precision Shot
Poisoned Knife, Pistol Shot, and Shuriken Toss have a 10 yard increased range and reduce the target’s damage done to you by 5%.
Hit and Run - Talent, Passive
Movement speed increased by 15%.
From Subtlety
Shot in the Dark - Talent, Passive
After entering Stealth or Shadow Dance your next Cheap Shot is free.
Quick Decisions - Talent, Passive
Shadowstep’s cooldown is reduced by 20% and its maximum range is increased by 20%.
Ephemeral Bond - Talent, Passive
Increases healing received by 8%.
Exhilarating Execution - Talent, Passive
Your finishing moves heal you for 5% of the damage done. At full health you gain an absorb shield instead, absorbing up to 10% of your maximum health.
Night Terrors - NEW, Talent, Passive - Altered form of Night Terrors
Fan of Knives, Blade Flurry, and Shuriken Storm apply your Crippling Poison to affected targets.(Better synergy with other talents which buff Crippling Poison/movement slowing effects)
Terrifying Pace - Talent, Passive
Fan of Knives, Blade Flurry, and Shuriken Storm increase your movement speed by 30% when striking 3 or more targets.
Cloaked in Shadows - Talent, Passive
Vanish grants you a shield for 6 seconds, absorbing damage equal to 18% of your maximum health.
Fade to Nothing - Talent, Passive
Movement speed increased by 20% and damage taken reduced by 10% for 8 seconds after gaining Stealth, Vanish, or Shadow Dance.
Shrouded in Darkness - Talent, Passive
Shroud of Concealment increases the movement speed of allies by 100% while active and leaving its area no longer cancels the effect.
New Ideas
I’m not gonna mention any new ideas in this post (aside from the necessary “reworks” mentioned to make ability-specific talents work for all 3 specs). There are plenty of things to shuffle around already.