The Rogue is one of the most celebrated classes in all of Diablo, and the class has returned for the fourth iteration of the famed ARPG series. Classified as a sneaky and agile character, the Rogue can wield both a melee and ranged weapon in addition to specializing in shadow damage. Because of the Rogue’s versatility in Diablo 4, many players are puzzled as to how to properly build out their character.
In this guide, we will be going over our recommended build guide for the Rogue in Diablo 4 so players can rest easy when they’re faced with picking a new skill.
Diablo 4 Rogue build guide
As mentioned, the Rogue has a few different branches of skills that focus on both melee and ranged weapons. Players can be a close-quarters character that strikes from the shadows and inflicts poison or shadow damage. However, the other route players can take is a long-range character that deals damage with arrows. While you can experiment with either of these specific builds, we feel that the best Rogue in Diablo 4 makes use of skills from both forms of combat.
You can read our previous guides if you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the Rogue’s skills or passive abilities/talents. For now, though, you can see all of the active skills we have chosen for the Rogue in Diablo 4, at least based on the 25 levels in the beta.
Basic Skill: Forceful Arrow (Fundamental) – The best combo skill for the Rogue is Forceful Arrow, which fires one arrow at an enemy, dealing a moderate amount of damage. If you cast the attack three times in a row, the third attack will make the enemy vulnerable for two seconds, which means they take even more damage from attacks. The Fundamental upgrade for Forceful Arrow knocks back enemies if they are considered close to you.
Core Skill: Barrage (Improved) – Barrage is another arrow-based attack that shoots five outward-expanding arrows. Each of the arrows deals damage if they connect with an enemy and each of them has a 20% chance to ricochet once. If an arrow does ricochet, it deals extra damage. Improved Barrage sticks with the vulnerable theme from Forceful Arrow, as every third cast of Barrage gives an enemy the vulnerable nerf for two seconds.
Ability Skill: Dash (Disciplined) – Moving away from the ranged attacks, Dash is a skill that allows players to dash forward and slash enemies, up to two times. Think of Dash as a more lethal and quicker version of your normal dodge move. It’s a perfect segway from firing arrows at a distance, especially when you upgrade it with the Disciplined skill. Disciplined Dash slows enemies for three seconds, giving you a chance to get back to a longer range and fire off more arrows from a distance. Finally, your Dash charges can be imbued, which becomes important with the other Rogue skills.
Subterfuge Skill: Concealment (Countering) – Concealment is the perfect Rogue skill. It allows players to enter stealth for a brief time, making them unstoppable and able to move through enemies without bumping off of them. Moreover, Concealment doesn’t stop working when you take damage, meaning you can remain concealed until the skill wears off or you use another skill. You can upgrade to Countering Concealment to ensure that whatever attack you pick after Concealment has worn off is a critical strike.
Imbuement Skill: Poison Imbuement (Blended) – Out of the three Imbuement skills available for the Rogue, the poison version is the best, in our opinion. When players hit an enemy with an imbued skill after using Poison Imbuement, they not only damage that enemy, but the enemy will take damage-over-time as a result of the poison. This is essentially passive damage that will help kill enemies much faster. Using the Blended upgrade makes it so critical strikes increase the amount of poison damage applied, which can be used in conjunction with the Concealment Countering skill.
Ultimate Skill: Shadow Clone (Prime and Supreme) – Another great Rogue-like skill, Shadow Clone creates a mimic of you that copies all of your moves. The shadow mimic deals a portion of your base damage to enemies that it hits. The Supreme upgrade increases the amount of damage your clone does.
Passives:
- Stutter Step: Your critical strikes against enemies grants you an additional 5%,10%,15% movement speed boost for four seconds. (Works in concert with Concealment and Poison Imbuement)
- Exploit: Your damage is increased by 6%,12%,18% against healthy and injured enemies.
- Malice: Your damage is increased by 3%,6%,9% against vulnerable enemies. (Works in concert with Forceful Arrow and Barrage. Requires one point in Exploit)
The Rogue can be an incredibly enjoyable class to play in Diablo 4 once you figure out how to switch between weapons and skills effectively. Once you figure out a groove between the melee and ranged attacks, you’ll be cruising along as a Rogue in Sanctuary.
Find all of our Diablo 4 guides in one place.
