Diablo 4 | Just Loot It

Rogue Build Guide

D4 PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE BUILD

This D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue Build is a nod to the old Diablo 2 Bowazon. Our basic and core attacks are both bow abilities allowing us to delete enemies from afar. 

With this build you will set up and unload, oftentimes killing everything on your screen with a single Impaling Shot. Diablo 4 Rogues are in good shape!

D4 PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE PROS / CONS

D4 PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE VIDEO GUIDE

Something about the D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue build confusing you? Don’t sweat it, listen to me explain every piece of the build in this detailed YouTube guide!

PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE SKILLS & PASSIVES

BASIC ABILITY

The first ability your Bow Rogue will unlock, used to apply vulnerable and damage the enemy. Grab this ability and these two passives.

Forceful Arrow
Forceful Arrow
BasicMarksman
Lucky Hit Chance: 40%
Fire a powerful arrow at an enemy, dealing 20% damage. Every 3rd cast makes the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon
Enhanced Forceful Arrow
Enhanced Forceful Arrow
Every 3rd cast of Forceful Arrow additionally has a +15% increased Critical Strike Chance.
Primary Forceful Arrow
Primary Forceful Arrow
Forceful Arrow pierces through Vulnerable enemies.
Stutter Step
Stutter Step
Critically Striking an enemy grants +5% Movement Speed for 4 seconds.

CORE ABILITY

Penetrating Shot will be this Rogue’s primary damage dealing ability. This ability will feel solid right away, but will really start to shine when you unlock Shadow Imbuement or a relevant legendary.

D4 Penetrating Shot RoguePenetrating Shot
D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue
Penetrating Shot
CoreInbueableMarksman
Energy Cost: 35
Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
Fire an arrow that pierces through all enemies in a line, dealing 70% damage.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon
D4 Penetrating Shot RogueEnhanced Penetrating Shot
D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue
Enhanced Penetrating Shot
Penetrating Shot deals x10% increased damage per enemy it pierces.
D4 Penetrating Shot RogueImproved Penetrating Shot
D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue
Improved Penetrating Shot
If Penetrating Shot damages at least 3 enemies, your next Penetrating Shot has a +20% increased Critical Strike Chance.

AGILITY ABILITY

Our agility ability is a gap-maker for this Diablo 4 Rogue build. It separates us from our enemies and debuffs them at the same time so we can do more damage to them. 

Caltrops
Caltrops
AgilityTrap
Charges: 2
Charge Cooldown: 12 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 25%
Leap backwards and throw caltrops on the ground, dealing 30% damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Last 6 seconds.
Physical Damage
Enhanced Caltrops
Enhanced Caltrops
Enemies take x3% increased damage from you each second they are in Caltrops.
Disciplined Caltrops
Disciplined Caltrops
You have +5% Critical Strike Chance against enemies inside your Caltrops. Double this amount against Vulnerable enemies.

SUBTERFUGE ABILITY

Here we’re going to grab a couple of abilities! Concealment can be use to break from from stuns, snares and other crowd control abilities that are likely to kill you. Grab this ability and these two passives. 

Concealment
Concealment
Subterfuge
Cooldown: 20
Vanish from sight, gaining an advanced form of Stealth for 4 seconds that will not be removed by taking damage.

Concealment also makes you Unstoppable grants +30% Movement Speed, and allows you to move freely through enemies for its duration.

Using an attack Skill during Concealment will break Concealment.
Enhanced Stealth
Enhanced Stealth
You gain 40 Energy when you enter Concealment.
Countering Stealth
Countering Stealth
The Skill that breaks Concealment will always be a guaranteed Critical Strike.

IMBUEMENT ABILITY

This D4 rogue build uses the Shadow Imbuement to create a massive chain effect of damage capable of clearing entire screens full of enemies.

Shadow Imbuement
Shadow Imbuement
Imbuement
Cooldown: 13 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 33%
Imbue your weapon with festering shadows. Your next 2 Imbueable Skills deal Shadow damage and infect enemies for 6 seconds. Infected enemies explode on death, dealing 40% damage to call surrounding enemies.

If the infection expires before the enemy dies, it will deal 40% damage to only that enemy.
Shadow Damage
Enhanced Shadow Imbuement
Enhanced Shadow Imbuement
You have +15% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies infected by Shadow Imbuement.
Blended Shadow Imbuement
Blended Shadow Imbuement
Shadow Imbuement’s primary explosion makes enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

ULTIMATE ABILITY

To keep with the bowazon theme, and also because it melts enemies, we’ll be taking Rain of arrows as our ultimate on this Penetrating Shot Rogue build. 

Rain of Arrows
Rain of Arrows
UltimateImbueableMarksman
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 2%
Arrows rain down over a large area 2 times, each wave dealing 100% damage.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon
Prime Rain of Arrows
Prime Rain of Arrows
Imbuement Skill effects applied by Rain of Arrows have x20% increased potency.
Supreme Rain of Arrows
Supreme Rain of Arrows
Rain of Arrows’ second wave Knocks Down enemies for 3 seconds.

D4 PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE CLASS MECHANIC

D4 Rogue Build - Combo Points

This build will take the Combo Point Stance from the Class Mechanic System. This will allow you to collect up to 3 points, each one adding additional damage to your Penetrating shot when you let it rip. 

With 3 Combo points, your penetrating shot does nearly 200% damage!

D4 PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE SKILL POINT ORDER

You get one point every time you level. So at level 2 on your first character you will be spending point #1. At level 5 you will be spending point #4. 

When you earn your first renown you will have the same number of skill points as levels. 

Beyond that you will have to do some quick math to know how many points you’ve earned from renown and how many points you have earned from levels to know which part of this you are on.

POINTS 1 - 9

Coming Soon!

POINTS 10 - 19

POINTS 20 - 29

POINTS 30 - 39

POINTS 40 - 49

POINTS 50 - 58

D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue

PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE ROTATION

1

Forceful Arrow
Forceful Arrow
BasicMarksman
Lucky Hit Chance: 40%
Fire a powerful arrow at an enemy, dealing 20% damage. Every 3rd cast makes the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon

Use your Forceful Arrow 3 times to charge up your 3 Combo Points

2

Caltrops
Caltrops
AgilityTrap
Charges: 2
Charge Cooldown: 12 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 25%
Leap backwards and throw caltrops on the ground, dealing 30% damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Last 6 seconds.
Physical Damage

Throw down your caltrops to debuff the enemies and slow them down

3

Shadow Imbuement
Shadow Imbuement
Imbuement
Cooldown: 13 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 33%
Imbue your weapon with festering shadows. Your next 2 Imbueable Skills deal Shadow damage and infect enemies for 6 seconds. Infected enemies explode on death, dealing 40% damage to call surrounding enemies.

If the infection expires before the enemy dies, it will deal 40% damage to only that enemy.
Shadow Damage

Use Shadow Imbuement on your weapon.

4

Concealment
Concealment
Subterfuge
Cooldown: 20
Vanish from sight, gaining an advanced form of Stealth for 4 seconds that will not be removed by taking damage.

Concealment also makes you Unstoppable grants +30% Movement Speed, and allows you to move freely through enemies for its duration.

Using an attack Skill during Concealment will break Concealment.

You can use Conceal for the guaranteed crit coming out of it, or save it for resource regen and safety.

5

Rain of Arrows
Rain of Arrows
UltimateImbueableMarksman
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Lucky Hit Chance: 2%
Arrows rain down over a large area 2 times, each wave dealing 100% damage.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon

If you are fighting an elite or boss, fire off your Rain of Arrows. Otherwise save it for a meaty enemy.

6

D4 Penetrating Shot RoguePenetrating Shot
D4 Penetrating Shot Rogue
Penetrating Shot
CoreInbueableMarksman
Energy Cost: 35
Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
Fire an arrow that pierces through all enemies in a line, dealing 70% damage.
Physical Damage
Requires a Ranged weapon

Fire your Penetrating Shot into the crowd as many times as necessary.

PENETRATING SHOT ROGUE LEGENDARY ASPECTS

The best aspects and Legendaries will be listed below for the Penetrating Shot Rogue, broken into their different types. You can only benefit from one aspect at a time, so don’t try to wear two of the same aspect.

CODEX OF POWER

These Legendary Aspects can be target farmed by simply completing the Dungeon they are located in. Once completed the aspect will appear in your codex of power for you to use as any time you want.

Aspect of Inner Calm
Aspect of Inner Calm
Offensive
Deal 5-10% increased damage for each second you stand still, up to 30%.
Progress Campaign in Scosglen to unlock
Every class

Aspect of Might
Aspect of Might
Offensive
Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for 2-6 seconds.
Progress Campaign in Dry Steppes to unlock
Every class

Aspect of the Expectant
Aspect of the Expectant
Offensive
Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by 5-10% up to 30%.
Unlocked by completing Underroot in Scosglen
Every class

Aspect of the Protector
Aspect of the Protector
Defensive
Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to x damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Unlocked by completing Lost Archives in Fractured Peaks
Every class

Edgemaster’s Aspect
Edgemaster’s Aspect
Offensive
Skills deal up to 10-20% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource.
Unlocked by completing Oldstones in Scosglen
Every class

Eluding Aspect
Eluding Aspect
Utility
Becoming Injured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a 40-20 second Cooldown.
Unlocked by completing Caldera Gate in Fractured Peaks
Every class

Rapid Aspect
Rapid Aspect
Offensive
Basic Skills gain 15-30% Attack Speed.
Unlocked by completing Buried Halls in Dry Steppes
Every class

CODEX - ROGUE SPECIFIC

Aspect of Arrow Storms
Aspect of Arrow Storms
Offensive
Lucky Hit: Your Marksman Skills have up to a 10% chance to create an arrow storm at the enemy’s location, dealing x Physical damage over 3 seconds. You have up to 5 active arrow storms.
Unlocked by completing Howling Warren in Scosglen
Rogue

Aspect of Corruption
Aspect of Corruption
Offensive
Your Imbuement Skill effects have 20-40% increased potency against Vulnerable enemies.
Progress Campaign in Kehjistan to unlock
Rogue

Aspect of Unstable Imbuements
Aspect of Unstable Imbuements
Offensive
When casting an Imbuement Skill you trigger an Imbued explosion around yourself, applying the imbuement effects and dealing x damage of the same type.
Progress Campaign in Dry Steppes to unlock
Rogue

Cheat’s Aspect
Cheat’s Aspect
Defensive
You take 15-25% less damage from Crowd Controlled enemies. Whenever a Crowd Controlled enemy deals direct damage to you, gain 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds.
Unlocked by completing Luban’s Rest in Scosglen
Rogue

Energizing Aspect
Energizing Aspect
Resource
Damaging an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill generates 3-7 Energy.
Unlocked by completing Sanguine Chapel in Fractured Peaks
Rogue

Ravenous Aspect
Ravenous Aspect
Resource
Killing a Vulnerable enemy grants you 50-70% increased Energy Regeneration for 4 seconds.
Unlocked by completing Shifting City in Dry Steppes
Rogue

Trickshot Aspect
Trickshot Aspect
Offensive
Whenever Penetrating Shot damages an enemy, 2 additional arrows split off to either side. These side arrows deal 10-25% of Penetrating Shot’s Base damage and do not split.
Unlocked by completing Bastion of Faith in Hawezar
Rogue

Trickster’s Aspect
Trickster’s Aspect
Offensive
Caltrops also throw a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades that deal x total Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.5 seconds.
Progress Campaign in Dry Steppes to unlock
Rogue

Vengeful Aspect
Vengeful Aspect
Offensive
Lucky Hit: Making an enemy Vulnerable has up to a 30-50% chance to grant 3% increased Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds, up to 9%.
Unlocked by completing Inferno in Kehjistan
Rogue

LEGENDARY ITEMS

These are the legendary aspect that can only be found as a drop in the game. You must kill enemies and bosses until you get these legendary items to drop.

Accelerating Aspect
Accelerating Aspect
Offensive
Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by 15-25% for 3 seconds.
Random drop
Every Class

Conceited Aspect
Conceited Aspect
Offensive
Deal 15-25% increased while you have a Barrier active.
Random drop
Every class

Smiting Aspect
Smiting Aspect
Offensive
You have 10-20% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. While you are Healthy, you gain 20-40% increased Crowd Control Duration.
Random drop
Every class

RANDOM DROPS - ROGUE SPECIFIC

Aspect of Cruel Sustenance
Aspect of Cruel Sustenance
Defensive
Explosions from the Victimize Key Passive Heal you for x Life for each enemy damaged, up to a maximum of x life.
Random drop
Rogue

Toxic Alchemist’s Aspect
Toxic Alchemist’s Aspect
Offensive
Lucky Hit: Damaging a Poisoned enemy with a Shadow Imbued Skill has up to a 75% chance to create a toxic explosion that applies x Poisoning damage over 5 seconds to the target and surrounding enemies.
Random drop
Rogue

UNIQUE ITEMS

These are the unique items you should look out for. These won’t start dropping until you reach Tier 3 Difficulty, known as Nightmare.