The Season of the Malignant saw many adjustments to the strength of characters and builds across the board. It’s no secret that many of those changes weren’t well received. Fortunately, if you’re rocking Rogue this season, we escape the Nerf Hammer with a minor slap on the wrist, and we can still enjoy a smooth journey to level 50. Let me give you a crash course in all things sharp and stealthy with ourDiablo 4Season 1 best Rogue leveling builds | Twisted Blades, Flurry, Penetrating Shot, and more.
Rogue escaped the nerfs mostly unscathed, but same can’t be said for the Sorcerer. Still, just because they got hit, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them. If you want a challenge this season, check out ourSorcerer leveling guide.
What is the best Rogue Leveling Build inDiablo 4Season 1?
If you want the best Rogue Build for leveling, which will also set you up for one of the strongest endgame builds, you may’t go wrong withTwisted Blades. For leveling, it’s easy to gear for and feels powerful from start to finish.
Best Rogue leveling builds inDiablo 4Season 1 tier list
The Rogue really can get away with just about anything in Season 1, but here are our picks for the best builds this time around:
Twisting Blades
Twisting Blades is a fantastic leveling build boasting excellent movement speed and tons of damage whether you’re fighting mobs or bosses. The best thing about Twisting Blades is your abilities go ‘live’ very early. By level 15, you have your entire arsenal of skills ready to use, and by level 20, resource generation becomes much less of an issue.
Penetrating Shot
Penetrating Shot is a remarkable ability to build around… Providing you hit your shot. If you’re comfortable managing your resources, you’re able to delete foes before they can even think of getting close. Penetrating Shot deals absurd damage to tight packs of enemies. Your playstyle revolves around getting that to happen and laughing as your opponents try to fight back.
Rogue Twisting Blades Leveling Build
The star of the show in this build is its namesake,Twisting Blades. Twisting Blades does obscene amounts of damage and quickly becomes the skill we rely on for the entire leveling process.Dashis a decent gap closer and does respectable damage on hit; it also pairs nicely with our next skill as part of a combo.Poison Trapdeals damage and knocks enemies down when a skill point is invested intoEnhanced Poison Trap. The basic combo with this build is to get in close with Dash, pop the Poison Trap, and lay waste to your foes with Twisting Blades.
Finally, we useDark ShroudandSubverting Dark Shroudfor survivability and additional movement speed.
Best Rogue Twisting Blades leveling build skills
This is the order I recommend spending skill points. Feel free to go for mobility skills earlier and return to Twisting Blades, but the guide should be easy to follow in this order.
Level 1-10
These Skills establish the core of our damage profile.Fundamental Puncturecan make enemies Vulnerable, and even though that debuff got a Nerf in Season 1, it’s still a valuable damage increase for the build.Improved Twisting Bladesdaze enemies and make them easier to deal with if we run into resource problems.
Level 11-10
Levels 11-20 fill up our skill bar, giving us access to the combo I mentioned earlier.Shadow Stepis our gap closer;Dashis another excellent mobility tool, andPoison Trapgives us a respectable damage boost when we’re up close.The three points intoExploitgrant even more damage across the board.
At this point, I strongly recommend completing the Rogue-specific subquest to unlockSpecializations. At Level 20, you can useInner Sight,which offers bursts of unlimited Energy and translates to insane damage output.
Level 21-30
These ten levels may seem less impactful than the last without new skills, but they make a huge difference. We don’t really care aboutAdrenaline Rush, but we need it forHaste,which gives us movement and attack speed.Trap Masterymakes our Traps more potent, andSturdyacts as a gateway toSiphoning Strikesfor health regen. We will max that out next.
Level 31-40
We max outSiphoning StrikesandWeapon Mastery,which gives a sweeping damage buff, especially if you’re using Daggers.Momentumhas many different effects, but they are all melee centric, and we’re using a melee-centric build.Concussivehurts knocked down enemies more, which you should still be doing with your Traps. Finally, Stutter Step gives us more mobility after critical strikes.
Level 41-50
The closing skill points in this build allow us to ramp up our Poison damage. Two points inAlchemical Advantagemean we will often have a +15% attack speed increase, andEnhanced Dashbriefly makes any enemies hit by the skill take more damage.
Best Rogue Twisting Blades Aspects and how to get them
Twisting Blades Rogue doesn’tneedany specific Aspects for the leveling process. That said, here are a few that will help on your journey to 50. If any Legendary gear drops on the way, feel free to use it even if it has an Aspect not mentioned here:
Bladedancer’s Aspect
This Aspect affects our primary skill, so naturally, we want it! The Bladedancer’s Aspect turns us into a meatgrinder as our Twisting Blades orbit us briefly when they return. During this period, we deal more damage, and that’s why we want it.
Cheat’s Aspect
You’ll notice that during the leveling process, our primary concern is maximum damage as fast as possible, and survivability takes a back seat. When you’re storming through levels in Season 1, you’re able to end up in a position where your gear is much lower level than your character, affecting your survivability. The Cheat’s Aspect will help, as you’ll take less damage from Crowd Controlled enemies.
Edgemaster’s Aspect
Back on the theme of damage, The Edgemaster’s Aspect increases our damage based on how much Energy we have. This Aspect works nicely with the Inner Sight Specialization, which grants bursts of unlimited Energy. Ensure you activate Inner Sight when you hit Level 20, as this Aspect essentially gives us free damage.
Rogue Penetrating Shot Leveling Build
If you prefer your fights at range, Penetrating Shot is a fun and powerful build where you’re able to do just that.Penetrating Shotdoes obscene amounts of damage to packs of enemies, and our skills are structured to make this happen as often as possible. We useImbuementsto buff ourPenetrating Shot,andDashis an invaluable repositioning tool. When you’re learning the build, trust me, you’ll need it.
Best Rogue Penetrating Shot leveling build skills
This is the order I recommend unlocking your skills in. Like Twisting Blades, we will start with Puncture, as it’s arguably the best generator for Rogue.
As previously mentioned,Punctureis an excellent generator for Rogue and can inflict Vulnerable, which is a bonus, even if it was nerfed for Season 1. We will invest everything we can intoPenetrating Shotsoon, but as we want to stay away from our opponents,DashandDark Shroudare essential.
Level 11-20
This is a big ten levels for us as ourImbuementsgo live and kick ourPenetrating Shotdamage into the stratosphere.Subverting Dark Shroudgives us some welcome movement speed and sets us up nicely for hitting those crazy powerful shots. At level 15, I strongly advise doing the Rogue Subquest to unlock Specializations. This lets you useCombo Points,a solid damage buff for the build.
We fill in ourImbuementskills here, and maxExploitis a respectable damage buff across the board.PrecisionImbuementincreases our critical strike chance withImbuedattacks, and we finish off with a point inHaste.Adrenaline Rushisn’t great, but we need it to get toHaste, and we will max out that skill in the next couple of levels.
Levels 31-40 max outHaste, a fantastic damage skill, and we finally unlock ourPrecisionKey Skill.Weapon Masteryoffers a whopping 15% additional critical strike damage if you’re using a Crossbow, andMaliceincreases damage vs Vulnerable enemies.
Our last batch of points gives us buffs to both Imbuements.Consuming Shadowsgrants Energy whenever an enemy dies to Shadow Damage, andInnervationhelps with any further energy issues the build may have.
Best Rogue Penetrating Shot Aspects and how to get them
Penetrating Shot Rogue has a few key Aspects that are obtainable through Dungeon completions. The Trickshot Aspect, in particular, works in tandem with our Penetrating Shot and grants an instantly noticeable damage buff.
Trickshot Aspect
Trickshot Aspect grants a tremendous damage buff to ourPenetrating Shot, and it’s a mandatory part of the build. We live or die on our ability to wipe out enemies withPenetrating ShotandImbuements, and no other Aspect fills this role.
Aspect of Corruption
The Aspect of Corruption makes yourImbuedshots much more effective against Vulnerable enemies. Even with the Nerfs, Vulnerable is still a key debuff we shoot for as aPenetrating ShotRogue.
Aspect of the Expectant
Aspect of the Expectant gives ourPenetrating Shoteven more damage providing we’ve used our Basic Skill beforehand. In this build, we use Puncture, which makes enemies vulnerable, so we should be able to take advantage of this Aspect in our general rotation.
Anthony Yates
Anthony is a freelance writer for PC Invasion and has worked in the industry for four years. He’s furiously competitive and is always looking for the next big multiplayer hit. Anthony thrives in high-stakes games like Escape From Tarkov and Sea of Thieves. He is also passionate about speedrunning and always looks forward to the next GDQ and ESA events. When he’s not grinding leaderboards, Anthony enjoys visiting Arcades, retro gaming, and horror movies.
