Barrage – Rogue Build for Diablo 4 (Season 8)

Build Introduction

The Barrage Rogue unleashes multiple arrows in an arcing area to kill all foes on the battlefield. Barrage is the perfect Core Skill for players wanting a simple playstyle that is effective for any fight. It can be used to deliver a spread of arrows to hit multiple enemies within a pack or cast up close to tougher elites and bosses to shotgun them with every arrow.

If your character has not reached Level 60, follow the Leveling Guide for the Barrage Rogue.

Check the build tier lists to see how this build compares to others on Icy Veins.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Quick Navigation

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Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points

Skill Bar Setup for Barrage Rogue (order does not matter)

BarragePunctureDashShadow StepCold ImbuementShadow Imbuement

The Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 71 Skill Points for the Barrage Rogue build. Make sure you obtain the 12 Skill Points available from Renown.

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. It is instead automatically activated by Umbrous Aspect.

Smoke Grenade is not equipped on the Skill Bar. It is instead activated through Aspect of Quickening Fog.

Alternative Skills

If a further playstyle is preferred, swap Puncture for Heartseeker for a Basic Attack with more range with Fundamental Heartseeker for a damage increase to Barrage. Puncture is the top recommendation for the Barrage Rogue, due to the faster Combo Points generation and consistent Vulnerable application.

Wondering what comes after Level 60? Head to the Paragon Board section to power up the build even further. If you want to see how everything plays out in combat, check out the Rotation and Playstyle section for a quick breakdown.

Rogue Class Mechanic – Specialization

Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for general farming due to the burst damage playstyle of the Barrage Rogue. Build Combo Points with Puncture to unleash additional damage and arrows for Barrage.

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Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes

The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character in the endgame of Diablo 4.

Legendary Aspects

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects for the Barrage Rogue build. Salvage Legendary Items with higher Aspect values to unlock them in the Codex of Power, and then imprint them onto Legendary Items with the preferred affixes. For the best results, combine these Aspects with the ideal Stat Priorities.

Gear Slot	Aspect Name	Aspect Power
Ranged Weapon (replaced by Skyhunter or Windforce)	Edgemaster’s Aspect	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.
Amulet	Aspect of Branching Volleys	Increase the damage of arrows that Ricochet from Barrage from 40% to [60 – 80%]. In addition, Barrage’s arrows have a [40 – 60%] chance to split into 2 arrows whenever they ricochet.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1 (replaced by Condemnation)	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds.
Gloves	Aspect of the Expectant	Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by [5 – 10%], up to 30%.
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies)	Aspect of Retribution	Distant enemies have a 10% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal [15 – 30%] increased damage to Stunned and Knocked Down enemies.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2	Coldclip Aspect	Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued. You deal x [5 – 20%] increased damage to enemies who are Chilled or Frozen.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2	High Velocity Aspect	Barrage arrows now pierce through 1 enemy. Barrage has [10 – 20%] increased Attack Speed.
Helm (replaced by Harlequin Crest)	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds
Chest (replaced by Shroud of False Death)	Cheat’s Aspect	You take [10 – 30%] less damage from Crowd Controlled enemies. Whenever a Crowd Controlled enemy deals direct damage to you, gain 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds.
Pants	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 60%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Boots	Aspect of Quickening Fog	You automatically drop a Smoke Grenade at the end of Dash. Smoke Grenades reduce Dash’s Cooldown by [0.4 – 0.6] seconds for each enemy hit, up to [2.0 – 3.0] seconds.

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Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Barrage Rogues, ranked by importance. Affixes on the same line have equal value, so attempt to obtain all affixes in each line before moving on to the next. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. For more details, check the Tempering and Masterworking guides.

When comparing Legendary weapons with similar item levels, Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the higher Damage per Hit for Barrage. Daggers are selected for the fastest weapon speed to generate Combo Points.

Precision increases the priority of Critical Strike Damage to scale the bonus multiplier, while reducing the need for Critical Strike Chance.

The priority order of Resistances is Lightning > Poison > Fire > Cold > Shadow. Maximum Resistance is 70% by default for each element and can be increased to 85% by various sources.

Armor is only needed until capped at 1,000.

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Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Weapons	1. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Critical Strike Damage	Marksman Augments — Core (Weapon): Chance for Barrage Projectiles to Cast Twice Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance	Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow/Cold Imbue Additional Casts Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Chest	1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow/Cold Imbue Additional Casts Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Gloves	1. Ranks to Barrage, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow/Cold Imbue Additional Casts
Pants	1. Dexterity, Maximum Life 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor	Daze Control (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Daze Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Boots	Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Maximum Life, Dexterity	Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow/Cold Imbue Additional Casts
Amulet	1. Ranks to Unstable Elixirs, Frigid Finesse, and Weapon Mastery 2. Critical Strike Chance, Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed	Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow/Cold Imbue Additional Casts Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Rings	1. Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resource Cost Reduction, Maximum Life 3. Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance, Critical Strike Chance	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud Agility Efficiency (Resource): Agility Cooldown Reduction

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Uniques and Mythic Uniques

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique and Mythic Unique Items for the Barrage Rogue build. Each item description includes the most important affix to target for Masterworking upgrades. Check the Mythic Unique Items Guide for information on target-farming them.

• Skyhunter (recommended starter) synergies well with Precision to increase its bonus damage and restore Energy. However, the value of Critical Strike Damage becomes diminished in a min-maxed endgame build, making Windforce the better choice for damage output. Skyhunter can be a good starting weapon early on when you do not have a high amount of Critical Strike Damage.
  • Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage, or Chance for Marksman Projectiles to Cast Twice
• Windforce (late endgame potential) provides a 1.5x multiplier in the unique effect, in addition to 4 valuable stats. Windforce can eventually provide more damage output than Skyhunter with the proper Masterworking.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Barrage
• Condemnation (recommended) provides a 1.4x multiplier that works well in this Combo Points build.
  • Masterworking Priority: Basic Skill Attack Speed
• Harlequin Crest (recommended) provides a good amount of offense and defense, if you are lucky enough to find this Mythic Unique Item.
  • Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction
• Ring of Starless Skies (recommended) is a Mythic Unique Item that provides a highly valuable 1.5x multiplier. The downside is the unique effect requires some management to ramp up and maintain the buff stacks.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Ranks to Core Skills
• The Umbracrux (optional) spawns an additional target for Boss fights. Ricocheting arrows from Barrage deal 120% damage with Aspect of Branching Volleys imprinted on an Amulet. Shotgun all your arrows into the Shade Totem to ricochet them to a Boss for more damage output. Replace Shadow Step or Dash with Smoke Grenade on your Skill Bar for this setup. Reallocate points from the replaced Skill into Countering Smoke Grenade and Agile Rank 2.
• Cowl of the Nameless (optional) provides the highest damage output when properly Masterworked.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Unstable Elixirs or Trick Attacks
• Shroud of False Death (optional) provides the highest damage increase in the slot due to the +1 Ranks to All Passives inherent affix.
  • Masterworking Priority: All Stats or Maximum Life

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Gems and Runewords

Listed below are the recommended Gems and Runewords to socket into your gear.

Gems

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage.	Grand Emerald for Dexterity.	Any Resistance Gems needed or Grand Skull for Armor (up to the 1,000 Armor cap).

Runewords

Insert one of the following Runewords, consisting of a Rune of Offering and a Rune of Invocation, into your equipped Ranged Weapon. The other Runeword can be inserted into any equipped Helm, Chest, or Pants item. Add sockets to your equipment at the Jeweler if necessary. Check the Runewords Guide for more details.

Runewords	Effects
Xol Ohm	Gain: 150 Offering — Evoke power from another Class. Requires: 600 Offering, Cooldown: 2 Seconds — Evoke the Barbarian’s Enhanced War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.
Lith Wat	Gain: 25 Offering — Stand still for 0.3 seconds. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them.

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Paragon Board

Use the following Paragon Boards, Legendary Nodes, and Glyphs for the Barrage Rogue.

The Paragon setup displayed above focuses on quickly unlocking the essential Glyph sockets and Legendary Nodes at a moderate Paragon Level. Once the base setup is complete, allocate the remaining Paragon points in the following order.

1. Obtain any remaining nodes providing a damage increase within the radius of Glyph sockets.
2. Path to the remaining Rare and Magic nodes. Prioritize obtaining damage reduction, any needed Resistances/Armor, and damage increases.
3. Any remaining points can be spent on Dexterity nodes within the radius of Headhunter.

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Boss Powers (Season 8)

In the Season of Belial’s Return (Season 8), equip the following Boss Powers to enhance this build.

Main: Beast in the Ice’s Sleet — After casting 3 Skills which apply Crowd Control or Stagger effects, shoot out sleet spikes that deal [800%] Cold damage and Freeze enemies for 2 seconds.

Modifier:

• Liilth’s Wind of Hate: Hitting an Elite enemy with a Main Boss Power creates an inert Blister Clone with 10% of their Maximum Life for 15 seconds. Killing the Blister removes [2.1%] of the Elite’s Life. An Elite can have up to 1 Blister active at once, and a Boss can have up to 2 Blisters. Enemies with Resilience cannot spawn Blisters.
• Sinerat’s Flames: Gain x [5%] increased damage to all Elements. For each 1% of an Element’s Resistance from bonuses, gain x0.2% increased damage for that Element, up to a maximum of x [15.5%].
• Flesh Reaper’s Disruption: Gain x [5%] Vulnerable Damage, increased by x0.5% for each 1% of Crowd Control Duration Bonus you have, up to a maximum of x [10.5%].

Mercenaries

Once the Den is unlocked during the main questline in the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4, complete Mercenary key quests to acquire them. Hire a Mercenary and enlist a Reinforcement in the following setup.

• Hired Mercenary: Varyana
  • Skills: Cleave, Hysteria, Bloodthirst, Bloodlust
• Reinforcement: Raheir
  • Skill: Bastion
  • Opportunity: Cast when the player becomes Injured

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Build Mechanics

Barrage fires arrows in an arc similar to Multishot skills in other ARPG games, making it useful for killing multiple enemies spread out in a pack. Barrage can also be cast right next to elites and bosses to shotgun them with all arrows for high single-target damage.

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. Dark Shrouds stacks are instead granted through Umbrous Aspect with the high amount of hits per cast from Barrage.

Shadow Step and Dash are Cutthroat Skills that can be used before casting Barrage to gain the damage bonus from Tricks of the Trade.

Smoke Grenade is not equipped on the Skill Bar, but is instead auto-casted through Aspect of Quickening Fog by using Dash. Use Dash offensively to land on top of enemies and Daze them. Enhanced Smoke Grenade is also allocated for enemies to take 25% increased damage.

Resource Management

Innervation, Enhanced Puncture, and Combat should provide enough Energy generation if you are taking the time to build 3 Combo Points before casting each Barrage. Skyhunter, The Umbracrux, and Ring of Starless Skies are options for additional resource management.

Animation Cancel Technique

An Evade can be used immediately after using Barrage to cancel their casting animations. This technique is important to quickly dodge incoming attacks or advance forward. Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, allow for an animation cancel after using 3 Basic Attacks and a Core Skill. Practice hitting Evade after every Core Skill to build muscle memory.

Rotation and Playstyle

Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.

1. Cast Puncture up to 3 times to build Combo Points.
2. Initiate combat with one of the following Skills:
   • Dash on top of enemies to apply Enhanced Dash, automatically drop a Smoke Grenade, and activate Tricks of the Trade.
   • Cast Shadow Step on an Elite to Stun them and activate Tricks of the Trade.
3. Activate one of the following Imbuement Skills:
   • Cast Shadow Imbuement against groups of enemies for increased damage and explosions.
   • Cast Cold Imbuement against Elites to Freeze them and deal additional damage.
4. Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
5. Cast Barrage to deal damage. Stand next to elites or bosses to shotgun them with all arrows.
6. Immediately animation cancel Barrage.
7. Restart the rotation, refreshing Imbuement Skills when necessary.

Elixirs

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs, or find Elixirs by killing enemies or opening chests during various activities in Diablo 4. Listed below are the best Elixirs to consume for the Barrage Rogue, ranked by importance.

1. Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
2. Elixir of Resource is helpful if you are having Energy issues. This elixir is highly recommended for starting characters to maintain the casting of Core Skills.
3. Elixir of Fortitude is the best general-purpose option for survivability.
4. Elixir of Iron Barbs can provide a high amount of Physical Damage Reduction. Armor becomes more effective as you approach the Armor cap (9,320 against monster level 100 and above).
5. Specific Resistance Elixirs can be utilized to survive against Uber Bosses with elemental attacks.

Season 8 Updates

A brief summary of the seasonal changes are provided below. For a complete overview of Season 8, take a look at the comprehensive season guide.

• Fists of Fate no longer applies random crowd controls.
• Worldly Fortune can no longer apply any crowd control tempers.
• Aspect of Concussive Strikes no longer provides increased damage.
• Frostbitten Aspect is now in the Offensive category.
• Trick Attacks
  • Previous: Dazing or Stunning an enemy increases your Critical Strike Chance by 2/4/6% and Critical Strike Damage by 2/4/6% for 5 seconds, up to 12/24/36%.
  • Now: Attempting to Daze or Stun an enemy increases your Critical Strike Chance by 1/2/3% and Critical Strike Damage by 1/2/3% for 8 seconds, up to 5/10/15%.

Changelog

• April 26, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8 (Patch 2.2.0)
• January 19, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7 (Patch 2.1.0).
• October 4, 2024: Guide updated for Season 6 (Patch 2.0.2).
• August 6, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).
• May 14, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
• January 22, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0).
• October 17, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
• July 18, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.