Build Introduction
The Barrage Rogue leveling build unleashes a spread of arrows to hit every foe. 
Barrage shotguns the toughest enemies, and then the arrows ricochet to hit additional targets. This is one of the best builds, featuring a straightforward playstyle, to level a new Rogue character in Season 8 of Diablo 4.
Check the Rogue Leveling Guide Overview for a comparison of all the starter builds on Icy Veins.
Once your Rogue character reaches Level 60, switch to the Endgame Guide for the Barrage Rogue to continue this build.
Quick Navigation
Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to sections.
Allocation of Skill Points
The following table shows the order in which to allocate your Skill Points while leveling with the Barrage Rogue build. You gain 59 points at Level 60 and 12 points from Renown, for a total of 71.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Barrage
Puncture
Dash
Shadow Step
Shadow Imbuement
Cold ImbuementIf you are unsure on how to use these Skills, read the Build Mechanics section after setting up your Skill Bar.
Wondering what comes after Level 60 or which Paragon boards to pick? Head to the Rogue Builds page and choose an endgame build to continue your character progression.
Rogue Class Mechanic – Specialization
Once you reach Level 15, immediately complete the True Potential class questline to unlock the Rogue Specialization. Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for general farming due to it providing bonus damage and additional arrows for Barrage.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character during the leveling process. Higher Item Power generally indicates stronger gear, but you should also consider the affixes and effects that are relevant to your class and build.
Legendary Aspects
Aspect of Branching Volleys can be unlocked in the Codex of Power by completing the Shadowed Plunge Dungeon in Hawezar. The dungeon becomes unlocked after completing Vyeresz Stronghold. Clear them both immediately to unlock the aspect for Barrage, and then visit the Occultist to imprint it onto a Rare or Legendary Item. An Amulet is recommended for imprinting important Aspects for a +50% bonus effect, and it does not need to be replaced as often as weapons.
Higher Tier Aspects with stronger effects can be found on dropped Legendary Items. Salvage unwanted Legendary Items at the Blacksmith to unlock these Aspects in the Codex of Power, and then imprint them onto well-rolled Rare Items. Check the in-depth Aspect and Codex of Power guide for more information.
Listed below are all the Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Barrage Rogue leveling build. They are listed in order of priority. For the best results, combine these Aspects with the ideal Stat Priorities. The best-in-slot Aspects List is in the Endgame Guide for Penetrating Shot Rogue.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect of Branching Volleys | Increase the damage of arrows that ricochet from Barrage to [50 – 80%]. Barrage’s arrows have a [30 – 60%] chance to split when they ricochet. | Shadowed Plunge, Hawezar |
| High Velocity Aspect | Barrage arrows now pierce through 1 enemy. Barrage has [10 – 20%] increased Attack Speed. | Random Drop |
| 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. | Oldstones, Scosglen |
| 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%. | Underroot, Scosglen |
 Aspect of Might | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds | Dark Ravine, Dry Steppes |
| Rapid Aspect | Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed. | Buried Halls, Dry Steppes |
| Accelerating Aspect | Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds. | Random Drop Only |
 Aspect of Quickening Fog | You automatically drop a  Smoke Grenade at the end of  Dash. Dash’s Cooldown is reduced by [0.25 – 0.35] seconds for each enemy Dazed this way, up to [0.75 – 1.05] seconds. | Random Drop Only |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear during the early leveling of a Barrage Rogue, 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.
The Item Power of weapons determines its DPS and is the most important factor when searching for upgrades. When comparing weapons with similar Item Power, 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 most beneficial tempering affixes while leveling are included below. The best-in-slot tempering affixes are available in the Endgame Guide for the Barrage Rogue. Check the Tempering Guide for more information on this system.
| Slot | Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Weapons | 1. Critical Strike Damage 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity |  Core Augments — Rogue (Weapon): Chance for Barrage Projectiles to Cast TwiceMarksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Helm | 1. Cooldown Reduction, Energy per Second, Ranks to Shadow Imbuement 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance | Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor |
| Chest | 1. Ranks to Dark Shroud, Energy per Second 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity | Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor |
| Gloves | 1. Ranks to Barrage, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Resource Cost Reduction, Critical Strike Chance | Marksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Pants | 1. Resistances, Armor 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity | Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor |
| Boots | Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed, Energy per Second 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Maximum Life, Dexterity | Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed |
| Amulet | 1. Ranks to Unstable Elixirs, Exploit, Malice, or Weapon Mastery 2. Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed | Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow or Cold Imbue Additional CastsMarksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Rings | 1. Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resource Cost Reduction, Vulnerable Damage, Resistances, Maximum Life 3. Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance, Critical Strike Chance | Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow or Cold Imbue Additional CastsMarksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
↑ Back to Legendary Gear Table
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the best Gems and Runes to socket into gear for each item type.
Gems
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
 Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage. | Emerald for Dexterity. | Any Resistance Gems needed or  Skull for Armor (up to the 1,000 Armor cap). |
Runewords
Runes are drop after unlocking them during the Vessel of Hatred campaign. A Rune of Offering and a Rune of Invocation can be combined by inserting them into equipment with 2 available sockets, creating a Runeword. A limit of 2 Runewords can be equipped.
Listed below are the best Runewords utilizing Magic and Rare Runes that are beneficial for this build. The best-in-slot Runewords utilizing Legendary Runes are in the Endgame Guide for the Barrage Rogue.
| Runewords | Effects |
|---|---|
 Yax Tun | Gain: 200 Offering — Drink a Healing Potion. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Evoke the Rogue’s Stun Grenades, Stunning and dealing damage to enemies. |
 Feo Lac | Gain: 1000 Offering — Become Injured or Crowd Controlled (Cooldown: 10 seconds). Requires: 400 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Evoke the Barbarian’s Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken for 3 seconds. |
Boss Powers (Season 8)
In the Season of Belial’s Return (Season 8), Boss Powers can be equipped to enhance your character. Unlocking specific powers for a build is challenging due to their random appearance, so utilize any that provide the most damage. Check the Endgame Guide for the Barrage Rogue for the best-in-slot setup of Boss Powers.
Mercenaries
Once the Den is unlocked during the main questline in the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4, complete the 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
- Skills:
- Reinforcement: Raheir
- Skill:
Bastion - Opportunity: Cast when the player becomes Injured
- Skill:
Build Mechanics
The Barrage Rogue build is fairly simple to play, but requires some precise positioning. Barrage fires arrows in an arcing range to cover a wide area, similar to Multishot in other ARPGs. The ricocheting arrows provide additional hits to clear groups of enemies, and the automatic targeting makes for an easy playstyle.
Fundamental Puncture applies Vulnerable to enable the 100% ricochet chance from Enhanced Barrage. Precision also guarantees Critical Strikes for the ricochets.
Activations of 
Shadow Imbuement and Cold Imbuement can be alternated for high imbuement uptime. Shadow Imbuement provides the build with the necessary Area of Effect explosions against groups of enemies. Mixed Shadow Imbuement also increases the damage of Cold Imbued attacks. Cold Imbuement quickly Freezes enemies in one cast of Barrage due to the multiple hits, activating Mixed Cold Imbuement and 
Frigid Finesse for a huge damage boost against Elites.
Damage is increased further with 
Unstable Elixirs, 
Weapon Mastery, 
Exploit 
Malice, and 
Impetus.
Finally, 
Stutter Step, 
Haste, and Dash speed up movement for faster farming.
Rotation and Playstyle
Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.
- Activate an Imbuement Skill:
- Against large groups of enemies, activate Shadow Imbuement for AoE explosions.
- Against Elites, activate Cold Imbuement for more single-target damage.
- Against large groups of enemies, activate
- Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
- Cast
Puncture three times to build Combo Points. Try to stay close enough to elites and bosses to apply Vulnerable with Fundamental Puncture. - Cast Barrage next to the toughest enemy to shotgun them, hitting them with every arrow and ricocheting to other enemies.
- Repeat the rotation, alternating activations of Imbuement Skills when needed.
Elixirs
Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants for 
Bundled Herbs during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Elixirs can also drop randomly from enemies and chests during many activities in Diablo 4.
Listed below are the best Elixirs to consume while leveling the Dance of Knives Rogue, ranked by importance.
Elixir of Resource greatly helps with Energy issues, if you do not already have the appropriate Energy gear. This elixir is highly recommended for starting characters to maintain casts of Core Skills.
Elixir of Precision provides the highest damage output increase, if not already capped at 100% Critical Strike Chance.
Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
Elixir of Fortitude is the best general-purpose option for survivability.
Return to the Alchemist every 10 Levels to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.
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%.
Difficulty and Endgame
Once you hit Level 60 with this build, tackle harder difficulties and more challenging endgame content. Make sure to pick one of our recommended endgame builds for Rogue to continue your journey! The endgame builds also cover the Paragon setup unlocked at Level 60.
Video Overview and Gameplay Footage
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 created for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
