Build Introduction
The Shadow Penetrating Shot Rogue build blasts through even the toughest foes. Penetrating Shot always pierces, dealing massive hit damage to any enemies in the way. Trickshot Aspect and Shadow Imbuement increases the coverage of Penetrating Shot to easily destroy entire groups of enemies. This ranged build is perfect for players who want a safe and heavy damage dealing playstyle.
If you are interested in a better ranged build, check out the Dual Core Penetrating Shot and Rapid Fire Rogue. The ranged Dual Core build also uses Penetrating Shot, but supplements Rapid Fire to deal higher single-target damage.
The only starting requirement for this endgame build guide is a character around Level 50 in World Tier 3. Check our Rogue Leveling Guide if you need help getting there.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Pierces through multiple enemies
- Ranged playstyle for more safety
- Plenty of crowd control
- Lower single-target damage without Rapid Fire
- Not designed to tank high incoming damage
- Combo Points builds require a rotation
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
The Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 58 Skill Points for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build. Make sure you obtain the 10 Skill Points available from Renown.
Season 5 Update (Patch 1.5.0): Concussion is reworked to Unstable Elixirs. Do not forget to use a Potion to activate the buff for maximum damage.
Alternative Skills
Heartseeker allows for the furthest ranged playstyle, with Enhanced Heartseeker and Fundamental Heartseeker providing DPS increases. Alternatively, switch to Puncture Level 1, Enhanced Puncture, and Fundamental Puncture for Energy Generation and easy application of Vulnerable.
Penetrating Shot Rogue Specialization
Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for general farming due to it providing bonus Lucky Hit Chance for Penetrating Shot, in addition to increased damage.
Paragon
Paragon unlocks after reaching Level 50, and the progression system offers a considerable boost to character power. The images below provide a visual of each Paragon Board setup for the Penetrating Shot Rogue.
Important Notes:
- Make sure you select the correct Legendary Boards and rotate them into the correct orientation.
- Attach Legendary Boards in the correct order, as bonus requirements of Rare Nodes increase with their placement order.
- Additional bonus requirements on Rare Glyphs may not be obtainable until they gain increased radius range at Level 15.
1. Starting Board (Ranger)
Socket Ranger for some valuable damage reduction. The Penetrating Shot Rogue always wields a Ranged weapon for a permanent 10% reduced damage taken.
2. Tricks of the Trade (Turf)
Rotate the Tricks of the Trade board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary node, and then Socket Turf for some valuable Damage Reduction. Prioritize leveling Turf to 15 for increased radius, as it is needed to allocate enough Strength to activate the additional bonus.
3. Cheap Shot (Nightstalker)
Rotate the Cheap Shot board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary node on this board. Socket Nightstalker to reduce the Cooldown of Shadow Imbuement by using Concealment. Prioritize leveling Nightstalker to 15 for the increased radius to obtain the additional bonus.
4. Exploit Weakness (Combat)
Rotate the Exploit Weakness board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary Node on this board. Socket Combat to gain Critical Strike Damage for an increased damage bonus on Precision.
5. No Witnesses (Exploit)
Rotate the No Witnesses board 3 times before attachment. Socket Exploit for increased Vulnerable damage and additional Vulnerable applications. The Legendary Node on this board is not utilized.
Paragon Board images courtesy of d4builds.gg. Click this link for the Paragon planner.
Gear, Gems, Elixirs, and Stats
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 Penetrating Shot 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.
Gear Slot | Aspect Name | Aspect Power |
---|---|---|
Ranged Weapon (replaced by Skyhunter) | 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 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 #1 (replaced by Condemnation) | Rapid Aspect | Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed. |
Gloves (optional replacement with Fists of Fate) | Coldclip Aspect | Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued. You deal x [5 – 20%] increased damage to enemies who are Chilled or Frozen. |
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies) | Accelerating Aspect | Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds. |
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2 | 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%. |
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2 | Trickshot Aspect | 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. |
Helm (replaced by Harlequin Crest) | Aspect of Might | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds |
Chest (Tyrael’s Might optional) | Aspect of Quickening Fog | You automatically drop a Smoke Grenade at the end of Dash. Smoke Grenades reduce Dash’s cooldown by [0.5 – 0.65] seconds for each enemy hit, up to [1.50 – 1.95] 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 Concussive Strikes | Lucky Hit: Damaging an enemy has up to a 20% chance to Daze them for 2 seconds. You deal x [5 – 20%] increased damage to Dazed enemies. |
Gems
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each item type.
Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
---|---|---|
Royal Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage. | Royal Ruby for increased Maximum Life. | Any Resistance Gems needed or Royal Skull for Armor (up to the 9,230 Armor cap). |
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 and pick up the necessary crafting materials 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, ranked by importance.
- Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
- 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 the casting of Core Skills.
- Elixir of Fortitude is the best general-purpose option for survivability.
- 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).
- Specific Resistance Elixirs can be utilized to survive against Uber Bosses with elemental attacks.
Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80 and 90, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Penetrating Shot Rogues. Each line of affixes are listed in order of importance. Affixes on the same line are considered to be equally important, but their benefits may vary depending on how much is stacked or other character stats. Attempt to obtain all affixes in each line before moving to the next line. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades.
When comparing Legendary weapons with similar item levels, Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the better implicit stat and Weapon Mastery bonus. Swords offer a boost to Precision with the Critical Strike Damage implicit. However, Daggers grant the highest weapon speed if you are using Puncture 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 9,230.
Check out our Tempering Guide for more details on Blacksmith upgrading.
Slot | Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
---|---|---|
Weapons | 1. Critical Strike Damage, Maximum Life, Dexterity | Core Augments — Rogue (Weapon): Chance for Penetrating Shot Projectiles to Cast Twice Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud |
Helm | 1. Cooldown Reduction, Ranks to Shadow Imbuement 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life |
Chest | 1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life |
Gloves | 1. Ranks to Penetrating Shot, 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 Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration |
Pants | 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life |
Boots | Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Maximum Life, Dexterity | Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration |
Amulet | 1. Ranks to Unstable Elixir, Frigid Finesse, and Weapon Mastery 2. Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed | Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow Imbue Additional Casts Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud |
Rings | 1. Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resource Cost Reduction, Maximum Life | Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow Imbue Additional Casts Marksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
Unique and Mythic Items
Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique Items for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build. Each item description includes the most important affix to target for Masterworking upgrades.
- Skyhunter (recommended) synergies well with Precision to guarantee Critical Strikes, increase damage, and restore Energy.
- Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage, or Chance for Marksman Projectiles to Cast Twice
- 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
- Fists of Fate (optional) increases overall damage by 50% with a 300% value on the unique effect. They are comparable to well-rolled Legendary Gloves with Ranks to Penetrating Shot, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, and an Offensive Aspect. The downside is the drastic damage range of the unique effect can cause an inconsistency in the hits required to kill enemies.
- Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed
- Cowl of the Nameless (optional) provides the highest damage output when properly Masterworked.
- Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Unstable Elixirs or Trick Attacks
- Tyrael’s Might (optional) is the best defensive option for a Chest Armor, although this Mythic Unique Item can be difficult to obtain. The divine barrage does not contribute a significant portion of the total damage in this build.
- Masterworking Priority: Damage Reduction
Advanced Information
Additional details are provided in the following sections for a more in-depth explanation of the Penetrating Shot Rogue. Read this advanced information after understanding the basic overview of the build in the previous sections.
Build Mechanics
The Penetrating Shot Rogue build is fairly simple to play, but has some complex mechanics to learn. Penetrating Shot has a focused Area of Effect (AoE) in a straight line that can be hard to utilize. Trickshot Aspect helps overcome this downside by adding more arrows to increase coverage and help clear packs of enemies.
When fired at full energy, Advanced Penetrating Shot applies a slow to normal enemies to activate Cheat’s Aspect and knocks down Elites to help you survive. Penetrating Shot also has a high Lucky Hit Chance when fired with 3 Combo Points to activate Umbrous Aspect for Dark Shroud stacks. Dark Shroud can also be manually cast from the Skill Bar when its stacks are low.
Dash is a Cutthroat Skill that can be used before Penetrating Shot 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
Skyhunter and Combat should provide enough Energy generation if you are taking the time to build 3 Combo Points before casting each Penetrating Shot. Ring of Starless Skies is an option for additional resource management. You can also reallocate 2 Skill Points from Stutter Step into Innervation.
Damage Rotation
Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.
- Cast Heartseeker up to 3 times to build Combo Points.
- Cast Concealment to apply Vulnerable.
- Dash on top of enemies to apply Enhanced Dash, automatically drop a Smoke Grenade, and activate Tricks of the Trade.
- Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
- Cast Concealment to apply Vulnerable.
- Activate Shadow Imbuement for increased damage and explosions.
- Line enemies up to piece through them with Penetrating Shot.
- Repeat the rotation. Try to cast Penetrating Shot while you have full Energy to activate Advanced Penetrating Shot and Edgemaster’s Aspect.
Obol Gambling
Obol gambling is a great way to potentially find item upgrades or items missing from your build. Use Obols on your target equipment for a chance to receive Greater Affixes. Check out the new tool from Icy Veins for gambling Obols in the link below.
Obol Gambling Optimization ToolSeason 5: Infernal Hordes
The following list details the changes in the Season 5 Update (Patch 1.5.0) that may pertain to Penetrating Shot Rogues. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.
- Penetrating Shot
- New functionality: Now deals 10% increased damage per enemy it pierces.
- Enhanced Penetrating Shot
- Previous – Penetrating Shot deals 10% increased damage for each enemy it pierces.
- Now – Casting Penetrating Shot and hitting a Boss or Elite with it has a 25% Chance to fire an additional shot for free.
- Dash
- Damage increased by 25% (0.32 to 0.4).
- Additional functionality: Dash Slows enemies hit by 30% for 3 seconds.
- Enhanced Dash
- Previous – Enemies damaged by Dash take 15% increased Critical Strike Damage from you for 5 seconds.
- Now – Casting Dash increases your Critical Strike Chance by 10% for 5 seconds.
- Disciplined Dash
- Previous – Dash Slows enemies it hits by 30% for 3 seconds. Any enemy already Slowed will be Dazed for 2 seconds instead.
- Now – At the end of Dash, Knock Down surrounding enemies for 2 seconds and deal 350% of its damage to them.
- Methodical Dash
- Previous – Dealing damage to Crowd Controlled enemies with Dash reduces its Charge Cooldown by 0.5 seconds, up to 4 seconds per cast.
- Now – Dash has 1 additional Charge and its Charge Cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.
- Dark Shroud
- You can now only lose 1 Dark Shroud shadow every 1.5 seconds.
- Enhanced Dark Shroud
- Previous – Dark Shroud’s shadows have a 14% chance to not be Consumed.
- Now – Each active Dark Shroud shadow grants you 5% increased Movement Speed and also has a 15% chance to not be Consumed.
- Subverting Dark Shroud
- Previous – Each active shadow from Dark Shroud grants you 4% increased Movement Speed.
- Now – You Heal for 10% of your Maximum Life when a Dark Shroud shadow is removed.
- Countering Dark Shroud
- You only need 1 active shadow to get the bonus Critical Strike Chance instead of 2.
- Critical Strike Chance increased from 8% to 10%.
- Exploit Weakness
- Previous – Whenever you deal damage to a Vulnerable enemy, they take 1%[x] increased damage from you for 6 seconds, up to 25%[x].
- Now – Lucky Hit: Hitting a Vulnerable enemy has up to a 60% chance to increase your damage by 1%[x] for 25 seconds, up to 25%[x]. At 25 stacks the bonus remains for 6 seconds then expires.
- Tricks of the Trade
- Previous – Your Marksman Skills grant your next Cutthroat Skill 25% increased damage. Your Cutthroat Skills grant your next Marksman Skill 25% increased damage.
- Now – Your Marksman Skills grant your Cutthroat Skills 25% increased damage for 8 seconds. Your Cutthroat Skills grant your Marksman Skills 25% increased damage for 8 seconds.
- Cheap Shot
- Previous – You deal 5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to 25%.
- Now – You deal 5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to 25%. A Nearby Staggered Boss provides the maximum bonus.
Changelog
- August 6th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).
- May 15th, 2024: Priority Affixes updated with game changes made since the Season 4 PTR.
- May 14th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
- March 5th, 2024: Guide updated for the Mid Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.3).
- January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0).
- October 17th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
- July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.