Heartseeker – Rogue Build for Diablo 4 (Season 11)

Build Introduction

The Heartseeker Rogue is the easiest-to-play build within the class, mainly focused on repeatedly casting a Basic Skill to deal damage. Heartseeker deals devasting single-target damage, and Paingorger’s Gauntlets echos the damage to clear activities with high monster density, such as Inferno Hordes and The Pit.

The final version of the Heartseeker Rogue utilizes Shard of Verathiel for maximum damage output. Heartseeker is transformed to consume Energy, so the setup has strict requirements to function properly. Check the Shard of Verathiel section for the full details.

The only starting requirement for this endgame build guide is a Level 60 character. Check the Rogue Leveling Guide if you need help getting there.

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 the Heartseeker Rogue (order does not matter)

HeartseekerShadow CloneDark ShroudSmoke GrenadeCaltropsDash

The Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 71 Skill Points for the Heartseeker Rogue build. Leveling up grants 59 points. The remaining 12 points are gained from completing Renown for Eternal Players and Seasonal Rank/Journey for Seasonal Players.

Cold Imbuement is not equipped on the Skill Bar. Coldclip Aspect automatically applies the effects of Enhanced Cold Imbuement and Mixed Cold Imbuement to Heartseeker.

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

Preparation is the preferred specialization for the Heartseeker Rogue for 15% Damage Reduction and to reset Cooldowns. The bonuses are activated by casting Shadow Clone. When Shard of Verathiel is equipped to consume Energy, Preparation quickly recovers the Cooldown of Shadow Clone for permanent uptime.

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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 Heartseeker 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	Aspect of the Moonrise	Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining x [40 – 60%] Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
Amulet	Aspect of Adaptability	Basic Skills generate 5 additional Primary Resource, once per Skill. Basic Skills deal x [0.4 – 0.6%] increased damage for each point of Primary Resource you have.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1 (Shard of Verathiel)	Aspect of Retribution	Distant enemies have a 10% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal x [15 – 35%] increased damage to Stunned and Knocked Down enemies.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2	Coldclip Aspect	You deal x [20 – 40%] increased damage to enemies that are Chilled or Frozen. Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued at 50% potency and gain this damage bonus against Bosses.
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies)	Frostbitten Aspect	Enemies hit by your Grenade Skills have a chance equal to your Critical Strike Chance to be Frozen for 2 seconds. You deal x [10 – 30%] increased Critical Strike Damage against Frozen or Stunned enemies. Note: Only used for the damage multiplier, not the Grenade Skills effect.
Ring Slot #2	Vehement Brawler’s Aspect	Casting an Ultimate Skill increases your damage by [10 – 30%] for 8 seconds. Gain 2 additional Ultimate Skill Ranks.
Gloves (replaced by Paingorger’s Gauntlets)	Rapid Aspect	Basic Skills gain [15 – 35%] Attack Speed.
Helm (replaced by Crown of Lucion)	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 10] seconds.
Chest (replaced by Shroud of False Death)	Cheat’s Aspect	You gain [5 – 15%] increased Damage Reduction and +10% increased Movement Speed. These bonuses are doubled while below 50% Maximum Life.
Pants (replaced by Tibault’s Will)	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 65%] 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 [0.5 – 0.65] seconds for each enemy hit, up to [1.50 – 1.95] seconds.

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Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Heartseeker 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.

Ensure you apply a Tempering affix to your endgame items. If you have a surplus of crafting materials, reroll Tempering affixes on your best items until they upgrade to a Greater Affix.

Bolded affixes are the most important targets for the Capstone Bonus from Masterworking. Capstone Bonuses are granted after Masterworking 25% Quality and can be re-rolled for a cost. For more details, check the Tempering and Masterworking guides.

The Ranged Weapon type selected depends on your preference. Bows have a faster weapon speed, while Crossbows have a higher damage per hit. Equip Daggers for a faster weapon speed on Dash.

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Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Ranged Weapon	1. Resource Cost Reduction 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Vulnerable Damage or Critical Strike Damage	Agile Augments (Weapon): Chance for Shadow Clone to Deal Double Damage
Dual-Wielded Weapons	1. Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Vulnerable Damage or Critical Strike Damage	Marksman Augments — Basic (Weapon): Chance for Heartseeker Projectiles to Cast Twice
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction, Lucky Hit Chance 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life	Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation
Chest	1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life	Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Lucky Hit chance	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Pants	1. Ranks to Heartseeker 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life	Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation
Boots	1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Dexterity, Maximum Life	Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed
Amulet	1. Ranks to Frigid Finesse, Unstable Elixirs, Malice and Exploit 2. Maximum Resource, Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, Lucky Hit Chance	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, All Resistances 2. Lucky Hit Chance, Vulnerable Damage or Critical Strike Damage	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud

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Uniques and Mythic Uniques

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique and Mythic Unique Items for the Heartseeker 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.

• Paingorger’s Gauntlets (highly recommended) echos damage to multiple enemies to supplement the limited targeting of Heartseeker.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Basic Skills
• Shroud of False Death (recommended) 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
• Tibault’s Will (recommended) provides a damage multiplier and Maximum Resource to scale the damage bonus of Aspect of Adaptability.
  • Masterworking Priority: Maximum Resource
• Shard of Verathiel (recommended build variant) provides a massive damage multiplier for Heartseeker, at the cost of 25 Primary Resource per cast. Solving for the heavy Energy drain requires strict gearing, so check the Shard of Verathiel section for the full setup.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Basic Skills or Basic Attack Speed
• Crown of Lucion (recommended build variant) provides another damage multiplier for Heartseeker once Shard of Verathiel is equipped.
  • Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction or Maximum Life
• Ring of Starless Skies (recommended build variant) synergizes with Shard of Verathiel to reduce the Mana cost of Heartseeker, while also providing a damage multiplier.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, or Lucky Hit Chance

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Gems and Runewords

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

Gems

Equip the corresponding Gems into your Weapon, Armor, and Jewelry slots.

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Diamond for increased Ultimate Damage to scale No Witnesses.	Grand Emerald for Dexterity.	Any Gem with your lowest Resistance.

Runewords

Insert the following 2 Runewords, each consisting of a Rune of Offering and a Rune of Invocation, 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
Cir Ceh	Gain: 300 Offering — Cast 5 Skills then become exhausted for 3 seconds. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds.
Poc Thul	Gain: 5 Offering — Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. Requires: 300 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Seconds — Invoke the Sorcerer’s Mystical Frost Nova, inflicting Freeze and Vulnerable onto enemies.

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Paragon Board

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

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Season 11 Mechanics

Season 11: Divine Intervention offers a seasonal theme that can be utilized to enhance this build. Access Divine Gifts from the tab in the character sheet, and apply Sanctification on your items for additional bonuses.

Divine Gifts

Obtain the Divine Gifts of Lesser Evil bosses by defeating them for the first time, and then level up equipped Divine Gifts by killing the associated Lesser Evil or any of their minions. Insert the following Divine Gifts setups into Purified sockets, unlocked by progressing through the Seasonal Reputation Board, to gain beneficial rewards for specific activities.

• Helltides – Duriel
  • Purified: Essence of Pain – Briefly gain maximum Barrier after becoming Injured, every 20 seconds.
  • Corrupted: Essence of Squallor
• World Bosses – Azmodan
  • Purified: Essence of Sin – Gain 20% increased Armor.
  • Corrupted: Essence of Hellfire
• Kurast Undercity – Andariel
  • Purified: Essence of Anguish – Gain 30% Movement Speed.
  • Corrupted: Essence of Screams
  • Note: If you are already move speed capped or need extra defense, swap the Andariel Gifts for a 20% Resistance boost to defense.
• Belial – The Pit
  • Purified: Essence of Lies – Fortify for 1% of your Maximum Life a second.
  • Corrupted: Essence of Shadows

Sanctification

Use Heavenly Sigils to sanctify your items at the Heavenly Forge for a chance to apply one of the outcomes listed below. Sanctification makes the item unmodifiable, so ensure all other item crafting is finalized.

• Apply a bonus Legendary power
• Improve an Affix into a Greater Affix
• Add a bonus Affix from a pool of special Sanctification affixes
• Replace an existing Affix with a random Sanctification affix
• Add a random amount (5-25) of bonus Quality

Some of the jackpot desirable Sanctifications include +Ranks to All Skills, useful affixes like Critical Strike Chance or Attack Speed, or generic offensive Legendary Aspects. The potential Quality Increases will be especially strong on a weapon, increasing its DPS. Other options can ruin your item, such as replacing a necessary existing affix.

Mercenaries

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

• Hired Mercenary: Raheir
  • Skills: Ground Slam, Raheir’s Aegis, Bastion, Inspiration
• Reinforcement: Varyana
  • Skill: Bloodthirst
  • Opportunity: Cast when the player casts any skill in combat.

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Build Mechanics

The Heartseeker Rogue focuses on increasing Basic Skill damage with massive multipliers from Aspect of the Moonrise and Aspect of Adaptability. Primary Heartseeker allows for 2 hits per cast, even against an individual target due to the seeking property of the skill.

Paingorger’s Gauntlets mark enemies hit by Smoke Grenade, Caltrops, and wolves from Ceh to echo damage done by Heartseeker to groups of enemies.

Vulnerable from Enhanced Cold Imbuement is automatically applied through Coldclip Aspect.

Shadow Clone activates No Witnesses and Preparation, while mimicking Heartseeker to supplement damage output.

Rotation and Playstyle

Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.

1. Refresh Dark Shroud when buff stacks are needed.
2. Cast Shadow Clone to activate No Witnesses.
3. Cast Smoke Grenade to Daze enemies from a distance.
4. Against bosses or tough elites, cast Caltrops on top of them to apply Enhanced Caltrops.
5. Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
6. Spam Heartseeker to deal damage. Remain at a distance to benefit from Deadeye for maximum damage output.

Elixirs and Incenses

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 Heartseeker Rogue, ranked by importance.

1. Elixir of Resourcefulness II is the best option due to its Resource Cost Reduction and Maximum Resource to scale the damage bonus of Aspect of Adaptability.
2. Elixir of Precision II provides a damage output increase, if not already capped at 100% Critical Strike Chance.
3. Elixir of Advantage II increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
4. Elixir of Fortitude II is the best general purpose option for survivability.

Incense can also be crafted at the Alchemist. Queen’s Supreme (Core Stat), Song of the Mountain (Defensive), and Soothing Spices (Resistance) are recommended. These Incenses are categorized into three separate groups and can be active simultaneously. The added Armor and Resistances are especially helpful to reduce incoming damage.

Shard of Verathiel Heartseeker Rogue

The final version of the Heartseeker Rogue utilizes Shard of Verathiel for a massive damage multiplier, at the cost of 25 Primary Resource per cast. Energy is drained quickly from rapidly casting Heartseeker with a high Attack Speed, so the setup has strict requirements to function.

Make the following changes to the original version of the Heartseeker Rogue to solve Energy issues:

• Remove Frostbitten Aspect, Aspect of Retribution, and Aspect of Might from the build.
• Equip a Shard of Verathiel, prioritizing a high-value damage bonus in the unique effect.
• Equip Ring of Starless Skies to reduce the Resource cost of your Skills.
• Equip Crown of Lucion for more damage.
• Remove Skill Points from Stutter Step (3) and Sturdy (2).
• Add Skill Points to Innervation (3) and Second Wind (2).
• Obtain Resource Cost Reduction on your Legendary Ranged Weapon and Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource on your Legendary Dual-Wielded Weapon.

Season 11 Updates

A brief summary of the changes in Patch 2.5.0 that may pertain to this specific build is provided below. For a complete overview of Season 11, take a look at the comprehensive season guide.

• Damage scaling per 10 points of Dexterity increased from 1.1% to 1.25%.
• Siphoning Strikes: Healing per Rank reduced from 1% to .5% of Maximum Health.
• Shadow Clone: Shadow Clone’s copied skills will now more consistently target the initial target of the skill.
• Tibault’s Will:
  • Maximum Life affix replaced with Critical Strike Chance affix.
  • Damage Reduction while Unstoppable affix replaced with Attack Speed affix.
  • Resource gain when becoming Unstoppable increased from 50 to 100.

Changelog

• December 28th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 11 (Patch 2.5.0).
• June 27, 2025: Guide updated for Season 9 (Patch 2.3.0).
• April 26, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8 (Patch 2.2.0).