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 your character has not reached Level 60, check out the recommended Rogue leveling builds.
Check the build tier lists to see how this build compares to others on Icy Veins.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Pierces through multiple enemies
- Ranged playstyle for more safety
- Plenty of crowd control
- Lower single-target damage than Rapid Fire
- Not designed to tank high incoming damage
- Combo Points builds require a rotation
Quick Navigation
Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to sections.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Penetrating Shot
Heartseeker
Cold Imbuement
Dash
Smoke Grenade
CaltropsThe Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 71 Skill Points for the Penetrating Shot 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.
Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. It is instead automatically activated by 
Umbrous Aspect.
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 Specialization for general farming due to it providing bonus Lucky Hit Chance for Penetrating Shot, in addition to increased damage.
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 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. For the best results, combine these Aspects with the ideal Stat Priorities.
| Gear Slot | Aspect Name | Aspect Power |
|---|---|---|
Ranged Weapon (replaced by  Eaglehorn) | Edgemaster’s Aspect | Skills deal up to x [5 – 25%] 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 x [15 – 35%] increased damage to Stunned and Knocked Down enemies. |
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1 (replaced by  Condemnation) | Aspect of the Expectant | After attacking enemies with a Basic Skill, increase the damage of your next Core Skill cast within 5 seconds by x [5 – 12%], up to x30%. |
Gloves (replaced by  Fists of Fate) | 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. |
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by  Ring of Starless Skies) | Accelerating Aspect | Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by + [10 – 30%] for 5 seconds. |
| Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring 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. |
| 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 [20 – 40%] of Penetrating Shot’s Base damage and do not split. |
Helm (replaced by  Heir of Perdition or  Cowl of the Nameless) | 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 | Umbrous Aspect | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 65%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow. |
| Boots |  Aspect of Slaughter | You gain 20% Movement speed. Lose this bonus for [5 – 2] seconds after taking damage from a Close Enemy. |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Penetrating Shot 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.
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.
Precision increases the priority of Critical Strike Damage to scale the bonus multiplier, while reducing the need for Critical Strike Chance.
↑ Back to Legendary Gear Table
| Slot | Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Weapons | 1. Critical Strike Damage 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life |  Marksman Augments — Core (Weapon): Chance for Penetrating Shot Projectiles to Cast Twice |
| Helm | 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life | Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Cold Imbue Additional Casts |
| Chest | 1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life | Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Cold Imbue Additional Casts |
| Gloves | 1. Ranks to Penetrating Shot, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life | Worldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Pants | 1. Resistances or Armor 2. Dexterity, Maximum Life | Trap Expertise (Utility): Caltrops Duration |
| Boots | Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Ranks to Dash | Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed |
| Amulet | 1. Ranks to Frigid Finesse, % Dexterity 2. Ranks to Unstable Elixirs, Weapon Mastery, Exploit, or Malice 3. Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed | Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Cold Imbue Additional Casts |
| Rings | 1. Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage 2. Resistances 3. Dexterity, Maximum Life, Resource Cost Reduction | Marksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
Uniques and Mythic Uniques
Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique and Mythic Unique Items for the Penetrating Shot 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.
- Eaglehorn (recommended) enables Penetrating Shot to hit enemies twice and deal increased damage.
- Masterworking Priority: Chance for Penetrating Shot Projectiles to Cast Twice up to the 100% cap and then Ranks to Penetrating Shot
Condemnation (recommended) provides increased damage and reduces the Basic Skills cast between Core Skills from 3 to 1. - Masterworking Priority: Basic Skill Attack Speed
Heir of Perdition (recommended) is a Mythic Unique Helm that provides the most damage in the slot. - Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Core Skills
- Cowl of the Nameless (recommended) is an alternative offensive option if you do not yet have Heir of Perdition.
- Masterworking Priority: Trick Attacks or Unstable Elixirs
- 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
- 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 Resource Generation
- Fists of Fate (recommended) provides up to a 50% overall damage increase in its unique effect and a high amount of Lucky Hit Chance.
- Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed
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 Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage. | Grand Emerald for Dexterity. | Any Resistance Gem or  Grand Skull for Armor. |
Runewords
Insert one of the following Runewords, consisting of a Rune of Ritual 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 |
|---|---|
 Noc Kry | Gain: 10 Offering — Inflict a Crowd Control. Gain double offering if it isn’t a Slow or a Chill. Requires: 300 Offering, Cooldown: 3 Seconds — Invoke the Spiritborn’s Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies. |
 Cir Vex | Gain: 300 Offering — Cast 5 Skills then become exhausted for 3 seconds. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 5 Seconds — Gain +1 to Skills for 10 seconds. |
Paragon Board
Use the following Paragon Boards, Legendary Nodes, and Glyphs for the Penetrating Shot Rogue.
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
- Skills:
- Reinforcement: Varyana
- Skill:
Bloodthirst - Opportunity: Cast when the player casts any skill in combat.
- Skill:
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.
Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. Dark Shrouds stacks are instead granted through Umbrous Aspect with a high Lucky Hit Chance from Penetrating Shot.
Enhanced Cold Imbuement and Condemnation apply Vulnerable to enemies.
Resource Management
Combat and Innervation 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.
Rotation and Playstyle
Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.
Dash away from enemies to maintain a Distant Range for a damage increase from 
Deadeye.- Activate
Cold Imbuement for damage increases from Mixed Cold Imbuement and 
Frigid Finesse. - Against bosses and tough elites, cast Smoke Grenade and Caltrops to deal more damage.
- Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from
Unstable Elixirs. - Build 3 Combo Points with
Heartseeker. If you have Condemnation equipped, only 1 cast of Heartseeker is necessary. - Line enemies up to piece through them with Penetrating Shot.
- Continue to build Combo Points with Heartseeker before casting Penetrating Shot.
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 Penetrating Shot Rogue, ranked by importance.
Elixir of Advantage II increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
Elixir of Resourcefulness II 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 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.
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.- Trickshot Aspect: Damage increased from 10-30% to 20-40%.
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 7th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 11 (Patch 2.5.0).
- September 21st, 2025: Guide updated for Season 10 (Patch 2.4.0).
- June 27th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 9 (Patch 2.3.0).
- April 26th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8 (Patch 2.2.0).
- January 19th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7 (Patch 2.1.0).
- October 4th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 6 (Patch 2.0.2).
- August 6th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).
- May 14th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
- 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 (Patch 1.1.0).
