Diablo 4 Rogue Leveling Guide

Skill Tree Progression

Specialization

Stat/Affix Priority

Legendary Aspects

Best Way to Obtain Rogue Build Aspects From The Purveyor

Rogue Leveling Tips

Introduction

Skill Tree Progression Per Point

Finished Skill Tree

Stats

Affixes

Build defining

Highly Recommended

Legendary Loadout Example

Teamplay

Tips

Secret Item Drop

Welcome to our Diablo 4 Rogue leveling guide. In this guide we will show you exactly what skills to take for a smooth and fun Rogue leveling experience. For leveling, our build will be looking to utilize Twisting Blades at close range, Vulnerability to deal more damage and Mobility.

Below we go over the skill tree progression for this Diablo 4 Rogue Leveling Guide. Focusing on the active abilities first and taking the passives where we need to fill up to reach the next skill cluster.

1-5	Puncture 1/5 – Enhanced Puncture – Twisting Blades 1/5 – Enhanced Twisting Blades – Advanced Twisting Blades
6-10	Twisting Blades 2/5 – Sturdy 1/3 – Sturdy 2/3 – Sturdy 3/3 – Stutter Step 1/3
11-15	Dash 1/5 – Enhanced Dash – Disciplined Dash – Weapon Mastery 1/3 – Dark Shroud 1/5
16-20	Enhanced Dark Shroud – Subverting Dark Shroud – Poison Trap 1/5 – Enhanced Poison Trap – Countering Poison Trap
21-25	Shadow Imbuement 1/5 – Enhanced Shadow Imbuement – Blended Shadow Imbuement – Agile 1/3 – Adrenaline Rush 1/3
26-30	Haste 1/3 – Haste 2/3 – Haste 3/3 – Siphoning Strikes 1/3 – Siphoning Strikes* 2/3*
31-35	Siphoning Strikes 3/3 – Innervation 1/3 – Twisting Blades 3/5 – Twisting Blades 4/5 – Close Quarters Combat
36-40	Twisting Blades 5/5 – Fundamental Puncture – Weapon Mastery 2/3 – Weapon Mastery 3/3 – Stutter Step 2/3
41-45	Shadow Imbuement 2/5 – Shadow Imbuement 3/5 – Shadow Imbuement 4/5 – Shadow Imbuement 5/5 – Agile 2/3
46-50	Exploit 1/3 – Exploit 2/3 – Exploit 3/3 – Malice 1/3 – Malice 2/3
51-55	Malice 3/3 – Precision Imbuement 1/3 – Precision Imbuement 2/3 – Precision Imbuement 3/3 – Shadow Crash 1/3

Applying Skill Points in this order provides you with all the active abilities needed for the build to run as effective as possible. Granting you the Key Passive – Close Quarters Combat as soon as it is available. It will take around 34-35 skill points to unlock it. Alternatively you can select Momentum for gameplay smoothness.

After spending the above points going through levels 1-30~ – it’s time to fill in all the passive skills as shown in the screenshots below.

Screenshots from d4builds.gg

For Specializations, we highly recommended selecting Inner Sight. Inner Sight is a unique Rogue Specialization that gives the player windows of infinite Energy.

While playing the Rogue class, there are several stats and affixes to be on the look out for. Below you can find a list of each, from most important to least. For a more in-depth view make sure to check out our Stats and Affixes guides!

Dexterity – 0.1% Skill Damage per point and 0.025% Dodge Chance per point
Intelligence – 0.02% Critical Strike Chance per point and 0.05% Resistance to All Elements per point
Strength – 0.1% Resource Regeneration per point and 1 Armor per point
Willpower – 0.25% Overpower Damage per point and 0.1% Healing Received per point

+X Rank(s) to SKILL
+X Dexterity
+X% Core Skill Damage
+X% Vulnerable Damage
+X% Shadow Damage
+X% Damage Vs Close
+X% Critical Strike Damage
+X% Critical Strike Chance
+X% Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills

As a side note it is very important to keep up your resistances – especially as a squishy Rogue. Content becomes more difficult and will require higher resistances to compensate, the following affixes can become very important:

+X% Max Life
+X% Total Armor
+X% Damage Reduction against X
+X% Resistance to All Elements
+X% Cold Resistance
+X% Fire Resistance
+X% Lightning Resistance
+X% Poison Resistance
+X% Shadow Resistance

Legendary Aspects are one of the most powerful parts of any build. Below are the Legendary Aspects that go well with our Diablo 4 Rogue Leveling Guide. Each build has a limited amount of Aspects that it can use. Here is a reminder of the specific slots for Legendary Aspects:

Offensive – Amulets, Gloves, Ring, Weapons
Defensive – Amulets, Chest, Helm, Legs, Shield
Mobility – Amulets, Boots
Resource – Rings
Utility – Amulets, Boots, Chest, Gloves, Helm, Shield

Bladedancer’s Aspect (Offensive) – Twisting Blades orbit for a short time after they return to you, dealing [10-15%] of Twisting Blades’ return damage per hit. Based on the distance the blades returned, the orbit damage increases up to [20-30%] of the return damage.
Edgemaster’s Aspect (Offensive) – 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.

Bladerdancer’s Aspect can be found by completing a dungeon in Scosglen while Edgemaster’s Aspect can also be found in the Oldstones dungeon, located in Scosglen. These two Aspects are considered build defining due to the synergy between Inner Sight and Edgemaster’s Aspect, while Bladedancer’s Aspect defines our biggest source of damage combined with Shadow Imbuement. It is also worth noting that both are found in the same location, meaning an easy but very big spike in power!

Exploiter’s Aspect (Utility) – You have 20% increased Crowd Control Duration. While enemies are Unstoppable, you deal [20-50%] increased damage to them.
Enshrouding Aspect (Defensive) – Gain a free Dark Shroud shadow every 3 seconds when standing still. Each Dark Shroud shadow grants [2.0-4.0%] increased Damage Reduction.
Aspect of Synergy (Offensive) – Using an Agility Skill reduces the Cooldown of your next Subterfuge Skill by 20%. Using a Subterfuge Skill increases the damage of your next Agility Skill by [10-30%].
Aspect of Corruption (Offensive) – Your Imbuement Skill effects have [20-40%] increased potency against Vulnerable enemies.
Accelerating Aspect (Offensive) – Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15-25%] for 3 seconds.

Although many of these Aspects are from Legendary drops only, they are by far the most important to find where possible. Make sure to keep an eye out for the powers on any drops! Enshrouding Aspect is unlocked by completing Ghoa Ruins in Hawezar however, which is vital. This is due to Enshrouding Aspect working as a defensive and offensive power in the build.

Aspect of the Protector (Defensive) – Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to [X] damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Conceited Aspect (Offensive) – Deal [15-25%] increased damage while you have a barrier active.
Smiting Aspect (Offensive) – You have [10-20%] increased Critical Strike Chance against injured enemies. While you are Healthy, you gain [20-40%] increased Crowd Control Duration.
Wind Strike Aspect (Mobility) – Critical Strikes grant [8.0-16.0%] Movement Speed for 1 second, up to 6 seconds.

While less important than the other Aspects listed above, these powers are worth having too. Aspect of the Protector and Conceited Aspect have a great synergy versus Elite mobs, granting both a barrier and a damage increase due to the barrier. Aspect of the Protector can be unlocked by completing the Lost Archives in Fractured Peaks. Wind Striker Aspect can also be unlocked by completing Shivta Ruins in Kehjistan.

This is just an example of a way these Legendary Aspects can fit together. Each build has a limited amount of Offensive, Defensive, and Utility Aspects that it can use. Make sure to use the following guideline when setting up your build!

Thanks to Don the Crown for the information!

Our first tip for this Diablo 4 Rogue leveling guide is to team up with someone, be it a friend or someone you meet in Diablo 4. Teaming up greatly improves the leveling process and allows you to progress faster and easier – and much more fun!

Rogue is a fairly squishy class in Diablo 4, while playing a melee build be very aware of positioning and use your mobility such as Dash to re-position.
Try to follow a rotation starting off with Puncture to apply Vulnerability, Shadow Imbuement to power up the rest of your Skills, and then follow up with Twisting Blades and Dash, dealing huge damage. Finally, round off the rotation with Poison Trap as it has a 30% chance to reset your Shadow Imbuement Cooldown! This is the bread and butter of the build.
Sticking to the Campaign and leveling through it will be your best option for a first character playthrough. For alternative characters however, there will be a “Skip Campaign” button after completing the campaign for the first time.
Playing through Tier 1 to progress early levels seems to be the most efficient.
Keep an eye on when your Inner Sight is about to activate, this is your main burst window.
Make sure to get a rhythm down of applying Vulnerability as much as you can to targets before using your full rotation. This is to help deal a lot more damage.
While leveling, should you find Edgemaster’s Aspect and Bladedancer’s Aspect, we recommend using them on your 2h Weapon and Amulet. This is because Legendary Aspects on a 2h Weapon give a 100% bonus increase, while the Amulet gives 50%.

Best Gambling Option

Offensive

One-handed Weapon

Defensive

Resource

Utility

Mobility

A final tip to share, is during your early leveling, you can find a rare Elite mob that guarantees a rare Sword drop that is perfect for the Rogue. The weapon is called “Darkblade”.

Just north of Kyovashad you will come across the Elite “Sir Lynna”, defeat this mob and claim your early-game power weapon!

As you can see above, the Darkblade also has fantastic Affixes for the early-game Item Power it has. Take the weapon back to town and re-roll the third affix to Damage vs Close if possible!