Build Introduction
The Penetrating Shot Rogue leveling build blasts through even the most formidable foes. Penetrating Shot always pierces to deal massive hit damage to any enemies in the way. This is your guide to building a character for leveling in Diablo 4, with the optimal setup for Skills, Rotation, and Gear.
While Penetrating Shot Rogue is not the most optimal build for leveling a new Rogue character, it is viable as an alternative option. If you are looking for a semi-ranged playstyle, The Barrage Rogue is highly recommended as the stronger build.
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 Penetrating Shot Rogue to continue this build.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
The following table shows the order in which to allocate your Skill Points while leveling with the Penetrating Shot Rogue build. You gain 59 points at Level 60 and 12 points from Renown, for a total of 71.
Penetrating Shot Rogue 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 increased Lucky Hit Chance for Penetrating Shot, in addition to increased damage.
Build Mechanics and Playstyle
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.
Damage is increased further with Concussive, Weapon Mastery, Exploit Malice and Impetus.
Smoke Grenade prevents enemies from attacking you, greatly increasing survivability.
Finally, Stutter Step, Haste, and Dash speed up movement for faster farming.
Shadow Imbuement is used to help clear packs of enemies and generate Energy with Consuming Shadows.
Lucky Hit
Penetrating Shot has a high Lucky Hit Chance of 80% when used with 3 Combo Points, and it has a chance of proccing on every enemy hit by the piercing arrows. Therefore, Countering Smoke Grenade and Innervation are used for Lucky Hit Effects.
Puncture can also be used to proc Lucky Hits with 35% chance per blade thrown. This works extremely well with increased Basic Attack Speed and 3 blades thrown per cast on Fundamental Puncture.
Status Effects
The Penetrating Shot Rogue utilizes multiple status effects to render enemies helpless. Advanced Penetrating Shot Slows enemies and Knocks Down elites when cast at full Energy.
Fundamental Puncture easily applies Vulnerable to a target with a single Basic attack. In group play, apply this debuff to Elites and Bosses so your teammates deal 20% more damage!
Smoke Grenade is another powerful Crowd Control (CC) in our trapper arsenal. This Skill can be used often to Daze groups of enemies with Countering Smoke Grenade. Dash also drops an automatic Smoke Grenade with Aspect of Quickening Fog.
Advanced Penetrating Shot and Disciplined Dash both apply Slow to restore Energy with Aspect of the Umbral.
Damage Rotation
Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.
- Use Smoke Grenade or Dash with Aspect of Quickening Fog to Daze enemies.
- Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
- Against large groups of enemies, activate Shadow Imbuement for AoE explosions and Energy generation.
- Cast Puncture 3 times to build Combo Points. Try to stay close enough to shotgun elites and bosses to apply Vulnerable and proc Lucky Hit.
- 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.
Gear, Gems, Elixirs, and Stats
The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character during the leveling process.
Legendary Aspects
Trickshot Aspect can be unlocked in the Codex of Power by completing the Bastion of Faith in Hawezar. Visit the Occultist to imprint this Aspect onto an Amulet for +50% bonus effect.
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 Penetrating Shot Rogue leveling build. They are listed in order of priority. The best-in-slot Aspects List is in the Endgame Guide for Penetrating Shot Rogue.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Bastion of Faith, Hawezar |
| 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 |
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each item type.
| 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). |
If you are playing the Season of Witchcraft (Season 7), visit Gelena at the Tree of Whispers to craft Occult Gems. The recommended Occult Gems are included in the Penetrating Shot Rogue endgame build guide due to their high crafting costs.
Runes can drop during various activities, most notably at the end of Undercity runs. 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 Penetrating Shot 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. |
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 Penetrating Shot 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.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear during the early leveling of a Penetrating Shot Rogue. 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 compared to other character stats.
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. 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.
Tempering Manuals are randomly dropped while leveling, and they need to be found to unlock their usage at the Blacksmith. Each manual has Magic, Rare, and Legendary rarities that determine the range of values available. Rare Items can inherit 1 tempering affix, while Legendary Items can inherit 2 tempering affixes from different categories.
The most beneficial tempering affixes while leveling are included below. If tempering materials (Iron Chunk and Veiled Crystal) are limited, prioritize the Resource, Weapon, and Offensive categories. The best-in-slot tempering affixes are available in the Endgame Guide for the Penetrating Shot Rogue.
| Slot | Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Weapons | 1. Critical Strike Damage 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity | Core Augments — Rogue (Weapon): Chance for Penetrating Shot Projectiles to Cast Twice Marksman 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 Penetrating Shot, 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 Imbue Additional Casts Marksman 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 Imbue Additional Casts Marksman Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
Witchcraft Powers
In the Season of Witchcraft (Season 7), earn seasonal reputation to unlock Witchcraft Powers. Equip the following Witchcraft Powers to enhance this build during the leveling process. Lost Powers are not considered in this list due to the difficulty of finding them.
- Doom Orb: Eldritch Power
- An ominous orb of pure Eldritch energy circles you damaging any enemy it touches for [X] Fire damage. Doom Orb may launch itself at distant enemies before returning.
- Kills or damage to Bosses empower the orb’s damage by 5%. After 100%, the orb explodes dealing [X[] Fire damage to nearby enemies before reforming 3 seconds later.
- Hex of Shattering: Psyche Power
- Damage done by your Witchcraft Effects afflicts enemies with Hex of Shattering causing them to deal [20%] reduced damage for 5 seconds.
- At Rank 8: When any Hex Effect is applied to Headrotten, all damage will be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds.
- Soul Harvest: Growth and Decay Power
- Whenever you use a Cooldown, you gain x1% Primary Core Stat per surrounding enemy. This bonus lasts for [15.5] seconds.
- While there are surrounding enemies, Soul Harvest has infinite duration.
- Aura of Lament: Psyche Power
- The first time you damage an enemy, you contaminate them with Aura of Lament for [31] seconds. Enemies within are Slowed by 70% and each grant you 3 Primary Resource each second. If its host dies, Aura of Lament transfers to a new one, retaining its duration.
- You can only create an Aura of Lament once every [31] seconds. Only 2 may exist at a time.
- Aura of Misfortune: Growth and Decay Power
- You inflict non-Boss enemies near you with Aura of Misfortune, Slowing them by 30%. When an affected monster would attack, they have a [31%] chance to stumble and do nothing instead.
- You gain +15% Movement Speed.
- Aura of Siphoning: Growth and Decay Power
- Conjure an aura of decay that deals [X] Poison damage to enemies every second.
- At Rank 10: Each time Aura of Siphoning deals damage, you are healed for 1% of Maximum Life.
Mercenaries
Once the Den is unlocked during the main questline in the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4, complete 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
- Reinforcement: Raheir
- Skill: Bastion
- Opportunity: Cast when the player becomes Injured
Paragon
After Character Level 60, experience gains are applied to Paragon up to Level 300. A maximum of 228 Paragon Points can be obtained through Paragon Levels, Renown, and Altars of Lilith. Follow the Paragon setup designed for the Penetrating Shot Rogue to gain a considerable amount of progression for your character.
Glyphs are inserted into sockets on each Paragon board and can be found during various activities in Diablo 4. Level up the Glyphs included in the Paragon setup by completing The Pit. Clearing higher tiers of The Pit allows Glyphs to reach higher levels.
Important Notes:
- Make sure you select the correct Legendary Boards and rotate them into the proper orientation.
- Attach Legendary Boards in the order shown, as bonus requirements of Rare Nodes increase with their placement order.
- Prioritize leveling each of your equipped Glyphs to 15 to gain the increased radius, which can be required to meet additional bonus requirements. Afterward, level each Glyph to 46 to unlock its Legendary Bonus and gain another radius increase.
The Paragon setup displayed above focuses on quickly unlocking the essential Glyph sockets and Legendary Nodes at a moderate Paragon Level. Once the base setup is complete, allocate the remaining Paragon points in the following order.
- Obtain any remaining nodes providing a damage increase within the radius of Glyph sockets.
- Path to the remaining Rare and Magic nodes. Prioritize obtaining damage reduction, any needed Resistances/Armor, and damage increases.
- Any remaining points can be spent on Dexterity nodes within the radius of Headhunter.
Changelog
- January 24, 2025: Recommended Witchcraft Powers that are easier to obtain while leveling.
- January 21, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7 (Patch 2.1.0).
- October 16, 2024: New Paragon tool added.
- 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 updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
- January 22, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0).
- October 17, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
- July 18, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.
