Shadow Step - Rogue Build for Diablo 4 (Season 7)

Build Introduction

The Shadow Step Rogue is an advanced endgame build utilizing the newly added Shadow Step Cleave temper in Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred. The infinite casts of Shadow Step enable this build to have the highest mobility within the Rogue class, perfect for speed-farming Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and The Pit!

Season 7 Update (Patch 2.1): Shadow Clone is changed to inherit all benefits from the Rogue character and is now added to the build. The Shadow Step Rogue gains a substantial buff with Shadow Clone providing additional damage output.

This endgame guide assumes your character is Level 60 and fulfills the Build Requirements. If you are not ready for this build, follow the Rogue Leveling Guide to find a starter build.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Extremely high mobility for speed-farming
High burst damage
Multiple crowd controls to render entire groups of enemies helpless

Weaknesses

Boss damage dependent on Stagger
Strict build requirements
Small cleave radius

Check the build tier lists to see how this build compares to others on Icy Veins.

Build Requirements

The Shadow Step Rogue requires a high amount of Cooldown Reduction to be applied to Shadow Step. With Disciplined Shadow Step reducing the Cooldown by 3 seconds, the Shadow Step Cooldown on its tooltip needs to be lowered to at least 3.25 seconds for rapid casting. Obtain the following list of items before attempting the build.

Boots with a Mobility Cooldown Reduction temper.
Two Rings with Shadow Step Cooldown Reduction tempers.
An Amulet with a Cooldown Reduction affix, along with Shadow Step Cooldown Reduction and Mobility Cooldown Reduction tempers.
A Helm with a Cooldown Reduction affix. Harlequin Crest is preferred for a higher Cooldown Reduction value.
Masterworking bonuses on Cooldown Reduction stats are required.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

The Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 71 Skill Points for the Shadow Step Rogue build. Make sure you obtain the 12 Skill Points available from Renown.

If your damage increase on Close Quarters Combat has not reached +50%[x], Momentum can be selected instead. Methodical Dash can replace Heartseeker in a Momentum setup.

Frigid Finesse is activated by Fists of Fate or a Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze temper. The damage buff also always applies against Staggered Bosses, as they count as being affected by all crowd controls.

Rogue Specialization

Preparation is the preferred specialization for the Shadow Step Rogue to grant 15% Damage Reduction and reduce Shadow Clone Cooldown. Qax consumes Energy to activate Preparation.

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 Shadow Step 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	Name	Effect
Ranged Weapon (+100% bonus effect)	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.
Amulet (+50 bonus effect)	Aspect of Inner Calm	Deal x [5 – 13%] increased damage. Triple this bonus after standing still for 3 seconds.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Rings	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.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Rings	Clandestine Aspect	Gain + [3 – 5] Ranks to Agility and Subterfuge Skills.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Rings	Coldclip Aspect	Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued. You deal x [5 – 20%] increased damage to enemies who are Chilled or Frozen.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Rings	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 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.
Helm (replaced by Harlequin Crest or Heir of Perdition)	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 60%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Chest (replaced by Shroud of Khanduras)	Juggernaut’s Aspect	Gain [X] Armor, but your Evade has 100% increased Cooldown.
Pants	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 – 25%] increased damage to Dazed enemies.
Boots	Ravager’s Aspect	Shadow Step has an additional Charge. Killing an enemy with Shadow Step refunds a Charge and increases the damage of Shadow Step by x [4.5 – 14.5%] for 2 seconds, up to x [27 – 87%].

Gems and Runewords

Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each item type.

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Diamond for Ultimate Damage to scale No Witnesses.	Grand Emerald for Dexterity.	Any Resistance Gems needed or Grand 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. Socketing 3 of the following Occult Gems into your jewelry, listed in order of importance.

Elder Sigil — Your Agility, Corpse, Potency, Mastery, Weapon Mastery, and Wrath Skills deal 25% increased direct damage to Hexed enemies.
Moonlight Ward — For each rank in your slotted Unique Witchcraft Power, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and 0.5% Maximum Resistance to All Elements.
Dust Stone — For each of your Auras and Hexes an enemy is afflicted by, they take 2.5% increased damage from you.
Friend of the Bog — While you have three or more Growth and Decay Witch Powers slotted, you gain 10% primary stat, 10% Maximum Life and you are always Unhindered.
Pointed Finger — Your Summons deal 15% more direct damage to Hexed Elites.
Hungering Void — While you have an Aura active, pull Nearby enemies toward you every 8 seconds.

Insert one of the following Runewords, consisting of a Rune of Offering 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.

Runewords	Effects
Yul Qax	Gain: 50 Offering — Cast a Skill with a Cooldown. Requires: 400 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Your next non-Basic Skill cast spends all of your Primary Resource to deal up to 100% increased damage.
Moni Gar	Gain: 100 Offering — Cast 2 Mobility or Macabre Skills. Requires: 25 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%.

If you already have 100% Critical Strike Chance without Gar, use Ohm instead.

Elixirs

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 Shadow Step Rogue, ranked by importance.

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.

Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Shadow Step Rogues. Each line of affixes are listed in order of importance. Gear 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 gear affixes in each line before moving to the next line. Yellow affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades, while blue affixes are secondary options.

Daggers are selected over Swords for the Damage to Close Enemies implicit when using Close Quarters Combat. A Bow is preferred for a faster cast of Heartseeker.

If Critical Strike Chance is not capped at 100% (see Critical Strike Chance section), replace it with Vulnerable Damage instead.

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 1,000.

Check the Tempering Guide for more details on Blacksmith upgrading.

Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Ranged Weapon	1. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Critical Strike Damage	1. Trap Expertise (Offensive): Caltrops Duration 2. Assassin Augments (Weapon): Shadow Step Cleaves
Dual-Wielded Weapons	1. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Critical Strike Damage	1. Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies 1. Assassin Augments (Weapon): Shadow Step Cleaves
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance 2. Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Slow
Chest	1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance 2. Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Immobilize
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life	1. Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies 2. Daze Control (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Daze
Pants	1. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze 2. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Rogue Cloaking: Dodge Chance
Boots	Implicit Stat: Maximum Evade Charges 1. Ranks to Shadow Step 2. Movement Speed 3. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 4. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Natural Motion (Mobility): Mobility Cooldown Reduction 2. Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Stun
Amulet	1. Ranks to Frigid Finesse, Unstable Elixirs, Exploit, and/or Malice 2. Cooldown Reduction 3. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed	1. Agility Efficiency (Resource): Shadow Step Cooldown Reduction 2. Natural Motion (Mobility): Mobility Cooldown Reduction
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Critical Strike Damage	1. Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies 1. Agility Efficiency (Resource): Shadow Step Cooldown Reduction

Unique and Mythic Items

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique Items for the Shadow Step Rogue build. Each item description includes the most important affix to target for Masterworking upgrades.

Harlequin Crest (highly recommended) is a Mythic Unique Item that provides a boosted Cooldown Reduction affix, which is essential for reducing the Cooldown of Shadow Step.
- Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction
Heir of Perdition (highly recommended) is best-in-slot if the Cooldown Reduction from Harlequin Crest is not needed to bring Shadow Step Cooldown to 3.25 seconds.
- Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance
Fists of Fate (highly recommended) provides up to a 50% overall damage increase in the unique effect. The Lucky Hit Chance to Apply a Random Crowd Control Effect affix is useful to quickly Stagger Bosses.
- Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Attack Speed
Shroud of Khanduras (highly recommended) is important to group enemies together for the small radius of the Shadow Step Cleave temper. Reallocate 3 Skill Points from Evasive to Rapid Gambits to Evade more often with Shroud of Khanduras.
- Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Dark Shroud
Tyrael’s Might (optional) is the best defensive option for a Chest Armor. The divine barrage does not contribute a significant portion of the total damage in this build.
- Masterworking Priority: Damage Reduction or Maximum Resistance
Shroud of False Death (optional) 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
Pitfighter’s Gull (optional) can stack multiple clouds to grant Stealth for every Shadow Step, activating any Damage on Next Attack After Entering Stealth affixes. Remove Aspect of Elements for this setup.
- Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance

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 Shadow Step 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.
2 Paragon setup tabs are available! The Base Setup is designed to quickly unlock the essential Glyph sockets and Legendary Nodes at a moderate Paragon Level. The Full Setup additionally includes the remaining beneficial nodes.

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.

The Cycle: Growth and Decay Power
- Dealing any damage with your skills has a 15% chance to grow a flower from the ground. When an enemy is near, the flower deals [X] Poison damage to that enemy over 5 seconds. If an ally is near, the flower heals for [9.9%] maximum Life. The flower withers away after use. A flower may grow once every 2 seconds per enemy.
- At Rank 5: The damage and healing affects all enemies or allies near the flower.
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.
Aura Specialization: Lost Power
- The size of your Aura Effects are increased by [79%].
- At Rank 10: Increase the Critical Strike Damage by 50% against enemies inside your Aura Effects.
Purging Touch: Eldritch Power
- Eldritch Effects deal [39.9%] increased damage against Headrotten.
- At Rank 10: This damage bonus now extends to all monsters.
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.
Hex of Whispers: Growth and Decay Power
- Dealing damage to an enemy afflicts them with Hex of Whispers that deals [X] Shadow damage the next time damage is dealt. Afterwards, Hex of Whispers will jump to another enemy up to a maximum of 6 times. Hex of Whispers may only be applied once every 5 seconds.
- At Rank 7: After bouncing onto 6 enemies, the hex bounces back to you granting [X] Fortify and removing all crowd control and negative status effects.

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

Gameplay Footage

Advanced Information

Additional details are provided in the following sections for a more in-depth explanation of the Shadow Step Rogue. Read this advanced information after understanding the basic overview of the build in the previous sections.

Build Mechanics

The Shadow Step Grenade Rogue is a specialized build that requires a high amount of Cooldown Reduction applied to Shadow Step to function. Shadow Step is rapidly cast by lowering the base Cooldown to at least 3.25 seconds, while Disciplined Shadow Step further reduces the Cooldown by 3 seconds.

Vulnerable status is applied to individual enemies by Enhanced Shadow Step.

Critical Strike Chance

Critical Strike Chance should be capped at 100% to fully utilize Critical Strike Damage bonuses. A total of 48% Critical Strike Chance is granted through the Skill Tree from Target Practice Rank 3, Precision Imbuement Rank 3, Subverting Dark Shroud, and Disciplined Caltrops.

The Character Stats needs to display the remaining 52% Critical Strike Chance, acquired through gear. Greater Affixes and/or Masterworking Bonuses for Critical Strike stats on gear are necessary. Elixir of Precision II can also be used if needed.

Momentum vs Close Quarters Combat

If you do not have enough Damage to Close Enemies affixes on gear to scale the increased damage bonus on Close Quarters Combat to at least +50%[x], use Momentum instead. Momentum also provides 30% Damage Reduction to improve survivability.

Close Quarters Combat eventually scales to provide more increased damage than Momentum, along with a 30% Attack Speed bonus.

Crowd Controls and Boss Stagger

A variety of different Crowd Controls are applied to enemies through the following sources:

Fists of Fate
Daze from Smoke Grenade
Daze from Enhanced Shadow Step
Slow from Caltrops
Freeze from Frostbitten Aspect
Daze from Aspect of Concussive Strikes
Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze/Stun/Immobilize/Slow/Daze tempers

Crowd-Controlled enemies take additional damage through multipliers from the following sources:

1.30x or more from Frigid Finesse
1.30x from Aspect of Retribution
1.25x from Cheap Shot
1.20x from Coldclip Aspect
1.20x from Frostbitten Aspect
1.20x from Aspect of Concussive Strikes
1.20x from Control

These damage bonuses can be applied to normal and elite enemies immediately, but they do not apply to bosses unless they are Staggered. Repeated Crowd Controls from the same source in a short duration apply less Stagger to bosses, so separate sources of Crowd Controls are utilized within the build. Stagger Bosses to deal maximum damage!

Damage Rotation

Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.

Activate Dark Shroud to prepare for battles.
If Shroud of Khanduras is equipped, Evade to group enemies together.
Cast Caltrops against tough elites or bosses.
Cast Smoke Grenade against elites or bosses.
Cast Shadow Clone to activate No Witnesses and mimick Shadow Step.
Drink a Potion to activate Unstable Elixirs.
Cast Heartseeker to activate the Marksman requirement of Close Quarters Combat.
Rapidly spam Shadow Step to deal damage.

Changelog

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).
September 2, 2024: Guide created for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).

Shadow Step – Rogue Build for Diablo 4 (Season 7)