Grenade – Rogue Build for Diablo 4

Build Introduction

The Grenade Rogue is a specialized build focused on dropping Stun Grenades with the newly added Pitfighter’s Gull in Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred. The infinite casts of Smoke Grenade render enemies helpless to the multiple explosions. This build has high Area-of-Effect damage, perfect for pushing high tiers of The Pit!

This late 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

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

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for the Grenade Rogue (order does not matter)

Smoke GrenadeHeartseekerShadow StepCaltropsDeath TrapDark Shroud

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

Frigid Finesse is always activated against Staggered Bosses or activated by an optional Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze temper.

Weapon Mastery does not work with Stun Grenades.

Rogue Specialization

Preparation is the preferred specialization for the Grenade Rogue for 15% Damage Reduction and to reset Cooldowns. The bonuses are activated by casting Death Trap and automatically through Lith Yom.

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 Grenade 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.

1. Obtain any remaining nodes providing a damage increase within the radius of Glyph sockets.
2. Path to the remaining Rare and Magic nodes. Prioritize obtaining damage reduction, any needed Resistances/Armor, and damage increases.
3. Any remaining points can be spent on Dexterity nodes within the radius of Headhunter.

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 Grenade 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)	Opportunist’s Aspect	When you enter or break Stealth, you drop a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades around you that deal [X] Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Stun Grenades deal [25 – 45%] more damage.
Amulet (+50 bonus effect)	Trickster’s Aspect	Caltrops and Smoke Grenade receive Stun Grenade benefits and throw Stun Grenades that deal [X] Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Stun Grenades deal [25 – 45%] increased damage.
Ring Slot #1	Pitfighter’s Gull	Casting Smoke Grenade increases your Critical Strike Damage by x33% for [3 – 6] seconds and leaves behind a cloud of shadows. While within the cloud, you gain Stealth once per second.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Ring Slot #2	Aspect of Surprise	When you Evade or Shadow Step, you leave behind a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades that deal [X] total Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Grenade Skills deal [25 – 40%] more damage.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Ring Slot #2	Aspect of Artful Initiative	When you spend 100 Energy you release a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades that deal [X] total Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Grenade Skills deal [25 – 45%] increased damage.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Ring Slot #2	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.
Gloves (replaced by Fists of Fate)	Aspect of Inner Calm	Deal x [5 – 13%] increased damage. Triple this bonus after standing still for 3 seconds.
Helm (replaced by Heir of Perdition)	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 10] seconds.
Chest (replaced by Shroud of Khanduras)	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 65%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
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 – 20%] increased damage to Dazed enemies.
Boots	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 – 25%] increased Critical Strike Damage against Frozen or Stunned enemies.

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 increased 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).

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.

Runewords	Effects
Yul Tun	Gain: 50 Offering — Cast a Skill with a Cooldown. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Evoke the Rogue’s Stun Grenades, Stunning and dealing damage to enemies.
Lith Yom	Gain: 150 Offering — Stand still for 0.3 seconds. Requires: 500 Offering, Cooldown: 5 Seconds — Evoke the Druid’s Petrify, Stunning enemies.

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 Stealth Grenade Rogue, ranked by importance.

1. Elixir of Precision provides the highest damage output increase, if not already capped at 100% Critical Strike Chance.
2. Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
3. 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 Grenade 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.

A Crossbow is selected for a higher damage per hit for Stun Grenades. Daggers are equipped for a faster cast of Shadow Step and the Damage to Close enemies implicit stat to scale Close Quarters Combat.

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 out our Tempering Guide for more details on Blacksmith upgrading.

Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Weapons	1. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Vulnerable Damage	1. Specialist Evolution (Offensive): Stun Grenade Size (up to 100% cap) and then Natural Finesse: Damage to Close Enemies 2. Trap Augments (Weapon): Caltrops Duration or Caltrops Size
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Daze Control (Utility): Smoke Grenade Cooldown Reduction 2. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Chest	1. Ranks to Dark Shroud 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Daze Control (Utility): Smoke Grenade Cooldown Reduction 2. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Vulnerable Damage	1. Natural Finesse: Damage to Close Enemies 2. Daze Control (Utility): Smoke Grenade Cooldown Reduction
Pants	1. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Daze Control (Utility): Smoke Grenade Cooldown Reduction 2. Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Dodge Chance
Boots	Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	1. Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze 2. Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed
Amulet	1. Ranks to Frigid Finesse, Unstable Elixirs, Malice, or Exploit 2. Critical Strike Chance, Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed	1. Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies 2. Subterfuge Efficiency (Resource): Subterfuge Cooldown Reduction
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Dexterity, Vulnerable Damage	1. Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies 2. Subterfuge Efficiency (Resource): Subterfuge Cooldown Reduction

Unique and Mythic Items

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

• Pitfighter’s Gull (required) grants Stealth to activate Opportunist’s Aspect.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance
• Fists of Fate (recommended) increases overall damage by 50% with a 300% value on the unique effect. The downside is the drastic damage range of the unique effect can cause an inconsistency in the hits required to kill enemies.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance
• Heir of Perdition (highly recommended) is the best option for damage output, if you can find this Mythic Unique Item.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance
• Shroud of Khanduras (recommended) groups enemies together for efficient clearing with Stun Grenades.
  • 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 to All Elements
• 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
• Cowl of the Nameless (optional) provides a high damage output when properly Masterworked.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Unstable Elixirs or Trick Attacks
• Godslayer Crown (optional) groups up Elites to allow grenades to hit an entire group of enemies, while also providing a high burst damage buff.
  • Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction

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 Grenade Rogue. Read this advanced information after understanding the basic overview of the build in the previous sections.

Build Mechanics

The Grenade Rogue utilizes the new Pitfighter’s Gull, added in the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4. The cloud of shadows left behind from casting Smoke Grenade stacks multiple times to rapidly grant Stealth, enabling this build to quickly drop Stun Grenades from Opportunist’s Aspect.

Stun Grenades inherit the weapon damage of the last weapon used to attack with, so cast Heartseeker before dropping grenades to apply the weapon damage of your Crossbow to them.

Trickster’s Aspect also drops Stun Grenades when casting Smoke Grenade to deal supplemental damage. The Smoke Grenade itself deals a much smaller portion of the total damage.

The damage bonus of Close Quarters Combat is activated after casting a Cutthroat Skill, Shadow Step, and a Marksman Skill, Heartseeker.

Lith Yom activates Preparation and No Witnesses consistently, along with Death Trap.

Caltrops increase the damage enemies take from you by 45% with Enhanced Caltrops. A Caltrops Duration temper and a Caltrops Size temper helps prevent the effect from falling off during Boss fights.

Despite the use of stealth in this build, the Damage on Next Attack After Entering Stealth affix is not worthwhile. The bonus is consumed by Smoke Grenade, which contributes insignificant damage compared to Stun Grenades.

Crowd Controls and Boss Stagger

Damage multipliers activated by a variety of different Crowd Controls contribute to a significant portion of damage output for a Rogue. 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!

This build applies Crowd Controls from the following sources:

• Fists of Fate
• Daze from Enhanced Shadow Step
• Daze from Aspect of Concussive Strikes
• Freeze from Frostbitten Aspect
• Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze/Stun/Immobilize/Slow/Daze tempers (optional)

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

• 1.40x Mixed Cold Imbuement
• 1.30x 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

Damage Rotation

Use the following general rotation to quickly kill normal enemies.

1. Activate Dark Shroud to prepare for battle.
2. If Shroud of Khanduras is equipped, Evade to group enemies together.
3. Cast Caltrops against tough elites and bosses.
4. Cast Shadow Step on the toughest target to activate the Cutthroat portion of Close Quarters Combat.
5. Cast Heartseeker to activate the Marksman portion of Close Quarters Combat and apply the base damage of your Ranged Weapon to Stun Grenades.
6. Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
7. Rapidly spam Smoke Grenade to drop Opportunist Grenades.

Obol Gambling

Obol gambling is a great way to potentially find item upgrades or items missing from your build. Use Obols on your target equipment for a chance to receive Greater Affixes. Check out the new tool from Icy Veins for gambling Obols in the link below.

Changelog

• October 16th, 2024: New Paragon tool added.
• 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 29th, 2024: Guide created.