Stealth Grenade Rogue Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 4)

Build Introduction

The Stealth Grenadier Rogue remains hidden until they are ready to detonate their foes with explosive firepower. Within the Rogue class, the Grenade build is likely capable of the highest burst damage possible to open up a fight. Be warned, this is also possibly the hardest build to play perfectly in Diablo 4.

The playstyle and mechanics of the Stealth Grenadier Rogue are more complex than most other builds. A cleaver synergy between Aspect of Lethal Dusk and Opportunist’s Aspect is utilized to spam Grenades as the main source of damage, while constantly disappearing back into Stealth. Check the Advanced Information section for more in-depth details.

Check the Build Requirements section before getting started with the Stealth Grenadier Rogue. Follow our Rogue Leveling Guide if you need help getting there.

Mid-Season 4 Update (Patch 1.4.3): Multiple buffs in the recent patch have improved the damage and survivability of the Stealth Grenadier Rogue. Watch the video update for more in-depth details.

• Aspect of Artful Initiative
  • Energy required to drop Grenades reduced from 100 to 75.
  • Grenade damage increased by 50%.
• Aspect of Surprise
  • Grenade damage increased by 200%.
  • When using Shadow Step, Grenades now drop at the location the player teleports to instead of where they teleported from.
• Trickster’s Aspect
  • Grenade damage increased by 50%.
• Ring of Starless Skies
  • Maximum stacks of Resource Cost Reduction and bonus Damage increased from 4 to 5.
  • This increases the maximum amount of Resource Cost Reduction and bonus Damage from 40%[x] to 50%[x].
• Explosive Glyph
  • Damage Reduction increased from 10%[x] to 15%[x].
• Sturdy
  • Damage Reduction increased from 4/8/12% to 6/12/18%.
• Mending Obscurity
  • Previous – While Stealthed, you Heal for 4/8/12% Maximum Life per second.
  • Now – When entering Sealth and every second while Stealthed, you Heal for 5/10/15% of your Maximum Life.

Strengths and Weaknesses

To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.

Video Overview and Gameplay Footage

Build Requirements

The Stealth Grenade Rogue is an advanced endgame build that requires decent gearing to be effective. Obtain the following list of items before attempting the build.

• A high tier of Opportunist’s Aspect is necessary to increase the base damage of Grenades.
• Aspect of Lethal Dusk is required to constantly enter Stealth.
• Aspect of Surprise, Aspect of Artful Initiative, and Trickster’s Aspect are utilized mainly for the increased Grenade damage.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

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

Flurry Puncture Shadow Imbuement Caltrops Concealment Shadow Step

The Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 58 Skill Points for the Stealth Bomber Rogue build. Make sure you obtain the 10 Skill Points available from Renown.

Rogue Specialization

Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for the Stealth Grenadier Rogue. Build Combo Points with Puncture to activate up to a +45% Attack Speed bonus by casting Flurry.

Paragon

Paragon unlocks after reaching Level 50, and the progression system offers a considerable boost to character power. The images below provide a visual of each Paragon Board setup for the Stealth Grenadier Rogue.

Important Notes:

• Make sure you select the correct Legendary Boards and rotate them into the correct orientation.
• Attach Legendary Boards in the correct order, as bonus requirements of Rare Nodes increase with their placement order.
• Additional bonus requirements on Rare Glyphs may not be obtainable until they gain increased radius range at Level 15.

1. Starting Board (Nightstalker)

Socket Nightstalker in the starting board to reduce the active Cooldown of Shadow Imbuement upon entering Stealth, which is accomplished often with the proper rotation.

2. Tricks of the Trade (Ambush)

Rotate the Tricks of the Trade board 2 times before attachment. Socket Ambush for a damage multiplier against enemies in your Caltrops. Prioritize leveling Ambush to 15 for increased radius, as it is needed to allocate enough Strength to activate the additional bonus. The Legendary Node on this board is not utilized, as Flurry damage is not relied on heavily.

3. Cheap Shot (Explosive)

Rotate the Cheap Shot board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary node on this board. Socket Explosive for some valuable Damage Reduction and a massive amount of increased Stun Grenade damage, up to +594% when fully leveled.

4. Exploit Weakness (Control)

Rotate the Exploit Weakness board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary Node on this board. Socket Control to gain 2 large sources of damage increases.

5. Deadly Ambush (Turf)

Rotate the Deadly Ambush board 1 time before attachment. Socket Turf for some valuable Damage Reduction. Prioritize leveling Turf to 15 for increased radius, as it is needed to obtain the additional bonus. End the route with the nearby Legendary Node.

Paragon Board images courtesy of d4builds.gg. Click this link for the Paragon planner.

Gear, Gems, Elixirs, and Stats

Season 4 brings an incredible shift in character progression systems. The major rework to itemization and crafting in Patch 1.4.0 changes the core mechanics of Diablo 4, and the changes will remain in effect beyond Season 4. For further details, read the overview in the Tempering and Masterworking section.

Legendary Aspects

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects for the Stealth Grenadier 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	Aspect Name	Aspect Power
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 Grenade Skills deal [25 – 40%] more damage.
Amulet (+50 bonus effect)	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.
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies)	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds.
Dual-Wielded Weapons or Ring Slot #2	Trickster’s Aspect	Caltrops also throw 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 – 30%] increased damage to Stunned and Knocked Down enemies.
Helm (swapped with Godslayer Crown)	Aspect of Explosive Verve	Your Grenade Skills count as Trap Skills. Whenever you arm a Trap or drop Grenades, you gain [10 – 25%] increased Movement speed for 3 seconds.
Chest or Pants	Aspect of Lethal Dusk	Evading through an enemy infected by Shadow Imbuement grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Breaking Stealth Heals you for [10 – 25%] of your Maximum Life.
Chest or Pants	Resistant Assailant’s Aspect	Breaking Concealment grants 10% Resistance and Maximum Resistance to all elements for 6 seconds. Killing an Elite enemy reduces Concealment’s cooldown by [6 – 12] seconds.
Boots or Gloves	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 or Gloves	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

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

Slot	Gems
Weapon	Royal Sapphire for increased Vulnerable Damage.
Armor	Royal Ruby for increased Maximum Life.
Jewelry	Any Resistance Gems needed or Royal Skull for Armor (up to 9,230 Armor cap).

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 and pick up the necessary crafting materials 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 for the Stealth Grenadier 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.
4. Specific Resistance Elixirs can be utilized to survive against Uber Bosses with elemental attacks.

Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80, and 90, 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 for Stealth Grenadier Rogues. 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 or other character stats. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades.

Boots with the implicit effect, attacks reduce Evade’s cooldown, are required to constantly drop Grenades through the Aspect of Lethal Dusk and Opportunist’s Aspect synergy.

When comparing Legendary weapons with similar item levels, Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the Vulnerable Damage implicit stat. Swords are preferred over Daggers to provide Grenades with 9% more damage per hit.

Close Quarters Combat increases the priority of the Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies tempering affix from Natural Finesse.

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.

Check the Tempering and Masterworking section for more details on Blacksmith upgrading.

Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Weapons	1. Maximum Life 2. Dexterity, Vulnerable Damage 3. Critical Strike Damage, Damage	Trap Augments (Weapon): Caltrops Duration (except for a single Caltrops Size temper on one of the Daggers) Specialist Evolution (Offensive): Stun Grenade Size (up to 100% cap, otherwise temper Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies from Natural Finesse)
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Resistances, Armor, Ranks to Shadow Imbuement 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance	Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor or Maximum Life
Chest	1. Resistances, Armor 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity 3. Healing Received	Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor or Maximum Life
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Maximum Life, Lucky Hit Chance	Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration
Pants	1. Resistances, Armor 2. Maximum Life, Dexterity 3. Healing Received	Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor or Maximum Life
Boots	Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Resistances, Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Immobilize
Amulet	1. Ranks to Frigid Finesse, Ranks to Exploit/Malice 2. Critical Strike Chance, Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed 2. Movement Speed, Armor	Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow Imbue Additional Casts Natural Motion (Mobility): Evade Cooldown Reduction
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Resistances, Maximum Life 3. Dexterity, Vulnerable Damage, Lucky Hit Chance	Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Shadow Imbue Additional Casts Specialist Evolution (Offensive): Stun Grenade Size (up to 100% cap, otherwise temper Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies from Natural Finesse)

Unique Items

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

• Ring of Starless Skies (recommended) is an Uber Unique Item that provides a highly valued 1.4x multiplier. The downside is the unique effect requires some management to ramp up and maintain the buff stacks.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance
• Godslayer Crown (recommended) can be swapped to during high tiers of The Pit to group up elites and deal maximum damage. A Legendary Helm with Aspect of Explosive Verve is preferred for speed-farming easy activities, such as Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons.
  • Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction

Season 4: Loot Reborn

The following list details the changes in the Season 4 Update (Patch 1.4.0) that may pertain to Stealth Grenadier Rogues. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.

• New Unique Ring, Saboteur’s Signet
  • Casting Flurry has a 15-30% chance to release Stun Grenades that deal Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Grenade Skills have a 2% Lucky Hit Chance.
• Flurry
  • Damage increased from 66% to 75%.
• Exploit Weakness
  • Maximum increased damage buffed from 15%[x] to 25%[x].
• Opportunist’s Aspect
  • Previous – When you break Stealth with an attack, you drop a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades around your location that deal Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.5 seconds.
  • Now – When you enter or break Stealth, you drop a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades around you that deal Physical damage and Stun enemies for 1 second. Your Grenade Skills deal 25-40% more damage.
• Trickster’s Aspect
  • Now additionally increases Grenade Skill damage by 25-40%.
• Aspect of Surprise
  • Now additionally increases Grenade Skill damage by 25-40%.
• Aspect of Artful Initiative
  • Grenade Skill damage increase is now a range with higher potential, increased to 25-40%.
• Aspect of Encircling Blades
  • Increased damage range buffed from 10-25% to 15-30%.
• Aspect of Uncanny Treachery
  • Previous – Dealing direct damage to a Dazed enemy with an Agility Skill grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Breaking Stealth with an attack grants you 15-21% Control Impaired Duration Reduction for 4 seconds.
  • Now – Dealing damage to a Dazed enemy with an Agility Skill grants Stealth for 4 seconds. When Stealth breaks, you gain 10-15% Dodge Chance for 2 seconds.
• Frostbitten Aspect
  • Previous – Chilled enemies hit by your Grenade Skills have a chance equal to double your Critical Strike Chance to be instantly Frozen for 2 seconds. You deal x10-25% increased Critical Strike Damage against Frozen enemies.
  • Now – Enemies hit by your Grenade Skills have the same chance as your Critical Strike Chance to be Frozen for 2 seconds. You deal x10-25% increased Critical Strike Damage to Stunned or Frozen enemies.
• Aspect of Lethal Dusk
  • Previous – Evading through an enemy infected by Shadow Imbuement grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Breaking Stealth with an attack grants you 1-5% Maximum Life on Kill for 6 seconds.
  • Now – Evading through an enemy infected by Shadow Imbuement grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Breaking Stealth grants you 10-25% Maximum Life.
• Resistant Assailant’s Aspect
  • When using Concealment, Resistance and Max Resistance have increased duration from 4 to 6 seconds.
• Inner Sight
  • While the Inner Sight gauge is full, you also gain 25%[+] Critical Strike Chance for 4 seconds.
  • Attacking enemies that are not marked will fill the gauge but at 5% of the normal rate.
• Chip
  • Increased physical damage bonus from 6.6% to 9.9% for each 5 Dexterity purchased within range.
• Stun Grenades (granted by various aspects) base stun duration increased from .5 to 1 second.

Advanced Information

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

Build Mechanics

The Stealth Grenadier Rogue is likely the most difficult build to play optimally in Diablo 4, involving complex rotations and mechanics. This build focuses on dealing the most damage possible with Grenades, utilizing a cleaver interaction of repeatedly entering Stealth with Aspect of Lethal Dusk while dropping Grenades through Opportunist’s Aspect. Each Grenade has a base damage of 6,617 when dual Swords with 925 Item Power are equipped. The base damage of Opportunist Grenades is doubled when imprinted onto a Ranged Two-Handed Weapon, for a total of 13,233 damage per grenade. A total of 8 Grenades are dropped from entering and exiting Stealth, for a massive 105,864 base damage being dealt, before other multipliers are applied.

Aspect of Lethal Dusk allows the Grenade Rogue to enter Stealth rapidly by evading through enemies inflicted by Shadow Imbuement. Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, and an Evade Cooldown temper are utilized for constant Evading. A well-geared character can repeatedly activate an Evade almost every second after 2 attacks.

Shadow Imbuement is made readily available at all times by the additional casts of Shadow Imbuement temper and Nightstalker to quickly refresh the skill by constantly entering Stealth. The explosions on enemy death from Shadow Imbuement help clear groups of enemies, but its primary purpose is to allow the Grenadier Rogue to enter Stealth through Aspect of Lethal Dusk.

Concealment can also drop Grenades from Opportunist’s Aspect, and it is instantly refreshed by Resistant Assailant’s Aspect after killing a pack of elite enemies.

Additional Grenades are dropped through Aspect of Surprise, Trickster’s Aspect, and Aspect of Artful Initiative.

Caltrops increase damage enemies take from you by 10% each second they are affected and lasts for 7 seconds by default, resulting in Enhanced Caltrops reaching a maximum damage increase of +45%. Increasing the time limit with the Caltrops Duration temper allows Caltrops to build up to a higher maximum damage increase.

Crowd Controls and Boss Stagger

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

• Slow from Puncture
• Stun from Opportunist’s Aspect
• Freeze from Frostbitten Aspect
• Daze from Aspect of Concussive Strikes
• Lucky Hit Chance to Immobilize temper
• Knock Down from Trick Attacks

Crowd-Controlled enemies take additional damage through multipliers on Frigid Finesse, Frostbitten Aspect, Aspect of Concussive Strikes, Aspect of Retribution, and Control. These damage bonuses can be applied to normal and elite enemies immediately, but they do no apply to bosses unless they are Staggered. Repeated Crowd Controls of the same type in a short duration apply less Stagger to bosses, so separate sources of Crowd Controls are utilized within the build. Crowd Control Duration tempers are also used to increase Stagger amount. Make sure to optimize damage against Staggered bosses by building up the Enhanced Caltrops damage bonus ahead of time.

Damage Rotation

Use the following general rotation to quickly kill normal enemies.

1. Activate Shadow Imbuement.
2. Cast Flurry to apply Shadow Imbuement to enemies.
3. Evade through an enemy inflicted with Shadow Imbuement to enter Stealth through Aspect of Lethal Dusk, activating Opportunist’s Aspect to drop 4 Grenades.
4. Attack 2-3 times (depending on your Evade Cooldown) with Puncture to refresh Evade, breaking Stealth to drop 4 more Grenades.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to continuously drop Grenades, making sure to refresh Shadow Imbuement and cast Flurry when needed.

Damage Combo Against Elites

Use the following combo opening to optimize damage against Elite enemies.

1. Activate Shadow Imbuement.
2. Cast Flurry to apply Shadow Imbuement to enemies.
3. Evade through an enemy inflicted with Shadow Imbuement to enter Stealth through Aspect of Lethal Dusk, activating Opportunist’s Aspect to drop 4 Grenades.
4. Cast Flurry, breaking Stealth to drop 4 more Grenades.
5. Cast Concealment to drop 4 more Grenades.
6. Cast Caltrops to activate Deadly Ambush and Ambush, while breaking Stealth to drop 4 more Grenades.
7. Evade through an enemy inflicted with Shadow Imbuement.
8. Follow up with the general Damage Rotation.

Damage Combo Against Bosses

Use the following combo opening to optimize damage against Bosses.

1. Activate Shadow Imbuement.
2. Cast Shadow Step on the Boss to close the gap.
3. Cast Caltrops to activate Deadly Ambush and Ambush, while building up the damage bonus on Enhanced Caltrops.
4. Run back up to the Boss.
5. Repeat the following damage rotation to Stagger the Boss, and then continue repeating the rotation while the Boss is Staggered.
   1. Evade though the Boss, entering Stealth to drop 4 Opportunist Grenades.
   2. Cast Puncture twice to build Combo Points and refresh Evade, breaking Stealth to drop 4 Opportunist Grenades.
   3. Evade though the Boss, entering Stealth to drop 4 Opportunist Grenades.
   4. Cast Puncture once to obtain 3 total Combo Points, breaking Stealth to drop 4 Opportunist Grenades.
   5. Cast Flurry to spend 3 Combo Points to gain a +45% Attack Speed bonus.

Tempering and Masterworking

The Season 4 update (Patch 1.4.0) introduces a rework for itemization. Tempering and Masterworking brings the biggest change to itemization since the release of Diablo 4, so make sure you understand the new systems explained in this section.

The amount of affixes on items has been changed to reflect its rarity: Normal Items have no affixes, Magic Items have 1 affix, Rare Items have 2 affixes, Legendary Items have 3 affixes, and Unique Items have 4 affixes. Upgrading a Rare Item to a Legendary Item by imprinting a Legendary Aspect from the Codex of Power will not add a third affix. Therefore, Legendary Items are superior to lower rarity items for a min-maxed character.

Greater Affixes are a newly added mechanic that increases the value of an affix by 50%. Ancestral Legendary Items and Unique Items can now drop with up to 4 Greater Affixes! Search for items with your preferred Greater Affixes to upgrade with Tempering and Masterworking.

Tempering and Masterworking is an important system, even mandatory in the endgame, for character progression. You are able to add 2 additional affixes on any Rare Item or Legendary Item, exclusive to the Tempering System. An Ancestral Legendary Item can have up to 5 total affixes! Unfortunately, Unique Items cannot be tempered to add affixes.

Masterworking uses new crafting materials found in The Pit to further enhance the stats of an item. These upgrades can be applied on an Ancestral Legendary Item that has its Tempering Slots filled out. Unique Items can be upgraded with Masterworking right away, as tempering does not apply to them. Each item has 12 upgrade slots. On upgrade Ranks 4, 8, and 12, a random affix is increased in value by 25%. Every other upgrade Rank applies a 5% increase to all affixes on an item. Attempt to apply the bonus 25% upgrade to your preferred affix multiple times by resetting the Masterworking Ranks to repeat the process.

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

• May 29th, 2024: Guide created.