Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build – endgame skills and aspects in Season 3

Looking for the Diablo 4 best Rogue build? Wielding a balanced mixed melee and ranged attacks, the Rogue is the newest class added to the Diablo universe. If you’ve decided to sample all the Rogue skills on offer in Diablo 4, then you’ve made a wise choice.

Playing as the Rogue class presents a major dilemma: do you want to become a dagger-wielding assassin or a keen-eyed marksman? Our choice of Diablo 4 best Rogue build goes for the first, thereby opting for a hit-and-dash type of playstyle that isn’t the easiest to learn, but very much worth the effort.

If you’re ready to enter the shadows, here’s how to build the Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4. We also have Diablo 4 best Barbarian and Diablo 4 best Necromancer build guides. If you’re diving into Sanctuary, check out its latest Season of the Construct’s Seneschal companion.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build explained

Our best Diablo 4 Rogue build is the Twisting Blades Rogue, named after its core skill. The idea is to throw ‘boomerang’ blades before quickly moving across the battlefield, thus forcing the blades to pass through a ton of enemies. We’ll use agility skills to enable this quick movement, plus a shadow imbuement ability to further enhance the damage. And what build would be complete without an ultimate skill? This build deals with groups well but doesn’t skimp on the single-target damage either.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build endgame skills

Here are the Diablo 4 best Rogue build skills:

• Twisting Blades (core, cutthroat, imbueable): throw your blades to deal damage. This also impales the enemy, allowing you to deal 8% increased damage against them while this status is active. The blades return after 1.5 seconds, thereby dealing extra high damage while piercing opponents. This skill costs 30 energy and has a lucky hit chance of 33%.
• Dash (agility, cutthroat, imbueable): performs a forwards dash, thereby slashing through opponents and dealing damage. Dash has two charges, with a charge cooldown of slightly less than ten seconds (when fully upgraded). The lucky hit rate is 25%.
• Shadow Step (agility, cutthroat, imbueable): become unstoppable and move through the shadows to stab an enemy from behind. You’ll gain a 50% movement speed boost for two seconds after reappearing. The cooldown time for this skill is nine seconds, and the lucky hit rate 100%.
• Caltrops (agility, trap): jump back while throwing caltrops on the ground, dealing damage and slowing enemies for six seconds. This skill has two charges and a charge cooldown of twelve seconds. It also comes with a 25% lucky hit rate.
• Shadow Imbuement (imbuement, shadow damage): your next two imbueable skills deal shadow damage and infect enemies for a duration of six seconds. If an infected enemy dies, it will explode, dealing area-of-effect damage. If the enemy doesn’t die within the six-second timeframe, only the infected enemy itself will receive damage.
• Shadow Clone (ultimate): a shadow clone mimics your actions for fifteen seconds, dealing 60% of your damage. This ability has a cooldown of 60 seconds.
• Optional – Invigorating Strike (basic, cutthroat): perform a melee attack against an opponent and increase your energy regeneration by 20% for three seconds.

Twisting Blades is the most important attack in this Diablo 4 Rogue build: throw away your blades, and they’ll automatically return to you. As the blades deal extra high damage on their ‘return trip’, this Rogue build aims to exploit that – after initiating Twisting Blades, use Dash or Shadow Step to move behind a group of enemies and pierce them.

As the Rogue is quite the glass canon, the movement skills are also used to protect yourself from damage. The Shadow Step is particularly handy, as it makes you unstoppable (free from crowd control).

As you can see, all of our cutthroat skills are imbueable, which means that we can use an imbuement ability to enhance them. While poison or frozen effects are far from bad, Shadow Imbuement is the preferred option because of a passive ability that will help to regain energy (see the skill tree here).

Speaking of which, the reason why the basic skill is listed as optional is that we’ll eventually be able to fully rely on passives for our energy recharge. If you can’t sustain a reliable energy source yet, however, feel free to swap Caltrops for Invigorating Strike for the time being.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build skill point distribution

• Invigorating Strike: rank 1. Unlock Enhanced Invigorating Strike to reach the next tier in the skill tree (we won’t be needing it during combat).
• Twisting Blades: rank 5. Use Enhanced Twisting Blades for 30% more damage when the blades return, and Advanced Twisting Blades to reduce your cooldowns based on the number of enemies hit by the returning blades (0.2 second cooldown reduction up to a maximum of two seconds).
• Dash: rank 5. Enhanced Dash increases critical strike damage against opponents hit by Dash for a duration of five seconds. Also unlock Disciplined Dash to slow enemies by 30% for three seconds, or daze enemies for two seconds if they’re already slowed.
• Shadow Step: rank 1 or higher. Enhanced Shadow Step increases your critical strike chance against the enemies you’ve hit, while Methodical Shadow Step stuns your opponents for two seconds.
• Caltrops: rank 1. With the Enhanced version activated, enemies will receive 3% more damage from you for every second spent in Caltrops. Use Disciplined Caltrops to gain a 5% critical strike increase within its area-of-effect, and double this amount against vulnerable enemies.
• Exploit: rank 3. You deal 18% increased damage against healthy and injured enemies.
• Shadow Imbuement: rank 5. Unlock Enhanced Shadow Imbuement to get a 15% increased critical strike chance against injured enemies affected by the skill, and choose Blended Shadow Imbuement to make enemies vulnerable for two seconds after being hit.
• Shadow Crash: rank 3. Grants a lucky hit effect: shadow damage has a 10% chance to stun an opponent. It’s highly recommended to fully upgrade Consuming Shadows as well, as this will generate 30 energy each time you kill an enemy with shadow damage.
• Precision Imbuement: rank 3. Increases the critical strike rate of imbued skills (which means cutthroat attacks imbued by Shadow Crash in our case) by up to 9%.
• Shadow Clone: rank 1. Upgrade to the Prime and Supreme versions to become unstoppable after casting the ultimate (for five seconds) and increase the clone’s damage by another 20%.
• Innervation: rank 3. Lucky hits have a 30% chance to gain eight energy.
• Aftermath: rank 1 or higher. After using an ultimate, restores a massive amount of energy (up to 75 at max upgrade level).
• Adrenaline Rush: rank 3. While moving, gain a 15% energy regeneration increase.
• Momentum: rank 1. This is the key passive for this Diablo 4 Rogue build. If your cutthroat skills hit a stunned, dazed, or frozen enemy, or if they hit an enemy from behind, you gain a stack of Momentum for eight seconds. If you have three stacks of Momentum, you gain 20% increased damage reduction, 30% increased energy regeneration, and 15% increased movement speed.
• Specialization – Inner Sight: some enemies will gain a mark. Attack them to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited energy for four seconds.

Here’s a handy skill point distribution table for the Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build:

Skill	Points
Invigorating Strike	1
Twisting Blades	5
Dash	5
Shadow Step	1
Caltrops	1
Exploit	3
Shadow Imbuement	5
Shadow Crash	3
Precision Imbuement	3
Shadow Clone	1
Innervation	3
Aftermath	1
Adrenaline Rush	3
Momentum	1
Specialization – Inner Sight	1

As mentioned above, we’re ideally not using a basic skill, relying on passives to regain energy instead. The most important one is Consuming Shadows: activate Shadow Imbuement, use two cutthroat skills, and you’ll receive 30 energy per enemy you’ve killed. Together with the Innervation, Aftermath, and Adrenaline Rush passives, your energy recharge will become very high. Consider spending points into Malice, weapon mastery, the imbuement skill, and fundamental puncture if you want to stray from this list. But note that Twisting Blades is the foundation of this build.

To make use of the Momentum passive, try to backstab opponents and hit dazed and stunned enemies as often as possible. Besides your lucky hit stun chance (thanks to the Shadow Crash passive), the easiest way to gain stacks is by using the upgraded Shadow Step skill: you start with a backstab, then stun every enemy you’ve hit. Alternatively, you can throw your Caltrops to slow enemies, then Dash through them to convert the effect to daze. Remember that applying stun or daze in itself isn’t enough: you still need to hit the affected opponents to gain a stack of Momentum.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build armor and gear

While you need a good amount of intelligence and strength to increase your critical strike chance and energy recharge respectively, dexterity is the most essential stat in our best Rogue build. It increases the Rogue’s skill damage and dodge chance, with the first being the most important.

Equipment bonuses to look out for are core skill damage boosts, cutthroat damage boosts, movement speed upgrades, attack speed upgrades, critical strike chance, and cooldown reductions. Go for weapons with the highest DPS, and preferably ones that deal higher damage to close enemies. You’ve probably guessed it by now, but melee weapons are much, much more important than ranged ones for the Twisting Blades Rogue.

Here’s what each piece of armor should focus on as a Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4:

• Helm – Cooldown reductions and boosting skills like Shadow Imbuement.
• Chest – Damage reduction, especially since Rogues have low health.
• Gloves – Twisting Blades skill boosts and improved Critical Strike Chance.
• Pants – Barrier for a defensive boost in addition to Damage Reduction.
• Boots – Unique dodges and improvements to movement speed.
• Rings – Critical Strike Chance and Damage in addition to Vulnerable damage.
• Amulet – Cooldown improvements and reductions in Energy Cost.

In terms of using the right gems in any socket, consider a Royal Emerald for its Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies when used in a weapon. As for armor, use a Royal Ruby for Maximum Life or Royal Topaz to protect yourself from dastardly Crowd Control effects. As for jewelry, consider using a Royal Skull.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build Legendary Aspects

Here are the best Twisting Blades Rogue Aspects in Diablo 4:

• Bladedancer’s Aspect (offensive): Twisting Blades orbit around you for a short time after returning, dealing extra high damage based on the distance they’ve covered before reaching you. Can be found in Jalal’s Vigil dungeon in Scosglen.
• Aspect of Imitated Imbuement (offensive): the shadow clone mimics your imbuements, while using an imbuement increases the shadow clone’s damage. It can only be found by extracting it from a legendary item that already has this.
• Aspect of Surprise (offensive): evading or using Shadow Step leaves stun grenades behind. It can only be found by extracting it from a legendary item that already has this.
• Trickster’s Aspect (offensive): Caltrops also throws stun grenades. Found in Guulrahan Canals dungeon in Dry Steppes.
• Aspect of Lethal Dusk (defensive): if you evade through an enemy affected by shadow imbuement, you gain stealth. If you break stealth by using an attack, killing an enemy will restore some of your HP. It can only be found by extracting it from a legendary item that already has this.
• Eluding Aspect (utility): if you become injured while crowd-controlled, you gain the unstoppable status. Found in Caldera Gate dungeon in Fractured Peaks.

The best legendary aspects for this Rogue build should enhance Twisting Blades, help you become unstoppable or stealthy, make it easier to stun or daze opponents and increase your overall damage. Bladedancer’s Aspect is by far the most powerful one, as it has a very high damage potential that fits perfectly with the Twisting Blades Rogue build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can alter your active skills with potent effects. Consider the Edgemaster’s Aspect and Aspect of Corruption as well.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build unique items

As for the best Unique items in Diablo 4 for the Twisting Blades Rogue, here you go:

• Condemnation – Your Core Skills deal [20 – 40%] increased damage when spending 3 Combo Points. Your Skills using this weapon have a 30% chance to generate 3 Combo Points.
• Temerity – Effects that Heal you beyond 100% Life grant you a Barrier up to [40 – 80%] of your Maximum Life that lasts for 8 seconds.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue Paragon Glyph distribution

And here are the best Paragon Glyphs for Glyph Sockets in the Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4:

• Combat – For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, all Damage deals +1.9% increased Critical Strike Damage. Bonus – Skills that Critically Strike restore 12% of their Energy cost.
• Control – For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal +2.9% increased damage to Crowd Controlled targets. Bonus – You deal 10%[x] increased damage to Slowed or Chilled enemies or, instead, 20% [x] increased damage to Stunned or Frozen enemies.
• Exploit – For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal +0.9% increased damage to Vuhierable targets. Bonus – When an enemy is damaged by you, they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy.
• Ambush – For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal +1.9% increased damage to targets affected by Trap Skills. Bonus – Enemies affected by Trap Skills take 10% [x] increased damage from you.
• Diminish – Grants +25.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. Bonus – You take 10% reduced Physical damage from Vulnerable enemies.

Best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue Seneschal stones

While Season of Blood brought players back with vampiric powers, Season of the Construct’s Seneschal companion is the big draw of the season. And in Season 3, you gain access to Governing Stones and Tuning Stones to build out this Seneschal companion. This construct can deal damage and heal you by itself, making it a valuable ally. Here’s how to spec your Seneschal companion for a Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4 Season 3:

• Governing Stones – Opt for Tempest and Gyrate. Tempest deals electrical damage to an enemy while Gyrate spins the construct around to hit all surrounding enemies. These are offensive options that can be augmented with Tuning Stones.
• Tuning Stones – For Tempest, we recommend pairing it with Arcing, Duration, and Tactical Tuning Stones. These provide extra enemy coverage, extra duration, and cooldown reduction. As for Gyrate, opt for Safeguard, Voluminous, and Dusk. These alter damage reduction, offer bonus effect size, and shadow damage. These pair incredibly well with a Rogue adept at taking out mobs.

Is the Rogue still good in Diablo 4?

Diablo 4 Season 1 had nerfed the Rogue’s Vulnerable damage affixes. This means that while the Twisting Blades Rogue isn’t at the same power as before, it’s still a lethal killing machine. As long as you keep track of your health, you should be able to take on high-level foes across Nightmare Dungeons and chew through Diablo 4 bosses with ease. Expect Season 3, Season of the Construct, to make the Rogue even more of a threat. Boost survivability with the right jewelry and upgrade your Paragon Boards.

That covers the Diablo 4 best Rogue build. The Twisting Blades Rogue is a formidable build to test out. Looking for the best Diablo 4 dungeons to try your new Rogue build? If you need more guidance on your hellish journey through Sanctuary, feel free to take a look at the guides in our Diablo 4 vault. And those starting out should know where to get Gallowvine in Diablo 4.

Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue FAQ

Is Rogue a good class in Diablo 4?

The Rogue is a deadly class that prioritizes damage over defence in Diablo 4.

Is Rogue hard to play Diablo 4?

The Rogue is one of the most difficult classes to play in Diablo 4.