Penetrating Shot Rogue Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 3)

Build Introduction

The Shadow Penetrating Shot Rogue build blasts through even the toughest foes. This is your guide to building a character for endgame activities in Diablo 4, with the optimal setup for Skills, Gear and Paragon.

Penetrating Shot always pierces, dealing massive hit damage to any enemies in the way. Trickshot Aspect is required to give Penetrating Shot additional arrows for more Area of Effect (AoE). Make sure you have an extracted Aspect or have it unlocked in the Codex of Power. Extracted Aspects from Legendary Items are preferred for their stronger effect.

This ranged build is perfect for players who want a safe playstyle that easily clears groups of enemies. Line them up with the Penetrating Shot Rogue! Alternatively, check out our Dual Core Penetrating Shot Rapid Fire Rogue for a better version of this build that adds Rapid Fire to deal higher single target damage.

The only starting requirement for this endgame build guide is a character around Level 50 in World Tier 3. Check our Rogue Leveling Guide if you need help getting there.

Mid Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.3) – Heartseeker receives an Attack Speed increase, making it more comparable to the speed of Puncture.

• Heartseeker
  • Attack Speed increased by 20%.
  • Dev Note: Lower the Power interrupt frames from 20 to 16.
• Precision
  • Stacks required for bonuses reduced from 6 to 4.

Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.0) – With Precision buffed and Close Quarters Combat nerfed, pure ranged playstyles are finally viable. Tibault’s Will is no longer recommended due to the bug fix. Watch the video below for the full details.

Strengths and Weaknesses

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

Season of the Construct

Season 3 Patch Updates

The following list details the changes in the Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.0) that may pertain to Penetrating Shot Rogues. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.

• Enhanced Penetrating Shot
  • Previous: Penetrating Shot deals 10%[x] increased damage per enemy it pierces.
  • Now: Penetrating Shot has a 10%[+] increased Critical Strike Chance. If Penetrating Shot damages at least 3 enemies, gain 10%[+] Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds.
• Improved Penetrating Shot
  • Previous: If Penetrating Shot damage at least 3 enemies, your next Penetrating Shot has 20%[+] increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • New: Penetrating Shot deals an additional 10%[x] increased damage per enemy it hits.
• Close Quarters Combat
  • Amount of Damage vs Crowd Controlled bonus conversion percent reduced from 40% to 10%.
  • Attack Speed per stack increased from 10% to 15%.
• Precision
  • Previous: Critical Strike with Marksman Skills grant you Precision. You gain 4%[x] Critical Strike Damage per stack of Precision, up to a maximum of 20%[x]. When you reach maximum Precision, your next Marksman Skill is guaranteed to Critically Strike, and deals 40%[x] increased Critical Strike Damage, then consumes all stacks of Precision.
  • New: Each Marksman skill cast grants 1 stack of Precision, or 2 if it has Critically Struck. When you reach 6 stacks, your next Marksman Core or Ultimate Skill is a guaranteed Critical Strike that deals x50% increased Critical Strike Damage, consuming all stacks of Precision. This damage is further increased by an amount equal to x15% of your Critical Strike Damage bonus.
• Concussive
  • Previous: After Knocking Back or Knocking Down an enemy, you gain 4% increased Critical Strike Chance against them for 4 seconds.
  • New: After Knocking Back or Knocking Down an enemy, you gain 4% increased Critical Strike Chance for 4 seconds.
• Skyhunter
  • Inherent affix changed from Damage to Distant Enemies to Critical Strike Damage.
  • Critical Strike Damage affix value increased by ~100%. This does not apply to the inherent Critical Strike Damage Affix.
  • Effect updated to reflect changes to the Precision Key Passive.
    • Previous: The first direct damage you deal to an enemy is a guaranteed Critical Strike. If you had maximum stacks of the Precision Key Passive when you cast the Skill, gain 20–30 energy, this can only happen once per cast.
    • New: The first direct damage you deal to an enemy is a guaranteed Critical Strike. When you consume Precision casting a Skill, that Skill gains x10–30% increased Critical Strike Damage and you gain 20–40 Energy.
• Eaglehorn
  • Previous: Penetrating Shot has a 30–80% chance to fire an arrow that bounced off walls and scenery. Damaging 5 enemies with Penetrating Shot will cause your next cast to make enemies hit Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • New: Penetrating Shot makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. Every 4th cast bounces off walls and scenery and deals 20%–40%[x] bonus damage.
• Aspect of the Expectant: Damage bonus now has a 5-second duration to be used.
• New Defensive Aspect: Resistant Assailant’s Aspect
  • Breaking Concealment grants +10% Resistance and Maximum Resist to all elements for 4 seconds. Killing an Elite enemy reduces Concealment’s cooldown by 6–10 seconds.
• Fixed an issue where Tibault’s Will increased the cap for combo points.

Seneschal Construct Companion Powers

The Season 3 theme introduces a Seneschal Construct Companion that can deal damage or provide support to complement your character. Equip the Seneschal with two Governing Stones to activate their abilities, and then link them to three Tuning Stones each to augment the abilities. There are 12 different Governing Stones and 27 different Tuning Stones that can be found in Vaults scattered across Sanctuary. Fuse together duplicate stones to level them up, increasing the potency of Governing Stones or adding augments to Tuning Stones.

Listed below is the best Seneschal Construct Companion setup for Penetrating Shot Rogues. The first 2 Governing Stone setups are equipped for the construct to support the player. The 3rd setup is equipped for the construct to deal high damage on its own. Although only 3 Tuning Stones can be linked to each Governing Stone, alternative options are provided and sorted in order of importance.

1. Flash of Adrenaline: Administers a quick flash of adrenaline into the player, granting bonus damage for a duration.
   • Genesis: Increase the effectiveness of the supported Skill.
   • Tactical Support: Decrease the cooldown of the supported Skill.
   • Duration Support: Supported Skills have their durations increased.
   • Fortify Support: When the Seneschal Construct uses the supported Skill, you gain Fortify. Skills with slower attack speeds or skills with cooldowns will increase the amount of Fortify granted.
2. Tempest: Electrically charge an enemy causing it to deal damage to themselves and additional enemies each second over time. If the enemy is killed, Tempest spreads to another enemy gaining additional time and bonus damage. These bonuses are also applied if Tempest is reapplied onto the same enemy. — This attack setup is used for a supportive construct, buffing the player to deal more damage.
   • Evernight: The supported Skill grants you +4 to all Skills when used.
   • Resource Support: Player gains an amount of Primary Resource when the supporting Skill first deals damage.
   • Efficiency Support: When the supporting skill deals damage, you gain Critical Strike Chance to the same targets hit.
   • Safeguard Support: When used, the supported Skill grants Damage Reduction to you.
3. Firefly: Deploy a small construct that lands on the target and explodes 3 times, dealing damage. — Replace the Tempest setup to enable more damage output from the construct.
   • Multishot Support: Supported Projectile skills launch additional projectiles.
   • Piercing Support: The supported Projectile Skill will pierce multiple enemies.
   • Seeking Support: The supported Projectile Skill will auto-seek enemies for a limited duration.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for Penetrating Shot Rogue (order does not matter)

Penetrating Shot Heartseeker Dash Concealment Smoke Grenade Shadow Imbuement

The following tables show the full allocation of Skill Points for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build. The first table has the most important 52 points to start the build. The second table has the remaining 6 points that are allocated once you obtain all Skill Points from Renown.

Priority Skills	Cluster
Heartseeker Level 1, Enhanced Heartseeker, Fundamental Heartseeker	Basic Skill
Penetrating Shot Level 5, Enhanced Penetrating Shot, Advanced Penetrating Shot Stutter Step Level 3	Core Skill
Dash Level 1, Enhanced Dash Weapon Mastery Level 3 Concussive Level 3, Trick Attacks Level 1	Agility Skill
Concealment Level 1, Enhanced Concealment, Subverting Concealment Smoke Grenade Level 1, Enhanced Smoke Grenade, Countering Smoke Grenade Dark Shroud Level 1 (not equipped on Skill Bar), Enhanced Dark Shroud, Subverting Dark Shroud Exploit Level 3, Malice Level 3 Agile Level 3	Subterfuge Skill
Shadow Imbuement Level 1, Enhanced Shadow Imbuement, Mixed Shadow Imbuement Shadow Crash Level 1, Consuming Shadows Level 3	Imbuement Skill
Adrenaline Rush Level 1, Haste Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Precision	Key Passives

Remaining Renown Points	Cluster
Precision Imbuement Level 3	Imbuement Skill
Innervation Level 3	Ultimate Skill

Alternative Skills

Heartseeker allows for the furthest ranged playstyle, with Enhanced Heartseeker and Fundamental Heartseeker providing DPS increases. Alternatively, switch to Puncture Level 1, Enhanced Puncture and Fundamental Puncture for Energy Generation and easy application of Vulnerable.

Penetrating Shot Rogue Specialization

Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for general farming due to it providing bonus Lucky Hit Chance for Penetrating Shot, in additional to increased damage.

Paragon

The Paragon progression system unlocks after reaching Level 50, and offers a considerable boost to character power. Within the Paragon Board, there are many different bonuses, ranging from minor stat enhancements on Magic Nodes to more significant gains with Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes.

Important Notes:

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

The list below contains the most beneficial Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build, sorted in the order obtained in the final Level 100 Paragon Tree. The images that follow provide a visual of each Paragon Board setup.

Name	Effect
Ranger	• For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, Marksman Skills deal + [6.24%] increased damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 40 Dexterity purchased in radius range): While wielding a Ranged weapon, you take 10% reduced damage.
Tricks of the Trade	Your Marksman Skills grant your next Cutthroat Skill 25% increased damage. Your Cutthroat Skills grant your next Marksman Skill 25% increased damage.
Turf	• For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal + [9.6%] increased damage to Close targets. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Strength purchased in radius range): You gain 15% Damage Reduction against Close enemies.
Cheap Shot	You deal x5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to x25%.
Nightstalker	• For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, your deal + [9.51%] increased Shadow damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Intelligence purchased in radius range): Entering Stealth reduces the active cooldown of Shadow Imbuement by 4 seconds.
Exploit Weakness	Grants + [144%] bonus to all Magic nodes within range. • Additional Bonus (requires 40 Dexterity purchased in radius range): When you hit an enemy with an attack that applies a Crowd Control effect, they take x2%, up to x10%, increased damage from you for 20 seconds.
Combat	• For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal + [19.2%] increased Critical Strike Damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 40 Intelligence purchased in radius range): Skills that Critically Strike restore 12% of their Energy cost.
No Witnesses	Your Ultimate Skills deal x30% increased damage and grant you x10% increased damage for 20 seconds when cast. (Legendary Nodes not used)
Exploit	• For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal + [7.7%] increased damage to Vulnerable targets. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Strength purchased in radius range): When an enemy is damaged by you, they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy.

1. Starting Board (Ranger)

2. Tricks of the Trade (Turf)

3. Cheap Shot (Nightstalker)

4. Exploit Weakness (Combat)

5. No Witnesses (Exploit)

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

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.

The new Resistant Assailant’s Aspect added in Patch 1.3.0 reduces Concealment cooldown by up to 10 seconds after killing an Elite enemy. Combined with Nightstalker, both Concealment and Shadow Imbuement can be used often, while Consuming Shadows generates a high amount of Energy.

Damage is increased further with Concussive, Weapon Mastery, Exploit and Malice.

Survivability is gained through Agile and Armor, while Smoke Grenade prevents enemies from attacking you.

Finally, Stutter Step, Haste and Dash speed up movement for faster farming.

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, Lucky Hit Effects from Countering Smoke Grenade and Innervation can activate often.

Status Effects

The Penetrating Shot Rogue utilizes multiple status effects to render enemies helpless. Advanced Penetrating Shot Slows enemies and Knocks Down elites when casted at full Energy.

Subverting Concealment applies Vulnerable. 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 arsenal. This Skill can be used often to Daze groups of enemies with Countering Smoke Grenade. Knocking down an enemy with Advanced Penetrating Shot or Trick Attacks activates Concussive for increased Critical Strike Chance.

Damage Rotation

Use the following rotation to optimize DPS.

1. Use Smoke Grenade to Daze enemies.
2. Cast Heartseeker up to 3 times to build Combo Points.
3. Dash through a group of enemies to apply Enhanced Dash and activate Tricks of the Trade.
4. (Optional) Cast Concealment to gain Energy and apply Vulnerable.
5. (Optional) Activate Shadow Imbuement for increased damage and Area of Effect (AoE).
6. Line enemies up to piece through them with Penetrating Shot.
7. Repeat the rotation. Try to cast Penetrating Shot while you have full Energy to activate Advanced Penetrating Shot and Edgemaster’s Aspect.

Gear Choice and Stat Priority in the Endgame

Make sure to pick up all Rare Item drops that may be upgrades while you are farming with Penetrating Shot Rogue. Save Legendary Items with useful aspects in your stash to be used later for extraction and imprinting onto well rolled Rare Items.

When comparing weapons with similar item levels, Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the Vulnerable Damage implicit. The DPS value on Dual Wielded Weapons does not matter, as they are not used for any attacks to deal damage. Therefore, beneficial affix mods on Dual Wielded Weapons can be prioritized instead. Swords are preferred over Daggers for the Critical Strike Damage implicit.

Stat Priority List

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Penetrating Shot 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 stats are the most important and sometimes vital for the build to function properly.

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.

Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.0): Critical Strike Damage priority increased due to Precision change.

Legendary Aspects and Codex of Power

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used if you cannot find the proper Legendary drops, but they have weaker effects. Extract Aspects from lower level Legendary Items and imprint them onto better Rare Items with preferred stats.

Resource Aspects, such as Aspect of the Umbral and Ravenous Aspect, help with Energy management early on. Unfortunately, they are limited to Ring slots and replace Offensive Aspects. Resource management is improved elsewhere in this build, so important separate damage multipliers are not lost.

Gear Slot	Aspect Name	Aspect Power
Ranged Weapon (+100% bonus effect)	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.
Amulet (+50 bonus effect)	Cheat’s Aspect	You take [15.0 – 25.0%] less damage from Crowd Controlled enemies. Whenever a Crowd Controlled enemy deals direct damage to you, gain 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1 (replaced by Condemnation)	Vengeful Aspect	Lucky Hit: Making an enemy Vulnerable has up to a [40 – 60%] chance to grant 3% increased Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds, up to 9%.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2, Rings or Gloves	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.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2, Rings or Gloves	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%.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2, Rings or Gloves	Rapid Aspect	Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2, Rings or Gloves	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds.
Helm (optional replacement with Harlequin Crest)	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds
Chest or Pants	Resistant Assailant’s Aspect	Breaking Concealment grants +10% Resistance and Maximum Resist to all elements for 4 seconds. Killing an Elite enemy reduces Concealment’s cooldown by 6–10 seconds.
Chest or Pants	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Marksman Skills have up to a [40 – 60%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Boots	Aspect of Quickening Fog	You automatically drop a Smoke Grenade at the end of Dash. Smoke Grenades reduce Dash’s Cooldown by [0.4 – 0.6] seconds for each enemy hit, up to [2.0 – 3.0] seconds.

Unique Items

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique Items for this build.

• Condemnation (Highly Recommended): This Unique Dagger synergies well with this Combo Points build for an additional damage multiplier.
• Harlequin Crest (Recommended Uber Unique): This powerful Uber Unique provides the best of offensive and defense, if you are lucky enough for it to drop from Uber Duriel.
• Skyhunter (Optional): The guaranteed Critical Strikes and Energy gains can be useful. Move Edgemaster’s Aspect to another slot, replacing Rapid Aspect.

Not Recommended Unique items

Listed below are the Unique Items not recommended for this build and the reasons they are not worthwhile.

• Eaglehorn: An additional hit every 4th cast that deals 60%[x] bonus damage increases the overall damage of Penetrating Shot by a 1.40 times multiplier ((1.6 +4) / 4). Unfortunately, most Offensive Aspects with a +100% bonus effect on a 2-Handed Legendary Weapon, or Skyhunter, are more beneficial.
• Asheara’s Khanjar: The Attack Speed bonus on this Unique Dagger is decent, but the rest of its affixes are lacking. A Legendary Sword with well-rolled affixes and an Offensive Aspect is more beneficial.
• Grasp of Shadow: These Unique Gloves provide up to +6 Ranks for all Core Skills, but well-rolled Legendary Gloves are better. The summoned Shadow Clone attack does significantly less damage than the original attack being copied.
• Tibault’s Will: 40%[x] increased damage is not usually possible in this gear slot, but Legendary Pants with 4 well-rolled defensive affixes and a Defensive Aspect are more beneficial.
• Temerity: These Unique Pants provide a consistent Barrier when paired with Siphoning Strikes. Conceited Aspect can also be used with this Barrier generation for increased damage, but this build already has enough Offensive Aspect choices. Using Temerity causes you to miss out on 4 Damage Reduction affixes and an Aspect from Legendary Pants, making them not worthwhile.

Gems

Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type for the Penetrating Shot Rogue build.

• Weapon: Royal Emerald for Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies.
• Armor: Royal Ruby for Maximum Life or Royal Topaz to prevent deaths from chain Crowd Controls.
• Jewelry: Royal Skull to cap Armor (13200 for Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons) or Individual Resistance Gems for Resistances that are not already capped at 70%. The priority order of Resistances is Lightning > Poison > Fire > Cold > Shadow.

Elixirs and Health Potions

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. Listed below are the best Elixirs to consume, ranked by importance. Elixirs that are not available at the Alchemist can only be found as drops. Open Splitting Steel and Mystery Chests in Helltides to farm non-craftable Elixirs.

1. Iron Skin Elixir (non-craftable): Use if Armor is not capped (13200 in Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons). Alternatively, Heady Iron Barb Elixir can be crafted at the Alchemist.
2. Elixir of Cruelty (non-craftable): Provides the highest source of Critical Strike Chance from an Elixir. Alternatively, Heady Precision Elixir can be crafted at the Alchemist.
3. Heady Assault Elixir (craftable): Attack Speed increases Damage Per Second (DPS).
4. Elixir of Fortitude (non-craftable): Maximum Life greatly improves survivability in AoZ.

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.

Changelog

• March 5th, 2024: Guide updated for the Mid Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.3).
• February 16th, 2024: Mention of the Weapon Mastery bug introduced in Patch 1.3.2 added.
• February 5th, 2024: Seneschal Construct Companion Powers section updated with an optional setup for construct damage.
• January 28th, 2024: Seneschal Construct Companion Powers section updated.
• January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0).
  • Seneschal Construct Companion Powers section added.
  • Precision, Heartseeker, Dark Shroud, Umbrous Aspect and new Paragon setup added to complement a pure ranged playstyle.
  • Switched to Shadow Imbuement and Nightstalker to utilize the newly added Resistant Assailant’s Aspect.
• December 18th, 2023: Stat Priority List reevaluated with an emphasis on capping Armor and Resistances.
• December 6th, 2023: Tears of Blood Unique Glyph added to Paragon section.
• November 15th, 2023: Paragon Board images added.
• November 1st, 2023:
  • Tibault’s Will Bug mentioned.
  • Resistances added to Stat Priority List and Gem sections.
  • Vampiric Power Tier List reevaluated.
• October 17th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
• August 30th, 2023: Not Recommended Unique Items section added.
• August 2nd, 2023: Patch 1.1.1 section added with build specific changes.
• July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.
• July 14th, 2023: Stat Priority List reevaluated.
• July 12th, 2023: Aspects reevaluated.