Azurewrath Twisting Blades – Rogue Build for Diablo 4 (Season 9)

Build Introduction

The Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue build procs devastating Cold damage to destroy enemies. Twisting Blades rapidly stacks a debuff to increase the Azurewrath damage taken by enemies. This is an advanced version of the Twisting Blades Rogue, ideal for Torment 4 activities and pushing high tiers of the Pit.

For a starter version of this endgame build that does not require Azurewrath, follow the Original Twisting Blades Rogue Guide.

If your character has not reached Level 60, follow the Leveling Guide for the Twisting Blades Rogue.

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

Strengths and Weaknesses

Quick Navigation

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Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points

Skill Bar Setup for the Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue (order does not matter)

Twisting BladesShadow CloneHeartseekerDashCaltropsPoison Trap

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

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar, but is instead granted through Umbrous Aspect.

Frigid Finesse is activated by Azurewrath. It is always active against Staggered Bosses, as they count as being affected by all crowd controls.

Wondering what comes after Level 60? Head to the Paragon Board section to power up the build even further. If you want to see how everything plays out in combat, check out the Rotation and Playstyle section for a quick breakdown.

Rogue Class Mechanic – Specialization

Preparation is the preferred Rogue Specialization for the Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue. Spending Energy reduces the Cooldown of Shadow Clone for consistent casts to gain 15% Damage Reduction and activate No Witnesses.

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Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes

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 Azurewrath Twisting Blades 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. For the best results, combine these Aspects with the ideal Stat Priorities.

Gear Slot	Name	Effect
Ranged Weapon	Coldclip Aspect	You deal x [20 – 40%] increased damage to enemies that are Chilled or Frozen. Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued at 50% potency and gain this damage bonus against Bosses.
Amulet	Vehement Brawler’s Aspect	Casting an Ultimate Skill increases your damage by [10 – 30%] for 8 seconds. Gain 2 additional Ultimate Skill Ranks.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1	Azurewrath	• Lucky Hit: Up to a 40% Chance to Deal [X] Cold Damage • Attack Speed Your Casts with this weapon apply Vulnerable for 3 seconds and Chill enemies for [10 – 30%].
Gloves	Fists of Fate	• Lucky Hit Chance • Critical Strike Chance • Attack Speed • Lucky Hit: Up to a [X%] Chance to Make Enemies Vulnerable for 3 Seconds Your attacks randomly deal 1% to [200 – 300%] of their normal damage.
Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies)	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by + [10 – 30%] for 5 seconds.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2	Bladedancer’s Aspect	Twisting Blades orbit for a short time after they return to you, dealing x [60 – 80%] of Twisting Blade’s return damage per hit.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2 or Ring Slot #2	Conceited Aspect	Deal x [10 – 30%] increased damage while you have a Barrier active.
Helm (replaced by Heir of Perdition)	Cheat’s Aspect	You gain [5 – 15%] increased Damage Reduction and +10% increased Movement Speed.
Chest (replaced by Shroud of False Death)	Juggernaut’s Aspect	Gain [X] Armor, but your Evade has 100% increased Cooldown.
Pants	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 60%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Boots	Slice and Dice Aspect	Twisting Blades’ initial hit cleaves. Twisting Blades return [25 – 45%] faster.

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Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogues, ranked by importance. Affixes on the same line have equal value, so attempt to obtain all affixes in each line before moving on to the next. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. For more details, check the Tempering and Masterworking guides.

Daggers are equipped for the Damage to Close Enemies implicit stat to scale Close Quarters Combat. Bows and Crossbows provide comparable implicit stats, so the choice does not make a noticeable difference.

Prioritize capping Armor at 1,000 and all Resistances at 75%. Be aware of the increasing penalties to Armor and Resistances as you progress through Torment difficulties.

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Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Weapons	1. Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource, Maximum Life, Dexterity 2. Vulnerable Damage, Critical Strike Damage	Cutthroat Augments (Weapon): Chance for Twisting Blades to Hit Twice up to 100% cap Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction, Lucky Hit Chance 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity	Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation Any uncapped Resistances or Armor, otherwise Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Dodge Chance
Chest	1. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 2. Ranks to Dark Shroud, Dexterity, Maximum Life	Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation Any uncapped Resistances or Armor, otherwise Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Dodge Chance
Gloves	1. Ranks to Twisting Blades, Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Resource Cost Reduction, Maximum Life, Lucky Hit Chance	Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies Imbuement Abundance (Utility): Shadow Imbue Additional Casts
Pants	1. Dexterity, Maximum Life 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor	Trap Expertise (Utility): Caltrops Size Any uncapped Resistances or Armor, otherwise Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Dodge Chance
Boots	Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Maximum Life, Dexterity	Trap Expertise (Utility): Caltrops Duration Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed
Amulet	1. Ranks to Unstable Elixirs, Exploit, and/or Malice, +% Dexterity 2. Critical Strike Chance, Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed	Ultimate Efficiency — Rogue (Resource): Shadow Clone Cooldown Reduction Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Resource Cost Reduction, Vulnerable Damage, Critical Strike Damage, Maximum Life	Ultimate Efficiency — Rogue (Resource): Shadow Clone Cooldown Reduction Natural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Close Enemies

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Uniques and Mythic Uniques

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique and Mythic Unique Items for the Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue build. Each item description includes the most important affix to target for Masterworking upgrades. Check the Mythic Unique Items Guide for information on target-farming them.

• Azurewrath (required) deals the majority of damage output in this version of the Twisting Blades Rogue. Prioritize the highest Lucky Hit Chance to Deal Cold Damage value possible, enhanced with a Greater Affix and Masterworking Bonuses.
  • Masterworking Priority: Lucky Hit Chance to Deal Cold Damage
• Heir of Perdition (recommended) is best-in-slot for damage output
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Core Skills or Critical Strike Chance
• Cowl of the Nameless (optional) is another decent option if you do not have Heir of Perdition.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Unstable Elixirs or Trick Attacks
• Ring of Starless Skies (recommended) is a Mythic Unique Item that provides a highly valuable 1.5x multiplier. The downside is the unique effect requires some management to ramp up and maintain the buff stacks.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Ranks to Core Skills
• 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
• Fists of Fate (recommended) applies Vulnerable status to enemies. Prioritize a high roll on the unique effect for up to 50% more damage output.
  • Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Attack Speed

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Gems and Runewords

Listed below are the recommended Gems and Runewords to socket into your gear.

Gems

Equip the corresponding Gems into your Weapon, Armor, and Jewelry slots. If you are playing in Season 9, replace the Jewelry Gems with Horadric Jewels.

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).

Runewords

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. Check the Runewords Guide for more details.

Runewords	Effects
Yax Gar	Gain: 200 Offering — Drink a Healing Potion. Requires: 25 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%.
Igni (or Cir) Zec	Gain: 25 Offering — Stores offering every 0.3 seconds. Cast a non-Basic Skill to gain the stored offering. Requires: 100 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Seconds — Reduce your active Ultimate Cooldown by 1 second.

If you are already capped on Critical Strike Chance, replace Gar with Thul or Ohm.

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Paragon Board

Use the following Paragon Boards, Legendary Nodes, and Glyphs for the Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue.

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Horadric Spell and Jewels (Season 9)

Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim offers seasonal powers that can be utilized to enhance this build. Access Horadic Spells from the Powers tab in the character sheet, and place Horadic Jewels into Jewelry slots.

Horadric Spell

The Horadric Catalyst is the base power of your spell, attached to a Skill slot on the Skill bar and triggered when the Skill is cast. The Catalyst is combined with one Infusion that modifies the damage type, and three Arcana that enhance the baseline power of the spell.

Type	Power	Effect
Catalyst	Cosmic Anomaly (equipped on Shadow Clone)	Spawn Rate: Every 5 seconds Lucky Hit: 20% Passive: Manifest up to 5 Anomalies that emit particles which deal 866% damage over 4 seconds. Active: Command your Anomalies to converge and implode, dealing 3465% damage per detonation. Rank 10: While at 5 Anomalies, you are Unstoppable and the next implosion will deal double damage.
Infusion	Nebulous Extract	Your Spell Catalyst now deals Shadow and or Corrupting damage. Enemies hit by it deal 10% reduced damage for 7 seconds. While equipped, your Shadow Damage Bonus is equal to that of your highest Damage Type Bonus. Rank 5: Deactivates monster Summoner effects for 8 seconds.
Arcana	Bloody Charm	Your Catalyst gains a specialized Execute effect for non-Boss enemies with 20% or less Life. Cosmic Anomaly: Executes non-Boss enemies with its implosion. Successful Executions increase your Attack Speed by 20% for 8 seconds.
Arcana	Frigid Heart	Your Catalyst gains a specialized Freeze effect that lasts 5 seconds. Cosmic Anomaly: Anomalies have a 30% chance to preserve themselves instead of imploding and Freeze surrounding enemies for 5 seconds.
Arcana	Fractured Core	Your Catalyst deactivates monster Damage Resistance Aura effects for 5 seconds, but you take 10% more stacking damage for the same time.

Horadric Jewels

Insert the following Horadric Jewels into Jewelry slots to enhance the Horadric Spell.

Jewel	Effect
Idol From Below	You gain x6% primary stat, x6% Maximum Life and you are always Unhindered. However, you will be hunted in Sanctuary’s darkest places by Jewel Guardians who were entombed to protect this relic.
Myriad Stone	After you cast your Catalytic Skill, if it is an Ultimate, gain 30%[+] Attack Speed for 10 seconds.
Scornful Light	You deal x20% and take x10% more Elemental damage.

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: Raheir
  • Skills: Ground Slam, Raheir’s Aegis, Bastion, Inspiration
• Reinforcement: Varyana
  • Skill: Bloodthirst
  • Opportunity: Cast when the player casts Shadow Clone.

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Build Mechanics

This advanced Twisting Blade Rogue build revolves around Azurewrath to proc Cold damage. Twisting Blades is cast rapidly to apply a stacking debuff to ramp up damage dealt to enemies. Bladedancer’s Aspect causes 2 additional hits to proc Azurewrath more often.

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar, but is instead granted through Umbrous Aspect.

Resource Management

Energy Generation is necessary to repeatedly cast Twisting Blades. Ensure you have enough sustain from the following sources.

• Innervation Rank 3
• Combat and Fluidity Additional Bonuses
• Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource affixes on Weapons and Gloves
• Ring of Starless Skies
• Elixir of Resourcefulness II

Rotation and Playstyle

Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.

1. Use Dash to traverse quickly and close the gap to enemies.
2. Against bosses and tough elites, cast Poison Trap and Caltrops to deal maximum damage.
3. Cast Heartseeker to fulfill the Marksman Skill requirement of Close Quarters Combat.
4. Cast Shadow Clone to mimick attacks and activate No Witnesses.
5. Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
6. Cast Twisting Blades repeatedly to deal damage.

Elixirs and Incenses

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 Azurewrath Twisting Blades Rogue, ranked by importance.

1. Elixir of Resourcefulness II greatly helps with Energy issues, if you do not already have the appropriate Energy Generation. This elixir is highly recommended for starting characters to maintain the casting of Core Skills.
2. Elixir of Precision II provides the highest damage output increase, if not already capped at 100% Critical Strike Chance.
3. Elixir of Advantage II increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.

Incense can also be crafted at the Alchemist. Queen’s Supreme (Core Stat), Song of the Mountain (Defensive), and Soothing Spices (Resistance) are recommended. These Incenses are categorized into three separate groups and can be active simultaneously. The added Armor and Resistances are especially helpful to reach their caps.

Season 9 Updates

A brief summary of the seasonal changes is provided below. For a complete overview of Season 9, take a look at the comprehensive season guide.

• Close Quarters Combat
  • % of Damage to Close reduced from 25% to 10%.
  • Damage bonus is capped at 90%.
• Danse Macabre
  • Previous: Casting a Mobility or Subterfuge Skill increases the damage of your next Skill by 75%[x].
  • Now: Casting a Mobility or Subterfuge Skill increases your damage by 30%[x] for 10 seconds.

Changelog

• June 30, 2025: Guide created for Season 9 (Patch 2.3.0)