Barrage Endgame Rogue Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 1)

Build Introduction

The Barrage Rogue unleashes multiple arrows in an arcing area to prevent foes from escaping their demise. This is your guide to building a character for endgame activities in Diablo 4, with optimized Skill Points, Legendary Item Aspects, and Paragon.

Barrage is the perfect Core Skill for players wanting a simple playstyle that is effective for any battle. It can be used to deliver a spread of arrows to hit multiple enemies within a pack, or casted up close to tougher elites and bosses to shotgun them with every arrow.

This build is decent for general farming activities, but it is not the most ideal Rogue build. The top recommended builds for Rogue are Twisting Blades and Dual Core Flurry Rapid Fire. Be sure to check the other builds out before deciding on Barrage Rogue.

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.

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 Malignant

Season 1 Patch Updates

The following list details the changes in the Season 1 Patch Update that are specific to this build. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.

• Siphoning Strikes now also requires a Lucky Hit chance of 75%.
• Enhanced Dark Shroud’s chance to not be consumed increased from 10% to 14%.
• Concealment Stealth duration increased from 4 to 5 seconds.
• Aspect of Retribution bonus damage to Stunned reduced from 20-40% to 10-20%.
• Aspect of Disobedience maximum stacks reduced from 100 to 60, reducing maximum Bonus Armor % from 25%-50% to 15%-30%.
• Vengeful Aspect Lucky Hit Chance increased from 30-50% to 40-60%.

In addition to the build specific changes, multiple sources of Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage were reduced globally for all classes. Rogues did not receive any major nerfs to damage directly to their class. The biggest direct change to Rogues is the addition of a Lucky Hit Chance requirement for Siphoning Strikes, significantly reducing their survivability. All other classes received much heavier nerfs, making Rogue a top pick for season 1.

Patch 1.1.1

The second major update for Season 1 brings a few buffs to Rogues in Patch 1.1.1, released on August 8th, 2023. The only change directly affecting the Barrage build is the Lucky Hit chance increase from 75% to 85% for Siphoning Strikes, reducing the nerf made at the beginning of Season 1.

Best Malignant Hearts Tier List for Barrage Rogue

The Season 1 theme introduces Malignant Hearts that provide build-altering bonuses. The hearts are divided into 4 categories, each with a color that needs to be socketed in the corresponding colored Malignant Socket on equipped jewelry. Wrathful Hearts are a special case due to their rarity, and can be placed in any Socket. 

Always socket Malignant Hearts instead of a Skull in Jewelry. Malignant Hearts provide an Armor bonus that scales with its Item Power.

Listed below is the Malignant Heart Tier List for Barrage Rogue, ranked by importance. Stats displayed reflect what a Level 20 character would receive as a drop.

1. Caged Heart of The Barber (Wrathful, Super-World Tier III): Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within 2.0-4.0 seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 10% per second. – Fixed in Patch 1.1.1 to work with “on hit” effects and Lucky Hit chance.
2. Caged Heart of Revenge (Brutal, Defensive-World Tier III): 10-20% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250% and explodes, dealing up to 1360-2040 Fire damage to Nearby enemies.
3. Caged Heart of Tempting Fate (Vicious, Offensive-World Tier III): You gain 40-60% Critical Strike Damage but your Non-Critical Strikes deal 20-15% less damage.
4. Caged Heart of the Dark Dance (Vicious, Offensive-World Tier III): Every 5 seconds while above 60% Life, Core Skills cost 68-51 Life instead of your Primary Resource. Skills that consume Life deal 10-20% increased damage.
5. Caged Heart of the Picana (Vicious, Offensive): Critical Strikes electrically charge the enemy for 0.75-2.50 seconds, causing lightning to arc between them and any other charged enemies dealing 68-136 Lightning damage.
6. Caged Heart of Cluster Munitions (Vicious, Offensive): Lucky Hit: You have up to a 20% chance to launch 3 Stun Grenades that deal 26-32 Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.50 seconds.
7. Caged Heart of the Clipshot (Devious, Utility): Lucky Hit: Up to a 20-40% chance for your Cutthroat Skills to Slow by 40% for 3 seconds and your Marksman Skills to Knock Back enemies.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for Barrage Rogue (order does not matter)

Barrage Puncture Shadow Imbuement Dash Shadow Step Concealment

The following tables show the full allocation of Skill Points for the Barrage 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
Puncture Level 1, Enhanced Puncture, Fundamental Puncture	Basic Skill
Barrage Level 5, Enhanced Barrage, Advanced Barrage Sturdy Level 3, Siphoning Strikes Level 3	Core Skill
Dash Level 1, Enhanced Dash, Disciplined Dash Shadow Step, Enhanced Shadow Step, Methodical Shadow Step Weapon Mastery Level 3	Agility Skill
Concealment Level 1, Enhanced Stealth, Countering Stealth Dark Shroud Level 1, Enhanced Dark Shroud, Subverting Dark Shroud (Not equipped on Skill Bar) 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
Close Quarters Combat	Key Passives

Remaining Renown Points	Cluster
Stutter Step Level 3	Core Skill
Precision Imbuement Level 3	Basic Skill

Barrage Rogue Specialization

Combo Points is the preferred Rogue Specialization for general farming due to the burst damage playstyle of Barrage Rogue. Build Combo Points with Puncture to unleash additional damage and arrows for Barrage.

Paragon

The Paragon progression system unlocks at Level 50 and provides a vast amount of character power. On the Paragon Board, bonuses range from minor stats on Magic Nodes to more powerful Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes.

As you path towards Glyph Sockets and Legendary Nodes, you should prioritize Damage, Dexterity, Resistance, and Life for Normal and Magic Nodes. Glyph radius increases as you level them up. Therefore, if you cannot fulfill Additional Bonus requirements early on, skip allocating extra nodes for now.

Listed below are the Legendary Nodes and Rare Glyphs to use for the Barrage Rogue build, sorted in the order obtained in Paragon.

Name	Effect
Chip	• For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +2% increased Physical damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 40 Dexterity purchased in radius range): Physical damage increases the damage an enemy takes from you by 1%, up to 10%, for 15 seconds.
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.
Exploit	• For every 5 Strength purchased within range, you deal + [3.85%] 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.
Exploit Weakness	Whenever you deal damage to a Vulnerable enemy, they take 1% increased damage from you for 6 seconds, up to 15%.
Devious	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.
Cheap Shot	You deal x5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to x25%.
Combat	• For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, Core Skills deal +4% 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)
Control	For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal + [14.21%] increased damage to Crowd Controlled targets. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Intelligence purchased in radius range): You deal x10% increased damage to Slowed or Chilled enemies or, instead, x20% increased damage to Stunned or Frozen enemies.

Starting Board

1. Path right and up to Prime. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
2. Continue up to the first Glyph Socket. Insert Chip and purchase all Dexterity nodes in radius range for the Additional Bonus.
3. Obtain Lawless nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Armor.
4. Obtain Skillful nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Damage.
5. Continue up the right side to the Board Attachment Gate at the top. Attach Tricks of the Trade after rotating the board clockwise 2 times. The Glyph Socket should be located in the top-left quadrant.

Tricks of the Trade (2nd Board)

1. Path up and left to Brawler. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
2. Continue up and right to Tricks of the Trade.
3. Path back left and up to Lawless. Purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Armor.
4. Continue up to the Glyph Socket. Insert Exploit and purchase all Strength nodes in radius range. Exploit needs to be at least level 15 for the increased radius range to fulfill its Additional Bonus.
5. Obtain Focused nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Damage to Elites.
6. Continue up and left to Havoc. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
7. Take the shortest route to the Board Attachment Gate at the top. Attach Exploit Weakness without any rotations to the board. The Glyph Socket should be located in the bottom-left quadrant.

Exploit Weakness (3rd Board)

1. Path up and left the Glyph Socket. Insert Devious and purchase 40 Dexterity from nodes in radius range.
2. Obtain Artifice nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Vulnerable Damage.
3. Obtain Dosage nearby.
4. Path back right and up to Exploit. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
5. Continue up and left to Exploit Weakness.
6. Path back right and up to Unassailable. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
7. Take the shortest route to the Board Attachment Gate on the right. Attach Cheap Shot after rotating the board clockwise 3 times. The Glyph Socket should be located in the top half.

Cheap Shot (4th Board)

1. Path right to the Glyph Socket. Insert Combat and purchase all Intelligence nodes in radius range.
2. Obtain Devious nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies.
3. Obtain Wiles nearby and purchase 3 Magic Nodes providing Damage Reduction from Slowed Enemies.
4. Path back left and down to Cheap Shot.
5. Path back left and down to Oppress. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
6. Take the shortest route to the Board Attachment Gate on the bottom. Attach No Witnesses after rotating the board clockwise 1 time. The Glyph Socket should be located in the left half.

No Witnesses (5th Board)

The Legendary Node in this board is not used.

1. Path down and right to Ruin. Purchase all 5 surrounding Magic Nodes.
2. Continue down and left to the Glyph Socket. Take Exploit out of the Tricks of the Trade board and put it into the recently obtained Glyph Socket. Purchase all Strength nodes in radius range. Put Control into the Glyph Socket in the Tricks of the Trade board and purchase all Intelligence in radius range.
3. Obtain Knowledge nearby, along with 3 Magic Nodes providing Damage.
4. Obtain Training nearby.

Click this link and check the Paragon page on the planner for a visual of the entire tree.

Mechanics and Playstyle

Barrage fires arrows in an arc similar to Multishot skills in other ARPG games, making it useful for killing multiple enemies spread out in a pack. Barrage can also be casted right next to elites and bosses to shotgun them with all arrows for high single target Damage Per Second (DPS).

Even though multiple targets can be hit with the barrage of arrows and ricochets, Area of Effect (AoE) is limited without a piercing effect. Therefore, Shadow Imbuement is utilized to explode larger groups of enemies.

This ranger build has an arsenal of both Marksman Skills (Barrage and Puncture) and Cutthroat Skills (Shadow Step and Dash) to activate damage increases from Close Quarters Combat and Tricks of the Trade.

Vulnerable

Fundamental Puncture easily applies Vulnerable to a target with a single Basic attack. Aim Puncture at the toughest enemies in a pack. In group play, apply this debuff to Elites and Bosses so your teammates deal 20% more damage.

Animation Cancel Technique

An Evade can be used immediately after using Barrage to cancel their casting animations. This technique is important to quickly dodge incoming attacks or advance forward. Boots with the implicit effect, attacks reduce Evade’s cooldown by 1.2 seconds, allow for an animation cancel after using 3 Basic Attacks and a Core Skill. Practice hitting Evade after every Core Skill to build muscle memory.

Damage Rotation

Use the following rotation to optimize DPS.

1. Build 3 Combo Points with Puncture.
2. Dash through a group of enemies to apply Enhanced Dash or cast Shadow Step on the toughest enemy. Both skills activate Tricks of the Trade for the next Barrage, as well as Close Quarters Combat for 8 seconds.
3. (Optional) Activate Shadow Imbuement for AoE against larger groups of enemies.
4. Cast Barrage to deal damage. Stand next to elites or bosses to shotgun them with all arrows.
5. Immediately animation cancel Barrage.
6. Restart the rotation.

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 Barrage 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, Swords are preferred over Daggers for higher damage per hit and the Critical Strike Damage implicit. Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the Vulnerable Damage implicit.

Make sure you have Boots with the implicit effect, attacks reduce Evade’s cooldown by 1.2 seconds. The implicit effect allows for an Evade to animation cancel every Barrage after casting Puncture 3 times. Upgrade Boots with at least 700 Item Power at the Blacksmith to get the max cooldown reduction value.

Stat Priority List

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Barrage Rogues. Each line of affixes are listed in order of importance. Affixes on the same line are considered to be equally important, since their exact values differ for each character. All stats have an effect that is dependent on how much is already stacked. Bolded stats are the most important and sometimes vital for the build to function properly.

Legendary Aspects and Codex of Power

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Barrage 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.

Aspect of Branching Volleys is not used, despite it being the only Barrage Aspect available. The 25% chance for an extra arrow that only does 40% base damage is not worthwhile compared to other Offensive Aspects with damage increases.

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)	Aspect of Retribution	Distant enemies have a 8% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal [10 – 20%] increased damage to Stunned enemies.
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	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.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2, Rings or Gloves	Smiting Aspect	You have [10 – 20%] increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. While you are Healthy, you gain [20 – 40%] increased Crowd Control Duration.
Helm, 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.
Helm, Chest or Pants	Aspect of Disobedience	You gain [0.25 – 0.50%] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [15.00 – 30.00%].
Helm, Chest or Pants	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds
Boots	Ravager’s Aspect	Shadow Step has an additional Charge. Killing an enemy with Shadow Step refunds a Charge and increases the damage of Shadow Step by [1 – 6%] for 2 seconds, up to [5 – 30%].

Unique Items

Condemnation

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.

This Unique Dagger synergies well with this Combo Points build for an additional damage multiplier.

Not Recommended Unique items

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

• Penitent Greaves – These Unique Boots provide a small damage increase, but the rest of the affixes are a bit lacking. Legendary Boots with the implicit effect, attacks reduce Evade’s cooldown, are needed if you plan on utilizing the constant animation canceling playstyle.
• Skyhunter – This Unique Bow is a huge DPS loss compared to a Legendary Crossbow with well-rolled affixes, a Vulnerable Damage implicit and an Offensive Aspect with +100% bonus effect on 2-Handed Weapons.
• 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 +3 Ranks for all Core Skills, but Legendary Gloves with +4 Ranks of Barrage are better. The summoned Shadow Clone attack does significantly less damage than the original attack being copied.
• 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 Rapid Fire and Flurry 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: Malignant Hearts if playing Season 1. Otherwise, Royal Skull for Armor.

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. Craft a Precision Elixir or Assault Elixir.

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

• August 30th, 2023: Not Recommended Unique Items section added.
• August 2nd, 2023: Patch 1.1.1 section added with another Siphoning Strike change.
• July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.