Rapid Fire Rogue Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 5)

Build Introduction

The Rapid Fire Rogue creates a laser beam of multiple arrows to snipe your foes. Each cast of Rapid Fire hits 8 times to deal high single-target damage to the toughest enemies, while Scoundrel’s Kiss provides the necessary Area-of-Effect (AoE) explosions to clear groups of enemies.

This endgame build guide requires Scoundrel’s Kiss to enable Rapid Fire to deal AoE damage, so it can be used as a main damage dealer for all activities in Diablo 4. If you do not have Scoundrel’s Kiss, Rapid Fire needs to be supplemented with another Core Skill that hits multiple enemies. Barrage can also be used as a singular Core Skill with piercing and ricocheting arrows to hit additional targets. Check the links below for the recommended ranged builds without Unique Item requirements.

If you are starting a new Rogue character, check out the recommended Rogue leveling builds.

Strengths and Weaknesses

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

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for the Rapid Fire Rogue (order does not matter)

Rapid Fire Heartseeker Dash Cold Imbuement Smoke Grenade Concealment

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

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. It is instead automatically activated by Umbrous Aspect.

Rapid Fire Rogue Specialization

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

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 Dual Core 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 (Control)

Socket Control for a damage multiplier against Frozen enemies, which is activated by Cold Imbuement.

2. Tricks of the Trade (Turf)

Rotate the Tricks of the Trade board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary node, and then Socket Turf for some valuable Damage Reduction. Prioritize leveling Turf to 15 for increased radius, as it is needed to allocate enough Strength to activate the additional bonus.

3. Cheap Shot (Canny)

Rotate the Cheap Shot board 3 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary node on this board. Socket Canny to increase non-physical damage, which includes attacks imbued by Cold Imbuement. Prioritize leveling Canny to 15 for the increased radius to obtain the additional bonus.

4. Exploit Weakness (Combat)

Rotate the Exploit Weakness board 2 times before attachment. Immediately obtain the Legendary Node on this board. Socket Combat to gain Critical Strike Damage for an increased damage bonus from Precision.

5. No Witnesses (Exploit)

Rotate the No Witnesses board 3 times before attachment. Socket Exploit for increased Vulnerable damage and additional Vulnerable applications. The Legendary Node on this board is not utilized.

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

Gear, Gems, Elixirs, and Stats

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 Rapid Fire 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	Name	Effect
Ranged Weapon (replaced by Skyhunter)	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)	Coldclip Aspect	Your Basic Skills are always Cold Imbued. You deal x [5 – 20%] increased damage to enemies who are Chilled or Frozen.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #1 (replaced by Condemnation)	Rapid Aspect	Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed.
Dual-Wielded Weapon Slot #2	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%.
Gloves (optional replacement with Fists of Fate)	Aspect of Retribution	Distant enemies have a 10% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you. You deal [15 – 30%] increased damage to Stunned and Knocked Down enemies.
Ring Slot #1	Scoundrel’s Kiss	Rapid Fire now lobs exploding arrows that deal [15% – 25%] increased damage.
Ring Slot #2 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies)	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [15 – 25%] for 3 seconds.
Helm (replaced by Harlequin Crest)	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds
Chest (Tyrael’s Might optional)	Aspect of Quickening Fog	You automatically drop a Smoke Grenade at the end of Dash. Smoke Grenades reduce Dash’s cooldown by [0.5 – 0.65] seconds for each enemy hit, up to [1.50 – 1.95] seconds.
Pants	Umbrous Aspect	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a [45 – 60%] chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Boots	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.

Gems

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

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Royal Emerald for increased Critical Strike Damage.	Royal Ruby for increased Maximum Life.	Any Resistance Gems needed or Royal Skull for Armor (up to the 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 Rapid Fire Rogue, ranked by importance.

1. Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
2. Elixir of Resource greatly helps with Energy issues, if you do not already have the appropriate Energy gear. This elixir is highly recommended for starting characters to maintain the casting of Core Skills.
3. Elixir of Fortitude is the best general-purpose option for survivability.
4. Elixir of Iron Barbs can provide a high amount of Physical Damage Reduction. Armor becomes more effective as you approach the Armor cap (9,320 against monster level 100 and above).
5. 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 Rapid Fire 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. Attempt to obtain all affixes in each line before moving to the next line. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades.

When comparing Legendary weapons with similar item levels, Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the higher Damage per Hit for Rapid Fire. Daggers are selected for the fastest weapon speed to generate Combo Points.

Precision increases the priority of Critical Strike Damage to scale the bonus multiplier, while reducing the need for Critical Strike Chance.

Prioritize Boots with the implicit effect, attacks reduce Evade’s cooldown, for constant Evades to activate Advanced Rapid Fire.

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.

Armor is only needed until capped at 9,230.

Check out our Tempering Guide for more details on Blacksmith upgrading.

Slot	Gear Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Weapons	1. Critical Strike Damage, Maximum Life 2. Life on Hit 3. Dexterity	Core Augments — Rogue (Weapon): Chance for Rapid Fire Projectiles to Cast Twice Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Dexterity, Lucky Hit Chance	Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life
Chest	1. Dexterity, Maximum Life 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Healing Received	Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Immobilize Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life
Gloves	1. Ranks to Rapid Fire, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Maximum Life, Life on Hit, Lucky Hit Chance	Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Stun
Pants	1. Dexterity, Maximum Life 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor	Worldly Fortune (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Freeze Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor or Maximum Life
Boots	Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Ranks to Dash, Maximum Life, Dexterity	Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement Speed Daze Control (Utility): Lucky Hit Chance to Daze
Amulet	1. Ranks to Unstable Elixirs, Frigid Finesse, and Weapon Mastery 2. Cooldown Reduction, Attack Speed	Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Cold Imbue Additional Casts Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud
Rings	1. Attack Speed 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Maximum Life, Life on Hit, Lucky Hit Chance	Imbuement Abundance (Resource): Cold Imbue Additional Casts Subterfuge Expertise (Offensive): Damage per Dark Shroud

Unique and Mythic Items

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

• Scoundrel’s Kiss is required to enable Rapid Fire to deal Area of Effect damage against groups of enemies.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Rapid Fire
• Skyhunter (recommended) synergies well with Precision to guarantee Critical Strikes, increase damage, and restore Energy.
  • Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage, or Chance for Marksman Projectiles to Cast Twice
• Condemnation (recommended) provides a 1.4x multiplier that works well in this Combo Points build.
  • Masterworking Priority: Basic Skill Attack Speed
• Harlequin Crest (recommended) provides a good amount of offense and defense, if you are lucky enough to find this Mythic Unique Item.
  • Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction
• 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
• Fists of Fate (optional) increases overall damage by 50% with a 300% value on the unique effect. They are comparable to well-rolled Legendary Gloves with Ranks to Rapid Fire, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, and an Offensive Aspect. The downside is the drastic damage range of the unique effect can cause an inconsistency in the hits required to kill enemies.
  • Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed
• Cowl of the Nameless (optional) provides the highest damage output when properly Masterworked.
  • Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Unstable Elixirs or Trick Attacks
• Tyrael’s Might (optional) is the best defensive option for a Chest Armor, although this Mythic Unique Item can be difficult to obtain. The divine barrage does not contribute a significant portion of the total damage in this build.
  • Masterworking Priority: Damage Reduction

Advanced Information

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

Build Mechanics

Rapid Fire has high single-target damage, but normally lacks the Area of Effect (AoE) damage to clear groups of enemies. Scoundrel’s Kiss provides the AoE explosions needed to enable Rapid Fire as a main damage dealer for all situations.

Dash is a Cutthroat Skill that activates Tricks of the Trade for additional damage on the next Rapid Fire. A Smoke Grenade is dropped at the end of Dash with Aspect of Quickening Fog, so Dash can be used offensively to land on top of enemies. Enhanced Smoke Grenade is allocated for enemies to take 25% increased damage.

Dark Shroud is not equipped on the Skill Bar. Dark Shrouds stacks are instead granted through Umbrous Aspect with the high amount of hits per cast from Rapid Fire.

Enhanced Cold Imbuement applies Vulnerable to enemies from Rapid Fire with Cold Imbuement activated or Heartseeker through Coldclip Aspect.

Innervation should provide enough Energy generation if you are taking the time to build 3 Combo Points before casting each Rapid Fire.

Resource Management

Skyhunter and Combat should provide enough Energy generation if you are taking the time to build 3 Combo Points before casting each Rapid Fire. Ring of Starless Skies is an option for additional resource management. You can also reallocate 2 Skill Points from Stutter Step into Innervation.

Crowd Controls and Boss Stagger

Cold Imbuement is utilized to activate Mixed Cold Imbuement, Frigid Finesse, Frostbitten Aspect, and Control for additional damage. These damage bonuses do not apply to Bosses unless they are Staggered.

Chill from Cold Imbuement and Lucky Hit Chance to Stun/Freeze/Daze/Immobilize tempers are utilized to quickly Stagger bosses. Repeated Crowd Controls of the same type in a short duration apply less Stagger to bosses, so separate sources of Crowd Controls are tempered for maximum effect. Make sure to optimize damage against Staggered bosses by activating Cold Imbuement.

Animation Cancel Technique

An Evade can be used immediately after using Rapid Fire to cancel the casting animation. This technique is important to quickly dodge incoming attacks while activating Advanced Rapid Fire. Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, allow for an animation cancel after using 3 Basic Attacks and a Core Skill. Practice hitting Evade after every Rapid Fire to build muscle memory.

Damage Rotation

Use the following rotation to optimize damage output.

1. Activate Concealment to move quickly between packs of enemies, or save it to break any Crowd Controls.
2. Use Evade to activate Advanced Rapid Fire.
3. Use a Potion to activate the damage buff from Unstable Elixirs.
4. Build 3 Combo Points with Heartseeker.
5. Dash on top of enemies to apply Enhanced Dash and automatically drop a Smoke Grenade.
6. Activate Cold Imbuement for damage increases from Mixed Cold Imbuement and Frigid Finesse.
7. Cast Rapid Fire at the target.
8. Immediately animation cancel Rapid Fire with an Evade to restart the rotation.

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.

Season 5: Infernal Hordes

The following list details the changes in the Season 5 Update (Patch 1.5.0) that may pertain to Rapid Fire Rogues. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.

• Scoundrel’s Kiss
  • Explosion radius increased by 10%.
• The visual effect for the Physical damage has been improved to be more consistent.
• Dash
  • Damage increased by 25% (0.32 to 0.4).
  • Additional functionality: Dash Slows enemies hit by 30% for 3 seconds.
• Enhanced Dash
  • Previous – Enemies damaged by Dash take 15% increased Critical Strike Damage from you for 5 seconds.
  • Now – Casting Dash increases your Critical Strike Chance by 10% for 5 seconds.
• Disciplined Dash
  • Previous – Dash Slows enemies it hits by 30% for 3 seconds. Any enemy already Slowed will be Dazed for 2 seconds instead.
  • Now – At the end of Dash, Knock Down surrounding enemies for 2 seconds and deal 350% of its damage to them.
• Methodical Dash
  • Previous – Dealing damage to Crowd Controlled enemies with Dash reduces its Charge Cooldown by 0.5 seconds, up to 4 seconds per cast.
  • Now – Dash has 1 additional Charge and its Charge Cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.
• Dark Shroud
  • You can now only lose 1 Dark Shroud shadow every 1.5 seconds.
• Enhanced Dark Shroud
  • Previous – Dark Shroud’s shadows have a 14% chance to not be Consumed.
  • Now – Each active Dark Shroud shadow grants you 5% increased Movement Speed and also has a 15% chance to not be Consumed.
• Subverting Dark Shroud
  • Previous – Each active shadow from Dark Shroud grants you 4% increased Movement Speed.
  • Now – You Heal for 10% of your Maximum Life when a Dark Shroud shadow is removed.
• Countering Dark Shroud
  • You only need 1 active shadow to get the bonus Critical Strike Chance instead of 2.
  • Critical Strike Chance increased from 8% to 10%.
• Smoke Grenade
  • Additional functionality: Smoke Grenade now deals 45% Physical damage, has a 25% Lucky Hit Chance, and its Skill Ranks now give increased damage and Cooldown Reduction.
• Enhanced Smoke Grenade
  • Previous – Enemies affected by Smoke Grenade take 25% increased damage from you.
  • Now – Enemies hit by Smoke Grenade take 25% increased damage from you for 5 seconds.
• Countering Smoke Grenade
  • Previous – Lucky Hit: Dealing direct damage to enemies affected by Smoke Grenade has up to a 25% chance to reduce its Cooldown by 1 second, or by 3 seconds instead if the enemy is Vulnerable.
  • Now – Hitting an Elite or Boss with Smoke Grenade reduces its Cooldown by 5 seconds.
• Subverting Smoke Grenade
  • Previous – If an enemy is Vulnerable, Slowed, or Chilled then Smoke Grenade will Daze them for 20% longer.
  • Now – Smoke Grenade now deals Poison damage and applies another 45% Poisoning damage over 5 seconds.
• Exploit Weakness
  • Previous – Whenever you deal damage to a Vulnerable enemy, they take 1%[x] increased damage from you for 6 seconds, up to 25%[x].
  • Now – Lucky Hit: Hitting a Vulnerable enemy has up to a 60% chance to increase your damage by 1%[x] for 25 seconds, up to 25%[x]. At 25 stacks the bonus remains for 6 seconds then expires.
• Tricks of the Trade
  • Previous – Your Marksman Skills grant your next Cutthroat Skill 25% increased damage. Your Cutthroat Skills grant your next Marksman Skill 25% increased damage.
  • Now – Your Marksman Skills grant your Cutthroat Skills 25% increased damage for 8 seconds. Your Cutthroat Skills grant your Marksman Skills 25% increased damage for 8 seconds.
• Cheap Shot
  • Previous – You deal 5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to 25%.
  • Now – You deal 5% increased damage for each Nearby enemy that is Crowd Controlled, up to 25%. A Nearby Staggered Boss provides the maximum bonus.

Changelog

• August 6th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).
• May 22th, 2024: Article changed to a pure Rapid Fire build. Moved the previous Dual Core Rapid Fire Flurry Rogue build guide to another page.
• May 15th, 2024: Priority Affixes updated with game changes made since the Season 4 PTR.
• May 14th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
• March 5th, 2024: Guide updated for the Mid Season 3 Update (Patch 1.3.3).
• January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0).
• October 17th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
• July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.