Twisting Blades Rogue Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 1)

Build Introduction

The Twisting Blades Rogue build eviscerates your foes before they know what hit them. This is your guide to building a character for endgame activities in Diablo 4, with the optimal setup for Skills, Gear and Paragon.

Twisting Blades hits hard with two sources of damage per cast. The target is first damaged with an impale, followed by an even more damaging hit when the blades are ripped out to fly back to the Rogue. The blades pierce through all enemies on the return flight, dealing more damage with proper positioning. With buffs to the opening Twisting Blades, this build is capable of one-shotting Elites and wiping out entire packs of mobs instantly.

This fast-paced burst leveling build is perfect for players that want a more complex and involved playstyle. Fly through the battlefield with the Twisting Blades Rogue! Alternatively, check out the Dual Core Rapid Fire Flurry Rogue for an even faster speed farming build.

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.

Video Overview and Gameplay Footage

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%.
• 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 Twisting Blades 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 Twisting Blades 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 Hearts Tier List for Twisting Blades 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. Check the Barber Variant section for the setup details.
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 Twisting Blades Rogue (order does not matter)

Twisting Blades Puncture Shadow Imbuement Concealment Shadow Step Dash

The following tables show the full allocation of Skill Points for the Twisting Blades Rogue build. The first table has the most important 48 points to start the build. The second table has the remaining 10 points that are allocated once you obtain all Skill Points from Renown.

Priority Skills	Cluster
Puncture Level 1, Enhanced Puncture, Fundamental Puncture	Basic Skill
Twisting Blades Level 5, Enhanced Twisting Blades, Improved Twisting Blades Sturdy Level 3, Siphoning Strikes Level 3	Core Skill
Dash Level 1, Enhanced Dash Shadow Step Level 1, Enhanced Shadow Step, Methodical Shadow Step Weapon Mastery Level 3 Concussive Level 3, Trick Attacks Level 1	Agility Skill
Concealment Level 1, Enhanced Stealth, Countering Stealth Exploit Level 3, Malice Level 3 Agile Level 3	Subterfuge Skill
Shadow Imbuement Level 1, Enhanced Shadow Imbuement, Blended Shadow Imbuement Shadow Crash Level 1, Consuming Shadows Level 3	Imbuement Skill
Close Quarters Combat	Key Passives

Remaining Renown Points	Cluster
Adrenaline Rush Level 1, Haste Level 3 Innervation Level 3 (switch to Frigid Finesse Level 3 if using Penitent Greaves)	Ultimate Skill
Stutter Step Level 3	Core Skill

Twisting Blades Rogue Specialization

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

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 Twisting Blades 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. This Glyph is moved to the socket in the 5th board later.
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

The Twisting Blade Rogue build is more involved to play than most others. Twisting Blades damage is increased by several buffs to cause a devastating hit. Combo Points can be generated for additional damage. Shadow Imbuement turns the attack into Shadow damage. Finally, Concealment guarantees your opener to be a Critical Hit.

After the first victim is impaled by Twisting Blades, Dash and Shadow Step are used to reposition around other enemies so the returning blades can hit them. The flying blades retain the damage buffs of the initial impale, including the guaranteed Critical Hit!

Damage is increased further with Close Quarters Combat, Concussive, Malice, Exploit, Precision Imbuement and Impetus.

Survivability is gained through Agile and Sturdy, while Siphoning Strikes sustains Life.

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

Status Effects

The Twisting Blades Rogue utilizes Crowd Control effects to render Elites helpless. Methodical Shadow Step Stuns for 2 seconds and closes the gap. Follow up with Twisting Blades to Daze your target. Once Dazed, Critical Hits activate Trick Attacks to continuously Knock Down the enemy.

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

Stack Damage to Vulnerable, Dazed, Stunned and Controlled Enemies on gear and the Paragon Board to scale your damage further.

AoE Damage Rotation

Explode groups of mobs with the following rotation.

1. (Optional) Initiate combat with Shadow Step to close the gap, targeting the toughest opponent to Stun it.
2. Rapidly cast Puncture three times to build up Combo Points.
3. Immediately activate both Concealment and Shadow Imbuement to buff your next attack.
4. Cast Twisting Blades on the target.
5. Use Dash or Evade to move through any additional enemies so the returning blades pierce through them.
6. Use Puncture to finish off any injured enemies, generate Energy and build Combo Points for your next Twisting Blades.
7. Cast additional Twisting Blades on any remaining enemies with high health.
8. Repeat the rotation when cooldowns are ready.

Single Target Damage Rotation with Combo Points

Use the following rotation against Bosses for high sustained single target DPS.

1. (Optional) Close the gap to the target with Shadow Step.
2. Rapidly cast Puncture three times to build up Combo Points. Stand close enough to the target to hit twice, applying Vulnerable.
3. If not on cooldown, activate Concealment to guarantee the next Critical Hit.
4. If not on cooldown, activate Shadow Imbuement for more damage.
5. Cast Twisting Blades once on the target.
6. Repeat the rotation. Get into the rhythm of casting 3 Basic attacks for Combo Points before each Twisting Blades.

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 Twisting Blades 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. The DPS value on ranged weapons does not matter, so prioritize affix values instead. Crossbows are preferred over Bows for the Vulnerable Damage implicit.

Stat Priority List

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Twisting Blades 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 Twisting Blades 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)	Bladedancer’s Aspect	Twisting Blades orbit for a short time after they return to you, dealing [10 – 15%] of Twisting Blades’ return damage per hit. Based on the distance the blades returned, the orbit damage increases up to [20 – 30%] of the return damage.
Amulet (+50 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.
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	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.
Helm, Chest or Pants	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.
Helm, Chest or Pants	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2 – 6] seconds
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%].
Boots (replaced by Penitent Greaves)	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.

Penitent Greaves

Penitent Greaves – You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal [7 – 10%] more damage to Chilled enemies.

These Boots provide a decent damage increase in the Unique Effect, but the rest of the affixes are a bit lacking. They are worth using when combined with Frigid Finesse to apply Chill for a damage increase.

Not Recommended Unique items

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

• 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 Twisting Blades 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 Twisting Blades 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.

Barber Variant for Twisting Blades Rogue

Caged Heart of The Barber is available in Season 1 of Diablo 4. A faster speed farming setup for Twisting Blades Rogue is possible with this Malignant Wrathful Heart. The explosion from The Barber is Shadow Damage; therefore, it activates Consuming Shadows for Energy generation.

This Barber Variant still has Puncture equipped as a Basic Attack to utilize Combo Points, Aspect of the Expectant, Condemnation, Close Quarters Combat and Tricks of the Trade. This variant is the best setup for speed farming or pushing Nightmare Dungeons.

Patch 1.1.1 Update: Caged Heart of The Barber has been fixed to work with “on hit” effects and Lucky Hit chance and no longer has any downsides other than the delay. The Wrathful Heart can be used in the original version of the build. Nothing needs to change to use the Caged Heart of The Barber. Simply switch Shadow Imbuement to Mixed Cold Imbuement, since Caged Heart of The Barber already deals exploding Shadow Damage for Consuming Shadows.

How to Farm for Caged Heart of the Barber

August 9th, 2023 Hotfix Update: Wrathful Invokers can now drop from Elites, and they can easily be obtained while farming Nightmare Dungeons. Use the Wrathful Invokers at the end of Malignant Tunnels for a chance of Caged Heart of The Barber dropping. You no longer need to go out of your way to get Wrathful Hearts, but the previous strategy is still listed below if desired.

1. Enter the Ravening Pit Malignant Tunnel in Dry Steppes.
2. Circle around the first area of the Malignant Tunnel to check 3 Malignant Elites for the Wrathful affix. Killing a Wrathful Elite drops a Wrathful Heart that has a chance of being Caged Heart of The Barber. Finishing non-Wrathful Malignant Elites is optional, as waiting for them to spawn takes some time.
3. Check the 4th Malignant Elite in the next main room for another chance of a Wrathful Heart. There is no need to go further into the last 2 rooms.
4. Leave dungeon through the Emote Wheel. Then open the World Map and click the Reset Dungeons button in the Journal tab. Re-enter the Ravening Pit to restart the farming strategy steps.

Skill Tree Points for Barber Twisting Blades Rogue

An active Caged Heart of The Barber effect that is storing damage on an enemy prevents other “on hit” effects from working, including Fundamental Puncture, Siphoning Strikes and Innervation. Patch 1.1.1 fixes Caged Heart of The Barber to work with “on hit” effects and Lucky Hit chance. The following changes are made from the original version of Twisting Blades Rogue.

• Shadow Imbuement is switched to Mixed Cold Imbuement, since Caged Heart of The Barber already deals exploding Shadow Damage for Consuming Shadows.
• Siphoning Strikes Level 3 is changed to Precision Imbuement Level 3, or Frigid Finesse Level 3 if not already obtained.
• Switch to Subverting Stealth to apply Vulnerable against Bosses, since Fundamental Puncture does not work while Caged Heart of The Barber is active.

Changelog

• August 30th, 2023: Not Recommended Unique Items section added.
• August 9th, 2023: Barber Farming Strategy updated with new hotfix change.
• August 8th, 2023: Guide updated with Caged Heart of The Barber fixed to work with “on hit” effects and Lucky Hit chance in Patch 1.1.1.
• August 2nd, 2023:
  • Patch 1.1.1 section added with another Siphoning Strike change.
  • Video guide added.
• July 31th, 2023: Penitent Greaves and Barber Variant added.
• July 18th, 2023: Paragon redone to include a 5th board and more Rare Node bonuses.
• July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.
• July 14th, 2023: Stat Priority List reevaluated.
• July 12th, 2023: Aspects reevaluated.