Diablo 4 Barrage Rogue Endgame Build Guide

When it comes to the Rogue class in Diablo 4, life and death are only a matter of your distance and position from the enemy. This squishy class might have a lot of vulnerabilities but when played right, the Rogue is also one of the deadliest as well. We’re going to share with you a well-balanced build for the Rogue.

This build is going to focus on the Barrage skill of the Rogue. Because of the versatility of the skill, you can adjust how you use it depending on how far you are from the enemy. The end result is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none character which isn’t exactly a bad thing in this case, and you’ll see why later on.

The Master Gunner

Though not really a gunner, this build makes the Rogue feel like one because of Barrage. When you use it from afar, it can act like an assault rifle that can deal damage to huge groups of enemies. If you want to dish out burst damage up close, all you need to do is swoop in with Shadow Step and let Barrage hit a single target.

Of course, this is easier said than done. If you really want to maximize the power of this build, you’re going to want to follow a few things from this guide. Namely, the Caged Hearts and skill points allocation is very important. On the upside, you don’t need to worry too much about Unique loot and Legendary Aspects. 

Let’s talk about the Caged Hearts first.

Caged Hearts

1. Caged Heart of the Barber

Effect: 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 11%[x] per second.

What’s great about this build is that it gives you lots of opportunities for dealing damage to groups of enemies. That’s going to be an excellent partner with Caged Heart of the Barber. With this caged Heart, you can quickly kill off weaker enemies in mobs once the stored damage erupts.

2. Caged Heart of Cluster Munitions

Effect: Lucky Hit: You have up to a 20% chance to launch 2 Stun Grenades that deal [1 - 1] Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.50 seconds. (Rogue Only)

It’s always good to use Lucky Hit mechanics when you have abilities that hit enemies multiple times. Barrage is that skill for this build. The Stun Grenades are a good way to crowd-control enemies. While the damage isn’t very useful, the 0.50 Stune definitely is, especially if you can do it to groups of enemies who are charging at you.

3. Caged Heart of Tempting Fate

Effect: You gain [45 - 65]%[+] Critical Strike Damage but your Non-Critical Strikes deal [20 - 25]%[x] less damage.

Again, this is another excellent Caged Heart for builds with Skills that hit enemies multiple times.  The trade-off is very easy to overlook in this case as the Critical Strike Damage bonus is way too big to pass up on. To mitigate the downside of Tempting Fate, we’re going to focus on passives that boost Critical Strike Chance.

Specialization

For this build, you’re going to want to get the Combo Points Specialization. The benefits of it for your Core Skills are as follows:

That being said, you’re going to want to be patient when it comes to using Barrage. You want to make sure that you’re at level 3 before using the skill so that you can deal the most damage with it. At level 3, you can deal inside amounts of damage to single targets.

Skill Point Allocation

1. Puncture - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Puncture, Fundamental Puncture

Puncture will be our Basic Skill for this build simply because of its attack speed. It’s important to choose a Basic Skill that can damage fast because you want to get 3 Combo Points as quickly as possible. Aside from that, Puncture is going to give you a source of Vulnerable which can further ramp up your damage.

2. Barrage - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Barrage, Advanced Barrage

Barrage is an amazing skill that’s probably the most versatile in the arsenal of the Rogue. It’s excellent for both close-range and distant combat scenarios. If you equip the Aspect of Branching Volleys, your arrows can ricochet from enemy to enemy, so they can deal more damage.

As it ricochets, you can take advantage of the Lucky Hit mechanics that you have, as well as the Critical Strike Bonuses.

3. Stutter Step - 3 Skill Points

It’s very important that you have a good movement speed with this build as positioning is very important. Stutter Step is going to give you many opportunities for movement speed bonuses, which you can get whenever you critically hit an enemy.

4. Shadow Step - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Shadow Step, Disciplined Shadow Step

Shadow Step will serve two purposes for this build. It can be used to escape and it can be used to close distances between you and enemies. You’d mostly want to keep this as a means of closing distances as you can still dodge whenever you get in trouble. Thanks to the way this build is done though, you can get Shadow Step out of cooldown very quickly.

5. Weapon Mastery - 3 Skill Points

Almost all Rogue builds use Weapon Mastery. The damage bonus it provides to your Rogue is just too hard to pass up on. Since you’re using a dagger for this build, you can get a 15% damage bonus to enemies. Alternatively, you can also use a crossbow which can help put a distance between you and enemies easily.

6. Dark Shroud - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Dark Shroud, Subverting Dark Shroud

Dark Shroud is an excellent way to mitigate enemy damage while you’re using Barrage at close range. The defenses this gives you will be more than enough to help you deal a significant amount of damage that ramps up thanks to our Build. Don’t be afraid to use Dark Shroud as a means of escape as well.

7. Smoke Grenade - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Smoke Grenade, Countering Smoke Grenade

This is going to be your main source of Daze and crowd control for this build. You can use it offensively and defensively. When defensively, you can use this skill to prevent enemies from surrounding you completely. Offensively, you simply need to use this and then use Shadow Step to close the distance before unleashing your damaging abilities.

8. Exploit - 3 Skill Points

Exploit gives you damage bonuses to Healthy and Injured enemies. It’s a great ability to have so that you’re guaranteed to deal extra damage regardless of what state your enemies are in. Exploit is a must for heavy-damage-focused builds like this one.

9. Malice - 3 Skill Points

Your main source for Vulnerable with this build is Puncture. Since you’re going to be using Puncture mostly to get Energy and to accrue Combo Points, that means you’re going to proc Vulnerable many times too. Malice is a great passive that takes advantage of that status effect.

10. Shadow Imbuement - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Shadow Imbuement,  Mixed Shadow Imbuement

This is going to be an amazing skill when partnered with Barrage. This will help you destroy trash mobs very quickly thanks to the Shadow damage it spreads. For the most part, you’re going to want to use this to clear our dense mobs when you see it. It’s an excellent skill for tight dungeons too.

11. Cold Imbuement - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Cold Imbuement,  Mixed Cold Imbuement

In most cases, you’re going to be chased down by enemies that are quick but deal less damage. Enemies like these can easily overwhelm you so it’s best to slow them down. Cold Imbuement allows you to Chill and then Freeze enemies eventually so use it for crowd control.

12. Precision Imbuement - 3 Skill Points

Throughout this build, you’re going to swap between both Imbuements regularly. Since that’s the case, you need this passive to get Critical Strike Chance bonuses whenever you’re actively engaging with the enemy.

13. Frigid Finesse - 3 Skill Points

Thanks to Cold Imbuement, you can apply Freeze and Chill quite effectively with this build. That gives you even more damage bonuses regardless if you’re going up against groups of enemies or single targets. Frigid Finesse is a must even if you only have Cold Imbuement as a skill.

14. Innervation - 3 Skill Points

This is going to be our primary source of Energy generation with this build. With Puncture hitting fast and with Barrage hitting multiple times, it’s relatively easy to proc Lucky Hit mechanics with this passive. This can be an endless source of Energy if you’re lucky.

15. Alchemist’s Fortune - 3 Skill Points

Since your skills are going to be Imbued most of the time, you’ll have a lot of opportunities to start dealing Non-Physical Damage. This helps proc the effects of Innervation, as well as our other Lucky Hit mechanics for this build.

16. Adrenaline Rush - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to gain access to the next passive.

17. Haste - 3 Skill Points

Haste gives you sufficient Movement Speed and Attack Speed bonuses depending on the state of your life. Both bonuses are very important. Movement Speed is important for repositioning and escaping. Attack Speed, on the other hand, is vital for Energy generation and our Lucky Hit mechanics.

18. Precision - 1 Skill Point

Precision is a deadly passive to have especially if you partner it with Barrage. You’re going to get massive Critical Strike Bonuses the more you use Barrage, which in itself, deals a ton of hits already.

Gameplay

Barrage is a very versatile Skill. How you use it will depend on the current situation. If you see a huge mob of enemies from afar, you can begin fighting them by using Barrage from a distance. The skill and Caged Heart of the Barber will help you pick off some of the enemies on the mob, so that they don’t hit as hard collectively.

Keep in mind however, that you’ll still need to activate Combo Points first. Use Puncture on the nearest enemy and wait until you accrue 3 Combo Points. Once done, that’s when you can unleash Barrage.

With the mobs cleared and only the Elites or the durable enemies left, the next course of action would be to swoop in with Shadow Step. The closer you are to a single-target, the better as that would mean that Barrage will be focused on a smaller area. In this case, the goal is to make sure that the single target absorbs all of the arrows coming from Barrage.

Shadow Step can also be used as you get out of jail card when needed so make sure that you always have it prepared. That, or you need to have dodged at least.

You can use Smoke Grenade to apply Daze to enemies. You can also get a huge damage bonus for your Barrage while the skill is active.

Your Imbuements are going to be reserved for different scenarios too. Use Shadow to clear out dense mobs. On the other hand, you Cold Imbuement to crowd control enemies that are too fast for your liking.

Aspects

For this build, make sure you get the following Aspects from Codex of Powers at the end of dungeons.

• ‍Aspect of Branching Volleys in Shadowed Plunged  (Hawezar)

• ‍Aspect of the Expectant in Underrot (Scosglen)

• ‍Cheat's in Luban's Rest (Scosglen)

• ‍Corruption in Renegade's Retreat (Kehjistan)

• ‍Disobedience in Halls of the Damned (Kehjistan)

• ‍Edgemaster’s in Oldstones (Scosglen)

• ‍Eluding Aspect in Caldera Gate (Fractured Peaks)

• ‍Might in Dark Ravine (Dry Steppes)

• ‍Vengeful Aspect in Inferno (Kehjistan)

• ‍Wind Striker Aspect in Shivta Ruins (Kehjistan)

The only Legendary Aspect you really want to look out for is Umbrous Aspect. This amazing Legendary Aspect can give you an extra use of Dark Shroud whenever you make Critical Strikes with your Marksman Skills. Since Barrage can procure those easily, Dark Shroud will be available most of the time.

As for Unique Loot, try to hunt down Harlequin Crest. This is a Unique Helm for Rogues that can greatly increase your durability. Aside from the huge Damage Reduction bonus, you can also get plus 4 on all of your Skills.

Shoot Them Down

This run-and-gun build for the Rogue is great as it gives you the firepower to take on mobs and bosses. Its versatility is unmatched, as far as Rogue builds go. Thanks to its versatility, there’s no doubt that you can bring this build way into the end of Diablo 4 Season 1.