Endgame guide for Diablo 4 Season 7 Twisting Blades Rogue

Twisting Blades is one of the most versatile builds to use during Diablo 4's endgame. It relies on the player’s skill and the high damage of the blades' returning action. The blade tracks the position of the player while it returns to them, dealing massive damage to the enemies in between. If the player has the skills to successfully kite enemies in a group, they can easily defeat large mobs.

Characters with a higher Critical rate and Critical damage will deal significantly more damage. With more aspects and higher-tier gear, it is possible to further increase the abilities of the Twisting Blades build.

To achieve the full potential of the Twisting Blades build, players must have a higher survivability rate (you will achieve this with Dark Shroud, which gives damage reduction) and mobility.

Additionally, it’s crucial to have a high Critical strike chance and Critical strike damage rate, as well as increased damage towards Vulnerable enemies (since we will be focusing on dealing Vulnerable damage to enemies using Shadow Imbuement).

Note: Some aspects of this article contain the personal and subjective opinions of the writer

Build requirements for Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue (Level 60+)

It’s safe to assume that by this point, Diablo 4 players have already hit the Level 60 cap and have earned all the 12 extra skill points from the Renown System (i.e., getting these by finding waypoints, interacting with the altars of Lilith, finishing side objectives, completing dungeons, and going through the strongholds). Doing so will leave you with 72 skill points; use them to allot specific skills in the skill tree.

Check out our complete Twisting Blades Leveling guide for more information.

Skill points allotment for Twisting blades rogue (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Basic Skill Node:

The basic node is where you start when beginning the Diablo 4 campaign for the first time. You start the game at level one. Once you have reached Level 2, you can start allocating points into the skill tree.

Start by putting a skill point in Puncture and one in Enhanced Puncture as your starter skill. Puncture also has a 0 cooldown time, so it can be used in quick succession.

Core Skill Node:

On reaching Level 4, you will have access to your core skill, which determines what build style your character will be playing. In this instance, pick Twisting Blades as your core skill.

Allocate points to Twisting Blades and Enhanced Twisting Blades (for a 35% increased damage while the blades return to the player), as well as Advanced Twisting Blades (gives a reduced cooldown of .10 seconds for every enemy it passes through, up to two seconds).

Agility Skill Node:

Maximizing the effectiveness of Twisting Blades lies in the player’s ability to group up enemies and kite them around the battlefield. Movement speed is the key to getting around opponents while dealing damage.

Allot points into Dash and upgrades to Enhanced Dash (increases Critical Strike Chance by 10% for five seconds) and Methodical Dash (adds one extra charge to Dash and reduces the cooldown by three seconds).

In the other sub-nodes of Agility, give one point each to:

Rapid Gambits (evading through enemies Dazes them for two seconds)
Balestra (4% damage output for four seconds after evading)
Unstable Elixirs (using a healing potion Stuns surrounding enemies for two seconds and deals 6% damage for 10 seconds)
Trick Attacks (dazing or stunning an enemy increases your Crit. Chance by 2% and Crit. Damage by 2%, up to 12% for five seconds)

We will allot three points to Weapon Mastery, increasing the damage output of your daggers and swords to 49% to Healthy and Injured enemies (Healthy - enemies with life over 80%; Injured - enemies with life below 35%).

Subterfuge Skill Node:

Rogues are usually a high damage-dealing class, but they come with the downside of low defense and life. It’s crucial to have certain skills that will allow you to survive long enough on the battlefield, especially in the endgame section of Diablo 4.

In the Subterfuge node, pick Dark Shroud. Once activated, this skill surrounds you with five shadows. Each time you take damage, it is reduced by 9.6%, and a shadow is consumed.

Upgrade it to Enhanced Dark Shroud (each active shroud grants a 5% movement speed and has a 15% chance to not get consumed) and Countering Dark Shroud (while the shroud is active, you get a 10% increased Crit. Strike Chance).

Furthermore, fully upgrade Exploit (24% increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies) and Malice (deal 21% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies and Knocked down enemies simultaneously).

Imbuement Skill Node:

Here, you must choose what kind of damage to deal to enemies. You can either pick Shadow, Poison, and Cold imbuements or none and deal pure physical damage.

For this build, select Shadow Imbuement (shadow-inflicted enemies explode, dealing 56% damage to surrounding enemies and 86% increased damage to enemies on which the imbuement expired without killing them).

Imbuements increase the single-enemy damage output of Rogues, making them effective against bosses.

We will upgrade Shadow Imbuement to Enhance Shadow Imbuement (15% more crit chance against Injured enemies inflicted with Shadow Imbuement) and Blended Shadow Imbuement (primary explosion of Shadow Imbuement makes enemies Vulnerable for two seconds).

Also fully upgrade Precision Imbuement, which gives 9% increased Crit. Strike Chance to imbued skills.

Ultimate Skill Node:

For this build, use Shadow Clone as your Ultimate Skill. The clones will mimic your actions for 15 seconds, dealing 84% of your damage.

Upgrade this skill to Prime Shadow Clones (will gain Stealth and Unstoppable for five seconds) and then to Supreme Shadow Clone (gives 20% damage dealt by the clones).

Upgrade Unto Dawn (sub-node) to get 45% more damage dealt from casting the ultimate and obtain 25 energy after casting the ultimate from Aftermath (sub-node).

Furthermore, upgrade Haste (above 50% max energy, get 15% movement speed, and below 50% max energy, you get 15% increased attack speed) and two points in Adrenaline Rush to get 14% energy regen while moving.

Key Passive Skill Node:

Key Passive Skill (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Since you are primarily dealing Vulnerable to enemies, pick Victimize as the Key Passive skill. Dealing direct damage to Vulnerable enemies has a 50% chance to cause an explosion dealing 60% damage to the opponent and surrounding foes.

Victimizes’ damage is increased by 150% of your total Vulnerable damage bonus.

Rogue Class Specialization guide for Twisting Blades

In Diablo 4, you unlock specialization skills at level 15. For this build, focus on two different specialization skills: use Combo points while mobbing and Inner Sight while bossing.

Combo Points (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Combo points are accumulated when a basic attack (in this case Puncture) is used on an enemy; these points are then used by the core skill for extra effects (granting increased damage and movement speed, in the case of Twisting Blades).

Inner Sight (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

While Inner Sight marks enemies in the battlefield for a while, these marked enemies take extra damage while keeping your energy level high.

Gear: Ancestral/Mythic

When you have reached the endgame of Diablo 4, it’s important to farm better gear. Switch to Torment difficulty to get Ancestral and Mythic loot drops.

With the massive number of equipment options for Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4 endgame, it’s possible to mix and match to your liking. Here's the min-maxed endgame setup of ancestral gear we use:

Weapon:

Ghoul King's Blade increases crit strike damage as well as damage per hit.
Doombringer is another fantastic weapon option, as it reduces your enemies’ damage and provides you with a ton of additional HP.
Condemnation is a fantastic choice for a weapon since it gives a major boost to the damage output of the Core Skill when three combo points are used.

Helm:

Harlequin Crest provides you with an amazing affix, allowing you to live longer while increasing all your skills’ ranks.
Heir of Perdition which gives you 200% damage against Angels and Demons. Furthermore, you gain Mother’s favour and deal 60% extra damage to enemies.

Ring:

Ring of Starless Skies - It gives a +10% resistance to all elements plus another 10% resistance to all elements. Also, spending resources reduces your resource costs and increases your damage by 10% for three seconds, up to 50%.
Mother’s Embrace - If a Core Skill hits four or more enemies, 60% of the Resource cost is refunded.

Greaves:

Beastfall Boots - When you cast an Ultimate Skill, your next Core skill consumes all of your energy and deals 0.5–1.5% increased damage per Energy consumed.
Assassin’s Stride - Damaging an elite or a boss with a mobility skill has a 40-80% chance to cause a Shadow Imbuement explosion.

Chest Piece:

Scoundrel's Leathers - While you have unlimited Energy from Inner Sight, casting a Core Skill has a 60 - 80% chance to spawn Caltrops, Poison Trap, or Death Trap.
Shroud of Khanduras - Dark Shroud grants Immune for 3 seconds, but your Evade Cooldown is increased by nine to three seconds. While Dark Shroud is active, evading causes a Shadow Explosion.

Pants:

Tibault’s Will - You deal 20% increased damage while Unstoppable and for five seconds after. When you become Unstoppable, gain 50 of your Primary Resource.
Tassets of the Dawning Sky - When you take damage from a Non-Physical damage type, you gain 15.0% Maximum Resistance to that damage type for six seconds. This effect can only apply to one damage type at a time.

Gloves:

Grasp of Shadow - Casting a Marksman or Cutthroat Skill has a 50% chance to summon a Shadow Clone that mimics that Skill.
Fists of Fate - Your attacks randomly deal 1% to 300% of their normal damage.

Amulet:

Ocelot's Eye of Bitter Infection - Enemies infected by Shadow Imbuement take 75% of its damage every second. Shadow Imbuement deals 75% increased damage. Also +30% resistance to all Elements.
Ring of Starless Skies - Spending your Primary Resource reduces the Resource cost of your Skills and increases your damage by 10% for three seconds, up to 50%.

Tempering

We will be looking to upgrade Dexterity and Critical Strike chance as high as possible while tempering the gears. For gear stats, prioritize the following:

Critical Strike Chance
Critical Strike Damage
Core Skill Damage
Maximum Health
Total Armor
Vulnerable Damage
Resistances to 70%

Aspects

For Aspects, use the following options:

Smiting Aspect (Legendary aspect): You have a 19% - 34% increased critical strike chance against injured enemies. While you are healthy, you gain (38% - 68%) increased crowd control duration.
Bladedancer's Aspect from Jalal's Vigil—Scosglen: Twisting Blades orbit for a short time after they return to you, dealing (60% - 80%) of Twisting Blade's return damage per hit. (Rogue Only)
Aspect of the Umbral from Champion’s Demise – Dry Steppes: Restore (1.0 - 8.0) of your Primary Resources when you Crowd Control an Enemy.
Aspect of Corruption from the Renegade's Retreat – Kehjistan: Your Imbuement Skill effect has (25% - 45%) increased potency against Vulnerable enemies (Rogue Only).
Cheat’s Aspect from Luban’s Rest—Scosglen: You take (10% - 30%) less damage from crowd-controlled enemies that deal direct damage to you and gain 15% movement speed for 2 seconds (Rogue Only).
Edgemaster’s Aspect from Oldstones—Scosglen: Skills deal up to (5% - 25%) increased damage based on your available primary resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full primary resource.
Accelerating Aspect: Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by (10% - 30%) for five seconds.
Mangler’s Aspect: Lucky Hit - Dealing direct damage to a Vulnerable enemy has up to a (25% - 75%) chance to daze them for two seconds (Rogue Only).

The Bladedancer’s Aspect is a must-have; the rest are around to boost the critical rate and defense of the character. It's a good idea to experiment with different aspects according to your playstyle and then pick one you prefer.

Paragon Boards for Twisting Blades Rogue build

Paragon Boards are another layer of character development, offering the ultimate endgame customization to your stats.

Paragon points are used on the Paragon Board system, allowing players to place points on nodes that they want to unlock and get whichever buff they want. This gives them the freedom to increase whichever stats they want to improve and gain some passive skill buffs.

How to get Paragon Points

You can earn a total of 328 Paragon points throughout Diablo 4. They can be allocated in the Paragon Board system.

You can get a total of 300 Paragon points at Paragon Level 300.
24 Paragon points can be gained through Renown from each region in Sanctuary.
4 Paragon points can be obtained from interacting with the Altars of Lilith.

Paragon Board list

There are nine Paragon boards to play with; players can attach and use five, including the starting board.

Here is the list of all the Paragon Boards we will use for our Rogue class build:

Rogue Basic Board - Starting board.
Leyrana's Instinct - When Inner Sight's gauge becomes full, you gain 100% Dodge Chance for two seconds. Your Core Skills deal increased damage equal to 25% of your Core Skill Damage Bonus while Inner Sight's gauge remains full, up to 35.0%.
Exploit Weakness - Lucky Hit: Hitting a Vulnerable enemy has up to a 60% chance to increase your damage by 1% for 25 seconds, up to 25%. At 25 stacks, this bonus remains for 6 seconds before expiring.
Eldritch Bounty - When you attack with an Imbued Skill, you gain 3% maximum resistance and 20% increased damage for that Imbuement’s element for nine seconds.
Danse Macabre - Casting a Mobility or Subterfuge Skill increases the damage of your next Skill by 50%.

Example of a Paragon Board (Image via Blizard Entertainment)

Best Glyphs to level with Twisting Blades Rogue in Diablo 4 Season 7

Each of these Paragon Boards comes with one empty socket, where you can insert a glyph of your choosing. This glyph will further boost your character’s passive skills if the parameters of the glyphs are met.

There are multiple glyphs available to choose from. Here are the ones we will use to augment our build:

Closer - It boosts the damage of Cutthroat Skills based on your character's Dexterity. It also reduces the damage taken while wielding a melee weapon.
Efficacy - Grants +25. 0% bonus to all rare nodes within range. Additionally, Imbuement skill effects have 20% increased potency.
Exploit - Increase damage to vulnerable targets by 10.0%. Additionally, when an enemy is damaged by you, they become vulnerable for three seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy.
Headhunter - You deal 10% increased damage to Elites. Furthermore, this gives Increase damage.
Infusion - It enhances the damage dealt by skills that are imbued for every five intelligence purchased within range. It also reduces the active cooldown of another random Imbuement Skill slightly when casting an Imbuement Skill.

Leveling up the Paragon Boards will help you fortify the lack of defense in the Rogue class. Using this stack of boards and these particular glyphs will help with raising the resistance stats as well as the crit rates as well.

How to use Ritual Runes and Invocation Runes

With the release of the Vessel of Hatred expansion, Diablo 4 introduced the Runeword System, allowing players to have deeper customization. This system rotates around two types of runes: ritual runes and invocation runes.

Ritual runes set the conditions to generate offerings, while invocation runes unleash powerful effects when the required offering is generated.

Ritual Rune (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Ritual Runes can be put into a gem socket of a gear (said gear must have two gem sockets). They generate a resource called Offering when you meet the condition specified in the Ritual Rune.

Invocation Rune (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

This generated resource is then used by Invocation Runes to unleash powerful effects in the battlefield. The more powerful the effect is, the higher the offerings required.

The Runes can be used to craft other Runes or upgraded to higher rarities. Also, you can craft Mythic Runes using specific combinations of Magic, Rare, and Legendary Runes at the Jeweler.

Best in Slot Runewords for Twisting Blades Rogue

You can use whichever rune you like for your Twisting Blades build in Diablo 4. Here are a few suggestions:

Ritual Rune:

Zan (Magic): Gain 150 Offering when you cast an Ultimate Skill.
Bac (Legendary): Gain 50 Offering when you travel five meters.
Poc (Rare): Gain 2 Offering when you spend 5% of your Maximum Resource.

Invocation Rune:

1. Lac (Rare)

Requires: 800 Offering
Effect: Evoke the Barbarian’s Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken.
Overflow: Increased Duration
Cooldown: One second

2. Ton (Magic)

Requires: 25 Offering
Effect: Evoke the Sorcerer’s Meteorites, dealing damage to enemies.
Overflow: Increased Meteorites Spawned
Cooldown: One second

3. Ono (Magic)

Requires: 25 Offering
Effect: Evoke the Druid’s Dancing Bolts, seeking and dealing damage to enemies.
Overflow: Increased Bolts Spawned
Cooldown: One second

4. Ceh (Magic)

Requires: 100 Offering
Effect: Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds.
Overflow: Summon Multiple Wolves
Cooldown: One second

Experiment with the Diablo 4 Runeword system and figure out which combination works for you.

Mercenaries and Reinforcements

TheVessel of Hatred expansion introduced the new Mercenary and Reinforcement system in Diablo 4, further allowing you to customize your playstyle. You can unlock Rahir as the first mercenary by doing a priority quest called “The Hand Remembers the Blade.” Once the quest is done, you can talk to Rahir and hire him as a mercenary.

There are four total mercenaries available in Diablo 4. Each of them can be unlocked after finishing their quests.

Mercenaries:

Subo is by far the most useful mercenary to have in Diablo 4. He can mark enemies for 10 seconds, to whom you can deal extra damage.

Furthermore, Subo reveals all enemies and materials in the area. You can play around with the skill stats and choose whichever you want. For his core skill, pick Molotov and then Snipe.

Subo Skill tree (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Reinforcement:

For your reinforcement in Diablo 4, pick Rahir since he has the ability to boost the player’s defenses while taunting and dealing damage to the enemies.

Reinforcements always stay with the character but can use only one skill. You can pick any one you like; pick Provoke whenever the character casts Twisting Blades to get a 5% incoming damage reduction from each enemy it hits up to 20%.

Rahir Skill (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Conclusion

Overall, the endgame of Diablo 4 is a fantastic playground for the Twisting Blades Rogue. With all the different customization options available in the game, it’s easy to make a unique version of any build, giving you complete control and an understanding of your character’s capabilities.

Check out our other Diablo 4 guides:

Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh