Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build and best skills

Want the best Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build? The Twisting Blades Rogue continues to be one the best builds in Diablo 4 Season 1, despite some nerfs to crucial stats such as Vulnerable damage. It's one of the fastest builds for levelling up, and is still capable of tearing through endgame content such as Nightmare Dungeons and the Uber Lilith boss without breaking a sweat.

If you've been itching to try the Twisting Blades Rogue and are planning to run it in Season 1, then you're in the right place. In this guide, we'll break down the best Twisting Blades Rogue build in Diablo 4, covering the Skills, Paragon Boards and Glyphs, Specialization, Aspects, Stats, Gems, and Malignant Hearts that you'll need.

This Twisting Blades Rogue build is fully updated for Season 1, current with Patch 1.1.0. Fortunately, it was largely untouched in this patch, so it remains just as powerful as it was pre-Season.

For other Diablo 4 Rogue builds, take a look at our Penetrating Shot Rogue.

Diablo 4 - Which Class Is Best?

Best Twisting Blades Rogue build in Diablo 4

Our Diablo 4 Rogue build focuses on obliterating enemies by stacking debuffs and taking advantage of them with damage multipliers.

The main playstyle is to use Shadow Imbuement to buff Twisting Blades, and then use Twisting Blades on an enemy before using Dash or Shadow Step to move through a crowd of enemies. The Twisting Blades will then follow you back, infecting the pack and dealing huge damage.

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Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build skills

Below, you'll find a full list of the skills that you should acquire for our Diablo 4 Rogue build, in order:

Level	Skill	Cluster
2	Puncture level 1	1 (Basic)
3	Enhanced Puncture	1 (Basic)
4	Fundamental Puncture	1 (Basic)
5	Twisting Blades level 1	2 (Core)
6	Enhanced Twisting Blades	2 (Core)
7	Advanced Twisting Blades	2 (Core)
8	Shadow Step level 1	3 (Agility)
9	Enhanced Shadow Step	3 (Agility)
10	Methodical Shadow Step	3 (Agility)
11	Dash level 1	3 (Agility)
12	Enhanced Dash	3 (Agility)
13	Disciplined Dash	3 (Agility)
14	Twisting Blades level 2	2 (Core)
15	Twisting Blades level 3	2 (Core)
16	Twisting Blades level 4	2 (Core)
17	Twisting Blades level 5	2 (Core)
18	Shadow Imbuement level 1	5 (Imbuements)
19	Enhanced Shadow Imbuement	5 (Imbuements)
20	Blended Shadow Imbuement	5 (Imbuements)
21	Shadow Imbuement level 2	5 (Imbuements)
22	Shadow Imbuement level 3	5 (Imbuements)
23	Shadow Imbuement level 4	5 (Imbuements)
24	Shadow Imbuement level 5	5 (Imbuements)
25	Shadow Clone	6 (Ultimate)
26	Prime Shadow Clone	6 (Ultimate)
27	Supreme Shadow Clone	6 (Ultimate)
28	Exploit level 1	4 (Subterfuge)
29	Exploit level 2	4 (Subterfuge)
30	Exploit level 3	4 (Subterfuge)
31	Malice level 1	4 (Subterfuge)
32	Malice level 2	4 (Subterfuge)
33	Malice level 3	4 (Subterfuge)
34	Precision Imbuement level 1	5 (Imbuements)
35	Precision Imbuement level 2	5 (Imbuements)
36	Precision Imbuement level 3	5 (Imbuements)
37	Victimize	7 (Key Passive)
38	Shadow Crash level 1	5 (Imbuements)
39	Shadow Crash level 2	5 (Imbuements)
40	Shadow Crash level 3	5 (Imbuements)
41	Consuming Shadows level 1	5 (Imbuements)
42	Consuming Shadows level 2	5 (Imbuements)
43	Consuming Shadows level 3	5 (Imbuements)
44	Adrenaline Rush level 1	6 (Ultimate)
45	Adrenaline Rush level 2	6 (Ultimate)
46	Adrenaline Rush level 3	6 (Ultimate)
47	Haste level 1	6 (Ultimate)
48	Haste level 2	6 (Ultimate)
49	Haste level 3	6 (Ultimate)
Renown point 1	Impetus level 1	6 (Ultimate)
Renown Point 2	Impetus level 2	6 (Ultimate)
Renown point 3	Impetus level 3	6 (Ultimate)
Renown point 4	Weapon Mastery level 1	3 (Agility)
Renown point 5	Weapon Mastery level 2	3 (Agility)
Renown point 6	Weapon Mastery level 3	3 (Agility)
Renown point 7	Shadow Step level 2	3 (Agility)
Renown point 8	Shadow Step level 3	3 (Agility)
Renown point 9	Shadow Step level 4	3 (Agility)
Renown point 10	Shadow Step level 5	3 (Agility)

Puncture

Puncture throws out three blades to hit nearby enemies from a short distance. With the default skill, every third cast will grant the Slow effect on enemies for 2 seconds. However, the Fundamental Puncture upgrade also allows you to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

Twisting Blades

Twisting Blades impales a nearby enemy with your blades, and the blades will return to you in 1.5 seconds. If you use Twisting Blades and then dash through a group of enemies, you can catch anything nearby with the blades as they return, dealing massive piercing damage as they travel back to you.

The really exciting part, though, is Advanced Twisting Blades. This reduces your cooldowns for each enemy hit with Twisting Blades, meaning you can keep spamming Shadow Imbuement, Dash, Shadow Step, and Shadow Clone while tearing through packs of enemies.

Shadow Step

Shadow Step is an Agility ability, allowing you to quickly move towards and attack an enemy for huge damage. However, the most important part is that it grants you Unstoppable, allowing you to shake off any control-impairing effects such as Stun, while also granting you 50% increased movement speed for 2 seconds.

With the upgrades available, it'll also raise your Critical Strike Chance and Stun enemies, making this a must-have for our Rogue build.

Dash

Dash is another Agility ability that you can use to dart in and out of crowds while dealing damage. It's really useful for escaping harm when you're low on health, but the Disciplined Dash upgrade also helps it synergise with this Rogue build.

With the Discipled Dash upgrade, it applies the Slow effect to any enemies hit for 3 seconds. If an enemy is already Slowed, they will be Dazed for 2 seconds instead.

Shadow Imbuement

Shadow Imbuement allows you to imbue your attacks with Shadow damage, which will Infect any enemies it hits for 6 seconds. If you can then kill the Infected enemy within 6 seconds, they'll explode and deal 40% to all nearby enemies.

The Blended Shadow Imbuement upgrade make it even more powerful, as it makes the Infect explosion also give enemies the Vulnerable status effect for 2 seconds. That'll push the damage dealt with Twisting Blades even higher.

Shadow Clone

Shadow Clone is the ultimate for our Rogue build, giving you a mimic who will copy your actions for 15 seconds. This offers a huge boost to your DPS potential that help you spread those debuffs even further, and then capitalise on them with extra attacks and, ultimately, a ton of extra damage.

If you're not sure how to use these skills effectively, follow the attack pattern below:

1. Use Puncture to Slow enemies, make them Vulnerable, and generate Combo Points as you approach.
2. Use Shadow Imbuement to activate Infect on your attacks.
3. Use Twisting Blades as you get closer to the crowd.
4. Use Dash or Shadow Step to pass through the crowd, hopefully applying Infect to enemies.
5. Wait for your Twisting Blades to return, causing them to pierce through the crowd of enemies that you just dashed through.
6. Generate more Energy with Puncture and repeat the above steps.

Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Paragon Boards and Glyphs

When you hit level 50, you'll gain access to Diablo 4's Paragon system. This is where you spend Paragon Points to get more passive bonuses and stat boosts that drastically increase the power of your build.

Below, we break down the best Paragon Boards and Glyphs that you should take for this build, mapping out your journey from level 50-100. For a clearer view of how we've spent each and every Paragon Point, check out our Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue page on the Lothrik build calculator.

Starting Board

On the Starting Board, take the path on the right and go through the Prime node to reach the Glyph socket, where you can insert the Closer Glyph to increase your Cutthroat skills damage. Then, grab as many Dexterity nodes as you can near the Glyph, before pushing up to the top through the left path, grabbing the rare Skillful node on the way.

In total, the Starting Board should use 30 Paragon Points.

Exploit Weakness

Exploit Weakness is the Paragon Board that we'll invest the most points into, but start with rotating it so that the Glyph socket is in the lower-right corner and the Legendary node is in the center. Then, path up to the Glyph socket to insert the Exploit Glyph, and grab as many surrounding Strength nodes as you can. Take the path up from the Glyph and over to the Board Attachment Gate, where you'll place a point and attach the Eldritch Bounty board.

However, from here, head further up on the Exploit Weakness board and through the rare Exploit node, along with any surrounding magic nodes. Continue back down to grab the Legendary node, and then path up to the top of the board and use this Board Attachment Gate to connect the Cunning Stratagem board.

In total, the Exploit Weakness board should use 73 Paragon Points.

Eldritch Bounty

Eldritch Bounty connects to the right of the Exploit Weakness board, where you should rotate it so that the Legendary node is near the entrance and the Glyph socket is in the top-right corner. Then, path down to grab the Legendary node, as well as the rare Imbuer node and any surrounding magic nodes, before charting diagonally up and to the right through the rare Ready Supply node. Grab the surrounding magic nodes here too, and then continue up towards the Glyph and insert Turf.

To maximise the potential of Turf, grab as many nearby Strength nodes as you can, while also grabbing the rare Potent node. Then, head up to the top Board Attachment Gate and connect No Witnesses.

In total, the Eldritch Bounty board should use 56 Paragon Points.

Cunning Stratagem

Cunning Stratagem connects to the top of the Exploit Weakness board, and we don't want to spend many points here. We're just after the Glyph socket, so rotate it to get it as close as possible, and then chart left and up to grab it. Insert the Combat Glyph, grab as many nearby Intelligence nodes as you can, and get the rare Finisher node and any surrounding magic nodes.

In total, the Cunning Stratagem board should use 21 Paragon Points.

No Witnesses

Our final board, No Witnesses, attaches to the top of the Eldritch Bounty board. Rotate it so that the Glyph is on the left side and the Legendary node is in the center, and then path up on either side to reach both.

In the Glyph socket, insert Chip and grab as many nearby Dexterity nodes as you can.

In total, the No Witnesses board should use 45 Paragon Points.

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Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Specialization

In Diablo 4, the Rogue class gains access to a unique class mechanic called Specialization. This lets you choose one of three passive effects - Specializations - that can greatly enhance your build.

For our Rogue build, we've opted for the Combo Points Specialization. Combo Points makes your Basic skills (Puncture for this build) generate Combo Points. You will then automatically spend Combo Points when you use your Core skill (Twisting Blades) to enhance its effect.

Each Combo Point you have increases the damage of Twisting Blades by 30% and Movement Speed by 20%, up to a total of 90% and 60% extra respectively with three Combo Points. That's a huge increase in damage and movement speed, making the Combo Points Specialization an obvious pick for the Shadow Rogue.

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Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Aspects

As you farm Legendary items and complete Side Dungeons across the Diablo 4 map, you will gain Aspects that you can use to modify other pieces of Gear. These Aspects grant Legendary effects onto items, and finding those that synergise most with your build will drastically increase your survivability in late-game content such as Helltides.

Below, you'll find the best Aspects to use with our Diablo 4 Rogue build:

• Aspect of Corruption (Campaign Reward - Kehjistan): Your Imbuement skill effects have 20-40% increased potency against Vulnerable enemies.
• Aspect of Imitated Imbuement (random Legendary drop): Your Shadow Clones also mimic the Imbuements applied to your skills. Casting an Imbuement skill grants your active Shadow Clone 8-16% increased damage for 5 seconds.
• Aspect of Unstable Imbuements (Campaign Reward - Dry Steppes): When casting an Imbuement skill you trigger an Imbued explosion around yourself, applying the Imbuement effects and dealing damage of the same type.
• Aspect of Cruel Sustenance (random Legendary drop): Explosions from the Victimize Key Passive heal you for a portion of Life of each enemy damaged.
• Bladedancer's Aspect (Campaign Reward - Scosglen): 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.
• Ravenous Aspect (Shifting City - Dry Steppes): Killing a Vulnerable enemy grants you 50-70% increased Energy Regeneration for 4 seconds.
• Ravager's Aspect (random Legendary drop): 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%.
• Vengeful Aspect (Inferno - Kehjistan): Lucky Hit: Making an enemy Vulnerable has a 30-50% chance to grant +3% increased Crit Strike Chance for 3 seconds, up to 9%.

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Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Stats

Dexterity is the most important attribute for our Diablo 4 Rogue build, as it increases your Skill Damage by 0.1% per point. This might seem small, but it'll add up over time and provide a substantial damage boost when you reach the endgame.

Strength is the next attribute to focus on, as it increases your Energy generation by 0.1% per point. Puncture is the only Energy builder we have in this build, so any extra granted by your Strength stat is incredibly important for those moments when you want to spam spenders, such as Twisting Blades.

Finally, Intelligence is also worth investing in as a Rogue, as each point offers an extra 0.02% crit chance. It's a tiny buff, negligible in the early stages, but it's worth building up over the course of the game. The extra crit chance might not be too shabby in the endgame, and landing crits on Vulnerable enemies will help you whittle crowds down at remarkable speed.

Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Gems

Your gear will have gem sockets in Diablo 4, and you can insert gems into these sockets for powerful bonuses. Gems have different effects depending on whether they are put into weapons or armor.

For any Weapon gem slots, we'd recommend using Sapphires, as they increase crit damage against enemies that have crowd control effects, such as Slow and Dazed.

For your Armor gem slots, you should also use Rubies, as they increase your maximum Life total. The Rogue is notoriously easy to kill, with less life than other melee classes such as the Barbarian, so the extra life on offer here is certainly worth taking at any opportunity.

For your Jewelry slots, check the Malignant Hearts section below to see how you should use those Infested Sockets during Season 1.

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Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build: Best Malignant Hearts

Season 1 introduced the new Malignant Hearts mechanic, which can significantly power up your build. Malignant Hearts act like Gems, but they have unique powers similar to those of Legendary Aspects and can only be inserted into Infested Sockets, not normal Gem Sockets.

Below, we'll list the best Malignant Hearts for the Twisting Blades Rogue:

• The Vile Apothecary: Your attacks have a 5-15% chance to apply all Imbuement effects at 40-50% of normal potency.
• The Dark Dance: 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.
• Revenge: 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.

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That wraps up our Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build. If you're after a different class, take a look at our Diablo 4 Barbarian builds, Sorcerer builds, Necromancer builds, and Druid builds.

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