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Penetrating Shot is one of those abilities inDiablo 4that doesn’t really shine until the late game. It may feel underwhelming at the start, but once players get the right items and bonuses, this skill can clear entire screens' worth of demons in a single shot.
The following build uses a methodical playstyle usingone of the Rogue’s specializations inDiablo 4that doubles down on the class' one-shot potential. Here are the recommended skills, items, and Paragon Board bonuses to get this setup rolling from mid-Nightmare all the way through late Torment difficulties.
Updated July 01, 2025, by Marc Santos:A number of this build’s important parts got shaken up in Diablo 4’s 1.3.0 patch. The changes to Penetrating Shot are minor, but the buff to the Precision Keystone Passive grants this build more consistency when it comes to critical hits. This guide has been updated to capitalize on these changes while also providing more in-depth info on the parts that make the build work. We’re emphasizing the impact of the Penetrating Shot and Precision changes to make things a little clearer for buildcrafters.
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Supreme Rain of Arrows
The core idea of this build is to delete large groups of enemies in one or two attacks. Penetrating Shot has high base damage and decent AOE, but it won’t reach its peak horde-clearing potential without the support of other abilities.
Previously, this build relied on Advanced Penetrating Shot and Forceful Arrow. Now, it usesImproved Penetrating ShotandFundamental Heartseekerto maximize the player’s critical hit chance and crit damage. The build still usesBlended Shadow Imbuementto set off a chain reaction of explosions, as seen in theFlurry build for Rogues inDiablo 4.
Patch 1.3.0 swapped the effect of Enhanced Penetrating Shot and Improved Penetrating Shot. To summarize, taking both upgrades makes Penetrating Shot deal more damage and gain additional crit chance per enemy it hits. We pair this with Heartseeker to further increase the effectiveness of crits.
Poison TrapandConcealmentserve as utility and defensive tools in this build. The former knocks down and poisons anything that gets too close, while the latter provides an on-demand source of the Unstoppable buff.
Rain of Arrowsis the final skill for this build — use it to preemptively soften up a group of targets before blowing them all up with Penetrating Shot.
Precision
Keystone
TakeSturdyfor the sake of having a safety net against enemies that get too close. The rest of the points go toward improving damage output and overall quality of life.
Exploitis crucial for maximizing Penetrating Shot’s one-shot potential since it buffs damage against Healthy and Injured targets. This helps the build be more consistent when it comes to clearing trash mobs. Pair this withMalicefor even more damage.
Consuming Shadowshelps keep the Rogue’s Energy levels in check. Every time an enemy is killed with Shadow damage, this skill will restore 10 Energy, allowing players to keep their salvo going.
Trap Masteryboosts Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable and Crowd-Controlled enemies whenever Poison Trap is triggered. This includes targets that are knocked down by Fundamental Forceful Arrow or slowed by Advanced Penetrating Shot. Players can get even more free Critical Strike Chance by getting theConcussiveandPrecision Imbuementsskills.
Cap this off with thePrecisionKey Passive for more crits and theCombo PointsSpecialization for maximum one-shot potential.
Chest
Disobedience - Gain Armor after dealing any damage to an enemy.
Tibault’s Will - Pants
Unique - While Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after, gain increased damage. Gain Primary Resource when becoming Unstoppable.
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Boots
Eluding - If you become Injured while Crowd Controlled, gain Unstoppable.
Amulet
Edgemaster - Skills deal more damage based on how full your Primary Resource is upon casting.
Ring of Starless Skies - Ring 1
Unique - Spending Primary Resource reduces resource costs and increases the damage of skills.
Ring 2
Trickshot - Whenever Penetrating Shot hits an enemy, the arrow splits off to the sides. The arrows deal less damage and do not split.
Eaglehorn - Bow
Unique - Penetrating Shot makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. Every 4th cast bounces off walls and scenery, dealing bonus damage.
Condemnation - 1H Weapon
Unique - Core Skills deal more damage when spending 3 Combo Points. Using skills with this weapon has a chance to generate 3 Combo Points.
1H Weapon
Expectant - Using Basic Skills increases the damage of your next Core Skill.
Edgemaster, Expectant, and Trickshot are thesome of the best offensive Aspects inDiablo 4. The first two increase Penetrating Shot’s raw damage while the other helps it deal more damage over an area.
Ring of Starless Skiesis great for boosting your damage while keeping your Energy reserves in check. If you don’t have one yet, try farming Uber bosses for a shot at getting Unique drops. The rest of the Aspects are bog-standard and self-explanatory. Make sure to have them to prevent instant death in higher-difficulty content.
As for items, either Bow or Crossbow will do fine. However, if players want to maximize Penetrating Shot’s one-hit-kill potential, bows will be the way to go. As of Patch 1.3.0,Eaglehornnow makes Penetrating Shot inflict Vulnerable, making it a decent choice if you want to inflict that debuff reliably.
Cheap Shot
Ranger
The go-toExploit Glyphfor otherDiablo 4Rogue buildsmay feel a bit redundant here with all the extra sources of Vulnerable application in the build, but feel free to use it to improve quality of life.
Players who do want to use Exploit should getNo Witnessesas their first Paragon board attachment. Take the Legendary node and the Glyph Socket, then get theKnowledgeandRuinnodes for more damage.
After this, players can get either theEldritch Bountyboard to improve Shadow Imbuement’s damage orCheap Shotfor more upfront damage against targets Slowed by Penetrating Shot or affected by Poison Trap.
