Diablo IV: Momentum Rogue Build Guide
Diablo IV‘s character skill tree allows for many different ways to build your version of The Wanderer. Set that skill tree model across five classes and add a paragon board and unique legendary builds on top of that; the possibilities feel endless. Sometimes that can be overwhelming. If you’re looking for a rogue build with high mobility, high DPS, and high survivability, look no further than this momentum rogue build.
Skills for the Momentum Rogue
The first thing we’re gonna take a look at are the skills I use for my momentum rogue. Not all of these skills are necessary but they all synergize well with the build. There is one exception in my build which is that I have Death Trap active. This skill is not important for the build. I only use it because I have a unique item that makes it powerful enough to equip.
Basic Skills
For the basic skill, I recommend using Invigorating Strike. I put five points into the base skill to give it the max damage it can deal. I also put a point in for the Enhanced Invigorating Strike. For the last upgrade, you can use either Primary or Fundamental Invigorating Strike. I use Invigorating Strike because it is one of several skills in the tree that ensures I always have enough energy to use Twisting Blades.
Rogue Basic Skill Branch
Core Skills
Probably the most important skill in the build is Twisting Blades. You’ll want this fully upgraded. You’ll also want to get the upgrade Enhanced Twisting Blades for extra return damage and Improved Twisting Blades. Improved Twisting Blades is absolutely needed for this build to function as it dazes enemies while they’re impaled. Keeping enemies crowd-controlled (or CC’ed) is extremely important to the build.
The skill Flurry could also be a good replacement for Death Trap but isn’t needed at all. However, the passive skills Sturdy and Siphoning are perfect for keeping you alive as they increase your defense against close enemies and have a chance to heal you on crit respectively.
Rogue Core Skill Branch
Agility Skills
For the Agility Skill Branch, you’ll want the Shadow Step and Dash active skills. Both are used to move around the battlefield quickly allowing you to escape and your Twisting Blades to do more damage. For Shadow Step, you’ll want the Enhanced and Disciplined upgrades. This gives the ability more uptime, which is important if you don’t have the Ravager’s Mobility Aspect which we’ll talk about later. The Dash can be upgraded however you like.
For the passive skills in this branch, you’ll want Weapon Mastery, Concussive, and Trick Attacks. Weapon Mastery is just a strong skill in general, especially if you are dual-wielding swords. Concussive and Trick Attacks combo well with Twisting Blades because it allows you to catch single targets like elites in a knockdown loop.
Rogue Agility Skill Branch
Imbuement Skills
The Cold Imbuement works best with this build. The CC it gives, both with the chill and potential to freeze enemies gives strength that the other imbuements just don’t. Upgrade it to the Mixed Cold Imbuement so it deals more damage to CC’d enemies.
The Frigid Finesse and Precision Imbuement passives are also fantastic for this build. They increase damage against chilled enemies and increase crit chance with imbuement skills. More damage and more crits are always good.
Rogue Imbument Skill Branch
Ultimate and Subterfuge Skills
You likely noticed I skipped the subterfuge branch entirely. That is because nothing in that tree is integral to the build. The Ultimate Skill branch is very similar. As I mentioned earlier, I only use Death Trap because of a unique item. That being said, skills in both branches are useful, but it is completely at your discretion.
The Momentum Rogue’s Key Passive
Momentum is the key passive you have to use for this build. It’s what the build is centered on, hence the name Momentum Rogue. You gain stacks of momentum by damaging enemies with cutthroat skills (every active skill in this build except for Cold Imbuement and Death Trap in my case). At three stacks you get 20% increased damage reduction, 30% increased energy regeneration, and 15% increased move speed. The real power comes with the aspects though.
The Momentum Key Passive
Legendary Aspects for the Momentum Rogue
In Diablo IV they changed the way legendary abilities are attached to items which makes creating builds like the momentum rogue a lot easier. That being said there are still limiting factors such as important unique items and specific legendary aspects that can’t be found in dungeons.
Important Aspects
There are a number of aspects that are required to make this build work well. One is on the unique item Penitent Greaves which gives you a massive move speed buff. It also leaves behind a trail that chills any enemies close to you and increases your damage to chilled enemies.
Another important aspect is the Blade Dancer’s Aspect as it makes your Twisting Blade orbit you for a moment when it returns. I’d also recommend any combination of attack speed aspects such as the Rapid Aspect and Accelerating Aspect.
The Important Aspects for the Momentum Rogue
The most important aspect to this build is the Aspect of Stolen Vigor. This aspect gives you x amount of healing per second for each stack of momentum you have. When found in its ancestral form, this aspect makes it so that you practically have to be one-shot to be killed. To avoid being one-shot, the Aspect of Might is great for getting damage reduction as you’ll use your basic attack often.
Recommended Aspects
Now these aspects aren’t going to make or break the build, but they will strengthen it. The Aspect of the Umbral is great for generating energy. For helping to keep enemies CC’d all around you, the Aspect of Shared Misery is perfect.
The Recommended Aspects
The Aspect of Unstable Imbuements allows you to freeze enemies easier because of the cold damage explosion. Finally, the Ravager’s Mobility Aspect gives you an extra charge of Shadow Step allowing you to get behind enemies to recharge your momentum stacks in a pinch. It’s also important to remember Shadow Step makes you Unstoppable, meaning that you can use it to break out of CC.
Extra Buffs
There are also a number of other ways to buff the Momentum Rogue build. The first is to use the Combo Points specialization. Combo Points make Twisting Blade deal even more damage as long as you hit enemies three times with Invigorating Strike before using it again.
Other bonuses you can get come from the paragon boards. Two glyphs I’d highly recommend for this build are Closer and Turf. Prioritize upgrading Closer as it is a wider buff to your damage.
Extra Buffs
Lastly when you reach the point that you can attach a paragon board for the first time, go for the board, Cheap Shot. It contains several nodes that increase damage against CC’d enemies including the title node. If you need help understanding the paragon board system, check out our complete paragon board guide.
How to Make the Most of Your Momentum Rogue
To make the most of your momentum rogue in Diablo IV, you’ll want to use your mobility to your advantage. Using the mobility allows you to use this single-target build and make it seem like it’s for multiple. When encountering groups, you’ll want to strike one closest to you with Twisting Blade and then Dash through the group. This way when your Twisting Blade comes back it deals max damage and hits a large chunk of the group.
When it comes to enemies like elites and bosses you want to use Shadow Step, Dash, and your Evades to stay behind them as much as possible. With elites, you wanna use Twisting Blade to keep them dazed to increase your opportunities to get them in a knockdown loop. With bosses, doing the same will increase their stagger bar eventually leading to a stun. Below is a few clips to show the build in action.
