Best Diablo 4 Penetrating Shot Rogue build in Season 5

The Penetrating Shot Rogue is one of the most thrilling classes to master in Season 5. If you’re gearing up to pierce your enemies right where it hurts you’ll want to know about the best builds for leveling and endgame play.

Season of the Infernal Hordes has given a nice boost to the stealthy and agile Rogue class in Diablo 4. If you’re after a playstyle that turns enemies into pin cushions with a few precise shots, this build is right up your alley.

Whether you’re just starting out or deep into endgame content, the Penetrating Shot build adapts beautifully. With the right skills, gear, and Paragon Glyphs, your Rogue will dominate Season 5 like never before.

Best Penetrating Shot Rogue leveling build in Diablo 4 Season 5

As you level while playing through either the campaign or the new Season 5 content, you’ll want to make sure that you’re selecting your skills in the following order:

Level	Skill
1	Puncture
2	Enhanced Puncture
3	Fundamental Puncture
4	Penetrating Shot
5	Enhanced Penetrating Shot
6	Advanced Penetrating Shot
7	Shadow Step
8	Dash
9	Enhanced Shadow Step
10	Disciplined Shadow Step
11	Dark Shroud
12	Enhanced Dark Shroud
13	Subverting Dark Shroud
14	Enhanced Dash
15	Penetrating Shot
16	Penetrating Shot
17	Shadow Imbuement
18	Enhanced Shadow Imbuement
19	Blended Shadow Imbuement
20	Shadow Crash
21	Consuming Shadows
22	Penetrating Shot
23	Penetrating Shot
24	Methodical Dash
25	Innervation
26	Innervation
27	Innervation
28	Unstable Elixirs
29	Trick Attacks
30	Adrenaline Rush
31	Haste
32	Haste
33	Haste
34	Precision
35	Weapon Mastery
36	Weapon Mastery
37	Weapon Mastery
38	Unstable Elixirs
39	Unstable Elixirs
40	Unstable Elixirs
41	Trick Attacks
42	Trick Attacks
43	Trick Attacks
44	Exploit
45	Exploit
46	Exploit
47	Malice
48	Malice
49	Malice
Renown 1	Sturdy
Renown 2	Sturdy
Renown 3	Sturdy
Renown 4	Agile
Renown 5	Agile
Renown 6	Agile
Renown 7	Dark Shroud
Renown 8	Dark Shroud
Renown 9	Dark Shroud

The Penetrating Shot Rogue leveling build slices through enemies like butter. Penetrating Shot pierces through everything in its path, dishing out hefty damage to anything unlucky enough to stand in the way.

To unlock your 9 Renown Skilll Points, make sure to explore the entirety of the map and complete exploration side activities in each region.

Don’t forget to claim your rewards from the Season 5 Battle Pass and spend your Smouldering Ashes in the EXP boost to reach level 50 in a matter of hours.

Penetrating Shot Rogue is decent at leveling. It’s a solid choice if you prefer picking off enemies from a distance. But if you’re serious about speed-leveling, you might want to check out our best Rogue builds guide.

If you still haven’t made up your mind on the Rogue class, check out this guide to find out which is the right class for you in Diablo 4 Season 5.

Best Specialization setup for leveling

As a Rogue, You get to pick one out of three Specializations at level 15. The best pick for a Penetration Rogue is Combo Points.

This lets you supercharge your Core Skills after using your Basic Skills. This means more damage and better effects with every shot.

Best leveling rotation

• Heartseeker
• Death Trap
• Poison Trap
• Shadow Step
• Penetrating Shot

This rotation start by spamming Heartseeker to stack up Combo Points, then drop Death Trap to gather up your enemies.

Once they’re all bundled together, toss in Poison Trap for some extra bite, then use Shadow Step or Dash to line up your shot perfectly. Now that your Combo Points are maxed out, unleash Penetrating Shot.

Best leveling Legendary Aspects

Here are the best Legendary Aspects for your Penetrating Shot Rogue build in Diablo 4:

Aspect	Power	Dungeon	Location
Aspect of the Expectant	After attacking enemies with a Basic Skill, increase the damage of your next Core Skill cast.	Underroot	Scosglen
‍Rapid	Basic Skills gain Attack Speed.	Buried Halls	Dry Steppes
‍Trickshot	Whenever Penetrating Shot dmages an enemy, 2 additional arrows split off to either side. These side arrows deal a percentage of Penetrating Shot’s base damage and do not split.	Bastion of Faith	Hawezar

Best Penetrating Shot Rogue endgame build in Diablo 4 Season 5

Active Skills

Active Skill	Upgrades	Points allocated
Heartseeker	Enhanced, Fundamental	1
Penetrating Shot	Enhanced, Advanced	5
Shadow Step	Enhanced, Disciplined	1
Dash	Enhanced, Methodical	1
Poison Trap	Enhanced	1
Death Trap	Enhanced, Supreme	1
Dark Shroud	Enhanced, Countering	5

Passive Skills

Passive Skill	Points
Sturdy	3
Weapon Mastery	3
Unstable Elixirs	3
Trick Attacks	3
Rapid Gambits	1
Agile	3
Exploit	3
Malice	3
Frigid Finesse	3
Innervation	1
Second Wind	3
Precision	1

If you’re after a ranged Rogue build that lets you nuke everything on screen, you’ve found it. The Penetrating Shot Rogue is straightforward, powerful, and scales beautifully into the endgame.

Penetrating Shot itself is a simple, piercing arrow, but when you pair it with the Umbracrux dagger and Trickshot Aspect, it turns into a screen-clearing nuke. Like most Rogue skills, positioning is key since the more enemies you hit in a line, the more damage you deal.

This build thrives on stacking Critical Strike Damage with the right gear and passives, making sure no monster stands a chance. Overall, it’s a highly satisfying build that rewards some strategic planning.

Don’t forget to claim your rewards from the Season 5 Battle Pass and spend your Smouldering Ashes in the EXP boost to reach level 50 in a matter of hours.

Best Specialization setup for the endgame

Our top pick for this build is Combo Points. Use your Basic Skills to stack up Combo Points, and then unleash your Core Skill for some seriously boosted damage. Combo Points make Penetrating Shot hit harder and give it a nice Lucky Hit Chance boost.

Best endgame rotation

• Heartseeker
• Death Trap
• Poison Trap
• Shadow Step/Dash
• Penetrating Shot

Start your rotation with Heartseeker to stack up Combo Points. Next, toss out Death Trap to gather enemies for maximum damage. Deploy Poison Trap to add some extra damage and trigger those fancy totems from The Umbracrux.

Next, use Shadow Step or Dash to get into the perfect position and activate Tricks of the Trade for a damage boost. Then, fire Penetrating Shot to cut through the clustered enemies and make your damage shine.

Best endgame Legendary Aspects

Here are the best Legendary Aspects for your Penetrating Shot Rogue build in the endgame of Diablo 4:

Aspect	Power	Dungeon	Area
Trickshot	Whenever Penetrating Shot dmages an enemy, 2 additional arrows split off to either side. These side arrows deal a percentage of Penetrating Shot’s base damage and do not split.	Bastion of Faith	Hawezar
Rapid	Basic Skills gain Attack Speed.	Buried Halls	Dry Steppes
Edgemaster’s	Skills deal increased damage based on your Primary Resource when cast.	Oldstones	Scosglen
Might	Basic Skills grant Damage Reduction.	Dark Ravine	Dry Steppes
Expectant	After attacking enemies with a Basic Skill, increase the damage of your next Core Skill.	Underroot	Scosglen
Energizing	Damaging an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill generates 4 Energy.	Sanguine Chapel	Fractured Peaks
Protector	Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing damage.	Lost Archives	Fractured Peaks
Wind Striker	Critical Strikes grant extra movement speed.	Shivta Ruins	Khejistan
Unstable Imbuements	When casting an Imbuement Skill, you trigger an explosion around yourself.	Whispering Vault	Dry Steppes
Enshrouding	Using a Healing Potion makes a free Dark Shroud shadow.	Ghoa Ruins	Hawezar
Umbrous	Critical Strikes grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.	Gamble Murmuring Obols	–
Crowded Sage	Increase your Dodge chance. Also, Dodge restores your Maximum Life.	Gamble Murmuring Obols	–
Concussive Strikes	Damaging an enemy can Daze them.	Gamble Murmuring Obols	–
Accelerating	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed.	Gamble Murmuring Obols	–
Elements	Gain increased damage to a set of damage types. Alternates between Fire, Lightning and Physical and Cold, Poison and Shadow.	Gamble Murmuring Obols	–

Remember, you can also strip these Aspects from their original item and apply them to an item of your choosing.

Paragon Board

Once you hit endgame in Season 5 – by finishing the story, reaching level 50, and unlocking the Paragon Board – you can respec to the endgame Penetrating Shot Rogue build. It’s basically the same as the leveling build, but with some crucial tweaks in point allocation that we’ll cover next.

Best Glyphs

Glyphs start with a 3-radius, but hit level 15 and they’ll stretch to 4. Keep grinding through Nightmare Dungeons to score Glyph experience and make your Glyphs worth their weight in loot.

Level 15

• ‍Combat
• ‍Control
• ‍Fluidity
• ‍Pride
• ‍Ambush

Level 21

• ‍Combat
• ‍Control
• ‍Fluidity
• ‍Pride
• ‍Ambush

Best endgame item build

Item	Socket	Item type	Power
Runic Skullcap of Might	Ruby	Helm	Basic Skill grants Damage Reduction
Runic Mail of the Crowded Sage	2 Rubies	Chest	Increases your chances of Dodging. Also, dodging restores your Maximum Life.
Trickshot Runic Gloves	–	Glove	Whenever Penetrating Shot damages an enemy, you get 2 additional arrows split.
Umbrous Runic Leggings	2 Rubies	Pants	Critical Strikes have a chance to grant a free Dark Shroud shadow.
Runic Cleats of Concussive Strikes	Boots	Boots	Damaging an enemy has a chance to Daze them.
Edgemaster’s Warcaster	2 Emeralds	Ranged Weapon	Skills deal increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast.
Obsidian Blade of the Expectant	Emerald	Melee Weapon 1	After attacking enemies with a Basic Skill, increase the damage of your next Core Skill.
Obsidian Blade of Elements	Emerald	Melee Weapon 2	Gain increased damage to a set of damage types.
Rapid Necklace	Ruby	Amulet	Basic Skills gain more Attack Speed.
Accelerating Band	Emerald	Ring	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed.
Ring of Retribution	Sapphire	Ring	Distant enemies have a chance to be Stunned when they hit you.

Make sure to farm Mother’s Gifts and clear Infernal Hordes frequently to get some of the best loot this season.

Best Penetrating Shot Rogue build in Diablo 4 Season 5

If you’ve got this Penetrating Shot Rogue build that’s a beast in endgame content, it’s also a nightmare for anyone in PvP.

It’s built to slice through enemies like they’re made of wet tissue paper, and in PvP, that means you’ll be the one doing the slicing. With its high burst damage and precision, it’s perfect for turning enemy players into pincushions from a distance.

Now that you know how to craft this top-tier Rogue build, make sure to check out our guides for the Druid, Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Barbarian.