Penetrating Shot is one of those abilities in Diablo 4 that 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.
Players who are looking for a methodical yet powerful playstyle for Diablo 4's Rogue have a lot to look forward to with this build. 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.
Diablo 4 players seeking the best Penetrating Shot Rogue build can use this guide to get the upper hand, even after the changes that came with the June 27 1.0.3 patch.
Diablo 4 Penetrating Shot Rogue Build
Skills | Total Points |
Fundamental Forceful Arrow | 3 |
Advanced Penetrating Shot | 7 |
Countering Concealment | 3 |
Countering Poison Trap | 3 |
Blended Shadow Imbuement | 7 |
Supreme Rain of Arrows | 3 |
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.
Forceful Arrow is here to apply Vulnerable to a single target among a group of enemies, priming them for a hard-hitting Penetrating Shot that can set off a chain reaction of explosions caused by Blended Shadow Imbuement. Any survivors will also be made Vulnerable, opening them up to clean-up attacks.
Poison Trap and Concealment serve as utility and defensive tools in this build. The former knocks down and poisons anything that gets too close, while the latter keeps players safe from stuns and Unstoppable enemies.
Rain of Arrows is the final skill for this build—use it to preemptively soften up a group of targets before blowing them all up with Penetrating Shot.
Passive Skills
Skill | Points |
Sturdy | 3 |
Weapon Mastery | 3 |
Concussive | 3 |
Consuming Shadows | 3 |
Precision Imbuement | 3 |
Trap Mastery | 3 |
Adrenaline Rush | 3 |
Impetus | 3 |
Take Sturdy for 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.
Exploit is 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 with Malice for even more damage.
Consuming Shadows helps 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 Mastery boosts 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 the Concussive and Precision Imbuements skills.
Cap this all off with the Precision Key Passive for more crits and the Combo Points Specialization for maximum one-shot potential.
Gear and Aspects
Offense | Defense | Utility |
Trickshot | Disobedience | Umbral |
Edgemaster | Might | Wind Striker |
Expectant | Protector | |
Rapid |
Edgemaster, Expectant, and Trickshot are the three main offensive Aspects of this build. The first two increase Penetrating Shot's raw damage while the other helps deal more damage over an area.
Umbral is mandatory for maintaining Energy levels. It will trigger every time Penetrating Shot hits targets since Slow counts as Crowd Control.
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. Pair these with Swords for the added Critical Strike Damage. Then, prioritize stacking damage bonuses on gear, including ones that increase damage against Slowed and Vulnerable.
Players will need strong items and perfect stat rolls before they can start one-shotting groups. Still, Penetrating Shot is reliable even with sub-par gear.
Paragon Boards
The go-to Exploit Glyph for many Rogue builds may 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 get No Witnesses as their first Paragon board attachment. Take the Legendary node as well as the Glyph Socket, then get the Knowledge and Ruin nodes for more damage.
After this, players can get either the Eldritch Bounty board to improve Shadow Imbuement's damage or Cheap Shot for more upfront damage against targets Slowed by Penetrating Shot or affected by Poison Trap.
Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.