The clear underdog of Diablo 4 Season 10 is the Rogue, after a rough Season 9 performance and little love in the way of new Uniques puts it behind the potential of other classes. This has been the same story for the past few Diablo 4 seasons, but there is hope on the horizon for Rogue fans. Diablo 4 Season 10 is offering the Rogue the tools it needs to be a breakout star, but they come with a hefty price that may be hard for players to overcome.
Chaos Armor and Chaos Perks blow the door wide open for the meta in Diablo 4 Season 10, offering brand-new twists on the game's conventional buildcrafting mechanics. With Chaos Armor allowing players to use certain Uniques in gear slots not normally possible, new gear combinations could create a path for historically underwhelming builds to shine. Chaos Perks also offer build-altering abilities, but come with their own drawbacks that players will have to weigh the benefits against, potentially opening up a niche where the Twisting Blades Rogue build could thrive.
Diablo 4's Twisting Blades Rogue May Be High-Risk, High-Reward in Season 10
Twisting Blades Rogue Has the Tools Needed to Succeed in Season 10
Diablo 4's Rogue builds tend to either emphasize melee combat or ranged combat, with little crossover in between. Twisting Blades Rogue gets the best of both worlds with its double-threat approach of impaling an enemy with a blade, then ripping it out as it returns to the player. Coupling this with the Rogue's Trap Skills creates a fast, agile playstyle that allows players to Crowd Control enemies before finishing them off with Twisting Blades attacks. To this effect, Twisting Blade Rogues will want to invest in skills like:
- Twisting Blades
- Caltrops
- Poison Imbuement
- Dash
- Poison Trap
- Death Trap
While Twisting Blades will be the build's primary damage dealer, supporting it with damage over time from Poison Trap and Poison Imbuement on Twisting Blades will allow the Rogue to weaken enemies before striking with Twisting Blades for the kill. To further Crowd Control enemies, players can use Caltrops to inflict Slow along with damage, and Death Trap to pull enemies inward to group them together within Poison Trap's range. Dash is a surprisingly crucial part of this build, as it gives the Rogue a much-needed mobility option while also supporting the player's Chaos Perk selections.
Chaos Armor and Perks Could Make or Break Twisting Blades Rogue's Success
Although somewhat unimpressive on its own, what really makes this Rogue build a threat in Diablo 4 Season 10 is the Chaos Armor and Chaos Perks it can synergize with. In terms of Chaos Armor, Rogues can utilize the Grasp of Shadow Unique from the class's pool of Chaos Armor in a gear slot other than gloves to simultaneously equip the Bands of Ichorous Rose. With both of these Uniques equipped, players can increase the damage from Poison Trap and summon a Shadow Clone to use a second instance of Twisting Blades without having to choose one or the other.
Season 10's new Chaos Perks make things a bit more complicated for this Rogue build, since the class's best options come with significant drawbacks. The Enervated Strikes Rare perk gives the Rogue a 50-100% chance to cast Twisting Blades twice, but at the cost of no longer passively generating Energy. Similarly, the Hit and Run Unique perk can make this build even more potent by granting the Rogue a 30-50% damage increase after moving 15 meters with the ability to stack, but at the cost of a 30% damage reduction when the perk isn't active. Players hoping to get the most out of this build will need to keep moving and utilize Dash for an active playstyle in order to avoid taking the damage penalty from this perk.
Diablo 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
