Flurry Rogue Leveling Guide

Season 7 is the Season of Witchcraft. It features two separate borrowed power mechanics in the forms of Witchcraft Powers and Occult Gems. Both Seasonal mechanics are unlocked and improved by new NPCs found at the Tree of Whispers after collecting resources from Headhunt Zones, Seasonal areas similar to Helltide that appear across Sanctuary.

There are 25 Witchcraft Powers, 6 of which can be equipped at a time. Each Power belongs to one of four Schools (Eldritch, Growth & Decay, Psyche, and Lost), tags that promote synergies within themselves and with Occult Gems. Each School has a single Unique Witchcraft Power, only one of which can be equipped at a time. These Unique Powers max out and gain an additional effect at rank 5, while the other Powers max at rank 21 and gain their bonus effects at various levels. To unlock and improve Witchcraft Powers, defeat Headrotten or complete Whispers within the Headhunt Zones to collect Restless Rot. Lost Powers are an exception, requiring you to randomly encounter a Forgotten Altar in Dungeons to unlock them.

Best-in-Slot Witchcraft Powers

Alternate Witchcraft Powers

• Piranhado - This power can be used as an alternative way to group mobs.
• Breath of the Coven - This gives you a large amount of Cap 2 Attack Speed (see Attack Speed Mechanics for more details) when casting an Ultimate skill thanks to Voice of the Stars.
• Aura Specialization - The larger Aura radius is nice but the Critical Damage Multiplier that comes with levels is even better and applies to all your damage.
• Purging Touch - Shadow Clone becomes an Eldritch effect thanks to Voice of the Stars. This Power starts off as a situational damage boost against Headrotten then becomes a multiplier against all enemies once leveled.
• Aura of Siphoning - You must equip one of the three available Witchcraft Auras to enable Voice of the Stars. Aura of Siphoning is preferred for its Poison damage which activates Alchemical Advantage for more Attack Speed.

Rarely, Headrotten Bosses appear with a still-attached Fugitive Head stolen from the Tree of Whispers. Slay these enemies and return the Heads to Gelena to unlock and upgrade Occult Gems. These Gems are socketable in Jewelry and each provide +160 Armor and +8% Resistance to All Elements, so be sure to slot them in for the defensive stats even if they don't synergize with your chosen Witchcraft Powers. More importantly, each Occult Gem grants a unique effect that synergizes with your equipped Witchcraft Powers to provide a variety of Offensive, Defensive, and Utility-based bonuses.

Best-in-Slot Occult Gems

• Voice of the Stars - This Gem enables multiple powerful synergies from our Witchcraft Powers by granting Shadow Clone the Eldritch, Growth & Decay, and Psyche Witchcraft Effect tags. Note that this does not make Shadow Clone a Witchcraft Power.
• Pointed Finger - Shadow Clone deals a large portion of your damage, and this further amplifies it.
• Dust Stone - A minor damage boost for using Aura of Lament and Hex of Shattering.

Alternate Occult Gems

• Heart of Anima - Boosts the 3 Psyche Witchcraft powers taken while leveling.
• Toadling's Wish - Boosts the 3 Growth and Decay Witchcraft powers taken while leveling.

Defense and Mobility

At this point, you unlock Agility Skills. Here you pick up Dash and Shadow Step to move around the map faster. Disciplined Dash gives you an on demand Knock Down for Malice and can deal some pretty good damage early on and to trash mobs. Disciplined Shadow Step allows you to use it more often while Enhanced Shadow Step is a reliable way to apply Vulnerable to high priority targets.

Once you unlock Subterfuge Skills, pick up Dark Shroud. It gives you much needed defense, Movement Speed, and Critical Strike Chance. Cast Dark Shroud often to remain at full stacks. If you find Umbrous remove this skill from your bar for Shadow Step.

Specialization

At level 15, you unlock your class mechanic called Specializations. Then, choose one of three to augment your build. The Flurry Rogue uses Combo Points while leveling which allows for a large burst of damage with Flurry after casting Blade Shift three times, while also giving you a massive attack speed boost.

Imbuement

Shadow Imbuement allows for additional Shadow damage explosions when you kill an enemy that has previously been hit by a Shadow Imbued skill. Combine Shadow Imbuement with the Consuming Shadows passive to get Energy back from the explosion. This is a great Imbuement to use early on. Avoid using Shadow Imbuement before casting Shadow Step, wait until you are ready to cast Flurry or Dash as they can both hit multiple targets.

Ultimate Skill

The Flurry Rogue uses Shadow Clone as its Ultimate skill. For 15 seconds you can effectively double your damage output. It mimics all of your skills except Shadow Imbuement and helps you take down any tough enemies you come across. While the cooldown is long early on, adding 5 ranks to the skill reduces the cooldown and as you progress, the cooldown becomes short enough for Shadow Clone to always be active.

Key Passive

Momentum is your Key Passive of choice for the build. It is a great all rounder that provides you Movement Speed, Damage Reduction, Energy Regeneration, Max Energy, and increased damage. Stacks are gained by casting Cutthroat skills which are Blade Shift, Flurry, Dash, Shadow Step, and Shadow Clone once you unlock its rank 5 bonus. Once it has been fully stacked, you don't need to worry about losing stacks as this build uses no Marksman skills.

Final Journey to Level 60

At this point, the core setup is complete. All of your remaining points go into boosting your damage, defenses, speed or already allocated skills. Check out the skills progression above to see where to put your points as you go, but feel free to deviate from the order displayed as necessary. For example, you can pick up Target Practice or Stutter Step earlier over Sturdy if you don't feel you need this extra defense.

Caltrops and Smoke Grenade Swaps

Shadow Imbuement is a great early game skill, however as you solve Energy issues, increase the size and damge of Flurry, and reduce the cooldown of Shadow Clone and can activate it consistently, Shadow Imbuement becomes less and less important and can be removed. Similarly, after you find Umbrous, Dark Shroud no longer needs to be on your skill bar as you gain its benefits through combat. Caltrops and Smoke Grenade are great ways to boost damage output against harder enemies and can be added into the build. Blade Shift can also be removed if you are able to use Flurry without running out of Energy. More info in the Flurry Rogue Endgame section below.

Rogue Specializations

The Rogue's Class Specialization allows you to choose one out of three powerful passive effects to boost your build. The three available choices are:

• Combo Points (lvl 15) - Use Basic Skills to boost your subsequent Core Skill for more damage and various other effects.
• Inner Sight (lvl 20) - Attack enemies to fill the gauge. Marked enemies fill it faster. When full, gain 25%[+] Critical Strike Chance and unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
• Preparation (lvl 30) - Every 75 Energy used reduces the cooldown of your Ultimate Skills by 5 seconds. Casting an Ultimate Skill resets all other cooldowns and grants 15% Damage Reduction for 10 seconds.

Unlocking Specializations

Once you reach level 15, you have to complete a short questline starting in Menestad, Fractured Peaks. A Priority Quest leads you there to help out Leyrana. After a few stops outside of town you enter the Forsaken Quarry Dungeon and finish the quest there, unlocking Combo Points. After that, the other two Specializations unlock automatically once you reach their minimum level.

To get started as a Flurry Rogue, focus the most on upgrading your melee weapons as their damage is the base for all further damage calculations for all Cutthroat skills. Otherwise, follow the priority list below. Since this build does not use any Marksman skills for damage, your ranged weapon becomes a stat stick that does not need to be replaced often. While you don't have all of the desired temper manuals available, simply try to get anything useful on your gear until you get the right ones. For example, % Damage, Damage to Close, Vulnerable Damage, etc. all work as long as you activate their conditions. Likewise, you can temper multiple defensive options such as Resistances, Life, Armor to fill gaps in your survivability. Tempering low level gear is relatively cheap and the results can be very impactful.

Tip: For the early game, Elemental Surge Weapon Tempers are very powerful due to their high base damage, especially if you are leveling an alternate hero. If you find these, you may want to keep imprinting them on your weapons for an easy time.

The Codex of Power is a collection of Legendary Aspects you can imprint onto Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist. They unlock after completing specific Dungeons located around Sanctuary or salvaging items with these powers. Check out our Map Tool to locate these Dungeons.

For leveling, there are a few powers that can significantly help if you have the funds to imprint them. In addition, keep an eye out for powerful Unique items you may find for this or other builds.

Must-have Dungeon unlocks

1. Encircling Blades (Forsaken Quarry - Fractured Peaks)
2. Arrow Storms (Howling Warren - Scosglen)
3. Vengeful (Inferno - Kehjistan)

Nice-to-have Dungeon unlocks

1. Might (Dark Ravine - Dry Steppes)
2. Wind Striker (Shivta Ruins - Kehjistan)
3. Rapid (Buried Halls - Dry Steppes)
4. Expectant (Underroot - Scosglen)
5. Disobedience (Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan)
6. Energizing (Sanguine Chapel - Fractured Peaks)
7. Retribution (Abandoned Mineworks - Kehjistan)
8. Enshrouding (Ghoa Ruins - Hawezar)

Great Uniques for this build

1. Cowl of the Nameless
2. Asheara's Khanjar
3. Condemnation
4. Tibault's Will
5. Grasp of Shadow
6. Assassin's Stride

Jackpot Drops

As you level up, you may get lucky and find some great random drops. Some of these can massively amplify your power and speed up the leveling by switching to another build. Keep in mind that there are many more Aspects and Uniques that can be useful to multiple builds; this just lists some of the most impactful ones. While it's usually recommend starting with Endgame Builds at level 60, you often can make them work earlier with these drops:

Build-defining Aspects

• Star Shards (enables Dance of Knives Rogue Endgame Build)
• Creeping Death (enables Twisting Blades Rogue Endgame Build)
• Repeating (enables Rapid Fire Rogue Endgame Build)
• High Velocity (enables Barrage Rogue Endgame Build)
• Apogeic Furor (enables Death Trap Rogue Endgame Build and Rain of Arrows Rogue Endgame Build)

Build-defining Uniques

• Eyes in the Dark (enables Death Trap Rogue Endgame Build)
• Scoundrel's Kiss and (enables Rapid Fire Rogue Endgame Build)
• Andariel's Visage (enables Andariels Visage Rogue Endgame Build)
• Shard of Verathiel (enables Heartseeker Rogue Endgame Build)
• Skyhunter (enhances Rapid Fire Rogue Endgame Build)

You can have up to two Runewords in your setup, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them in Two-Handed Weapons if your build calls for them, otherwise place them into your armor pieces to replace normal gems. The Flurry Rogue focuses on the following combos:

Best in Slot

• Cir + Kry - Vortex pulls in nearby enemies ensuring they do not leave your Flurry range.
• Poc + Vex - Consistently boosts all skill ranks as you fight, which further boosts Shadow Clone damage.

Alternative choices

As long as you haven't unlocked the final setup or found the top Runes, you can also benefit from these options:

• Lith - A great way to generate Offering in extended fights
• Zec - Helps reduce Shadow Clone cooldown to get you closer to full uptime.
• Ohm - Grants moderate uptime of War Cry to increase damage
• Bac - Consistently generates Offering in Speedfarming.
• Wat - Decrepify helps with Stagger, defense, and executes enemies at 10% HP. When combined with Xol in your other Runeword it also generates large amounts of Offering
• Poc - Another way of generating Offering
• Xal - For extra defense
• Gar - To reach 100% Critcal Strike Chance more reliably
• Mot - Generates Dark Shroud for extra defense
• Lum - Helps restore Energy in the early game when you may be resource starved.
• Yax - Great way to generate offering that synergizes with Unstable Elixirs

Mercenaries are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and assist you in battle. There are 4 separate Mercenaries to choose from, each with their own skill trees and abilities. You can have one hired (permanent) Mercenary during solo play and a reinforcement who assits you from time to time in certain situations.

Hired: Varyana

She is primarily used to boost your Attack Speed through Hysteria, Bloodthirst, and Bloodlust. She also gives you a Movement Speed boost as you kill more and more enemies through Massacre.

Reinforcement: Raheir

Call Raheir, the Shieldbearer as your reinforcement Mercenary to when you become Injured to save you with Bastion and prevent nearly all damage dealt to you for 5 seconds.

In Diablo 4, you can level by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, completing Helltide activities, grinding Dungeons, clearing Strongholds, fighting in the Undercity of Kurast or interacting with the Seasonal Mechanics. While there are many ways to level up in Diablo 4, not all of them are equal.

Paragon & Glyphs

Use the slider to see progression steps. At around Paragon 200, leveling slows down significantly and all important Rare clusters, Legendary nodes and Glyph sockets should be unlocked. Afterwards, you can min/max your build with minor tweaks and by picking up additional smaller nodes.

Glyph Leveling Priorities

Coming soon.

• The Flurry Rogue comes online easily and is a speedy farming build with high mobility skills and area damage.
• Build 3 Combo Points with Blade Shift then unleash Flurry. Continue repeating this combo to maximize your damage output.
• Activate Shadow Imbuement for Shadow Damage explosions on kill.
• Maintain Dark Shroud stacks by casting on cooldown.
• Focus on improving your Melee Weapons more than any other items.
• Keep Shadow Clone active as often as possible.
• Look out for helpful Legendary Powers in the Codex of Power, especially Encircling Blades and those that provide extra damage and defense.

Written by DeezyTheMonster
Reviewed by M1PY