Welcome to the Heartseeker Rogue Specialized Guide! This is a brand new build for season 4 made possible by the new itemization changes. The build focuses around buffing the basic attack skill Heartseeker with other abilities, passives and multiplicative aspects while building around the Close Quarters Combat key passive for more attack speed and raw damage.
We use the Preparation specialization to include an Ultimate for more utility and an additional multiplier from No Witness, new for season 5. This setup is straight forward, easy to play, great for those looking for something different. Learn everything you need to know on how to make the most out of this build!
Our Specialized Builds are Endgame builds with specific requirements and purposes. In order to play them, you are expected to already have specific items and effects available. To get there, we recommend you use one of our existing lvl 50-100 Endgame Build Guides.
Requirements for this build to function:
- All listed basic attack aspects.
- Chance to cast Heartseeker twice on 2 handed weapon.
- Coldclip
- Shard of Verathiel
- 6+ ranks to Innervation
Heartseeker
Heartseeker
This is the base setup. You want to equip Beastfall Boots as Shard of Verathiel drains your energy. The boots serve as a stop gap until you can get the correct tempers and rolls.
For this, Elixir of Fortitude II and Elixir of Advantage II are good here, whichever you need.
Gear and Skills
Paragon
Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Heartseeker Rogue. Note: The Paragon Boards are the final setup with no steps.
Level 21 Glyphs required:Control, Ambush, Fluidity, Canny, Devious
Final setup includes Tyrael's Might which does move around a few stats, but grants a lot of toughness and easy ways to cap armor and all resistances. We pick up Ring of Starless Skies for easy unconditional damage and easy resource management, while still allowing 100% uptime on No Witness legendary node because we're also picking up Harlequin Crest while master working cooldown reduction. For this, Elixir of Fortitude II and Elixir of Resourcefulness II are good here, whichever you need. If you're not comfortable not having Dash, drop Smoke Grenade for Dash
With these changes, you will have a permanent barrier and can cast Rain of Arrows every 8 to 9 seconds after continuous fire, which gives us permanent uptime on No Witness legendary node. Imbuing Rain of Arrows ensures not only a multiplicative buff to enemies that are shadow imbued, but also additional AoE that allows Heartseeker to hone in on the important big body targets.
Penitent Greaves is also a choice to keep enemies at bay with the same multiplier you would normally put here (Frostbitten). Throw on Beastfall Boots if you find yourself struggling with energy, or want to do super speed content like helltide or 101 pits as things just die too fast to regenerate energy from.
If the planner below does not look updated, click on the planner itself to view the changes until the guide catches up.
Gear and Skills
Paragon
Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Heartseeker Rogue. Note: The Paragon Boards are the final setup with no steps.
Level 21 Glyphs required:Control, Ambush, Fluidity, CannyDevious
As usual, I provide a "DiEoxidE" tryhard variant that squeezes as much damage as I possibly can with little regard to survivability. For this, Elixir of Fortitude II and Elixir of Resourcefulness II are good here, whichever you need. If you're not comfortable not having Dash, drop Smoke Grenade for Dash
With the new update to desecrater and hellborne incoming damage, this allowed me to play around with a few more options, which ended up with me dropping Tyrael's Might all together (I know....crazy!)
We go with a regular chest with Dark Shroud ranks with Frostbitten which is only possible by going Harlequin Crest over Cowl of the Nameless for damage reduction and cooldown reduction. We pick up Penitent Greaves again for the nice multiplier as well as cold resistance since we now need to pick up resistances. The crit chance to chilled enemies is also nice now that we don't have the extra ranks from Trick Attacks. Ring of Starless Skies makes its way back into the build to maximize unconditional damage output and much needed crit chance as well as putting us back in the 11 frame bp.
We're still able to keep permanent barrier and the cooldown reduction from helm now allows us to keep our ultimate going steady without worrying about starless's resource cost reduction like before. We can now spam Smoke Grenade for nearly 100% uptime on Paingorger's Gauntlets even in between ultimate cast. Small changes to the paragon board allow armor cap and a little more damage reduction.
If the planner below does not look updated, click on the planner itself to view the changes until the guide catches up.
Gear and Skills
Paragon
Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Heartseeker Rogue. Note: The Paragon Boards are the final setup with no steps.
Level 21 Glyphs required:Control, Ambush, Fluidity, CannyDevious
This is for those who absolutely cannot stand playing with Trap Skills. We heard you, so I made an exclusive setup for that crowd! All the details in the previous tabs apply here. For this, Elixir of Fortitude II and Elixir of Resourcefulness II are good here, whichever you need.
Gear and Skills
Paragon
Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Heartseeker Rogue. Note: The Paragon Boards are the final setup with no steps.
Level 21 Glyphs required:Control, Devious, Fluidity, Canny
Despite Victimize not applying all of the correct buffs at the moment, Victimize still does fine and comes close to Close Quarters Combat version when built correctly. For those that want an easier rotation and simply dislike the Close Quarters Combat playstyle, this is for you. All the details in the previous tabs apply here. For this, Elixir of Fortitude II and Elixir of Resourcefulness II are good here, whichever you need.
Gear and Skills
Paragon
Paragon point allocation, and the correct Glyphs you should use for the Heartseeker Rogue. Note: The Paragon Boards are the final setup with no steps.
Level 21 Glyphs required:Control, Chip, Devious, Fluidity, Canny, Exploit
Season 5 - Infernal Hordes
In Season 5, the Season Theme brings your hero back into the bowels of Hell, in the Infernal Hordes endgame activity. You're first introduced to Hellbreach Dungeons, miniature Horde-like micro-dungeons that teach you the new mechanics and rewards systems. As you slay more powerful Demons and Bosses, you're rewarded with the new Reputation progression that comes with amazing rewards. These include Crafting Materials, unlocking Season's Journey tiers and even the coveted Resplendent Spark, needed to craft a mythic unique.
Follow the seasonal questline until you unlock the Reputation system, check which rewards suit you most and then follow your regular leveling path. To learn more, check out our full Season 5 guide for more information.
Gameplay
The Heartseeker Rogue is a straight forward shooter of a build. It's high in mobility and damage modifiers. Below explains how to best get the most out of each skill on your bar.
- Heartseeker is the main skill. You can start most engagements with this nearly off screen and kill trash mobs in the open world before they can get near you.
- Use Ultimate Skill to proc Paingorger's Gauntlets as well as bonus damage from the No Witness legendary node
- When things get a little tough, you want to dropCaltrops to stack buffs and deal more damage.
- Use Smoke Grenade whenever you see an elite pack to disable them. This also gives a nice multiplier which allows you to burst them down quickly.
- Both Dash and Shadow Step are here for mobility and to get out of sticky situations and for the Close Quarters Combat and Tricks of the Trade buff. Use both liberally to put yourself in the best positions possible.
Gear and Stat Requirements
As a specialized guide, the Heartseeker Rogue requires specific Aspects, Affixes, Masterworks and Tempers on your gear to perform well.
- Legendary Aspects:
- Coldclip
- Concussive Strikes
- Frostbitten
- Umbrous
- Adaptability
- Moonrise
- Conceited
- Retribution
- Uniques:
- Cowl of the Nameless
- Paingorger's Gauntlets
- Penitent Greaves
- Mythic Uniques
- Tyrael's Might
- Ring of Starless Skies
- Harlequin Crest
- Doombringer (optional)
Recommended Stat Thresholds
- 5+ total Ranks of Dark Shroud
- 15+ total Ranks of Heartseeker
- 1500%+ Damage Per Dark Shroud (gear value x5)
- 80%+ Chance to Cast Heartseeker Twice
- 350%+ Ultimate damage
- Armor Capped 9,230
- Resistance Capped 70%
- 25,000+ Life
- 15%+ Chance to Stun/Daze/Freeze
- 150%+ Movement Speed
For attack speed frame BP's, you want to hit 11 with bow. 100% in cap 1 and 79.8% in cap 2 with Ring of Starless Skies. Without Ring of Starless Skies, you'll hit 12 frames with bow. 78.7% in cap 1 and 79.8% in cap 2. See mechanics section for more details on attack speed break points.
FAQ & Mechanics
I'm losing all of my Energy and can't cast! Help!!!
Bow or Crossbow? Which is better?
Critical Strike Damage or Vulnerable Damage. Which is better?
Why not Eldritch Bounty legendary node since we're using Cold clip?
Which Elixirs?
Why Royal Diamonds in weapons?
Getting multiple passives on an Amulet is really hard. Any other options?
How are Dark Shroud stacks generated for this build?
Mechanics
Learn about the mechanical details that make the build tick.
Dark Shroud Scaling
Attack Speed Caps
Dodge Mechanics
Smoke Grenade Mechanics
Video Guide
Credits
Written by DiEoxidE
Reviewed by wudijo