Rogue Dance of Knives Leveling Build (Season 6)

This is a Rogue Dance of Knives leveling build and guide for Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred (D4). Read on to learn more about the Rogue Dance of Knives leveling build as well as tips for leveling the Rogue class in the Vessel of Hatred expansion and Season of Hatred Rising!

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Class Guide	Best Builds	Specialization

Rogue Dance of Knives Leveling Build

Dance of Knives Build Summary

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects and Affixes
Gems		Mercenary		Playstyle

Build Summary
Dance of Knives Leveling Build
	Focus: Leveling, Farming
Fast Mob Clearing High Mobility Low single target DPS

This leveling build for Season 6 uses the new Rogue agility skill, Dance of Knives, together with Shadow Imbuement and Shadow Clone to quickly make work of enemy packs and speed run dungeons to level up fast.

Leveling Guide

Dance of Knives Build Skills and Passives

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects and Affixes
Gems		Mercenary		Playstyle

※ More skills can be seen by scrolling vertically.

Active Skills
Basic Skill Tree ┗ Puncture (1/5) 　┗ Enhanced Puncture 　　┗ Fundamental Puncture
Core Skill Tree ┗ Target Practice (3/3) ┗ Sturdy (3/3) ┗ Stutter Step (3/3)
Agility Skill Tree ┗ Dance of Knives (5/5) 　┗ Enhanced Dance of Knives 　　┗ Disciplined Dance of Knives ┗ Caltrops (1/5) 　┗ Enhanced Caltrops 　　┗ Methodical Caltrops ┗ Weapon Mastery (3/3)
Subterfuge Skill Tree ┗ Concealment (5/5) ┗ Dark Shroud (5/5) 　┗ Enhanced Dark Shroud 　　┗ Subverting Dark Shroud ┗ Exploit (3/3) 　┗ Malice (3/3)
Imbuement Skill Tree ┗ Shadow Imbuement (5/5) 　┗ Enhanced Shadow Imbuement 　　┗ Blended Shadow Imbuement ┗ Shadow Crash (3/3) ┗ Frigid Finesse (3/3) ┗ Precision Imbuement (3/3)
Ultimate Skill Tree ┗ Shadow Clone (5/5) 　┗ Prime Shadow Clone 　　┗ Supreme Shadow Clone ┗ Adrenaline Rush (1/3) 　┗ Haste (3/3)
Key Passive ┗ Victimize

Dance of Knives Build Skill Progression

At the early levels, focus on unlocking and upgrading your active skills, especially Dance of Knives and Shadow Imbuement, which will provide most of your damage. If you do not have enough skill points to reach Dance of Knives yet, you can settle for any Core Skill you're comfortable with until you unlock Dance of Knives.

Once you reach the Imbuement skill tree, prioritize maxing out Dance of Knives together with Shadow Imbuement, as the combination of those two will allow you to run dungeons more effectively.

For your passives, you'll want to prioritize Target Practice, Stutter Step, Weapon Mastery, and Haste to essentially boost your movement speed, granting you charges on your Dance of Knives as you mow down enemies.

Dance of Knives Build Specialization

Combo Points is the best specialization for the Dance of Knives as it synergizes with the Aspect of Star Shards. This allows your Dance of Knives to shatter upon hit, allowing you to spread Shadow Imbuement to more enemies, and also grants you extra charges, allowing you to channel Dance of Knives longer.

Specialization Guide

Dance of Knives Build Best Aspects and Affixes

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Summary				Aspects and Affixes
Gems		Mercenary		Playstyle

※ More gear Aspects can be seen by scrolling vertically.

Gear	Aspect and Affixes
Head	Aspect of Cruel Sustenance ・Armor ・Dexterity ・Cooldown Reduction Temper: ・Defensive - Worldly Endurance 　┗ Maximum Life ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Chest	Aspect of Disobedience ・Armor ・Maximum Life ・Dexterity Temper: ・Defensive - Worldly Endurance 　┗ Maximum Life ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Gloves	Aspect of Concussive Strikes ・Critical Strike Chance ・Critical Strike Damage ・Attack Speed Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Pants	Umbrous Aspect ・Armor ・Max Life ・Dexterity Temper: ・Defensive - Worldly Endurance 　┗ Total Armor ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Boots	Mired Sharpshooter's Aspect ・Ranks to Dance of Knives ・Armor ・Movement Speed Temper: ・Mobility - Natural Motion 　┗ Movement Speed ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Amulet	Rapid Aspect ・Damage ・Critical Strike Chance ・Movement Speed Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Utility - Worldly Fortune 　┗ Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Enemies
Ring	Aspect of Synergy ・Critical Strike Chance ・Critical Strike Damage ・Damage Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Resource - Imbuement Abundance 　┗ Shadow Imbue Lasts for 2 Casts
Ring	Trickster's Aspect ・Critical Strike Chance ・Critical Strike Damage ・Damage Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Resource - Imbuement Abundance 　┗ Shadow Imbue Lasts for 2 Casts
Crossbow	Edgemaster's Aspect ・Critical Strike Damage ・Damage ・Vulnerable Damage Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Weapons - Agile Augments 　┗ Chance for Dance of Knives to Cast Twice
1-Handed Sword	Aspect of Imitated Imbuement ・Critical Strike Damage ・Damage ・Vulnerable Damage Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Weapons - Agile Augments 　┗ Chance for Dance of Knives to Cast Twice
1-Handed Sword	Aspect of Star Shards ・Critical Strike Damage ・Damage ・Vulnerable Damage Temper: ・Offensive - Cutthroat Finesse 　┗ Cutthroat Damage ・Weapons - Agile Augments 　┗ Chance for Dance of Knives to Cast Twice

Dance of Knives Build Best Gems

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Summary			Skill Progression
Aspects and Affixes		Gems		Playstyle

Armor	Weapons	Jewelry
Emerald	Sapphire	Diamond

For gems, it's best to slot in Emerald on armor slots to get more Dexterity, Sapphire on weapon slots to get Vulnerable Damage, and Diamonds on jewelry slots to get more Elemental Resistance.

Diamonds can be replaced with other gems depending on which resistances you need to get 70% or close across the board.

Dance of Knives Best Runewords

Runeword 1
Feo Ton

For our Runewords, Feo + Ton is our only recommended choice as it can provide extra damage against single targets. This allows you to cast 50 Meteorites whenever you're injured or crowd-controlled.

List of All Runewords

Dance of Knives Mercenary

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects and Affixes
Gems		Mercenary		Playstyle

Mercenary	Reinforcement
Varyana	Raheir

Use Varyana as Your Main Mercenary

Varyana's passive effect prolongs Dance of Knives due to the movement speed it grants, allowing you to obtain more Dance of Knives stacks while spinning through hordes of enemies.

For her skills, use Shockwave, Ancient Harpoons, and Iron Grip to synergize it with Caltrops, allowing you to deal more damage to the enemies she pulled. Reprisal is also a great passive from Varyana as it provides an extra defense against impairment.

Varyana Mercenary Guide

Use Raheir For Reinforcement

Use Raheir's Bastion to grant passive Unstoppable for 1 second and redirect 90% of damage taken to Raheir.

Have Raheir's opportunity usage to Crowd Control to apply the Unstoppable from Bastion, granting you an extra dispel against impairment effects.

Raheir Mercenary Guide

Dance of Knives Build Playstyle and Rotation

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects and Affixes
Gems		Mercenary		Playstyle

The playstyle of the Dance of Knives Rogue revolves around buffing your Dance of Knives to make the most out of a single skill channel. The rotation is as follows:

1. Build up Combo Points to gain extra damage and charges for Dance of Knives.
2. Cast Concealment to gain the effects of Aspect of Synergy which will increase the damage of your Dance of Knives.
3. Cast Shadow Clone and Shadow Imbuement then channel Dance of Knives until you kill all enemies or until your Dance of Knives charges run out.
4. Use Caltrops against Bosses for increased damage from Enhanced Caltrops and the synergy from Methodical Caltrops and Frigid Finesse.

Rogue Leveling Tips for Season 6

Choose Hard Difficulty

Obtain the Aspect of Star Shards

Complete Your Rogue Specialization Quest

Play Through the Seasonal Content

Choose Hard Difficulty

Start with Hard difficulty for 75% more Gold and XP from monster kills. Using our leveling build guarantees a breeze-through progression that makes you feel like you're simply running through enemies.

Best Difficulty Tier to Start With

Obtain the Aspect of Star Shards

We recommend getting the Aspect of Star Shards early to make your runs faster and more effective. The Aspect of Star Shards allows your Dance of Knives to split into multiple projectiles upon hit, allowing you to hit more enemies in proximity. Furthermore, it allows you to gain the effects of Combo Points on the Dance of Knives, increasing its damage and charges.

Aspect of Star Shards Effects and How to Get

Complete Your Rogue Specialization Quest

Once you reach level 15, complete your Specialization Questline to unlock Combo Points and use it with the Aspect of Star Shards. For the Dance of Knives, Combo Points is the best specialization to choose as it has a direct aspect that synergizes with it.

Rogue Specialization Guide

Play Through the Seasonal Content and Activities

At the start of your Season 6 journey you'll want to participate in Seasonal Activities, Helltide to collect better gear and the aspects you need for the build. If you have the Vessel of Hatred expansion, you can also participate in the Kurast Undercity to level up faster and target-farm better gear.

Diablo 4 Related Guides

Build Guides and Tier List

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