Rogue Cold Imbued Twisting Blades Endgame Build (Season 2 Updated)

This is a Season 2 Cold Imbued Twisting Blades endgame build for Rogue in Diablo 4 (D4)! This build uses Cold as both cloak and dagger, crowd-controlling enemies and bosses alike while still dealing a respectable amount of damage. Read on to learn this build's aspects, skills, and playstyle for Season 2.

Cold Imbued Twisting Blades Build Overview

Build Summary

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

CC for Daze

The Cold Imbued Twisting Blades (Cold Steel) Rogue focuses on applying a combination of Daze, Chilled, and Frozen to enemies while taking passives like Frigid Finesse, Mixed Cold Imbuement, and the Domination Vampiric Power to maximize damage against crowd controlled targets!

Positioning is Key

Dash works fantastically well when paired with Twisting Blades as it grants the returning blades a lot of ground to cover during its return flight. Additionally, Disciplined Dash dazes enemies already afflicted by other CCs, of which we have plenty!

The passive ability Impetus further amplifies the playstyle of weaving around the battlefield, as it is almost a guaranteed proc after casting Dash. Furthermore, if used with a full Combo Points meter, the damage numbers climb even higher.

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

The beauty of this build is that our offensive options also function as defensive options! Because Disciplined Dash dazes any enemies, you can use Dash to get out of a sticky situation while hampering any enemies that might chase you. On that note, Concealment is a defensive option since it combos well with the passive Mending Obscurity, but it also triples as an opener and a utility skill because of Enhanced Concealment and Subverting Concealment.

Dash will also provide players with huge passive damage thanks to the stored souls from the Accursed Touch which is unleashed after dashing and seeks out enemies to explode!

Even if a Cold Rogue is somehow stopped, we have a point in the key passive Momentum which affords us a whopping 20% Damage Reduction when we deal damage against CC'd enemies.

Cold Imbued Twisting Blades Build Breakdown

Skill Progression

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

Active Skills

Skill		Upgrade Path
Blade Shift (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Blade Shift	Fundamental Blade Shift
Twisting Blades (5 Points)	→	Enhanced Twisting Blades	Improved Twisting Blades
Dash (5 Points)	→	Enhanced Dash	Disciplined Dash
Concealment (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Concealment	Subverting Concealment
Cold Imbuement (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Cold Imbuement	Mixed Cold Imbuement
Shadow Clone (1 Point)	→	Prime Shadow Clone	Supreme Shadow Clone

Passive Skills

Cold Poison Twisting Blades Passives
Agile (1 Point)	Mending Obscurity (3 Points)	Frigid Finesse (3 Points)
Adrenaline Rush (1 Point)	Haste (3 Points)	Debilitating Toxins (3 Points)
Momentum (1 Point)	Innervation (3 Points)	Impetus (3 Points)
Exploit (3 Points)	Malice (3 Points)	Weapon Mastery (3 Points)
Rugged (2 Points)	Reactive Defense (3 Points)	-

Skill Progression Breakdown

Recommended Skill Progression
Lv.2	Lv.3	Lv.4	Lv.5
Blade Shift	Enhanced Blade Shift	Twisting Blades	Enhanced Twisting Blades
Lv.6	Lv.7	Lv.8	Lv.9
Improved Twisting Blades	Fundamental Blade Shift	Dash	Enhanced Dash
Lv.10	Lv.11	Lv.12	Lv.13
Disciplined Dash	Twisting Blades	Twisting Blades	Concealment
Lv.14	Lv.15	Lv.16	Lv.17
Enhanced Concealment	Subverting Concealment	Agile	Mending Obscurity
Lv.18	Lv.19	Lv.20	Lv.21
Cold Imbuement	Enhanced Cold Imbuement	Mixed Cold Imbuement	Mending Obscurity
Lv.22	Lv.23	Lv.24	Lv.25
Mending Obscurity	Twisting Blades	Twisting Blades	Shadow Clone
Lv.26	Lv.27	Lv.28	Lv.29
Prime Shadow Clone	Supreme Shadow Clone	Frigid Finesse	Frigid Finesse
Lv.30	Lv.31	Lv.32	Lv.33
Frigid Finesse	Adrenaline Rush	Haste	Haste
Lv.34	Lv.35	Lv.36	Lv.37
Haste	Momentum	Dash	Dash
Lv.38	Lv.39	Lv.40	Lv.41
Dash	Dash	Innervation	Innervation
Lv.42	Lv.43	Lv.44	Lv.45
Innervation	Impetus	Impetus	Impetus
Lv.46	Lv.47	Lv.48	Lv.49
Exploit	Exploit	Exploit	Malice
Renown Skill Points (Lv50 Onwards)
R1	R2	R3	R4
Malice	Malice	Weapon Mastery	Weapon Mastery
R5	R6	R7	R8
Weapon Mastery	Rugged	Reactive Defense	Reactive Defense
R9		R10
Reactive Defense		Rugged

Specialization

Aspects and Affixes

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

Best Weapons

Equipment	Aspects and Affixes
Crossbow	Accelerating Aspect Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by (15-25)% for 5 seconds. ・+ All Stats ・+ X% Core Skill Damage ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+ X% Critical Strike Damage ・+ X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Dagger	Asheara's Khanjar Hits with this weapon increase your Attack Speed by (4-6)% for 4 seconds, up to (20-30)% ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies (Inherent) ・+ X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies ・+ X% Movement Speed for 4 seconds after Elite Kill ・+ X% Lucky Hit Chance
Dagger	Bladedancer's Aspect Twisting Blades orbit for a short time after they return to you, dealing 20-30% of Twisting Blade's return damage per hit. ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies (Inherent) ・+ X% Core Skill Damage ・+ X% Damage to Chilled Enemies ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+ X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies

Best Armor

Equipment	Aspects and Affixes
Helmet	Cowl of the Nameless You gain (15-25)% increased Lucky Hit Chance against Crowd Controlled enemies. ・+ X% Dexterity ・+ X% Cool Down Reduction ・+ X% Crowd Control Duration Bonus ・+ X% Maximum Energy ・+ X% Vulnerable Damage
Chest	Aspect of Quickening Fog You automatically drop a Smoke Grenade at the end of Dash. Dash's Cooldown is reduced by (XX) seconds for each enemy Dazed this way, up to (YY) seconds. ・+ X% Damage with Dual-Wielded Weapons ・+ X Ranks of Dash ・+ X% Control Impaired Duration Reduction ・+ X% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
Gloves	Aspect of Corruption Your Imbuement Skill effects have (20-40)% increased potency against Vulnerable enemies. ・+ X Ranks of Twisting Blades ・+ X% Attack Speed ・+ X% Critical Strike Chance ・+ X% Critical Strike Damage
Pants	Aspect of Uncanny Treachery Dealing direct damage to a Dazed Enemy with an Agility Skill grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Breaking Stealth with an attack grants you (15-45)% Control Impaired Duration Reduction for 4 seconds. ・While Injured, Potion Grants X% Max Life as Barrier (Inherent) ・+ X% Dodge Chance ・+ X Ranks of Dash ・+ X% Damage Reduction ・+ X% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
Boots	Penitent Greaves You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal (7-10%) more damage to Chilled enemies. ・+ X% Dodge Chance While Evading(Inherent) ・+ X% Movement Speed ・+ X% Crowd Control Duration ・+ X% Cold Resistance

Best Jewelry

Equipment	Aspects and Affixes
Necklace	Exploiter's Aspect You have 20% increased Crowd Control Duration. While enemies are Unstoppable, you deal (20-40)% increased damage to them. ・+ X% Resist All (Inherent) ・+ X% Damage ・+ X% Dodge Chance ・+ X% Crowd Control Duration ・+ X% Movement Speed
Ring	Rapid Aspect Basic skills gain (15-30)% Attack Speed. ・+ X% Resistance (2 Elements) (Inherent) ・+ X% All Stats ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+ X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies ・+ X% Core Skill Damage
Ring	Opportunist's Aspect When you break Stealth with an attack, you drop a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades around your location that deal (XX) total Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.50 seconds. ・+ X% Resistance (2 Elements) (Inherent) ・+ X% All Stats ・+ X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+ X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies ・+ X% Core Skill Damage

Best Gems

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

Item Type	Effect Explanation
Royal Emerald (Weapon)	+12.0% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies Emeralds provide Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies that synergizes with this build's skills and affixes which boosts overall damage output.
Royal Topaz (Armor)	10.0% Damage Reduction while Control Impaired Topaz is extremely helpful as it reduces incoming damage while control-impaired, a must-have for this build as it does not have unstoppable.
Royal Diamond (Jewelry)	5.0% Resistance to All Elements Adjust your gem slots in the jewelry section depending on the elemental resistances you need. Note that elemental resistances have a cap of 70%, but it can be boosted to 85% temporarily through various means.

Best Vampiric Powers

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

Vampiric Power Cost	Effect Explanation
Domination 1 0 0	You deal 24% increased damage to enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, Frozen, or Feared. If they're also Injured and not an Elite, they're instantly killed. Provides a synergy with Cold Imbued Twisting Blades which greatly boosts damage against mobs, elites, and staggered bosses.
Hectic 0 3 0	For every 5 Basic Skills you cast, one of your active Cooldowns is reduced by 2 seconds. Synergizes with the Rapid and Accelerating Aspects and Asheara's Khanjar for cooldown reduction.
Prey on the Weak 2 0 0	You deal 16% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Enemies are Vulnerable while affected by a Vampiric Curse from your other Vampiric Powers. Greatly boosts the damage to vulnerable enemies which is always applied by Puncture thanks to the attack speed bonuses from the Rapid and Accelerating Aspects and Asheara's Khanjar.
Undying 0 0 1	Casting Skills heals you for 3% Life. Double this bonus while below 50% Life. Acts as the build's life sustain which benefits from the build's Attack Speed bonuses.
Accursed Touch 0 6 0	Lucky Hit: Up to a 44% chance to inflict Vampiric Curse on enemies. Enemies with the Vampiric Curse have a 15% chance to spread it to other surrounding enemies. Accursed Souls deal 200% increased damage. The Stored Accursed Souls are used for faster mob clear and burst damage against bosses and tough elites.
Total Pacts Required 6 | 9 | 1

Paragon Board Setup

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Summary		Skill Progression		Aspects & Affixes
Gems		Vampiric Powers		Paragon

Cold Imbued Twisting Blades Playstyle

Cold Steel Rogue Build Tips
Proper Cold Imbuement Use Impale With Twisting Blades Before Dashing Defensive Play Pay Attention To Combo Points Hold Your Ground

Proper Cold Imbuement Use

Cold Imbuements, and Imbuements in general, should be applied before a fight starts. This way, you will have access to 4 total imbuements during your skirmishes since you have your current imbuement buff ongoing, and you have the Cold Imbuement skill off cooldown and ready for re-application.

Also, make sure to apply Cold Imbuement after summoning your Shadow Clone, as this maximizes our potential damage since we have the Aspect of Imitated Imbuement slotted.

Impale With Twisting Blades Before Dashing

For dealing with mobs of enemies, try to use Twisting Blades on the nearest enemies before Dashing across the mobs. This maximizes the area of effect for the return flight of Twisting Blades! Also, because Disciplined Dash Slows and Dazes enemies, the damage of the returning blades is further amplified if we have an active Cold Imbuement.

Ideal Skill Rotation

Defensive Play

While this is a no-brainer for other classes, it can be easy to forget to evade when you're playing a Rogue. Our defensive options include both Dash and Concealment, both of which are fantastic choices for when you're running low on HP. But remember that we also have access to Evade and that it is still reliable when our other defensive options are on cooldown.

Also, remember that Cold Imbued Rogues invested points into the Mending Obscurity passive skill, so Concealment is a viable alternative to healing for when you're running low on potions! On that note, Mending Obscurity triggers from any source of stealth, so our Aspect of Uncanny Treachery can also heal us if it procs after using Dash!

Pay Attention to Combo Points

Combo Points is our specialization of choice as it boosts the potential damage we deal. Pay attention to when the Combo Points meter is full and try to time the use of Twisting Blades to maximize your damage output.

Hold Your Ground

When all of your skills are on cooldown, don't be afraid to stand and trade blows with your enemy. Cold Steel Rogues are deceptively tanky thanks to dodge % and the Momentum key passive. Additionally, having the Aspect of Unstable Imbuements and Bladedancer's Aspect slotted rewards this style of play.

You will also constantly taunt nearby enemies whenever you use a Subterfuge skill because of the Trickery Malignant Heart. This includes the grenades that you cast from breaking Concealment and the grenades at the end of your Dash.

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