Tag: open world

Icy Death Rogue Build for Diablo IV [S Tier Grade]

Icy Death Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV [S Tier Grade]

(Emerging from the Shadows & entrapping your foes to a Cold Death)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launched on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation) and I’ve had my fair share of playing and testing done. I’m now ready to start making full Builds/Theorycrafts that work for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I’ll evolve & keep them updated when we get major rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Rogue Class called Icy Death.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for my builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated when needed.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Icy Death) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Puncture – Throw blades a short distance, dealing 21% (X – ?) damage. Every 3rd cast Slows enemies by 2 seconds. Critical Strikes will always Slow.
    Requires Dual Wielded Weapons.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 50% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic, Ranged, Marksman
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Puncture – Gain 2 Energy when Puncture damages a Crowd Controlled enemy.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fundamental Puncture – Puncture now throws 3 blades in a spread, each dealing 35% of its Base damage. Hitting an enemy with at least 2 blades at once makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Flurry – Unleash a flurry of stabs and slashes, striking enemies in front of you 4 times and dealing a total of 60% (X – ?) damage to each.
    Combo Points increase damage and grant an Attack Speed bonus:
    1: 75% damage, +15% Attack Speed ;
    2: 90% damage, +30% Attack Speed ;
    3: 105% damage, +45% Attack Speed
    Requires Dual Wielded weapons
    Energy Cost: 25 | Lucky Hit Chance: 8% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Melee, Imbueable, Cutthroat
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flurry – Each time Flurry damages a Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemy, you are Healed for 1% of your Maximum Life, up to 12% Maximum Life per cast.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Improved Flurry – If Flurry hits any Vulnerable enemy it will make all enemies hit by that cast Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Sturdy – You gain 4%/8%/12% Close Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) Siphoning Strikes – Heal for 1%/2%/3% of your Maximum Life when you Critically Strike Close enemies.
  • (passive – ONLY put 2 points here) Stutter Step – Critically Striking an enemy grants +5%/+10%/+15% Movement Speed for 4 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type:
    Daggers: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies.
    Swords: 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    Bows: 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
    Crossbows: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
  • (passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not taking an Active Subterfuge skill

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Vanish from sight, gaining an advanced form of Stealth for 4 seconds tat will no be removed by taking damage. Concealment also makes you Unstoppable, grants +30% Movement Speed, and allows you to move freely through enemies for its duration. Using an attack Skill during Concealment will break Concealment .
    Cooldown: 20 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Stealth – You gain 40 Energy when you enter Stealth.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Countering Stealth – The Skill that breaks Concealment will always be a guaranteed Critical Strike.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Dark Shroud – Surround yourself with up to 5 protective shadows. Gain 8% Damage Reduction per active shadow. Each time you take direct damage, that damage is reduced and a shadow is consumed
    Cooldown: 20 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Dark Shroud – Dark Shroud’s shadows have a 8% chance to not be consumed
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Countering Dark Shroud – While you have at least 2 active shadow from Dark Shroud, gain +10% Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive) Exploit – You deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Malice – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Cold Imbuement – Imbue your weapons with frigid energies. Your next 2 Imbueable Skills deal Cold damage and Chill enemies for 25% per hit.
    Cooldown: 9 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% | Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Imbuements
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Cold Imbuement – Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mixed Cold Imbuement – Cold Imbued Skills deal 20% (multiplicative) damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. Double this bonus against Frozen enemies.
  • (passive) Precision Imbuement – Imbued Skills gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive) Frigid Finesse – You deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Chilled enemies. This bonus increases to 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) against Frozen enemies.
    • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Chilling Weight
  • (passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Death Trap – Place a trap that arms after 1.25 seconds. It activates when an enemy moves near, dealing 250% (X – ?) damage to enemies in the area.
    Cooldown: 50 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 4% | Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Ultimate, Trap
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Death Trap – Enemies are Pulled into Death Trap when it activates.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Death Trap – If Death Trap kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
  • (passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to gain 8 Energy.
    • (upgrade) Second Wind – did NOT put point into this
    • (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – Non-Physical damage you deal has a +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance.
  • (passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25/50/75 Energy.
  • (passive) Trap Mastery – When Poison Trap or Death Trap activates, you gain +4%/+8%/+12% increased Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable and Crowd Controlled enemies for 4 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Key Passive (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Momentum – Cutthroat Skills grant a stack of Momentum for 8 seconds if they either:
    Hit a Stunned, Dazed, or Frozen enemy
    Hit any enemy from behind

    While at 3 stacks of Momentum, you gain:
    20% increased Damage Reduction
    30% (multiplicative) increased Energy Regeneration
    +15% increased Movement Speed

Class Mechanic (Specializations):

I don’t have much information about the 3rd Specialization of the Rogue. The 3 Specializations are the Rogues’ Class Mechanics:

  • Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Core Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
  • Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
  • Preparation – Every 100 Energy you spend reduces your Ultimate Skill’s Cooldown by 4 seconds. Using an Ultimate Skill resets the Cooldowns of your other Skills..

I prefer and advise using Preparation for this build. However, Combo Points is an amazing syenrgy with Flurry, especially if you take the Cunning Stratagem Paragon Node.

Unique Items

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top picks will be the following two but check the notes under the Aspects list for more picks:

Eyes in the Dark (Pants)

While Injured, Your Potion Also Grants [30%] Movement Speed for 2 Seconds

Unless it hits a Boss or Player, Death Trap will continue to re-arm itself until it kills an enemy. However, Death Trap‘s Cooldown is increased by [15 – 30]%.

[3.1 – 7.3]% Dodge Chance
+[0.07 – 0.14] Shadow Damage
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Damage to Elites
+[7 – 14]% Damage to Trapped Enemies

“And so, when the sun dipped behind the hills each night, he knew that Ashen Jack would soon be near. Watching, and waiting.” – Greenslade’s Tales, Chapter 2: “Each Long Night”

Harlequin Crest (Helm)

Gain [5-8%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +2 Ranks to All Skills.

[0.245 – 0.455] Maximum Life
X% Cooldown Reduction
+[42 – 70]% Crafting Material Drop Rate
[14 – 28] All Stats

“This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king’s entire lineage.” – The Fall of House Aston

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/+5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Topaz (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Basic Skill Damage
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Control Impaired
• Jewelry: N% Lightning Resistance

+16.7%/8.2%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Icy Death) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Exploiter’s Aspect / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Aspect of Stolen Vigor OR Aspect of the Crowded Sage
  • Chest: Aspect of Stolen Vigor OR Aspect of the Crowded Sage
  • Pants: Aspect of The Protector* / Eyes in the Dark (see notes below)
  • Gloves: Conceited Aspect* (only use while you have Aspect of the Protector for Barriers) / Frostburn (see notes below)
  • Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect / Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Volatile Shadows
  • Ring 2: Accelerating Aspect
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Encircling Blades
  • Off-hand: Vengeful Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon: Smiting Aspect
NOTES: How to re-arrange if using any of the Uniques:

- Aspect of the Protector stays in the Pants slot ONLY until you get the Eyes in the Dark Unique Pants.  For after that just discard it from the build or move it to the Helm slot. If you also have the Unique Helm you're better off removing this Aspect from the build.  
- For Frostburn (Gloves): Conceited Aspect gets removed from the Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Gloves. Many (me including) may prefer Legendary Gloves for the +4 Ranks to Flurry they give but Frostburn is a pretty good synergy with the build too, especially for mobbing.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Ghostwalker Aspect get removed from the Boots slot & replaced by Exploiter’s Aspect, this makes room for the Unique Helm.
- For Eyes in the Dark (Pants): Aspect of Control gets removed from the Ring 1 slot to make room for the Unique Ring. 

ALTERNATIVE: If you decide to use Doombringer (Sword) in the build, you may wanna sacrifice one of the Ring Aspects (Accelerating Aspect OR Aspect of Volatile Shadows) and move the Aspect of the weapon/off-hand that Doombringer Replaces on that Ring slot.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 89 with 179 paragon points (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100). The other link is what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points but i did leave the last 1 up to you to spend.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 45 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Shadow/Cold Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Damage with Core/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills or to Flurry
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Shadow/Cold Damage
Physical/Shadow/Cold Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Shadow/Cold Damage
Resistance to All Elements
Damage to Enemies Affected by Trap Skills
+ % Physical/Shadow/Cold Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Shadow/Cold Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Strike Chance Against Close Enemies
Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Strike Chance Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Strike Chance Against Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies with Imbued Skills
Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills
Shadow Imbued Skill Damage
Imbued Skill Damage
Imbuement Potency
Higher Priority
Damage for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Attack Speed for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Dodge Chance (both +% and x% exist)
Dodge Chance Against Close Enemies
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Dexterity
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Icy Death Rogue Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Shatterer Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV [S Tier Grade]

Shatterer Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV [S Tier Grade]

(Freeze then Shatter your foes, along with their hopes, into an Elemental Explosion of Fire & Ice)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launched on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation) and I’ve had my fair share of playing and testing done. I’m now ready to start making full Builds/Theorycrafts that work for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I’ll evolve & keep them updated when we get major rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Sorcerer Class called Shatterer.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for my builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated when needed.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Shatterer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Frost Bolt – Throw a bolt of frost at an enemy, dealing 35.00% (X- ?) damage and Chilling them for 15%.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 30%
    Damage: Cold ; Tags: Basic, Frost
    Enchantment Effect: Direct damage from Skills applies up to 15% Chill.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frost Bolt – Frost Bolt has a 15% chance to explode on Chilled targets, hitting nearby enemies. Chance increased by 100% against Frozen targets.
    • (2nd upgrade) Glinting Frost Bolt – Frost Bolt generates 4 Mana when hitting Chilled or Frozen.

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Ice Shards – Launch 5 shards that deal 25% (X-?) damage each. Deals 25% (Multiplicative) increased damage to Frozen enemies.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 25%
    Mana Cost: 30 | Damage: Cold ; Tags: Core, Frost
    Enchantment Effect: Ice Shards automatically conjure and fly towards Frozen enemies.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frozen Orb – When cast above 50 Mana, Frozen Orb’s explosion damage is increased by 30% (multiplicative).
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Destructive Frozen Orb – Frozen Orb’s explosion restores 5 Mana when hitting a Frozen enemy.
  • (passive) did not pick any Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 40%
    Cooldown: 11 | Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Defensive, Shock
    Enchantment Effect: Evade is replaced with a short range Teleport on a 17.0 second Cooldown.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Teleport – After Teleporting, you gain 30% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Frost Nova – Unleash a torrent of frost, Freezing enemies around you for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 15 Tags: Defensive, Frost
    Enchantment Effect Lucky Hit: Your Conjuration Skills have a 30% chance to unleash a Frost Nova when hitting enemies.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frost Nova – Killing enemies Frozen by Frost Nova reduces its Cooldown by 2 seconds, up to 6 seconds per cast.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mystical Frost Nova – Frost Nova makes enemies Vulnerable for 4 seconds, increased to 8 seconds against Bosses.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Flame Shield – Engulf yourself in flames for 2 seconds, Burning nearby enemies for 23% (X) damage per second. While Flame Shield is active, you are Immune.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
    Cooldown: 20 | Damage: Fire ; Tags: Defensive, Pyromancy
    Enchantment Effect: Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage. Can only happen once every 120 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flame Shield – Flame Shield grants 25% Movement Speed while active.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Flame Shield – Flame Shield Heals you for 50% of your missing Life.
  • (passive) Elemental Attunement – Elemental Critical Strikes have a 5%/10%/15% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not Taking any Active summons

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive – ONLY 1 point here) Align the Elements – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.  
    • (1st upgrade) Mana Shield – did NOT take this one
    • (2nd upgrade – TOP TIER PASSIVE & MUST HAVE) Protection – Using a cooldown grants 10%/20%/30% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
  • (passive) Precision Magic – Your Lucky Hit Effect Chance is increased by up to 5%/10%/15%.
  • (passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 ) Not taking an Active Mastery skill

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a +5%/+10%/+15% increased duration. (Barriers absorb damage from all sources up to a specified amount.)
    • (upgrade) Snap Freeze – Lucky Hit: Frost Skills have a 3%/6%/9% chance to instantly Freeze.
    • (upgrade) Cold front – While you have a Barrier active, you apply 8%/16%/24% (multiplicative) more Chill.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Inferno – Summon a fiery serpent that continually constricts the target area, Burning enemies for 295% damage over 8 seconds.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 38%
    Cooldown: 45 | Damage: Fire ; Tags: Ultimate, Pyromancy
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Inferno – Inferno repeatedly Pulls enemies to its center.
    • (2nd upgrade) NOT TAKING THIS AS IT’S USELESS TO US!!!
  • (passive) Permafrost – Frost Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
    • (upgrade) Icy Touch – You deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
    • (upgrade) Hoarfrost – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Chilled enemies, and 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Frozen enemies.
    • (upgrade) Frigid Breeze – Lucky Hit: Cold Damage against Vulnerable enemies has a 20%/40%/60% chance to generate 5 Mana.
  • (passive) did not pick any more Ultimate passives

Key Passive (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Shatter – After Freeze expires, enemies explode for 25% of the damage you dealt to them while Frozen.

Enchantment (Class Mechanic):

I’d recommend mix-and matching two of the following Enchantments (you’ll need at least 1 point invested or from gear in the skills):

  • My MUST HAVE Picks
    • Fireball – When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball for 50% of its damage. (my ideal 1st pick @ lvl 15) NOTE that you’ll need to invest 2 points into it and its first Upgrade to get the most out of this. Ideally getting some extra ranks from gear will help too but is not as important. The skill points allocation has accounted for this so no need to worry about downgrading anything.
    • Ice Shards – Ice Shards automatically conjure and fly toward Frozen enemies. (my ideal 2nd pick @ lvl 30)
  • Good to use For Bosses:
    • Flame Shield – Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage, Can only happen once every 120 Seconds.
    • Frozen Orb – Whenever you cast a non-basic skill, you have a 20% chance to launch a Frozen Orb at a nearby enemy.
    • Frost Bolt – Direct Damage from Skills applies up to an additional 15% Chill.

Unique Items

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following two but check the notes under the Aspects list for more picks:

Iceheart Brais (Pants)

While Injured, Your Potion Also Restores [30%] Resource Enemies that die while Frozen have a [11 – 20]% chance to unleash a Frost Nova.

[28 – 42] Intelligence
+[7 – 14]% Damage to Frozen Enemies
+[21 – 35]% Damage to Injured Enemies
+[7 – 14]% Freeze Duration

The mad artisan saw his fingers turn black from frostbite as he worked the cloth, but refused to stay the needle and thread for even a moment.

Frostburn (Gloves)

Lucky Hit: Up to a [15 – 25]% chance to Freeze enemies for 2 seconds.

+[3 – 8]% Critical Strike Chance
+[0.07 – 0.14] Cold Damage
+[7 – 14]% Freeze Duration
Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% Chance to Restore +[14 – 28]% Primary Resource

A touch so frigid it stops the heart and chills the very soul.

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/+5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Topaz (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Basic Skill Damage
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Control Impaired
• Jewelry: N% Lightning Resistance

+16.7%/8.2%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Shatterer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Exploiter’s Aspect / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Unwavering Aspect
  • Chest: Frostblitz Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of the Protector Until the Iceheart Brais Unique goes here (see notes below)
  • Gloves: Conceited Aspect / Frostburn (see notes below)
  • Boots: Aspect of Fortune
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Control / Ring of Starless Skies (see notes below)
  • Ring 2: Prodigy’s Aspect (not a must have but surely will help with spamming/bursting)
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Piercing Cold
  • Off-hand: Shattered Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): I don’t recommend using a 2h weapon as the final setup with all 3 uniques as you’ll have to loose 1 more aspect slot + the CRUCIAL cooldown reduction an off-hand Focus gives and the little bit of extra dps + 100% efficiency of the aspect you put there won’t make up for it.
NOTES: How to re-arrange if using any of the Uniques:

- Aspect of the Protector stays in the Pants slot ONLY until you get the Iceheart Brais Unique Pants.  For after that just discard it from the build. 
- For Frostburn (Gloves): Conceited Aspect gets removed from the Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Gloves
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Exploiter’s Aspect gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Ring of Starless Skies (Ring): Aspect of Control gets removed from the Ring 1 slot to make room for the Unique Ring. ALTERNATIVE: Prodigy's Aspect from the Ring 2 slot could be the one getting replaced and you could keep Aspect of Control + Ring of Starless Skies.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 92 with 184 paragon points (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100). The other link is what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points but i did leave the last 12 up to you to spend on MAYBE the Icefall Legendary Node.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 42 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance / Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Frost/Cold Skills
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Core/Ultimate/Basic/Defensive Skills
Damage with Core/Ultimate/Basic/Defensive Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ Ranks to Core/Ultimate/Basic/Defensive Skills
+ Ranks to Ice Shards/Frost Nova/Flame Shield/Teleport Skills
Lucky Hit Chance with Frost/Cold Damage
Frost/Cold Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Frost/Cold Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Chill Application
+ % Frost/Cold Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Frost/Cold Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Healthy
Barrier Generation
Chance When Struck to Gain N Life as Barrier for X Seconds
Lucky Hit Chance while You Have a Barrier
Damage Reduction while You Have a Barrier
Life as Barrier On Kill
Critical Strike Chance Against Chilled/Frozen Enemies
Damage to Chilled/Frozen Enemies
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Mana Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Shatterer Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Quake Stomp Diablo IV Barbarian Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Quake Stomp Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(It’s HAMMER TIME! Do the Sanctuary Shake® with constant Stomps and Leaps that make the ground Quake.)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch in less a week and I’m bringing you my 25th Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Barbarian Class called Quake Stomp.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspects + unique gear + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees:

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Quake Stomp) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Bash – Bash the enemy with your weapon, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage. After bashing enemies 4 times, your next Bash will Stun for 1.25 seconds, this increases to 2 seconds if using a Two-Handed weapon.
    Requires bludgeoning weapon. Generate Fury: 10
    Lucky Hit Chance: 50% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bash – Damaging a Stunned enemy with Bash grants you 5% Base Life as Fortify. Double this amount when using a Two-Handed weapon.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Combat Bash – After Critically Striking 4 times with Bash using a Two-Handed weapon, your next Core or Weapon Mastery Skill will Overpower.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Hammer of the Ancients – Slam your hammer down with the fury of the Ancients, dealing 50% X – ?) damage to a concentrated area.
    Requires a two-handed bludgeoning weapon. Fury Cost: 35
    Lucky Hit Chance: 40% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients – Gain 3% (multiplicative) more Fury for 5 seconds for each enemy damaged by Hammer of the Ancients, stacking up to 10 times.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Hammer of the Ancients – Hammer of the Ancients deals 1% (multiplicative) additional damage for each point of Fury you had when using it.
  • (passive) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10%/20%/30% to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Ground Stomp – Smash the ground, dealing 10% (X – ?) damage and Stunning surrounding enemies for 3 seconds.
    Cooldown: 16 seconds | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Defensive,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ground Stomp – Increase Ground Stomp’s duration by 1 second.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Tactical Ground Stomp – Ground Stomp generates 25 Fury.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Rallying Cry – Bellow a rallying cry, increasing your Movement Speed by +30% and Resource Generation by 50% (multiplicative) for 6 seconds, and Nearby allies for 3 seconds.
    Cooldown: 25 seconds | Tags: Defensive, Shout
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rallying Cry – Rallying Cry grants you Unstoppable while active.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Tactical Rallying Cry – Rallying Cry generates 25 Fury and grants you an additional 50% (multiplicative) Resource Generation.
  • (passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
    • (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, is increased by 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Leap – Leap forward and then slam down, dealing 33% (X – ?) damage and Knocking Back surrounding enemies on impact. Cooldown: 17 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Brawling,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Leap – If Leap doesn’t damage any enemies, its Cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Power Leap – If Leap damages at least one enemy, gain 40 Fury.
  • (passive) Booming Voice – Shout Skill effect durations are increased by 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative).
    • (upgrade) Raid Leader – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Guttural Yell – did NOT take this one
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4%/8%/12% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
    • (upgrade) Battle Fervor – When a Brawling Skill damages at least one enemy, gain Berserking for 1/2/3 second(s).
    • (upgrade) Prolific Fury – While Berserking, Fury Generation is increased by 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) did not pick any other Brawling passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 ) Not taking an active Weapon Mastery skill

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Pit Fighter – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2%/4%/6% Distant Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) No Mercy – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8%/15%/23% increased damage against Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Expose Vulnerability – did NOT take this one
  • (passive) did not pick any other Weapon Mastery passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Wrath of the Berserker – Gain Berserking and Unstoppable for 5 seconds. For the next 10 seconds, dealing direct damage with Basic Skills grants Berserking for 25 seconds Cooldown: 60 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Tags: Ultimate,
    • (1st upgrade) Supreme Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, gain +20% increased Movement Speed and increase Fury Generation by 30% (multiplicative)
    • (2nd upgrade) Prime Wrath of the Berserker – While Wrath of the Berserker is active, every 50 Fury spend increases Berserk’s damage bonus by 25% (multiplicative)
  • (passive) Wallop – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Concussion – did NOT take this one
  • (passive ) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.seconds.
    • (upgrade) Brute Force – Your Overpower deals 15%/30%/45% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon *NOTE: Unlocking this skill upgrade requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
  • (passive) Tempered Fury – Increase your Maximum Fury by 3/6/9.
    • (upgrade) Furious Impulse – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Invigorating Fury – did NOT take this one
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Unbridled Rage – Core Skills deal 135% (multiplicative) increased damage, but cost 100% (multiplicative) more Fury.

Class Mechanic:

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-wielding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’, even any aspects slotted on them. Here are the types:

  • Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons on Barbarians can be either Slashing or Bludgeoning such as: Swords, Axes, or Maces. The game seems to clump all 1-Handed weapons together under the “Dual-Wielding” as far as Barbarians and their skill tags are concerned so regardless of Slashing or Bludgeoning type, a 1-Handed weapon will apparently not count as either.
  • The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
  • Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual-Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you go for a swap-centric build

Unique Gear:

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects List for some additional picks:

The Grandfather (Two-Handed Sword)

+[17.5%] Critical Strike Damage

Increases your Critical Strike Damage by x[60 – 100]%. The other properties on this weapon can roll higher than normal.

+[14 – 28]% Damage
[0.245 – 0.455] Maximum Life
[20 – 36] All Stats
Ignores Durability Loss

An unbroken lineage of unwavering strength.

Sockets & Gems:

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby, Emerald, Saphire, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers:

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Quake Stomp) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Steadfast Berserker’s Aspect / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Relentless Berserker’s Apect / Melted Heart of Selig (see notes below)
  • Chest: Aspect of Numbing Wrath / Exploiter’s Aspect (see notes below)
  • Pants: Aspect of Bul-Kathos
  • Gloves: Exploiter’s Aspect / Aspect of Veteran Brawler (see notes below)
  • Boots: Aspect of Perpetual Stomping
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Giant Strides
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Berserk Fury / Mother’s Embrace (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Earthquake Aspect
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Limitless Rage / Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus (see notes below)
  • 2-H Weapon 1: Aspect of Ancestral Force
  • 2-H Weapon 2: Aspect of Veteran Brawler / The Grandfather (see notes below)
NOTE 1: Aspect of Veteran Brawler goes in the 2h Weapon 2 slot ONLY until you get The Grandfather Unique Two-Handed Sword. After that: Aspect of Numbing Wrath gets removed from the Chest slot & discarded. Exploiter's Aspect gets moved from the Gloves slot to the, now empty, Chest slot. Aspect of Veteran Brawler goes in the, now empty, Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Two-Handed Sword. 
There are four other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those: Melted Heart of Selig (Amulet), Harlequin Crest (Helm), Mother's Embrace (Ring) & Ramaladni's Magnum Opus (Sword)
See the 2nd note below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Melted Heart of Selig (Amulet): Relentless Berserker's Apect gets removed from the Amulet slot to make room for the Unique Amulet.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Steadfast Berserker’s Aspect gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Mother's Embrace (Ring): Aspect of Berserk Fury gets removed from the Ring slot to make room for the Unique Ring.
- For Ramaladni's Magnum Opus (Sword): Aspect of Limitless Rage gets removed from the Off-hand slot & to make room for the Unique Sword.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 83 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 41 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Brawling/Basic/Defensive Skills
Damage with Core/Brawling/Basic/Defensive Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Brawling/Ultimate/Basic/Defensive/Shout Skills
+ X Ranks to Hammer of the Ancients/Leap/Ground Stomp/Rallying Cry/Bash
Lucky Hit Chance withPhysical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage
Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage
Resistance to All Elements
Overpower Damage
+ % Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Healthy
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
Overpower Chance
Overpower Damage with Hammer of the Ancients/Leap/Ground Stomp/Bash
Overpower Damage with Core/Brawling/Basic Skills
Overpower Damage with Slashing/2-handed/Sword/Bludgeoning/etc. Weapon
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Fury Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Strength
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Quake Stomp Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website.

Shadow Trapper 2.0 Diablo IV Rogue Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Shadow Trapper 2.0 Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(the Dark Side of Alchemy: Deadly, Toxic, and Chilling Traps, Stunning Grenades & a shadowy Flurry of Blades are merely tools to aid us when disposing of our foes)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is a week away and i’m bringing you another one of my Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Rogue Class called Shadow Trapper 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Shadow Trapper 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Invigorating Strike – Melee attack an enemy, dealing 23% (X -?) damage and increasing Energy Regeneration by 20% (multiplicative) for 3 seconds.
    Requires Dual Wielded weapons
    Lucky Hit Chance: 50% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic, Melee, Cutthroat
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Invigorating Strike – Damaging a Crowd Controlled or Injured enemy with Invigorating Strike increases its Energy Regeneration bonus to 30% (multiplicative).
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fundamental Invigorating Strike – Hitting an enemy while below 50% Energy makes them Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Flurry – Unleash a flurry of stabs and slashes, striking enemies in front of you 4 times and dealing a total of 60% (X – ?) damage to each.
    Combo Points increase damage and grant an Attack Speed bonus: 1: 75% damage, +15% Attack Speed ; 2: 90% damage, +30% Attack Speed ; 3: 105% damage, +45% Attack Speed
    Requires Dual Wielded weapons | Energy Cost: 25
    Lucky Hit Chance: 8% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Melee, Imbueable, Cutthroat
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flurry – Each time Flurry damages a Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemy, you are Healed for 1% of your Maximum Life, up to 12% Maximum Life per cast.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Improved Flurry – If Flurry hits any Vulnerable enemy it will make all enemies hit by that cast Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Sturdy – You gain 4%/8%/12% Close Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) Siphoning Strikes – did NOT take this
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Caltrops – Leap backwards and throw Caltrops on the ground, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Lasts 6 seconds.
    Energy Cost: 21 | Lucky Hit Chance: 25% | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Agility, Trap
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Caltrops – Enemies take 3% (multiplicative) increased damage from you each second they’re in Caltrops.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Methodical Caltrops – Caltrops now deals Cold damage and Chills enemies for 20% per second.
  • (passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type:
    Daggers: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies.
    Swords: 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    Bows: 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
    Crossbows: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
  • (passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not taking an Active Subterfuge skill

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Poison Trap – Place a trap that arms after 1.25 seconds. It activates when an enemy moves moves within range, applying 344% (X) Poisoning damage over 9 seconds to enemies in the area.
    Cooldown: 10 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% | Damage: Poison ; Tags: Subterfuge, Trap
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Poison Trap – Poison Trap Knocks Down enemies for 1.5 seconds when it activates.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Countering Poison Trap – Poison Trap has a 20% chance to reset your Imbuement Skill Cooldowns when activated.
  • (passive) Exploit – You deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Malice – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Agile – Using a Cooldown increases your Dodge Chance by 3%/6%/9% for 2 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Mending Obscurity – did NOT take this
  • (passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Shadow Imbuement – Imbue your weapons with festering shadows. Enemies struck by your next 2 Imbueable Skills deal damage and infect enemies for 6 seconds. Infected enemies explode on death, dealing 40% (X) damage to all surrounding enemies. If the infection expires before the enemy dies, it will deal 40% (X) damage to only that enemy.
    Cooldown: 9 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% | Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Imbuements
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Shadow Imbuement – You have +25% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies infected by Shadow Imbuement.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Blended Shadow Imbuement – Shadow Imbue’s primary explosion makes enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) Precision Imbuement – Imbued Skills gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Shadow Crash – Lucky Hit: Shadow damage has up to a 10% chance to Stun for 0.5/1/1.5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Consuming Shadows – Each time you kill an enemy with Shadow Damage, you generate 10/20/30 Energy.
  • (passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Death Trap – Place a trap that arms after 1.25 seconds. It activates when an enemy moves near, dealing 250% (X – ?) damage to enemies in the area.
    Cooldown: 50 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 4% | Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Ultimate, Trap
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Death Trap – Enemies are Pulled into Death Trap when it activates.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Death Trap – If Death Trap kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
  • (passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to gain 8 Energy.
    • (upgrade) Second Wind – Every 100 Energy you spend grants you +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance for 5 seconds.seconds.
    • (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – Non-Physical damage you deal has a +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance.
  • (passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25/50/75 Energy.
  • (passive) Trap Mastery – When Poison Trap or Death Trap activates, you gain +4%/+8%/+12% increased Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable and Crowd Controlled enemies for 4 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Exposure – Lucky Hit: Dealing direct damage to an enemy affected by a Trap Skill has up to a 25% chance to: Reduce the active Cooldowns of your Trap Skills by 20% Drop a cluster of exploding Stun Grenades that deal 40% total Physical Damage and Stun enemies for 0.5 seconds

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much information about the 3rd Specialization of the Rogue. The 3 Specializations are the Rogues’ Class Mechanics:

  • Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Certain Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
  • Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
  • Preparation – This specialization was not available during the closed beta builds of the game.
probably evolved into Inner Sight
probably replaced by Preparation

I prefer and advise using Combo Points but I liked Inner Sight during the beta too so not a bad one either for some 0 cost Skill Spams every now and then. We’ll have to wait and see about the last one.

Unique Gear

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Condemnation (Dagger)

+[20%] Damage to Close Enemies

Your Core Skills deal x[20 – 40]% increased damage when spending 3 Combo Points. Your Basic Skills using this weapon have a [30%] chance to generate 3 Combo Points.

+[4 – 10]% Basic Attack Speed
+[4.5 – 12]% Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
+[7 – 14]% Damage with Dual-Wielded Weapons
+[12.5 – 19.5]% Core Skill Damage

“I’ve never seen such ruthless butchery. He deserves to be be shipped off to die in the swamps with the rest of the godless murderers.” – Witness to the murder of Sergeant Walcot

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Shadow Trapper 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Frostbitten Aspect / Harlequin Crest Unique Helm (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Infiltrator’s Aspect
  • Chest: Aspect of Lethal Dusk
  • Pants: Aspect of Siphoned Victuals / Eyes in the Dark Unique Pants (see notes below)
  • Gloves: Blast-Trapper’s Aspect
  • Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Toxic Alchemist’s Aspect
  • Ring 2: Opportunist’s Aspect / Mother’s Embrace Unique Ring (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Icy Alchemist’s Aspect
  • Off-hand: Trickster’s Aspect / Condemnation Unique Dagger (see notes below)
  • 2-H Weapon: Aspect of Encircling Blades
NOTE 1: Trickster's Aspect goes in the Off-hand slot ONLY until you get the Condemnation Unique Dagger. After that discard it to make room for the Unique Dagger.
There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Eyes in the Dark (Pants), Harlequin Crest (Helm), & Mother's Embrace (Ring).
See the 2nd note below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Eyes in the Dark (Pants): Aspect of Siphoned Victuals gets removed from the Pants slot to makes room for the Unique Pants. 
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm):  Frostbitten Aspect  gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm
- For Mother's Embrace (Ring):  Opportunist's Aspect gets removed from the Ring 2 slot to make room for the Unique Ring

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 90 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 42 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Cutthroat/Trap/Subterfuge/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Damage with Core/Cutthroat/Trap/Subterfuge/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Cutthroat/Trap/Subterfuge/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
+ X Ranks to Flurry/Poison Trap/Shadow Imbuement/Caltrops
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Damage
Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Damage
Resistance to All Elements
Damage to Enemies Affected by Trap Skills
+ % Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Shadow/Poison/Cold Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Reduces the Arm Time of Your Trap Skills by X Seconds
+ % Chill Application
Damage while Healthy
Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills
Shadow Imbued Skill Damage
Imbued Skill Damage
Imbuement Potency
Higher Priority
Damage for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Attack Speed for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Dodge Chance (both +% and x% exist)
Dodge Chance Against Close Enemies
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Dexterity
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Shadow Trapper 2.0 Rogue Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Lycan Lacerator 2.0 Diablo IV Druid Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Lycan Lacerator 2.0 Druid BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(Shapeshift into a Werewolf to Claw & Shred trough your enemies, tearing them apart)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is almost upon us and it’s time for some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Druid Class called Lycan Lacerator 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Lycan Lacerator 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0)

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Claw – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and shred an enemy, dealing 20% (X-?) damage.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Type: Shapeshifting ; Damage: Physical Generates: 9 Spirit
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Claw – Claw’s Attack Speed is increased by +10%.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Wild Claw – Claw has a 10% chance to attack twice.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2)

  • (active) Shred – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and and perform a trio of combo attacks:
    1st Attack: Deal 25% damage.
    2nd Attack: Deal 35% damage.
    3rd Attack: Perform a larger finishing move dealing 60% damage.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Type: Shapeshifting ; Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 34
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Shred – Shred gains +30% Attack Speed and Heals for 2% of your Maximum Life if an enemy is struck.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primal Shred – Shred’s second and third attacks also perform a dash. In addition, Shred’s Critical Strike Damage is increased by 20% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) Predatory Instinct – Critical Strike Chance against nearby enemies is increased by +3%/+6%/+9%.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take as its’ Werebear synergy) Iron Fur
    • (upgrade – did NOT take cuz no points) Digitigrate Gait / Lycanthropic Speed
  • (passive) did not pick other Spirit/Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Debilitating Roar – Shapeshift into a Werebear and bellow a mighty roar, reducing Nearby enemies’ damage dealt by 50% for 4 seconds.
    Cooldown: 22 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Debilitating Roar – Debilitating Roar also Fortifies you for 22% Base Life.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Debilitating Roar – Debilitating Roar also heals you for 4% of your maximum Life each second for its duration.
  • (active) Blood Howl – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and howl furiously, Healing you for 20% of your Maximum Life.
    Cooldown: 15 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Howl – Kills reduce the Cooldown of Blood Howl by 1 second.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Innate Blood Howl – Blood Howl also generates 20 Spirit.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your Non-Physical Resistances by 5%/10%/15%.
    • (upgrade) Vigilance – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage Reduction for 6 seconds after using a Defensive Skill.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11) I did NOT take a companion Active Skill

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points

Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Hurricane – Form a hurricane around you that deals 97% (X-?) damage to surrounding enemies over 8 seconds.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Cooldown: 20 seconds Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Physical
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hurricane – Enemies who are damaged by Hurricane are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Natural Hurricane – Hurricane has a 15% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Elemental Exposure – Lucky Hit: Your Storm Skills have up to 20% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 1/2/3 second(s).
    • (upgrade) Endless Tempest – Increase the duration of Hurricane and Cataclysm by 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative). This node is ONLY required to unlock Bad Omen BUT you’ll also need a point in Atmosphere for Bad Omen
    • (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here) Charged Atmosphere – Every 18/15/12 seconds, a Lightning Strike hits a nearby enemy dealing 45% (X-?) damage. This node is required to unlock BOTH Bad Omen & Electric Shock
    • (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here ) Bad Omen – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance when dealing damage to a Vulnerable, Immobilized or Stunned enemy that a Lightning Strike also hits dealing 55% (X-?) damage.
    • (upgrade) Electric Shock – Lucky Hit: Dealing Lightning damage to enemies has a 5%/10%/15% chance to Immobilize them for 3 seconds. If the target is already Immobilized, the Lightning damage dealt to them is increased by 5%/10%/15%% (multiplicative) instead.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Crushing Earth – Earth Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized or Knocked Back enemies.
    • (upgrade) Stone Guard – While Fortified for over 50% of your maximum Life, your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade)Safeguard – Critical Strikes with Earth Skills Fortifiy you for 2%/4%/7% Base Life.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Wrath passives to save points but there are some worth considering

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23)

  • (active) Lacerate – Shapeshift into a Werewolf, become Immune and quickly dash 10 times between nearby enemies dealing up to 400% (X-?) damage.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 15% Cooldown: 50 seconds Type: Shapeshifting ; Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Lacerate – Each time Lacerate deals a Critical Strike, heal for 3% of your maximum Life.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Lacerate – Lacerate’s final strike deals 150% (multiplicative) increased damage.
  • (passive) Defensive Posture – Increases the amount of Fortify you gain from all sources by +5%/+10%/+15%.
    • (upgrade) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for 6%/13%/19% Base Life.
    • (upgrade) Nature’s Resolve – 5%/10%/15% chance when struck to Fortify you for 4% Base Life.
    • (upgrade) Unrestrained – did NOT take this
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Quickshift – After Shapeshifting into a different form, your next skill deals 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade) Heightened Senses – did NOT take this
    • (upgrade) Natural Fortitude – Shapeshifting Fortifies you for 1%/3%/4% Base Life.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Lupine Ferocity – Every 6th Werewolf skill hit Critically Strikes and deals 60% (multiplicative) increased damage.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category (when you specialize into it) + maybe 1 more from every other category . I’d advise getting the following 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 for now.

  • Eagle Category (specialize into this):
    Scythe Talons: +5% Critical Strike Chance
    Avian Wrath: +30% Critical Strike Damage
  • Deer Category:
    Wariness: Take 10% reduced damage from Elites
  • Snake Category: (two decent picks here so choose whichever ONE you like)
    option 1) Masochistic: Critical Stikes with Shapeshifting Skills heal you for 3% of your maximum Life.
    option 2) Overload: Lucky Hit: Lightning Damage has up to a 20% chance to cause the target to emit a static discharge, dealing 63.53% damage to surrounding enemies.
  • Wolf Category:
    Bolster: Fortify for 10% of your Maximum Life when you use a Defensive Skill

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Mad Wolf’s Glee (Chest Armor)

Werewolf form is now your true form, and you gain +2 Ranks to all Werewolf Skills.

+[0.07 – 0.14] Physical Damage
+[0.07 – 0.14] Poison Damage
[7 – 14]% Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Movement Speed

“He was not a victim of the curse – he sought it out. As his skin split and his bones cracked, his laughter never ceased.” – Tale of the Mad Nobleman

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Lycan Lacerator 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of the Dark Howl / Tempest Roar OR Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Accelerating Aspect / Exploiter’s Aspect (see notes below)
  • Chest: Exploiter’s Aspect / Mad Wolf’s Glee (see notes below)
  • Pants: Vigorous Aspect
  • Gloves: Overcharged Aspect / Accelerating Aspect (see notes below)
  • Boots: Stormshifter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Nighthowler’s Aspect
  • Ring 2: Aspect of The Unsatiated / Aspect of Retaliation (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Retaliation / Waxing Gibbous (see notes below)
  • Off-hand: Stormclaw’s Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon: Aspect of Retaliation (is you use one before Waxing Gibbous drop, which I don’t recommend)
NOTE 1: Overcharged Aspect goes in the Gloves slot ONLY until you get the Mad Wolf's Glee Unique Chest Armor. After that, scrap it and put Accelerating Aspect in the, now empty, Gloves slot. Then place Exploiter’s Aspect in the, now empty, Amulet Slot to make room for the Unique Chest Armor.

There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Tempest Roar (Helm), Harlequin Crest (Helm) & Waxing Gibbous (Axe)

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange the aspects for any of the alternative Unique drops: (I tried to make is as painless as possible):
- For Tempest Roar (Helm): Aspect of the Dark Howl gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Aspect of the Dark Howl gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Waxing Gibbous (Axe): Aspect of The Unsatiated gets removed from the Ring 2 slot & Aspect of Retaliation goes in the, now empty, Ring 2 slot to make room for the Unique Axe.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 87 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 42 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Werewolf/Shapeshifting/Wrath/Nature/Storm Skills
Damage with Core/Werewolf/Shapeshifting/Wrath/Nature/Storm Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Werewolf/Shapeshifting/Wrath/Defensive/Nature/Storm Skills
+ X Ranks to Shred/Hurricane/Claw/Blood Howl/Debilitating Roar
Overpower Damage
Physical/Lightning Damage Bonus
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Damage
+ % Physical/Lightning Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Shapeshifted
Damage while in Werewolf Form
Damage while Healthy
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Lucky Hit: Up to a +X% Chance to Execute Injured Non-Elites
Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Spirit Generation / Regeneration / On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Willpower
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Lycan Lacerator 2.0 Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Dr. Bones 2.0 Diablo IV Necromancer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Dr. Bones 2.0 Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(Dr. Bones imprisons & makes their foes vulnerable before showering them with spears & splinters)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is almost upon us and it’s time for some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Necromancer Class called Dr. Bones 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Dr. Bones 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Bone Splinters – Fire 3 bone splinters, dealing 22.5% damage each. Each subsequent time an enemy is hit by the same cast of Bone Splinters, you gain 1 Essence. Each subsequent time an enemy is hit by the same cast of Bone Splinters, you gain 1 Essence. Lucky Hit Chance: 17% Generates: 5 Essence Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Splinters – Bone Splinters has a 30% chance to fire 2 additional projectiles if cast while you have 50 or more essence.
    • (2nd upgrade) Initiate’s Bone Splinters – Bone Splinters has a 20% chance per hit to make enemies Vulernable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Bone Spear – Conjure a bone spear from the ground, dealing 85% (X-?) damage and Piercing through enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Essence Cost: 25 Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Spear – Bone Spear breaks into 3 shards when it is destroyed, dealing 10% (X-?) damage each.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supernatural Bone Spear – Bone Spear makes the first enemy hit Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Hewed Flesh – Lucky Hit: Your damage has up to a 4%/8%/12% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Core passives to save points

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Corpse Explosion – Detonate a Corpse, dealing 75% (X-XX) damage to nearby enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Corpse, Corruption
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse – Corpse Explosion’s radius is increased by 15%.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Blighted Corpse Explosion – Corpse Explosion becomes a Darkness Skill and, instead of exploding, releases a vile miasma dealing 110% (X-?) Shadow Damage over 6 seconds.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Bone Prison – Unearth a prison of bone with X Life that surrounds the target area for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 20 Seconds. Tags: Macabre, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Prison – If an enemy is trapped by Bone Prison, gain 3 Essence, plus an additional 5 per enemy trapped.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Bone Prison – Enemies inside of Bone Prison are Vulnerable.
  • (passive) Grim Harvest – Consuming a Corpse generates 3/6/9 Essence.
    • (upgrade) Fueled by Death – You deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Macabre passives to save points

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not taking an Active skill here

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in any Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 2 points here) Bone Spirit – Consume all of your Essence to conjure a spirit of bone that seeks enemies. Upon reaching an enemy, the spirit explodes, dealing 80% (X-?) damage to the target and all surrounding enemies. Damage is increased by 3% (multiplicative) for each point of Essence spent casting Bone Spirit. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Cooldown: 12.0 Seconds. Essence Cost: All remaining Essence Damage: Physical ; Tags: Macabre, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Spirit – If Bone Spirit Critically Strikes, its Cooldown is reduced by 6 seconds.  This effect can only happen once per cast.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Dreadful Bone Spirit – After Bone Spirit hits an enemy, you generate 30 Essence over the next 4 seconds.
  • (passive) Serration – Your Bone Skills have a +0.5%/+1%/+1.5% increased Critical Strike Chance for each 10 Essence you have upon cast
    • (upgrade) Rapid Ossification – Every 100 Essence you spend reduces the cooldowns of your Bone Skills by 0.5/1/1.5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Compound – Fracture After Critically Striking 10 times with Bone Skills, your Bone Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage for 5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Evulsion – Your Bone Skills deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) Necrotic Carapace – When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for 2%/4%/6% Base Life.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Bone Storm – A swirling storm of bones surrounds you and your Golem, dealing 180% (X-?) to surrounding enemies over 10 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Cooldown: 60 Seconds. Damage: Physical ; Tags: Ultimate, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Bone Storm – Your Damage Reduction is increased by 15% while Bone Storm is active.
    • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Bone Storm – Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by +20% while Bone Storm is active.
  • (passive) Stand Alone – Increases Damage Reduction by 6%/12%/18%,, reduced by 2% for each active Minion.
    • (upgrade) Memento Mori – Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by 20%/40%/60%.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in any other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Ossified Essence – Your Bone Skills deal 1% (multiplicative) increased damage for each point of Essence you have above 50 upon cast.

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about creating as many corpses as possible and getting Fortify for each corpse generated, while consuming them with Corpse Explosion. On top of that we can keep spamming Bone Spear as long as we keep consuming the corpses as that gives us Essence. Since the build has a ton of Vulnerable and Crit related bonuses we’re Sacrificing all minions and take such bonuses for Sacrificing our Minions as well.

I’d advise taking Zero Minions for this build & Sacrifice the Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, & Golem. The types sacrifices are:

    • Skeletal Skirmishers: Sacrifice so that we get extra Crit Chance
      • Description: Your critical strike chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
    • Cold Mages: Sacrifice is amazing to get extra DMG to Vulnerable enemies
      • Description: You deal 15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
    • Iron Golem: Sacrifice so that we get extra Crit Damage
      • Description: You deal 30% (multiplicative) increased critical strike damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

Unique Item:

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Deathless Visage (Helm)

Bone Spear leaves behind echoes as it travels that explode, dealing N damage.

+[0.031 – 0.073] Armor
+[0.07 – 0.14] Physical Damage
+[14 – 21]% Critical Strike Damage
+[16 – 24] Maximum Essence

“Rathma is endless. He was the first Ancient, and will remain at the end. He is the master of the Great Cycle of Being. When Death comes for him, why should he fear it?” – Vauntus, Acolyte of Rathma

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Amethyst, Diamond, Saphire, Ruby, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby, Saphire or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Dr. Bones 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Protector / Deathless Visage OR Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Aspect of Serration
  • Chest: Aspect of Shielding Storm / Blood Artisan’s Cuirass (see notes below)
  • Pants: Aspect of the Embalmer
  • Gloves: Osseous Gale Aspect
  • Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Ultimate Shadow
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Exposed Flesh / Splintering Aspect (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Splintering Aspect / Black River (see notes below)
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Swelling Curse / Aspect of Shielding Storm (see notes below)
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Splintering Aspect (see notes below)
NOTE 1: Aspect of The Protector goes in the Helm slot ONLY until you get the Deathless Visage Unique Helm.
There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Blood Artisan's Cuirass (Chest Armor), Harlequin Crest (Helm), & Black River (Scythe)
See the notes below for more info:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Blood Artisan's Cuirass (Chest Armor): Aspect of Swelling Curse gets removed from the Off-hand slot. You also need to remove the offensive Off-hand and replace it with a Shield off-hand. Aspect of Shielding Storm goes in the newly equipped Shield Off-hand to make room for the Unique Chest Armor.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Aspect of The Protector gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Black River (Scythe): Aspect of Exposed Flesh gets removed from the Ring 2 slot & Splintering Aspect replaces it to make room for the Unique Scythe.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 90 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown). The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in complete order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 44 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance / Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Shadow/Physical/Darkness/Bone Skills
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Core/Macabre/Corpse/Basic/Ultimate Skills
Damage with Core/Macabre/Corpse/Corruption/Basic/Ultimate Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Bone Spear/Corpse Explosion/Bone Storm/Bone Spirit/Bone Prison
+ X Ranks to Core/Macabre/Corpse/Corruption/Basic Skills
Lucky Hit Chance with Shadow/Physical Damage
Shadow/Physical Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Shadow/Physical Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Shadow/Physical Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Shadow/Physical Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
+ % Damage Over Time
+ % Shadow Damage Over Time
+ % Shadow Damage Over Time Duration
Overpower Chance
Overpower Damage with Bone Spear/Corpse Explosion/Bone Storm/Bone Spirit/Bone Prison
Overpower Damage with Core/Bone/Darkness/Macabre/Corpse/Basic/Ultimate Skills
Damage to Slowed/Stunned/Immobilized Enemies
Critical Strike Chance Against Slowed/Stunned/Immobilized Enemies
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage while Healthy
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Essence Generation
Essence Regeneration
Essence On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Dr. Bones 2.0 Necromancer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Scorcher Diablo IV Sorcerer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Scorcher Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(Set the World on fire and watch it BURN as you listen to the agonizing screams of your scorched foes)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is almost upon us and it’s time for some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Sorcerer Class called Scorcher.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Scorcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Fire Bolt – Hurl a flaming bolt, dealing 10.00% (X – ?) damage and Burning for 40.00% (X-?) over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Damage: Fire ; Tags: Basic, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Direct damage from Skills applies up to an additional 23% (X – ?) Burning damage over 8 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fire Bolt – Fire Bolt pierces Burning enemies
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Glinting Fire Bolt – Critical Strikes with Fire Bolt increase the burning damage you deal to the enemy by 20% (multiplicative) for 4 seconds

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 ) Use Fireball ONLY until you get Firewall BUT keep the 1+1+1 points in it to boost the enchantment

  • (active – only use this until Firewall unlocks) Fireball – Hurl an exploding ball of fire, dealing 60% (X- ?) damage to surrounding enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Core, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball for 50% of its damage.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fireball – Fireball’s radius is increased based on distance traveled, up to 50%.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Greater Fireball – Fireball deals 10% of the Burning damage you’ve applied to enemies as additional direct damage.
  • (passive) did not pick any Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Cooldown: 11 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Defensive, Shock
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Teleport – After Teleporting, you gain 30% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Frost Nova – Unleash a torrent of frost, Freezing enemies around you for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 15 Tags: Defensive, Frost Enchantment Effect Lucky Hit: Your Conjuration Skills have a 30% chance to unleash a Frost Nova when hitting enemies.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frost Nova – Killing enemies Frozen by Frost Nova reduces its Cooldown by 2 seconds, up to 6 seconds per cast.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mystical Frost Nova – Frost Nova makes enemies Vulnerable for 4 seconds, increased to 8 seconds against Bosses.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Flame Shield – Engulf yourself in flames for 2 seconds, Burning nearby enemies for 23% (X) damage per second. While Flame Shield is active, you are Immune. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 20 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Defensive, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage. Can only happen once every 120 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flame Shield – Flame Shield grants 25% Movement Speed while active.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Flame Shield – Flame Shield Heals you for 50% of your missing Life.
  • (passive) Elemental Attunement – Elemental Critical Strikes have a 5%/10%/15% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not Taking any Active summons

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Align the Elements – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.  
    • (1st upgrade) Mana Shield – did NOT take this one
    • (2nd upgrade – TOP TIER PASSIVE & MUST HAVE) Protection – Using a cooldown grants 10%/20%/30% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
  • (passive) Precision Magic – Your Lucky Hit Effect Chance is increased by up to 5%/10%/15%.
  • (passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 ) Not taking an Active Mastery skill

  • (active) Firewall – Create a wall of flames that Burns enemies for 160% (X) over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Mana Cost: 30 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Mastery, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Each time an enemy takes Burning damage, there’s a 5% (pre-launch patch: this % will be increased) chance to spawn 2 Firewalls underneath them for 3 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Firewall – Enemies take 25% (multiplicative) increased Burning damage from you while standing in Firewall.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mage’s Firewall – Enemies continue Burning for 3 seconds after leaving Firewall.
  • (passive) Inner Flames – Your Pyromancy Skills deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade) Crippling Flames – Lucky Hit: Your Pyromancy Skills have a 5%/10%/15% chance to Immobilize enemies for 2 seconds. This chance is doubled while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade) Devouring Blaze – You deal 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage against Burning enemies. If they are also Immobilized, this bonus is increased to 25%/50%/75% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a +5%/+10%/+15% increased duration. (Barriers absorb damage from all sources up to a specified amount.)
    • (upgrade) Snap Freeze – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Cold front – did NOT take this one

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Inferno – Summon a fiery serpent that continually constricts the target area, Burning enemies for 295% damage over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 38% Cooldown: 45 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Ultimate, Pyromancy
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Inferno – Inferno repeatedly Pulls enemies to its center.
    • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Inferno – While Inferno is active, your Pyromancy Skills cost no Mana.
  • (passive) Fiery Surge – Killing a Burning enemy increases your Mana Regeneration by +10%/+20%/+30% for 3 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Soulfire – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Endless Pyre – You deal increased Burning damage to enemies for each second they remain Burning, up to 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) after 5 seconds.
    • (upgrade – ONLY put 2 points here) Warmth – Every 1 second, you Heal for 0.3%/0.6%/0.9% of your Maximum Life for each Nearby Burning enemy. Healing increased to 0.6%/1.2%/1.8% from Bosses.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Combustion – Your Burning effects deal 2% (multiplicative) increased damage per unique source of Burning you have applied to the enemy. If the enemy is Burning from 3 or more sources, this bonus is doubled.

Enchantment (Class Mechanic):

I’d recommend mix-and matching two of the following Enchantments (you’ll need at least 1 point invested or from gear in the skills):

  • Obvious Synergies
    • Fireball – When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball for 50% of its damage. NOTE that you’ll need to either remove a point from a passive or get +X Ranks to Fireball from an item. (my 1st pick)
    • Fire Bolt – Direct Damage from Skills applies up to an additional 99 burning damage over 8 seconds.(my ideal 2nd pick)
    • Meteor – Lucky Hit: 8% chance for a Meteor to fall on enemies. (my alternative 2nd pick) NOTE that you’ll need to either remove a point from a passive or get +X Ranks to Meteor from an item.
    • Flame Shield – Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage, Can only happen once every 120 Seconds.
    • Hydra – After spending 300 mana, a 5-headed Hydra appears for 5 seconds.
  • Still good to try
    • Frozen Orb – Whenever you cast a non-basic skill, you have a 20% chance to launch a Frozen Orb at a nearby enemy. NOTE that you’ll need to either remove a point from a passive or get +X Ranks to Frozen Orb and if you wanna make the most out of it you’ll actually spend 2 more points to get Greater Frozen Orb.

Unique Items

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Melted Heart of Selig (Amulet)

[4 – 25]% Resistance to All Elements

Gain +100% Maximum Resource. In addition, when you take damage, drain [3 – 6] Resource for every 1% of Life you would have lost instead.

[10 – 18] All Stats
+[12.5 – 19.5]% Core Skill Damage
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Damage while Healthy
[7 – 14]% X Generation (Struck’s note: I’m 100% sure X here stands for each class’ Primary Resource: Mana, Essence, Spirit, Energy, Fury)

“Do not allow your passions to become obsessions. Fuel the fire that burns within you, but it is madness to allow yourself to become ash to please an uncaring universe.” – Last words of Master Selig

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Weps: Emerald, Amethyst, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/+5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Scorcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Protector / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Exploiter’s Aspect / Melted Heart of Selig (see notes below)
  • Chest: Frostblitz Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of The Unwavering / Iceheart Brais (see notes below)
  • Gloves: Accelerating Aspect / Exploiter’s Aspect (see notes below)
  • Boots: Aspect of Fortune / Esu’s Heirloom (see notes below)
  • Ring 1: Prodigy’s Aspect
  • Ring 2: Incendiary Aspect / Accelerating Aspect (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Elementalist’s Aspect
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Engulfing Flames
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Elementalist’s Aspect
NOTE 1: Incendiary Aspect stays in the Ring 2 slot ONLY until you get the Melted Heart of Selig Unique Amulet. After that discard it & put Accelerating Aspect in the, now empty, Ring 2 slot, then put Exploiter's Aspect in the, now empty, Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Amulet.
There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Esu's Heirloom (Boots), Harlequin Crest (Helm), & Iceheart Brais (Pants)
See the other other notes below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques (I made it as painless as possible):
- For Esu's Heirloom (Boots): Aspect of Fortune gets removed from the Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Boots
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Aspect of The Protector gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Iceheart Brais (Pants): Aspect of The Unwavering gets removed from the Pants slot to make room for the Unique Pants.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 87 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown). The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 42 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance / Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Pyromancy/Fire Skills
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Mastery/Ultimate/Core/Basic/Defensive Skills
Damage with Mastery/Ultimate/Core/Basic/Defensive Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ Ranks to Mastery/Ultimate/Core/Basic/Defensive Skills
+ Ranks to Firewall/Frost Nova/Fire Bolt/Fireball/Flame Shield/Teleport
Lucky Hit Chance with Fire/Burning Damage
Fire/Burning Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Fire/Burning Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Chill Application
+ % Fire/Burning Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Fire/Burning Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Chance / Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Healthy
Barrier Generation
Chance When Struck to Gain N Life as Barrier for X Seconds
Lucky Hit Chance while You Have a Barrier
Damage Reduction while You Have a Barrier
Life as Barrier On Kill
Critical Strike Chance Against Burning/DoT affected Enemies
Damage to Burning/DoT affected Enemies
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Mana Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Scorcher Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Juggler 2.0 Diablo IV Barbarian Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Juggler 2.0 Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(keep Juggling those weapons & never let them know your next move)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is getting closer and it’s time to make some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Barbarian Class called Juggler 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Juggler 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Flay – Flay the enemy, dealing 5% (X – ?) damage and inflicting 36% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Generate Fury: 9 Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flay – Flay has a 10% chance to make the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Double this chance when using a Two-Handed weapon.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Combat Flay – When Flay deals direct damage to an enemy, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and X Thorns for 3 seconds. This stacks up to 4 times.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Rend – Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing 12% (X – ?) damage and inflicting 96% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Fury Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rend – Dealing direct damage with Rend extends the duration of Vulnerable on enemies by 2 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Rend – Direct damage with Rend grants 4 Fury per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 20 Fury.
  • (passive) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10%/20%/30% to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Ground Stomp – Smash the ground, dealing 10% (X – ?) damage and Stunning surrounding enemies for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 16 seconds Damage: Physical ; Tags: Defensive,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ground Stomp – Increase Ground Stomp’s duration by 1 second.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Strategic Ground Stomp Reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate skill by 1 second for each enemy damaged by Ground Stomp..
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Challenging Shout – Taunt nearby enemies and gain (40/45/50/55/60) Damage Reduction for 8 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds Tags: Defensive, Shout
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Challenging Shout – While Challenging Shout is active, gain 20% (multiplicative) bonus Maximum Life.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Strategic Challenging – Shout While Challenging Shout is active, gain Thorns equal to +50% of your Maximum Life.
  • (passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
    • (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, is increased by 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) Outburst – Gain 2/4/6 Thorns. Also gain 2 Thorns for each 2 bonus Maximum Life you have.
    • (upgrade) Tough as Nails – Increase your Thorns by +20%/+40%/+60%. When enemies hit you, they take an additional 1% of your Thorns as Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not taking an active Brawling skill

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Leap – If Leap doesn’t damage any enemies, its Cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Booming Voice – Shout Skill effect durations are increased by 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative).
    • (upgrade) Raid Leader – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Guttural Yell – did NOT take this one
  • (passive) did not pick any other Brawling passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Steel Grasp – Throw out a trio of chains that deal 23% (X – ?) damage and Pull In enemies. Charges: 2 Charge Cooldown: 11 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Weapon Mastery,
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Steel Grasp – Steel Grasp also makes enemies Vulnerable for 2.5 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fighter’s Steel Grasp – If Steel Grasp damages an enemy, gain Berserking for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) Pit Fighter – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2%/4%/6% Distant Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) No Mercy – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8%/15%/23% increased damage against Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Expose Vulnerability – did NOT take this one
  • (passive) Thick Skin – Each time you take direct damage gain 0.4%/0.7%/1.1% Base Life as Fortify.
    • (upgrade) Counteroffensive – While you have Fortify for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade) Defensive Stance – did NOT take this one
  • (passive) did not pick any other Weapon Mastery passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Iron Maelstrom –
    First your Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon slams into the ground, dealing 60% (X – ?) damage and Stunning enemies for 2 seconds.
    Second your Two-Handed Slashing weapon swipes in front of you, dealing 20% (X – ?) damage and inflicting 120% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds.
    Third your Dual Wield weapons swing around you, dealing 33% (X – ?) damage per hit. Requires a Full Arsenal of weapons.
    Cooldown: 60 seconds Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Ultimate,
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Iron Maelstrom – Iron Maelstrom gains +10% increased Critical Strike Chance and deals 20% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Iron Maelstrom – Dealing direct damage to an enemy after swapping weapons reduces Iron Maelstrom’s Cooldown by 1 second.
  • (passive) Wallop – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Concussion – did NOT take this one
  • (passive ) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.seconds.
    • (upgrade – ONLY put 2 points here) Brute Force Your Overpower deals 15%/30%/45% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon
      *NOTE: Unlocking this skill upgrade/passive requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Walking Arsenal – Dealing direct damage with a Two-Handed Bludgeoning, Two-Handed Slashing, or Dual Wielded weapons grants 10% (multiplicative) increased damage for 6 seconds. While all three damage bonuses are active, you gain an additional 15% (multiplicative) increased damage.

Class Mechanic:

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-wielding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’, even any aspects slotted on them. Here are the types:

  • Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons on Barbarians can be either Slashing or Bludgeoning such as: Swords, Axes, or Maces. The game seems to clump all 1-Handed weapons together under the “Dual-Wielding” as far as Barbarians and their skill tags are concerned so regardless of Slashing or Bludgeoning type, a 1-Handed weapon will apparently not count as either.
  • The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
  • Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual-Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you go for a swap-centric build

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects List for some additional picks:

100,000 Steps (Boots)

Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown by [X] Seconds; After gaining the final damage bonus from the Walking Arsenal Key Passive, you automatically cast Ground Stomp and gain [32 – 50] Fury. This cannot happen more than once every 30 seconds.

[28 – 42] Dexterity
+[14 – 28]% Damage with Skills that Swap to New Weapons
+[16.5 – 23.5]% Damage to Stunned Enemies
+[2 – 4] Ranks of Ground Stomp

“While many Barbarians remained in the Dreadlands, small groups from the Oxen, Crane and Bear tribes instead chose to search the land for a new home.” – A History of the Children of Bul-Kathos

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Amethyst, or Skull.
Armor: Ruby, Emerald, Saphire, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Juggler 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of Anemia / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Earthquake Aspect / Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Chest: Weapon Master’s Aspect / Rage of Harrogath (see notes below)
  • Pants: Aspect of Tempering Blows
  • Gloves: Windstriker Aspect / Weapon Master’s Aspect (see notes below)
  • Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect / 100,000 Steps (see notes below)
  • Ring 1: Slaking Aspect
  • Ring 2: Death Wish Aspect
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of The Prickling OR Needleflare Aspect (IF Aspect of Prickling doesn’t exist anymore)
  • Off-hand: Earthstriker’s Aspect / Accelerating Aspect (see notes below)
  • 2-H Weapon 1: Skullbreaker’s Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon 2: Accelerating Aspect / Ancients’ Oath (see notes below)
NOTE 1: Earthquake Aspect goes in the Amulet slot ONLY until you get the 100,000 Steps Unique Boots. After that discard it & put Exploiter's Aspect in the Amulet slot to make room for the Unique Boots. 
There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Rage of Harrogath (Chest Armor) & Harlequin Crest (Helm) & Ancients' Oath (Two-Handed Axe). See the 2nd note below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Rage of Harrogath (Chest Armor): Windstriker Aspect gets removed from the Gloves slot and Weapon Master’s Aspect replaces it to make room for the Unique Chest Armor.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Aspect of Anemia gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Ancients' Oath (2-Handed Axe): Earthstriker’s Aspect gets removed from the 2H Weapon 2 slot & discarded. Accelerating Aspect goes in the now empty 1H Weapon (main-hand) slot to make room for the Unique 2-Handed Axe.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 87 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 41 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Ultimate/Basic/Weapon Mastery Skills
Damage with Core/Ultimate/Basic/Weapon Mastery Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Ultimate/Basic/Weapon Mastery/Defensive Skills
+ X Ranks to Rend/Flay/Steel Grasp/Ground Stomp/Challenging Shout
Lucky Hit Chance withPhysical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage
Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage
Resistance to All Elements
Overpower Damage
+ % Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Slashing/Bludgeoning Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Healthy
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
Overpower Chance
Overpower Damage with Rend/Flay/Steel Grasp
Overpower Damage with Core/Ultimate/Basic/Weapon Mastery Skills
Overpower Damage with Slashing/2-handed/Axes/Bludgeoning/etc. Weapon
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Fury Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Strength
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Juggler 2.0 Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website.

Arrowstorm 2.0 Diablo IV Rogue Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Arrowstorm 2.0 Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(MAKE IT RAIN… death from above while dishing out freeze & crits galore)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is getting closer and it’s time to make some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Rogue Class called Arrowstorm 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Arrowstorm 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Heart Seeker – Fire an arrow that seeks an enemy, dealing 22% (X – ?) damage and increasing your Critical Strike Chance against them by +3% for 4 seconds, up to +15%. Requires a Ranged Weapon Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Basic, Ranged, Marksman
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Heart Seeker – When Heartseeker Critically Strikes, gain +8% Attack Speed for 4 seconds. Double this amount if the enemy is Vulnerable.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fundamental Heart Seeker – Heartseeker also increases the Critical Strike Damage the enemy takes by +5% for 4 seconds, up to +25%.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Penetrating Shot – Fire an arrow that pierces through all enemies in a line, dealing 70% (X – ?) damage. Combo Points increase damage and improve Lucky Hit Chance (LHC): 1: 91% damage & 10% LHC* ; 2: 112% damage & 20% LHC* ; 3: 133% damage & 30% LHC* Requires a Ranged Weapon Energy Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Ranged, Imbueable, Marksman
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Penetrating Shot – Penetrating Shot deals 20% (multiplicative) increased damage per enemy it pierces.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Improved Penetrating Shot – If Penetrating Shot damages at least 3 enemies, your next Penetrating Shot has a +20% increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive) Sturdy – You gain 4%/8%/12% Close Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Siphoning Strikes
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Caltrops – Leap backwards and throw Caltrops on the ground, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Lasts 6 seconds. Energy Cost: 21 Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Agility, Trap
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Caltrops – Enemies take 3% (multiplicative) increased damage from you each second they’re in Caltrops.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Disciplined Caltrops – You have +5% Critical Strike Chance against enemies inside your Caltrops. Double this amount against Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type:
    Daggers: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies.
    Swords: 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    Bows: 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
    Crossbows: 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
  • (passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 ) Not taking an Active Subterfuge skill

  • (active) Concealment / Stealth – Cloak yourself with shadows to hide from enemies for 4 seconds. Attacks during Stealth break Stealth and deal 50% more damage. You are Unstoppable and can move through enemies freely while in Stealth. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Stealth – You gain 40 Energy when you enter Stealth.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Subverting Stealth – The skill that breaks Stealth makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Exploit – You deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Malice – You deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Cold Imbuement – Imbue your weapons with frigid energies. Your next 2 Imbueable Skills deal Cold damage and Chill enemies for 25% per hit. Cooldown: 9 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Tags: Imbuements
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Cold Imbuement – Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Blended Cold Imbuement – Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 20% chance to instantly Freeze enemies for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Precision Imbuement – Imbued Skills gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive) Frigid Finesse – You deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Chilled enemies. This bonus increases to 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) against Frozen enemies.
    • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Chilling Weight
  • (passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Rain of Arrows – Arrows rain down over a large area 2 times, each wave dealing 100% (X – ?) damage. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 2% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Ultimate, Ranged, Imbueable, Marksman
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Rain of Arrows – Imbuement Skill effects applied by Rain of Arrows have 20% (multiplicative) increased potency.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Rain of Arrows – Rain of Arrows’ second wave Knocks Down enemies for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance to gain 8 Energy.
    • (upgrade) Second Wind – Every 100 Energy you spend grants you +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance for 5 seconds.seconds.
    • (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – Non-Physical damage you deal has a +5%/+10%/+15% increased Lucky Hit Chance.
  • (passive – ONLY put 2 points here) Adrenaline Rush – While moving, you gain 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Energy Regeneration.
    • (upgrade) Haste – While at or above 50% maximum Energy, gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Movement Speed. While below 50% maximum Energy, gain +5%/+10%/+15% increased Attack Speed.
    • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Impetus
  • (passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25/50/75 Energy.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Precision – Critical Strikes with Marksman Skills grant you Precision.
    You gain 4% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage per stack of Precision, up to a maximum of 20% (multiplicative).
    When you reach maximum Precision, your next Marksman Skill is a guaranteed Critical Strike that deals 40% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage, then consumes all stacks of Precision.

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much information about the 3rd Specialization of the Rogue. The 3 Specializations are the Rogues’ Class Mechanics:

  • Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Certain Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
  • Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
  • Preparation – This specialization was not available during the closed beta builds of the game.
probably evolved into Inner Sight
probably replaced by Preparation

I prefer and advise using Combo Points but I liked Inner Sight during the beta too so not a bad one either for some 0 cost Skill Spams every now and then. We’ll have to wait and see about the last one.

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Word of Hakan (Amulet)

Your Rain of Arrows is always Imbued with all Imbuements at once.

+[7 – 14]% Non-Physical Damage
+[14 – 21]% Ultimate Skill Damage
+[14 – 21]% Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills
SkillRankBonus_Rogue_Category_Imbuements (Struck’s note: I’m 100% sure this is +X Ranks to Imbuement Skills)

“Let the great gates of Caldeum be sealed. Let its proud walls stand fiercely defended. The rest of Kehjistan may suffer this plague, but my city, and my people, will not.” – Proclamation of Hakan II

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Arrowstorm 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Mangler’s Aspect / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Vengeful Aspect / Word of Hakan (see notes below)
  • Chest: Aspect of Lethal Dusk OR Aspect of Might (if you don’t have Word of Hakan)
  • Pants: Aspect of Siphoned Protection
  • Gloves: Blast-Trapper’s Aspect
  • Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Arrow Storms
  • Ring 2: Aspect of The Umbral / Mother’s Embrace (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of The Expectant
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Corruption Until The Unique goes in the Amulet slot (see notes below)
  • 2-H Ranged Weapon: Aspect of Imitated Imbuement / Skyhunter (see notes below)
NOTE 1: Aspect of Corruption goes in the Off-hand slot ONLY until you get the Word of Hakan Unique Amulet.
Vengeful Aspect replaces Aspect of Corruption on the Off-hand slot to make room for the Unique Amulet.

There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Skyhunter (Bow), Harlequin Crest (Helm), & Mother's Embrace (Ring). See the 2nd note below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Skyhunter (Bow): Aspect of Arrow Storms gets removed from the Ring 1 slot & Trickshot Aspect replaces it. This makes room for the Unique Bow. 
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm):  Mangler’s Aspect  gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm
- For Mother's Embrace (Ring):  Aspect of The Umbral gets removed from the Ring 2 slot to make room for the Unique Ring

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Skull, or Diamond.
Armor: Ruby, Skull or Diamond.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received • Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 92 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 44 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Cold Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Marksman/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Damage with Core/Marksman/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Marksman/Imbuements/Ultimate Skills
+ X Ranks to Penetrating Shot/Cold Imbuement/Stealth
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Cold Damage
Physical/Cold Damage Bonus
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Cold Damage
Resistance to All Elements
Damage to Enemies Affected by Trap Skills
+ % Physical/Cold Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Cold Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Distant Enemies
Critical Chance/ Critical Damage Against Distant Enemies
+ % Chill Application
Critical Chance / Critical Strike Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies with Imbued Skills
Critical Strike Damage with Imbued Skills
Cold Imbued Skill Damage
Imbued Skill Damage
Imbuement Potency
Higher Priority
Damage for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Attack Speed for X Seconds After Dodging an Attack
Dodge Chance (both +% and x% exist)
Dodge Chance Against Close Enemies
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Dexterity
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Arrowstorm 2.0 Rogue Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Rocky 2.0 Diablo IV Druid Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Rocky 2.0 Druid BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(Rock their world by causing the Earth beneath their feet to slide, crushing their hopes)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is getting closer and it’s time to make some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Druid Class called Rocky 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

https://youtu.be/a88BAzgeUgQ

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Rocky 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0)

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Earthspike – Sunder the earth, impaling the first enemy hit for 16% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Requires s Bludgeoning weapon. Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Generates: 8 Spirit
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthspike – Earthspike has a 10% chance to Stun for 2.5 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Earthspike – Fortify for 2% of your Base Life whenever Earthspike damages enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2)

  • (active) Landslide – Crush enemies between 2 pillars of earth, dealing up to 113% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 30
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Landslide – After Landslide damages enemies 4 times, the next hit will Immobilize enemies for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primal Landslide – When you Immobilize or Stun an enemy, you gain a Terramote. Each enemy hit by Landslide consumes a Terramote causing a guaranteed Critical Strike with 40% (multiplicative) Critical Strike Damage. Bosses always have up to a 10% chance to grant a Terramote when hit.
  • (passive) did not pick any Spirit/Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Earthen Bulwark – Rocks surround you for 3 seconds, granting a Barrier that absorbs 45% of your Base Life in damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 16 seconds Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthen Bulwark – Earthen Bulwark makes you Unstoppable while active.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Earthen Bulwark – Casting Earthen Bulwark grants 18% Base Life as Fortify.
  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Blood Howl – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and howl furiously, Healing you for 20% of your Maximum Life. Cooldown: 15 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Howl – Kills reduce the Cooldown of Blood Howl by 1 second.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Innate Blood Howl – Blood Howl also generates 20 Spirit.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your Non-Physical Resistances by 5%/10%/15%.
    • (upgrade) Vigilance – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage Reduction for 6 seconds after using a Defensive Skill.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11) I did NOT take a companion Active Skill

  • (active)
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Nature’s Reach – Deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Distant enemies Double this bonus if they are also Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
  • (passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points

Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Hurricane – Form a hurricane around you that deals 97% (X-?) damage to surrounding enemies over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Cooldown: 20 seconds Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Physical
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hurricane – Enemies who are damaged by Hurricane are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Natural Hurricane – Hurricane has a 15% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Elemental Exposure – Lucky Hit: Your Storm Skills have up to 20% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 1/2/3 second(s).
    • (upgrade) Endless Tempest – did NOT take this
    • (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here) Charged Atmosphere – Every 18/15/12 seconds, a Lightning Strike hits a nearby enemy dealing 45% (X-?) damage. This node is required to unlock BOTH Bad Omen & Electric Shock
    • (upgrade ) Bad Omen – did NOT take this
    • (upgrade) Electric Shock – did NOT take this
  • (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Crushing Earth – Earth Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized or Knocked Back enemies.
    • (upgrade) Stone Guard – While Fortified for over 50% of your maximum Life, your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade)Safeguard – Critical Strikes with Earth Skills Fortifiy you for 2%/4%/7% Base Life.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Wrath passives to save points but there are some worth considering

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23)

  • (active) Petrify – Petrify all Nearby enemies in stone, Stunning them for 3 seconds. You deal 25% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage to enemies affected by Petrify. Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Cooldown: 60 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Petrify – Petrify’s duration is increased by 1 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Petrify – Killing an enemy affected by Petrify grants 25 Spirit.
  • (passive) Defiance – Nature Magic skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
    • (upgrade) Natural Disaster – Your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Your Storm Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
    • (upgrade) Circle of Life – Nature Magic skills that consume Spirit restore 1%/2%/3% of your maximum Life.
    • (upgrade) Resonance – Nature Magic Skills deal 2%/4%/6% (multiplicative) increased damage. Triple this bonus if an Earth Skill is the next Skill cast after a Storm Skill, or a Storm Skill is the next Skill cast after an Earth Skill.
  • (passive) Defensive Posture – Increases the amount of Fortify you gain from all sources by +5%/+10%/+15%.
    • (upgrade) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for 6%/13%/19% Base Life.
    • (upgrade) Nature’s Resolve – 5%/10%/15% chance when struck to Fortify you for 4% Base Life.
    • (upgrade) Unrestrained – did NOT take this
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Earthen Might – Lucky Hit: Damaging enemies with Earth Skills has up to a 5% chance to grant Earthen Might, which does:
    Restore all of your Spirit Cause your attacks to be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds

    This chance is increased by:
    10% for Critical Strikes 10% if the target is Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category (when you specialize into it) + maybe 1 more from every other category . I’d advise getting the following 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 for now.

  • Eagle Category:
    Scythe Talons: +5% Critical Strike Chance
    Avian Wrath: +30% Critical Strike Damage
  • Deer Category:
    Wariness: Take 10% reduced damage from Elites
  • Snake Category:
    Calm Before the Storm: Lucky Hit: Nature Magic Skills have up to 15% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 2 seconds
  • Wolf Category:
    Bolster: Fortify for 10% of your Maximum Life when you use a Defensive Skill

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Vasily’s Prayer (Helm)

Your Earth Skills are now also Werebear Skills and Fortify you for N.

+[7 – 14]% Damage while Shapeshifted
[24.5 – 45.5]% Lightning Resistance
[0.12 – 0.26] Maximum Life
[12 – 20] Spirit On Kill

“Roots from the Great Oak growing at the seaward statue of Vasily will, on rare occasions, be found twisted back upon themselves, suffused with ferocious magic.” – Barrett’s Book of Implements

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Rocky 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: *Stormshifter’s Aspect / Vasily’s Prayer OR Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Ballistic Aspect
  • Chest: Earthguard Aspect / Insatiable Fury (see notes below)
  • Pants: Aspect of Mending Stone
  • Gloves: Seismic-shift Aspect
  • Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Ring 1: Nighthowler’s Aspect
  • Ring 2: Aspect of The Aftershock / Mother’s Embrace (see notes below)
  • 1H Weapon: Crashstone Aspect
  • Off-hand: Mighty Storm’s Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon: Crashstone Aspect 
NOTE 1: Seismic-shift Aspect goes in the Gloves slot ONLY until you get the Vasily's Prayer Unique Helm. After that, scrap it and put Stormshifter's Aspect in the Gloves to make room for the Unique Helm.

There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Insatiable Fury (Chest Armor), Harlequin Crest (Helm) & Mother's Embrace (Ring)

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange the aspects for any of the alternative Unique drops: (I tried to make is as painless as possible):
- For Insatiable Fury (Chest Armor): Earthguard Aspect gets removed from the Chest slot to make room for the Unique Chest Armor.
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Seismic-shift Aspect gets removed from the Helm slot and Stormshifter's Aspect goes in the now empty Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Helm.
- For Mother's Embrace (Ring): Aspect of The Aftershock gets removed from the Ring 2 slot to make room for the Unique Ring.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 88 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 43 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills
Damage with Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills
+ X Ranks to Landslide/Hurricane/Earthen Bulwark/Earth Spike/Blood Howl
Overpower Damage
Physical/Lightning Damage Bonus
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Damage
+ % Physical/Lightning Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Close Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage while Shapeshifted
Damage while in Werebear Form
Damage while Healthy
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
Higher Priority
+ All Stats
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Lucky Hit: Up to a +X% Chance to Execute Injured Non-Elites
Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Spirit Generation / Regeneration / On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Willpower
Resource Cost Reduction
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Rocky 2.0 Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website