Icy Hunter Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(Shot Bursts Infused with Chilling Cold won’t give your foes breathing room until their hearts are pierced)

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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 Icy Hunter.

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 (Icy Hunter) 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) Rapid Fire – Rapidly fire 5 arrows each dealing 24% (X – ?) damage. Combo Points increase damage and Arrows Fired: 1: 26% damage & 6 arrows ; 2: 29% damage & 7 arrows ; 3: 34% damage & 8 arrows Requires a Ranged Weapon Energy Cost: 25 Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Ranged, Imbueable, Marksman
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rapid Fire – Each subsequent arrow from Rapid Fire has +5% increased Critical Strike Chance, up to +25% for the 5th arrow.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Improved Rapid Fire – 20% chance to gain 15 Energy when Rapid Fire damages a Vulnerable enemy.
• (passive – did NOT put points here) Sturdy
  • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Siphoning Strikes
• (passive – ONLY put my last 1 point here as a filler) 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 – 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) 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 10% 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) Agile – Using a Cooldown increases your Dodge Chance by 3%/6%/9% for 2 seconds.
  • (upgrade – did NOT put points here) Mending Obscurity
• (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) Shadow Clone – Your shadow mimicks your actions for 15 seconds. The shadow deals 60% of your damage. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Damage: Physical ; Tags: Ultimate
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Shadow Clone – You are Unstoppable for 5 seconds after casting Shadow Clone.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Shadow Clone – Your Shadow Clone deals an additional 20% of your damage.
• (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 1 point 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.

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:

Skyhunter (Bow)

+[20%] Damage to Distant Enemies

The first direct damage you deal to an enemy is a guaranteed Critical Strike. If you had maximum stacks of the Precision Key Passive when you cast the Skill, gain [15 – 25] Energy, this can only happen once per cast.

[49 – 63] Dexterity
+[7 – 14]% Marksman Skill Damage
+[14 – 21]% Critical Strike Damage
+[0.5 – 1] Ranks of the Exploit Passive

“Genai took up her bow and aimed at the sun itself. The light burned her eyes, but her arrow flew true. Wounded, the sun hid, and brought forth the first night. – Fable of the Great Sky-Hunt

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 Hunter) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

• Helm: Enshrouding Aspect
• Amulet: Vengeful Aspect
• Chest: Aspect of Siphoned Protection
• Pants: Umbrous Aspect
• Gloves: Blast-Trapper’s Aspect
• Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
• Ring 1: Aspect of Corruption
• Ring 2: Ravenous Aspect
• 1H Weapon: Aspect of The Expectant
• Off-hand: Aspect of Arrow Storms Until The Unique goes in the 2h slot (see notes below)
• 2-H Weapon: Aspect of Imitated Imbuement Until The Unique goes here (see notes below)

NOTE 1: Aspect of Arrow Storms goes in the Off-hand slot ONLY until you get the Skyhunter Unique Bow.
Aspect of Imitated Imbuement replaces Aspect of Arrow Storms on the Off-hand slot to make room for the Unique Bow.
There are two other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Frostburn (Gloves) & Harlequin Crest (Helm). See the 2nd note below:

NOTE 2: How to re-arrange if using any of the alternative Uniques:
- For Frostburn (Gloves): Aspect of Arrow Storms get removed from the Off-hand slot & Blast-Trapper's Aspect replaces it. This makes room for the Unique Gloves. 
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Aspect of Arrow Storms get removed from the Off-hand slot & Vengeful Aspect replaces it. Then Enshrouding Aspect goes in the now empty Amulet slot to make room for the Unique Helm.

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. Maybe even Topaz if no other available options.
Armor: Skull or Ruby.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

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 93 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.

• LVL 93 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
• MAXed out points: Click THIS LINK

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

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

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This concludes the Icy Hunter 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