The Dance of Knives Rogue build is a whirlwind of fun, speed, and devastating power. This “A Dance Of Rogues Guide” will show you how to conquer any challenge Diablo 4 throws your way. Get ready to spin through dungeons, Helltides, and the Undercity with incredible pace and potent explosions! Dance of Knives offers a fluid and satisfying gameplay experience, allowing you to weave through enemies effortlessly once you achieve sufficient Movement Speed.
The core of the build revolves around the Dance of Knives skill augmented with Star Shards. By stacking Attack Speed, we amplify the damage output to staggering levels. Resource management is simplified compared to other builds, as Dance of Knives consumes Charges instead of Energy.
If you’re transitioning from a Dance of Knives Rogue leveling build, pay close attention to the changes implemented in the Ancestral and Mythic variants detailed below.
Key Requirement:
- 190%+ Movement Speed after buffs
Unleashing Infinite Spin: A Dance of Rogues Guide
Force Interact (default key: F) is your friend! Using it while spinning allows you to interact with objects without breaking your snapshot. This is incredibly useful in the Undercity, provided you are directly on top of what you want to interact with.
Note: This “a dance of rogues guide” assumes you have a Level 60 character and have unlocked Torment 1. To reach this point, explore our other Rogue Leveling Guides.
Mastering Witchcraft Powers
Season 7: Season of Witchcraft introduces Witchcraft Powers and Occult Gems. These mechanics are unlocked and enhanced by interacting with new NPCs at the Tree of Whispers after gathering resources from Headhunt Zones.
There are 25 Witchcraft Powers, allowing you to equip 6 at a time. Each Power belongs to one of four Schools (Eldritch, Growth & Decay, Psyche, and Lost), promoting synergies with Occult Gems. Each School features a single Unique Witchcraft Power (only one can be equipped at a time), gaining additional effects at rank 5. Other Powers max out at rank 21, gaining bonuses at various levels. To unlock and improve Witchcraft Powers, defeat Headrotten or complete Whispers within Headhunt Zones to collect Restless Rot. Lost Powers are found randomly at Forgotten Altars in Dungeons.
Top-Tier Witchcraft Powers
- Purging Touch: A direct damage boost for Shadow Clone due to the Eldritch Tag received from Voice of the Stars.
- Hex of Shattering: Reduces incoming damage and activates Piranhado.
- Grow: Greatly benefits Shadow Clone, amplified by Toadling’s Wish.
- Aura of Siphoning: Provides healing and Poison damage. A necessary aura to enable Voice of the Stars.
- Aura Specialization: A multiplicative damage increase to Critical Strike Damage.
- Piranhado: Groups mobs efficiently.
Alternative Witchcraft Powers
- Aura of Misfortune: Mitigates incoming damage and boosts Movement Speed (less effective against Bosses).
- Vengeful Spirit Servant: Increases survivability (use before acquiring Piranhado).
Unlocking the Power of Occult Gems
Occult Gems are unlocked and upgraded by returning Fugitive Heads to Gelena. These gems are socketable in jewelry, providing +160 Armor and +8% Resistance to All Elements. More importantly, they grant unique effects that synergize with Witchcraft Powers.
Essential Occult Gems
- Voice of the Stars: Grants Shadow Clone all applicable tags, enabling multiple powerful synergies.
- Toadling’s Wish: Synergizes with Grow and Voice of the Stars, significantly improving Shadow Clone.
- Elder Sigil: Increases Agility Damage against Hexed enemies.
Alternative Occult Gems
- Hungering Void: Another option for pulling mobs together (high opportunity cost).
- Soul Harvest: A decent substitute before obtaining Aura Specialization.
Skills and Gameplay
The Dance of Knives Rogue gameplay hinges on the proper execution of skills to maximize damage output.
Core Skills
- Blade Shift: Used to advance through the Skill Tree.
- Dance of Knives: A channeling ability that throws knives at a constant rate. Attack Speed increases the base damage of the knives. Maximize Attack Speed through various buffs and tempers.
- Dark Shroud: Your primary defensive tool, providing Movement Speed.
- Concealment: Guarantees Critical Strikes and applies Vulnerable to enemies. Use it immediately before channeling Dance of Knives.
Imbuements
- Cold Imbuement: Freezes and applies Vulnerable.
- Aura of Siphoning: Enables Alchemical Advantage.
Ultimate and Key Passive
- Shadow Clone: Amplifies damage significantly.
- Momentum: Stack quickly through Dance of Knives for defense and movement speed.
- Weapon Mastery: A damaging passive skill.
- Frigid Finesse: Increases damage against Frozen enemies (activated by Lucky Hit: Chance to Freeze Tempers and Fists of Fate).
- Siphoning Strikes: Provides Health sustain.
Optimal Rotation: The Dance of Death
The order of execution is crucial, as Dance of Knives snapshots certain buffs for the entire duration of the channel:
- Activate Dark Shroud.
- Activate Shadow Clone.
- Dash into the next pack of mobs to apply Knockdown and move faster (Shadow Step is also viable).
- Drink 2 Healing Potions to activate your Yax + Qax runeword.
You can only drink a Healing Potion at full Health if you have at least 1 Point in Unstable Elixirs.
We drink this at Step 4 so neither Clone nor Dash consume it.
Skip this step when powering through easy content. - Activate Cold Imbuement to freeze mobs.
- Cast Concealment.
- Begin channeling Dance of Knives.
- Repeat from Step 1 when Shadow Clone is ready.
Shadow Clone is responsible for nearly half of our damage and unlocks powerful damage multipliers. Use it as soon as it is off cooldown.
Hint: If Shroud of False Death has stealthed you before Conceal, break it with Dash.
Rogue Specialization: Preparation
Preparation reduces your Ultimate Cooldown by 5 seconds for every 75 Energy spent.
The Runeword Yax + Qax allows you to spend Energy.
Paragon and Glyphs: Fine-Tuning Your Power
Carefully align your Paragon Boards for optimal board rotation. Remember that Glyphs increase their radius at levels 15 and 46. Some Glyphs cannot be activated before reaching these thresholds!
Glyph Leveling Priorities
To Level 15
- Versatility
- Canny
- Devious
- Control
- Headhunter
To Level 46
- Versatility
- Control
- Devious
- Canny
- Headhunter
Runes: Enhancing Your Abilities
You can equip two Runewords, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them into your armor to replace normal gems.
Best in Slot Runes
- Neo + Vex: Grants additional Ranks to all skills, increasing damage and reducing Shadow Clone’s cooldown.
- Yax + Qax: Qax Rune keeps its buff for the entire duration of Dance of Knives. Use before Concealment and Dance of Knives.
Alternative Runes
- Lac: Invokes Challenging Shout for defense.
- Kry: Groups up enemies.
- Wat: Decrepify helps with stagger and defense.
Mercenaries: Your Allies in Battle
Mercenaries, unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign, provide valuable assistance.
Hired Mercenary: Subo
Provides minimap visibility of enemies and materials. Share a Drink restores Healing Potions for Yax. Ambusher helps with staggering and applying Crowd Control.
Reinforcement Mercenary: Varyana
Bloodthirst increases Attack Speed, boosting Dance of Knives damage.
Stat Priorities and Item Progression
Prioritize the following stats on your gear:
- 2000+ Dexterity
- 50%+ Lucky Hit Chance
- 300%+ Critical Strike Damage
- 100% Cap1 Attack Speed
- 100% Cap2 Attack Speed
- 6+ Total Ranks of Frigid Finesse
- 100%+ Damage per Dark Shroud Shadow
- Armor Capped 1,000
- Resistance Capped 70%+
- 6,000+ Life
- 200% Movement Speed Capped
- 90%+ Chance for Dance of Knives to Deal Double Damage Capped
- 10+ Total Ranks of Dance of Knives
Build Variants
This “a dance of rogues guide” presents multiple build variants to guide you from level 60 to the endgame.
Starter Build
Focus on Armor & Resistances for survivability early on.
Ancestral Build
Upgrade gear to Ancestrals, focusing on more Masterworking levels and Paragon points.
Mythic Build
The final progression step, utilizing all regular Unique items, Mythic Uniques, Legendary Aspects, Temper mods and Masterworking.
No-Snapshot Build
This variant focuses on dealing damage with the Clone and is easier to play.
Pit Pushing Build
Optimized for pushing the highest possible Tiers in The Pit.
FAQ and Mechanics: Addressing Common Questions
How to not run out of Charges with Dance of Knives
- Start the channel with at least 4 Charges
- Preparation restores all charges.
- Move in fluid circles or a straight line, do not take sharp turns
- Do not linger on mobs and never stop moving
- You need around 190%+ Movement Speed to infinitely keep spinning.
What Elixirs should I use?
- Elixir of Advantage II for more Lucky Hit Chance.
- Elixir of Fortitude II if you have trouble surviving.
Attack Speed Caps
Attack Speed is capped at 200%, divided into two caps of 100% (Cap 1 and Cap 2).
Conclusion: Embrace the Spin
The Dance of Knives Rogue is a dynamic and powerful build. This “a dance of rogues guide” has provided you with the knowledge to dominate Diablo 4.
Snapshot Rotation: Dark Shroud => Shadow Clone => Dash => Yax + Qax => Cold Imbuement => Concealment => Dance of Knives.
Spin to win!
