Dance of Knives Rogue Leveling Guide for Diablo IV Season 12 - Slaughter

The Season 12 theme brings Killstreaks and Bloodied Items to Diablo 4. Slay enemies in succession to begin a streak that grants increasingly greater benefits based on which affixes you roll on your gear in addition to seasonal reputation and experience. Tiers are divided as follows: Killstreak (0-99) - Carnage (100-249) - Devastation (250-499) - Bloodbath (500-999) - Massacre (1000-9000) - Fresh Meat! (9001+). For most instanced content types, you can typically expect to reach up to the 4th tier (Bloodbath). Additionally, you can find Bloodied Sigils for Nightmare Dungeons, Infernal Hordes and Lair Bosses that offer greater challenges and rewards (introducing "pseudo Torment 5").

Bloodied affixes are bonus affixes that can randomly roll on gear and come in three categories: Rampage (armor), Feast (weapons), Hunger (jewelry). The first two offer minor combat effects while the latter boosts specific loot drops, which doesn't impact your build. Recommended affixes for this build are:

• Rampage: 7% Movement Speed per Kill Streak Tier, +3% Cooldown Reduction per Kill Streak Tier.
• Feast: Every 40 Kills, Reset 1 Random Cooldown.
• Hunger: 10% increased chance for Hunger Items during Kill Streaks.

To get started as a Dance of Knives Rogue, always use your highest DPS Melee Weapon available for more damage. Your Ranged Weapon is simply a stat stick to fuel your power, so its DPS is irrelevant. Otherwise, follow the priority list below. While you don't have all of the desired temper manuals available, simply try to get anything useful on your gear until you acquire the right ones. For example, % Damage, Damage to Close, Vulnerable Damage, etc., all work as long as you activate their conditions. Likewise, you can temper multiple defensive options such as Resistances, Life, and Armor, to fill gaps in your survivability. Tempering low level gear is relatively cheap and the results can be very impactful.

Tip: For the early game, Elemental Surge Weapon Tempers are very powerful due to their high base damage, especially if you are twinking. If you find these, you may want to keep imprinting them on your weapons for an easy time.

The Codex of Power is a collection of Legendary Aspects you can imprint onto Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist. They unlock after completing specific Dungeons located around Sanctuary or salvaging items with these powers. Check out our Map Tool to locate these Dungeons.

For leveling, there are a few powers that can significantly help us if we have the funds to imprint them. In addition, keep an eye out for powerful Unique items you may find for this or other builds.

• Star Shards

Nice-to-have Dungeon unlocks

1. Arrow Storms (Howling Warren - Scosglen)
2. Vengeful (Inferno - Kehjistan)
3. Siphoned Victuals (Leviathan's Maw - Hawezar)

Other useful Aspects (drop/gamble)

1. Synergy
2. Stolen Vigor
3. Umbrous
4. Clandestine
5. Elements
6. Accursed Touch
7. Bursting Venoms
8. Contamination

What to Gamble

Great Uniques for this build

1. Cowl of the Nameless
2. Grasp of Shadow
3. Penitent Greaves

If you already have Aspect of Star Shards, you're all set. However, as you level up, you may get lucky and find some great random drops. Some of these can increase your power temporarily, or if you are interested in trying another build archetype. Keep in mind that there are many more Aspects and Uniques that can be useful to multiple builds; this just lists some of the most impactful ones. While we usually recommend starting with Endgame Builds at level 60, you often can make them work earlier with these drops:

Build-defining Aspects

• Bladedancer's (enables the Endgame Twisting Blades Rogue)
• High Velocity (enables the Endgame Barrage Rogue)
• Encircling Blades (enables the Endgame Flurry Rogue)
• Star Shards (enables the Endgame Dance of Knives Rogue)

Build-defining Uniques

1. Eyes in the Dark (enables the Endgame Death Trap Rogue)
2. Shard of Verathiel (enables Endgame Heartseeker Rogue)
3. Eaglehorn (enables Endgame Penetrating Shot Rogue)
4. Deathmask of Nirmitruq (enables Endgame Flurry Rogue)

You can have up to two Runewords in your setup, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them in Two-Handed Weapons if your build calls for them, otherwise place them into your Armor pieces to replace normal gems. The Dance of Knives Rogue focuses on the following combos:

• Cir + Gar - To reach 100% Critical Strike Chance more reliably.
• Yax + Qua - A massive Movement Speed boost while leveling and synergies with Unstable Elixirs.

If you have access to higher level runes, you can also explore the following options:

• Lac - Invokes Challenging Shout for more defense.
• Wat - Decrepify helps with stagger, defense, and allows an execute at 10% HP, can be combined with Xol in your other Runeword to generate large amounts of offering.
• Thul - Mystical Frost Nova is very strong, it freezes, amplifies damage, and applies vulnerable. The activation is very consistent with Neo, as you do not get hit very often.
• Mot - Gives you Dark Shroud stacks, in case you want to drop Umbrous for something else.
• Ahu + Qax - This is your only way to spend Energy for Second Wind and Preparation.
• Neo + Vex - This gives you increased ranks to all skills, making you more durable through Dark Shroud and makes you deal more damage.

Mercenaries are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and assist you in battle. There are 4 separate Mercenaries to choose from, each with their own skill trees and abilities. You can have one hired (permanent) mercenary during solo play and a reinforcement who assists you from time to time in certain situations.

He reveals all enemies and materials on the minimap, allowing you to farm Iron Chunks and Bundled Herbs easily. The highlighting is very useful to spot out Elites in Dungeons, as you will recognize the pattern for elites quickly after getting used to it.

Cover Fire allows you to deal massively increased Critical Strike Damage in a small area.

Bloodthirst is excellent to increase your Attack Speed and consequently your Base Damage of Dance of Knives.

In Diablo 4, you can level by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, completing Helltide activities, grinding Dungeons, clearing Strongholds, fighting in the Undercity of Kurast, or interacting with the Seasonal Mechanics. While there are many ways to level up in Diablo 4, not all of them are equal.

As you approach level 60 with the Dance of Knives Rogue, you unlock higher item power gear that represents a massive jump in character power. This is a good time to refresh your setup with new tempers and imprints.

After reaching level 60 and finishing the second Capstone Dungeon, Paragon Levels and The Pit unlock. Complete Tier 10 to enter Torment 1, where Diablo IV's Endgame begins.

At this point, your setup should look roughly like this before you dive into min/maxing with Aspects, Uniques, Mythics, and more. With better gear, more levels, and Glyphs, you can push further and eventually unlock higher difficulties for increased rewards.

This step marks the end of the leveling guide. Below is the Paragon setup to get you started in Torment difficulty but ideally you should now transition towards the endgame version of this build or choose another of your liking.