Regarding the best archer build in Diablo 4, Barrage is the top choice among players to deal massive damage to foes. It sounds pretty straightforward, but the build requires special considerations not to exhaust the build and efficiently progress through the endgame. At the same time, most players are well familiar with the Rogue for being the most brutal ranged class and would always like to rock archer build for progressing the playthrough.
You are in the right place if you are also one of those players. This guide will detail the best marksman archer to build for the Rogue class to pursue a ranged playthrough and massive damage pool.
Major Takeaways
- Rogue qualifies as the best-ranged class in Diablo 4, enabling players to pursue an archer build with marksman skills. However, it involves much more considerations, from choices of skills and tips to keep the build on the right path.
- Our archer ranged build focuses on dealing maximum damage through ranged weapons while keeping maximum distance for higher defense. For that instance, this build starts with Forceful Arrows, later replaced by Rapid Fire as Core Skill.
- Players might also have to use Barrage after level 4 to clear the dungeons and the early boss, X’fal.
- As for the Agility skills, we will need Caltrops and Disciplined Caltrops that will also aid in defenses and offense for slowing down the enemies and preparing your means of attack.
- Our archer build utilizes Dark Shroud and Poison Trap for Subterfuge, Poison, and Mixed Poison for Imbuement Skills.
- Ultimately, our build will utilize the Ultimate of Rain of Arrows, which must be upgraded to Prime Rain of Arrows.
- Lastly, for Legendary Aspects and Gems, our archer build will be going for Rapid Aspect, Aspect of Disobedience, Accelerating Aspect and Ruby(Armor), and Emerald(Weapon), respectively.
Build Overview:
| Skill Tree | All Skills |
|---|---|
| Core Skills | Forceful Arrow, Enhanced Forceful Arrow, Barrage, Enhanced Barrage, Rapid Fire, Enhanced Rapid Fire |
| Agility | Caltrops, Disciplined Caltrops |
| Subterfuge | Dark Shroud, Poison Trap |
| Imbuement | Poison Imbuement, Mixed Poison Imbuement |
| Ultimate | Rain of Arrows, Prime Rain of Arrows |
| Legendary Aspects | Rapid Aspect, Aspect of Disobedience, Accelerating Aspect |
| Gems | Ruby(Armor), Emerald(Weapon) |
Rogue Archer Build
The Rogue class is perfect for archer build because of access to ranged weapons and many Skills that aid players in dealing piercing and AoE damage. While many players still prefer the hybrid melee-ranged build with Rogue, we focus on a purely ranged marksman build where you will keep your distance from the enemies.
This will help secure the maximum pool of HP for your character and deal with the Crowd Control effects during gameplay. We are going with the Rogue female character to fit best with the lore canonically. With that out of the way, let’s discuss all the Skills Cluster and the selection for our best Rogue Archer build in Diablo 4.
Core Skills
- Since we focus on leaving enemies Vulnerable and dealing maximum damage while keeping the distance, the first skill we might want to add is Forceful Arrow. Unlike most melee attacks, your character is always exposed to attacks during a cluster of enemies. Especially in the early stages of the playthrough, where no one expects enemies surrounding your character.
- However, Forceful Arrow, as an active skill, significantly aids in the prologue dungeons by dealing 20% damage while also leaving enemies exposed during the third attack. You will have to rely on the skill until you reach Level 4. As we gain another Skill point by leveling up, you must also invest in Enhanced Forceful Arrow to achieve a chance of Critical Strike.
- As we move forward with the dungeon boss, the player must invest another point in Barrage to gain a powerful strike ability. With this, players can unleash five arrows at the cost of some energy. This will significantly aid in cheesing X’Fal, The Sacred Baron boss. Until now, all the skills contributed to exposing the enemy’s vulnerabilities and dealing huge damage off the charts. The next step will require players to get Enhanced Barrage to achieve the maximum Ricochet chance and cover maximum battlegrounds for damaging the exposed enemies.
- Moving on, pursuing a build with the Rogue class also requires keeping up with the speed and agility of the character. Rapid Fire and Enhanced Rapid Fire upgrades are notable additions to these. After level 5, players might want to replace Forceful Arrow with Rapid Fire to maximize range gameplay with both Barrage and Rapid Fire.
- Since we are focusing on far-range marksman archer build in Diablo 4, Rapid Fire can assist as a primary attack option for players. Moreover, your character can not entirely depend on Enhanced Barrage because of exhausting the energy flask. Therefore, ensure to utilize Barrage efficiently with Enhanced Rapid Fire to clear off enemies in the upcoming dungeons.
Agility
- Now that two Active skill slots are filled, players must progress the storyline to unlock the rest of the four slots and add more skills. This brings us to the Caltrops, which never goes as an exception in the best archer build. Playing as a Rogue build is not an easy playthrough as most players are stormed with enemies, even in the early-level dungeons. Caltrops can be thrown to slow down your enemies so you can maintain your distance and obliterate them with any of the skills. You can also upgrade the skill to Disciplined Caltrops to gain the chance of hitting a Critical Strike.
Subterfuge
- Moving on to the Subterfuge skill tree, players must also get their hands on an excellent defensive skill known as Dark Shroud. Adding the skill tree will allow players to negate the damage intake through five protective shadows.
- Next, get Poison Trap for dealing poison damage for the archer build rather than relying on ranged attacks. Especially if you are pursuing a solo playthrough in Diablo 4, you must set up these Poison Traps to keep a safe side from enemy crowds and proc considerable damage from bosses.
Imbuement
- At the same time, for the Imbuement, we would also like to imbue our weapons with Poison Imbuement for dealing maximum Poison and Physical Damage to the enemies. Meanwhile, upgrading the skill to Mixed Poison Imbuement will lead to dealing 30% damage over time.
Ultimate
- Lastly, we will add the Skill we have been waiting for in our archer build. Rain of Arrows is the most crucial ultimate skill for this ranged build that can tackle crowd control and take down boss fights. At the same time, getting another Skill point will enable players to imbue the ultimate to Prime Rain of Arrows.
Legendary Aspects Recommendations
While all the skills look promising enough to cheese all kinds of bosses in World Tier 1 and pose a challenge in World Tier 2, it is highly recommended to boost gear performance with Aspects to make the most out of the best archer build in Diablo 4. Moreover, plenty of options are available to go with the aspects of your gear in this ranged build, but we will focus on the essential ones. It is worth noting that pursuing the campaign to reach unlock dungeons where you can farm for gear to get aspects is highly recommended.
- The Rapid Aspect is one of the first legendary aspects we will be going for. You might have already guessed it with the name and skill we utilize above Rapid Fire. It will help players to receive attack speed buffs on Basic Skills.
- Moving on, you will add the Aspect of Disobedience to enhance your character’s defensive side. This will ensure your character gains maximum protection from armor with up to 0.50% for four seconds and will increase with each damage you perform to the opponents. Considering that AoE enemies pose much more threat to the ranged players, this also solves the problem of raising the character’s defense bar.
- The Accelerating Aspect is another legendary aspect we added to our ranged character build. It will allow players to receive a 25% enhanced attack speed on every Critical Strike from Core skills.
Tips & Tricks For Archer Playthrough
All the skills and recommendations for legendary aspects are easy to overwhelm; players are advised to take a slow start with the Rogue build and learn accurately where to invest the skill points. Especially because Rogue is not a beginner class and will require time and attention, for that instance, players must incorporate different tips and tricks in their playthrough to gain a head start on the build and streamline the process of skill point investment.
- Focus on the marksman-ranged abilities of your character. Players who finished the campaign with Barbarian or another melee-focused build might face challenges keeping the distance between their character and enemies. For that instance, it is crucial to learn where and when to engage in attack and use the excellent mobility of Rogue to your benefit.
- Utilize core skills efficiently. For instance, utilizing Barrage will always exhaust your character’s energy flask. Especially during early-level dungeon boss fights, you might want to reserve the Energy to deal maximum damage at the end of moments before the boss’s unique attacks.
- Add Gems to your gear for a unique status effect on the character’s performance. While the Gem choice is yours, players can pursue Ruby on armor for this archer build to enhance the defenses. At the same time, Emerald can increase the damage for Critical Strike on Vulnerable enemies to get one more step ahead for DPS.
- Always pick look and forage plants for crafting resources for the character. Archer’s build heavily relies on the environment and all the items it has to offer. For that instance, players will need resources to craft the gear and progress the campaign.
Ultimately, watch for the skill points investment whenever you level up. It is advised to start with World Tier 1 difficulty so you can get hold of the ranged-weapon mechanics, and then you can later progress the campaign at a higher difficulty.
That is about it for our guide on the best archer build in Diablo 4. Do you find this guide helpful to pursue an ideal marksman build without going head-to-head melee combat with foes throughout the unforgiving journey in Sanctuary? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
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