Twisting Blades Azurewrath

The Twisting Blades Azurewrath Rogue Build Guide teaches you about Gear, Skills, Paragon, Playstyle & Seasonal Mechanics in Diablo 4.

Twisting Blades is the catalyst of this build and is used to proc the Lucky Hit Chance to Deal Cold Damage from Azurewrath.

• The Unique Sword Azurewrath is mandatory to playing this build. You can drop it from Duriel, Andariel, Harbinger or Belial.
• If you want to play Twisting Blades without Azurewrath check out the Poison Twisting Blades Guide
• You can find a very in-depth explanation of everything there is to know further below. The focus of the guide is the Endgame variant and the following provides a quick overview depending on which variant you select.

• Activate Shadow Clone whenever it is ready.
• Shadow Clone is a massive damage boost and allows you to score more Lucky Hits to proc Azurewrath.
• Move around with Shadow Step and stop moving once you engaged an Elite Pack.
• Position yourself so you do not have to move until the pack is dead.
• Casting Shadow Step will not break Inner Calm Aspect.
• Start spamming Twisting Blades, ideally with Force Stand Still to not accidentally move.
• If you move, you lose the damage bonus from Inner Calm.
• Hitting enemies with Twisting Blades will proc Azurewrath for big damage.
• Shoot Heartseeker every 6-8 seconds.
• You need to do this to keep up Close Quarters Combat.
• The exact timing is dependant on your Heartseeker Duration Temper.
• Drop Caltrops and Poison Trap on Elite packs and Bosses.
• Through the Umbrous Aspect you generate Dark Shrouds through Lucky Hits, securing your defense.

Everything you need to know

Playing Twisting Blades Rogue can definitely be challenging because of how some mechanics interact with each other. Below you will find deeper level information and answers to common questions.

Unique Items

Azurewrath

This unique sword allows you to gain a massive flat damage proc. In fact, it is so good that you optimize your build around it once you have it. The damage it and other flat damage procs you utilize deal, scale with Attack Speed. This leads you to stack both Attack Speed and Lucky Hit Chance to proc it as often as possible.

Fists of Fate

These gloves are uncontested Best in Slot for the Twisting Blades Azurewrath Rogue. The insane amount of Lucky Hit Chance is amazing for this build and the unique aspect is also a big damage boost on average.

Mythic Priority:

Heir of Perdition > Shroud of False Death > Starless Skies

Regular Unique Priority:

Azurewrath > Fists of Fate

Stat Requirements

Clone Cooldown Reduction

You need Shadow Clone to have around 25 seconds or less Cooldown to be able to use it often enough to maximize the benefits from all it's buffs. Due to our Specialization, Preparation, the Cooldown is reduced very often.

Lucky Hit Chance

To proc Azurewrath as often as possible, you need to stack as much Lucky Hit Chance as you can. We mathematically can not reach a point where it procs from every single hit of Twisting Blades, so there is no hard cap.

Attack Speed

We want to get as close as possible to +200% Attack Speed (100% in Cap 1 and as much as we can in Cap 2.) Therefore we use affixes on gear to cap out on Cap 1. Twisting Blades Rogue uses the following sources of Attack Speed increases:

• Cap 1 (100%+)
• Close Quarters Combat Buff 1
• Attack Speed on Gear
• Elixir of Advantage II
• Cap 2 (75%+)
• Close Quarters Combat Buff 2
• Alchemical Advantage
• Fundamental Heartseeker

Consumables

You want to use the following for optimal stats:

• Elixir of Advantage II
• Spiral Morning
• Song of the Mountain
• Soothing Spices

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do we apply Vulnerable in this build?

Fists of Fate has an affix that allows us to have a chance to make enemies Vulnerable on a Lucky Hit.

What other affixes can I roll on my Amulet?

Ranks to Malice can be replaced with Ranks to Exploit or Ranks to Frigid Finesse.

Why do we have Ranks in Dark Shroud but it's not on the Skill bar?

Umbrous Aspect allows you to generate Dark Shrouds on Lucky Hits.

How do we trigger Frigid Finesse?

You can activate Frigid Finesse via Methodical Caltrops and the Chill from Azurewrath.

I am not dealing much damage, what is happening?

Azurewrath scales insanely well with better gear. Be it better Masterworks on Azurewrath itself on the Cold Damage, more Attack Speed and Lucky Hit Chance everywhere or just more Dexterity or higher Glyph Levels. There are many layers of damage increase in this build, that will cumulatively increase your damage by a lot once they all fall into place. Keep working on your gear and make sure to follow the Gameplay Loop rotation further above for optimal results.

Can I use this Build on Hardcore?

For Hardcore, you should ensure you always use Incenses and Elixirs. Swap a few offensive affixes or even Dexterity to defensive ones or Maximum Life. Amulet tempers can also provide you additional defense if requires and switching out Heir of Perdition for Harlequin's Crest and Shroud of False Death for Tyraels Might is a good idea.

Attack Speed Caps

There are two different Attack Speed Caps in Diablo 4. Generally speaking, affixes on gear and permanent Attack Speed increases fall into Cap 1, everything else is usually Cap 2. However, the Game is very inconsistent with these things and listing every single case would break the scope of this guide. For Shadow Step Rogue we just need to know that stacking more Attack Speed is good until we are capped out.

• For a better understanding of what buff goes where, refer to the Attack Speed Mechanics Guide by Avarilyn over at Maxroll.

Dark Shroud Damage Reduction Scaling

Dark Shroud

Dark Shroud is used passively through the Umbrous Aspect and therefore does not need to be placed on our Skill Bar. Dark Shroud is an insanely powerful defensive skill because of its parabolic scaling. This means that it gets stronger the more we invest in it.

• Level 1 Dark Shroud provides 40% DR at 5 stacks.
• Level 5 Dark Shroud provides 48% DR at 5 stacks. 1 - (1-48%)/(1-40%) = 13.33% effective DR increase.
• Level 15 Dark Shroud provides 68% DR at 5 stacks. 1 - (1-68%)/(1-48%) = 39.5% effective DR increase.
• Level 19 Dark Shroud provides 76% DR at 5 stacks. 1 - (1-76%)/(1-68%) = 25% effective DR increase.

23rd of July 2025

• Updated Pit Pushing Paragon to have all points spent.