S-TIER | ROGUE BUILD Penetrating Shot (@MattiasTheGamer) | SEASON 13

ENDGAME | PIT PUSH | SPEED FARM VOLEUR

Build Overview

This Rogue build revolves around Penetrating Shot in the Ballista variant, combined with Poison Imbuement for massive damage-over-time scaling. It is currently the rank 1 leaderboard Rogue build in Season 13 — a complete surprise even to @MattiasTheGamer himself, who had long dismissed this combination until a Blizzard shadow patch finally made the 150% multiplier from Eaglehorn fully functional with Poison Imbuement.

The build splits into two distinct branches that complement each other through progression: the Cold variant, which relies on Cold Imbuement to blanket the screen in blue projectiles and delivers excellent farming speeds, and the Poison variant, which fully leverages Poison Imbuement combined with Eaglehorn for deep Pit pushing. Each variant has its own progression stages: Starter, Midgame, and Endgame (up to Pushing Poison with Heir of Perdition as the mythic centerpiece).

The core mechanic of the Poison build is Concealment in its Marksman version: every cast of Shadow Clone resets the cooldown of Concealment, allowing you to spam it indefinitely. This activates the Aspect of Malice (knocked-down enemies take increased damage), Fortifies the Rogue through Concealment, and applies Vulnerable thanks to Shadow Clone weakening the entire area on activation. Alongside this, Dash and Shadow Step are used to generate Overpower charges through the Aspect of Glynn's Anvil, with no upper limit on stacking.

This build allowed @MattiasTheGamer to clear a Pit 135 in 7 minutes with zero mythics — a clear signal that the accessible Poison Midgame variant is genuinely viable at all gear levels.

Pros and Cons

Recommended Gear

The build offers a clear multi-phase progression, with each stage adding uniques and mythics as you push further. The gear grid above details every slot with the recommended Greater Affixes and tempering options for each variant.

Cold Starter Phase — Accessible entry point

At the start of the season, the build runs entirely on legendaries. The chest carries the Encased Aspect, the gloves the Shivering Aspect, the pants the Aspect of Heavenly Strength, and the boots the Aspect of Biting Cold. The offhand receives the Aspect of Imitated Imbuement, which is fundamental for duplicating the effects of Cold Imbuement. This setup is already efficient for farming while you hunt for your first key uniques.

Midgame Phase — First key uniques

The transition into Cold Midgame centers on the Godslayer Crown (helmet), the Shrouded Gift (pants), and most importantly the Scoundrel's Kiss (ring). The main weapon switches to Azurewrath, which brings critical Greater Affixes. For the Poison Midgame variant, the helmet becomes the Cowl of the Nameless, the pants become Tibault's Will (essential for energy recovery with Ballista), and the boots receive the Earthstriker's Aspect. The main weapon switches to Etna's Lost Dagger.

Endgame and Pushing Phase — Mythics and optimization

Cold Endgame unlocks the mythic trio: Heir of Perdition in the helmet slot (replacing the Godslayer Crown), Ring of Starless Skies, and El'Druin, Sword of Justice as the main weapon. The chest gains the Aspect of Glynn's Anvil to generate unlimited Overpower charges. For Pushing Poison (the top-end variant), the helmet becomes the Crown of Lucion to boost Poison Imbuement ranks, ring 1 becomes the Signet of Pelghain to amplify damage over time, and Etna's Lost Dagger remains the main weapon.

Important note: @MattiasTheGamer uses the Cowl of the Nameless as a charm in the Horadric Seal rather than as a helmet. This allows him to equip the Crown of Lucion for skill ranks while still retaining the Cowl's passive bonuses. Alternatively, if you do not yet have the Crown of Lucion, simply wear the Cowl of the Nameless as your helmet and use the Godslayer Crown or Heir of Perdition as a charm instead.

Horadric Seal S13

The Horadric Seal is a key optimization tool in Season 13. The recommended setup places the Cowl of the Nameless as the main charm for the Poison variant — this unique helmet provides very powerful passive bonuses for the Marksman specialization and stacks ideally with the effects of Poison Imbuement. For the Cold variant, other charms can be substituted depending on availability and your gear progression. The build features 6 different configurations (Cold Starter, Cold Midgame, Cold Endgame, Poison Midgame, Poison Endgame, Pushing Poison) — the iframe below presents all of them in full detail.

Gameplay Tips

Managing Eaglehorn and Its Bounces

Eaglehorn is the heart of the Poison build: it adds a 150% multiplier that now works with Poison Imbuement since the Blizzard shadow patch. However, the bounce mechanic takes practice to master. In Boss fights, avoid shooting directly at the target if there is no wall behind it — the arrow must be able to bounce back and return. In a corridor that is long enough, arrows will U-turn without needing a wall. Against Bosses, position yourself so that the bounce returns to strike the target and maximizes your damage output.

Concealment Rotation (Poison Marksman Variant)

In the Poison variant, Concealment is your most important skill after Penetrating Shot. Thanks to the Marksman version of Shadow Clone, every activation of the ultimate resets the cooldown of Concealment. Trigger Shadow Clone as soon as enemies are nearby (the area of effect covers the entire screen despite the "nearby enemies" description), then chain your Concealment casts: each one applies Fortify, knocks enemies down (triggering the Aspect of Malice), and the sustained knockdown makes it easy to maintain Vulnerable through Shadow Clone.

Overpower Generation via Dash and Shadow Step

The Aspect of Glynn's Anvil makes Resolve charges unlimited. On your helmet, chest, and pants, temper and masterwork as many Resolve charges as possible — each use of Dash or Shadow Step swaps to daggers and generates Overpower charges. Even when pushing where you no longer actively use Shadow Step, keep your skill points invested in it so you can easily add it to your skill bar during speed farming without having to visit the Armory.

Energy Management with Tibault's Will

Ballista (Penetrating Shot in the Marksman/Ballista variant) is a slow attack, which gives you time to regenerate energy between shots. Tibault's Will is essential for this reason: it massively accelerates energy recovery, allowing you to maintain a sustained firing rhythm even at 93/100 energy consumed per cast (the Crown of Lucion configuration). For more comfort, swap the Crown of Lucion for the Cowl of the Nameless or any other helmet — you will lose a few Poison Imbuement ranks but gain in fluidity.

Choosing Between Cold and Poison

The Cold variant with Cold Imbuement is faster and more visually impressive — ideal for farming mid-tier content. The Poison variant with Poison Imbuement and Eaglehorn is the high-end version for Pit pushing. During speed farming, swap El'Druin, Sword of Justice in as your main weapon to solve mobility and chain through zones via Shadow Step.

Skill Tree

The skill tree focuses on maxed Penetrating Shot (rank 15), maxed Shadow Clone, and either Poison Imbuement or Cold Imbuement depending on your chosen variant. Dark Shroud also receives significant investment for its defensive and offensive synergies. Always keep Concealment on the skill bar for the Poison variant, and Smoke Grenade in Midgame/Pushing for slowing and applying Vulnerability. The Sightless set provides Poison Imbuement skill ranks, Core Skill ranks, and Marksman skill ranks — this set is the foundation of the Poison variant.

Mercenary S13

Paragon

Good news for those already playing other Poison Rogue builds: the Paragon for this build is strictly identical to classic Poison configurations such as the Twisting Blades build. No rebuilding needed. The boards used are Start, Cheap Shot, Leyrana's Instinct, Exploit Weakness, and Eldritch Bounty, with the following glyphs:

• Assassin on the Start board
• Control on Cheap Shot
• Fluidity on Leyrana's Instinct
• Eclipse on Exploit Weakness
• Devious on Eldritch Bounty

Paragon power scales across four glyph level milestones (1, 50, 100, and 150), with each board gaining more allocated nodes and greater glyph efficiency at each threshold. The iframe below lets you visualize and configure each stage in detail.