With Diablo IV Season 10 looming on the horizon, the Public Test Realm (PTR) has already given us a clear glimpse into what players can expect. While not every build has undergone dramatic overhauls, some adjustments and rebalancing have reshaped how popular Rogue playstyles feel going into this season. Death Trap, Dance of Knives, Shadow Step, and Twisting Blades remain at the center of attention for many theorycrafters, and their evolutions provide a fascinating look at how Blizzard continues to refine Diablo IV’s endgame.

This article provides an in-depth look at the state of these builds in Season 10, how they’ve changed from their Season 9 counterparts, and what players can expect in terms of gearing, Diablo IV Gold, and overall gameplay experience.

The Seasonal Context: Chaos Powers and Uniques

Before diving into the builds themselves, it’s worth framing Season 10 in terms of its overarching theme. This season introduces “Chaotic Cooldowns,” a new chaos power that randomizes cooldowns each time a skill is cast. Rather than having static timers, abilities can now reset anywhere between 2 seconds and their full base cooldown.

At first glance, this introduces unpredictability, but clever players will quickly realize that certain builds adapt better than others to this chaos. On top of this, the arrival of new chaos uniques provides additional build diversity. These items don’t just offer flat buffs—they encourage players to puzzle out synergies, experiment with rotations, and reconsider itemization strategies that previously felt locked-in.

Season 10, then, is less about wholesale reinvention and more about rethinking consistency, resource management, and adaptability.

Death Trap Rogue: The Energy Economy Puzzle

The Death Trap build remains one of the most iconic Rogue archetypes, and in Season 10 it has seen a subtle but impactful shift.

The big change centers on Aftermath, which has been redesigned. In Season 9, Aftermath helped ensure a steady return of energy and cooldown reduction, letting Death Trap players spam their skills with satisfying regularity. In Season 10, however, the redesign forces players to find alternative energy recovery methods.

This means the build is no longer as inherently “spammy” as it once was. Players now need to make meaningful gearing choices:

Option 1: Stack up to 225 energy, as was necessary in earlier seasons.

Option 2: Focus heavily on cooldown reduction across gear, compensating for Aftermath’s diminished role.

The Shico variant offers a smoother path for players unwilling to endure the grind for perfect cooldown setups. By equipping Shico, energy and cooldown management become far more forgiving, essentially shortcutting the gearing complexity.

Despite these challenges, the top-end potential of Death Trap remains comparable to Season 9—and perhaps even slightly higher. More importantly, the build retains its “immortal” feel, providing excellent survivability even as its damage rhythm requires more patience to perfect.

For veterans of Season 9, the transition to Season 10 may feel rough at first, but once the proper resource management puzzle is solved, Death Trap continues to deliver one of the smoothest high-tier experiences available to Rogues.

Dance of Knives: From Preparation to Poison

Among the Rogue builds tested during the PTR, Dance of Knives stood out as the biggest surprise. Previously tethered to Preparation and Shadow Clone mechanics, the build has shifted dramatically to embrace Poison Trap synergies.

The results are transformative. Where the old Preparation variant could feel clunky, the Poison Trap version plays with surprising smoothness and delivers significantly higher damage output.

PTR testers reported comfortably clearing Tier 100 content with the new iteration, describing the experience as “super smooth” from start to finish.

For players looking for something that feels fresh compared to Season 9 builds, Dance of Knives is the standout recommendation. It breaks away from established Rogue archetypes without sacrificing endgame viability. Not only does it perform well mechanically, but it also injects a sense of novelty into a class that many feared might stagnate this season.

Twisting Blades: Familiar but Reliable

By contrast, Twisting Blades has seen relatively few changes going into Season 10. Players who enjoyed the build in Season 9 will find much of it intact:

Gear setup: Largely the same, with the notable exception that players now slot Fist of Fate into their boots instead of other alternatives.

Skill synergy: Poison Imbuement remains critical, though its effectiveness is now slightly tempered by chaotic cooldowns.

The chaotic cooldown system introduces a bit of randomness, particularly in how quickly Poison Imbuement resets. In most cases, resets will occur quickly enough to maintain flow, but occasional overlaps may cause momentary disruptions.

Another factor working against Twisting Blades this season is the loss of a ramping damage gem from Season 9. This makes the build feel slightly weaker in terms of scaling compared to Death Trap or Dance of Knives.

Still, Twisting Blades retains its core strengths: consistent damage, straightforward gameplay, and gear flexibility. For players who prefer not to reinvent their playstyle each season, Twisting Blades offers comfort and reliability, even if it doesn’t dominate the meta.

Shadow Step: Buffed and More Accessible

Shadow Step’s trajectory in Season 10 is somewhat mixed but ultimately positive.

The Asherath variant of Shadow Step was heavily nerfed, losing around 3.5x damage. In practical terms, this equates to being about seven pit tiers weaker—a substantial hit. However, the normal variation of Shadow Step saw improvements, making it play smoother and deal more consistent damage.

New itemization opportunities enhance this version’s potential:

Fist of Fate on helmets can provide valuable damage boosts.

Alternative setups allow for more flexible crit chance management, easing one of the build’s traditional pain points.

As a result, Shadow Step now feels more like a stable, middle-tier build than an outlier reliant on broken mechanics. For players who want mobility, flashy execution, and a fast-paced gameplay loop, Shadow Step remains a satisfying choice.

The Broader Rogue Meta: Incremental but Meaningful

What stands out about the Season 10 PTR is not that Rogue builds have been revolutionized but rather that they’ve been incrementally reshaped. With the exception of Dance of Knives, most builds function much as they did before—just with different gearing considerations and new chaos-infused wrinkles.

The key factor this season will be how players adapt to chaos uniques. These items, with their unpredictable properties, accelerate the rate at which builds can be optimized and encourage experimentation far beyond what static legendary affixes allow.

The result? A meta that feels simultaneously familiar and new. Veterans will recognize the skeletons of their favorite builds, but the muscle and sinew holding them together have changed just enough to demand creative problem-solving.

Recommendations for Season 10 Rogues

If you’re wondering which Rogue build to commit to at the start of Season 10, here are some takeaways based on PTR impressions:

Best for power and survivability: Death Trap. Still immortal, still top-end competitive, just requires a bit more work in gearing.

Best for freshness and fun: Dance of Knives. The Poison Trap synergy breathes new life into Rogue gameplay and performs exceptionally well.

Best for consistency: Twisting Blades. Minimal changes, solid performance, though not the strongest option.

Best for style and speed: Shadow Step. Nerfed in its broken form but improved overall, offering a smoother experience.

That said, many players may want to keep an eye on Rain of Arrows builds as well. While not the focus of this recap, they’ve been highlighted by other Maxroll contributors as potentially strong contenders this season.

Conclusion: A Season of Subtle Evolution

Diablo IV’s Season 10 may not carry the same headline-grabbing innovations as previous updates, but its quieter refinements carry long-term implications. By rebalancing core mechanics like Aftermath, leaning into chaos-infused itemization, and rewarding adaptability cheap Diablo IV Gold, Blizzard has crafted a season that challenges players to rethink old habits without discarding their favorite playstyles altogether.

For Rogues, the message is clear: your toolkit hasn’t changed dramatically, but the way you wield it has. Whether you’re mastering energy management in Death Trap, experimenting with Poison Trap synergies in Dance of Knives, or leaning into the chaotic rhythm of Twisting Blades, Season 10 offers plenty of depth to explore.

In the end, the PTR confirms that Diablo IV is continuing to mature. Each season builds not just on mechanics but also on the evolving relationship between players and their characters. Season 10 is less about spectacle and more about mastery—a reminder that in Sanctuary, even chaos can become a weapon in the right hands.