How the engine works
Death Trap is an Ultimate that pulls enemies in and explodes. Beastfall Boots make a non-channelled Ultimate consume all your Energy, and Preparation cuts 5 seconds off your Ultimate's cooldown for every 75 Energy spent. Cast at 225 Energy and Preparation fires three times, removing 15 seconds, so a Death Trap with a cooldown of 15 seconds or less resets itself on the spot. The Aspect of Aftermath then refunds Energy for every rank of the skill, which fills the bar for the next cast. You cross the map with an Artifice Shadow Step that has almost no cooldown. There is no Core skill and no Energy management in the usual sense.
Who it's for
Players with a stocked stash who want one of the fastest farming builds in the game for the Pit, Infernal Hordes, the Tower and lair bosses. It cannot be levelled with and should not be started half-geared.
- Rating
- A-Tier
- Difficulty
- Easy to play — hard to gear
- Key stat
- Cooldown Reduction
- Must have
- Beastfall Boots + Aspect of Aftermath
The bar
There is no damage skill here other than the Ultimate. Everything else buffs it, protects you or moves you.
Rank 15 with Dodge, Resolve and the Explosive Trigger variant, which lets Stun Grenade multipliers apply to it. While gearing up, use Death Pit instead.
Press — constantlyRank 15 with Calculation: Overpower stacks and 10% Critical Strike Chance for 6 seconds after breaking it. Casting it sets off the Sightless bonus, a 310% damage multiplier, and every Death Trap resets it. Wait until your Unstoppable runs out before pressing it again.
Press — when Unstoppable endsRank 15 with Consume Chance, Critical Strike and Shadow Dancer. Press it whenever it is ready so you always hold five shadows.
Keep it upSilhouette variant for Critical Strike Chance at your feet, with Increased Duration and Damage.
Press — on cooldownBuffered Battery variant. Every Shadow Step or Dash hit builds a barrier, and Artifice applies it rapidly.
Keep it upOne point with Artifice and Cooldown, which cuts 3 seconds per cast. This is how you travel. Below a 3.25 second cooldown it chains without a gap.
MovementPassives
The Rogue tree has no passives and no Key Passive. Points go to Death Trap 15, Concealment 15 and Dark Shroud 15 first. Smoke Grenade and Cold Imbuement share the rest: either a heavy Smoke Grenade with a light Cold Imbuement, or the reverse if you want a bigger barrier.
Specialization
Preparation, with no alternative. It is the reset engine: 75 Energy spent cuts your Ultimate's cooldown by 5 seconds, and Beastfall Boots spend all 225 at once, so each cast removes 15 seconds from Death Trap. Every cast also gives 15% Damage Reduction for 10 seconds.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Preparation | Spend 75 Energy to cut your Ultimate's cooldown by 5 seconds. Three triggers per cast at 225 Energy is what makes Death Trap spammable. |
What to wear
Every slot is doing arithmetic for one of four breakpoints. Mythic items are not required, but well-rolled Cooldown Reduction with Greater Affixes is.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Beastfall Boots | Boots. Casting a non-channelled Ultimate consumes all your Energy and deals more damage per point consumed, and using a cooldown restores 25 Energy. The build does not exist without them. Temper Mobility Cooldown Reduction. | Mandatory |
| Eyes in the Dark | Pants. Death Trap deals up to 90% more damage and re-arms itself once every 10 seconds, with guaranteed Cooldown Reduction. | Core |
| Scoundrel's Leathers | Chest. Trap skills can be thrown and deal 60% more damage, with ranks to Trap skills and Maximum Resource (your Energy). | Core |
| Misericorde | One-handed sword. Lucky Hit against trapped enemies: up to a 40% chance to cut Trap cooldowns by 30% and add Trap damage for 10 seconds. Guaranteed Cooldown Reduction. | Core |
| Stone of Jordan | Ring. Stack Shadow Resistance on gear and charms and every resistance follows it. This is what stops the build being fragile. | Core |
| Leoric's Crown | Helm. Holds two more Splinters; with the Splinter of Pain inside, it is a large boost to Damage Reduction. Until it drops, wear a Debilitating Toxins helm. | Recommended |
| Saboteur's Signet | Ring or charm. More Grenade damage, and enemies hit become Vulnerable or Weakened for 4 seconds. The damage and the debuffs work with Death Trap; the size increase does not. | Recommended |
| Melted Heart of Selig | Amulet, for a different route. It triples your Maximum Energy and cuts damage taken based on your Maximum Life, so you need no Life affixes at all and Death Trap only needs a cooldown under 35 seconds. Far easier to gear and much tougher. | Variant |
Before they drop
Level and gear up on Dance of Knives, and do not switch until you can meet the numbers. The leanest working setup needs only Beastfall Boots as a unique: a Trickster's bow, Cheat's helm, Malice amulet, Apogeic Furor and Aftermath rings, Glynn's Anvil chest, Vehement Brawler's gloves, Juggernaut's pants, and Alchemical Advantage and Entrapment on the weapons, with Dash in Smoke Grenade's slot. If Aftermath will not drop, gamble rings or check the Bartering vendor's Resource aspect caches.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Aftermath | Ring, or amulet if you are short of ranks. Casting an Ultimate generates Energy for every rank the skill has. This is the refund that lets you cast again. Mandatory. |
| Vehement Brawler's | Gloves. Casting an Ultimate gives up to 55% more damage for 8 seconds and +2 ranks to Ultimates, which also feeds Aftermath. |
| Opportunist's | Bow. Stun Grenades deal up to 240% more, and that multiplier applies to Death Trap once it has Explosive Trigger. |
| Inner Calm | Amulet. Up to 150% more damage for standing still. Moving only by Shadow Step keeps it at full stacks permanently. |
| Earthstriker's | Second amulet aspect. More damage while you hold Overpower stacks, which Calculation supplies. |
| Alchemical Advantage | Weapon. Attack Speed that makes the whole loop feel smoother. Swap to Trickster's if you would rather hit harder. |
| Debilitating Toxins | Armour. A large unconditional Damage Reduction bonus, even though you apply no poison. |
| Snowveiled | Armour. Damage Reduction while you have a Barrier, and Buffered Battery keeps one up. |
Do not switch early
Until all four breakpoints are met, Death Trap simply goes on cooldown and you stand there with nothing to press. A starter-quality set does not reach them: you need 900 item power gear or masterworked Cooldown Reduction. Stay on Dance of Knives until your stash can do it.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooldown Reduction | Greater Affix on helm, gloves, rings, amulet, Eyes in the Dark and Misericorde; tempered on rings and amulet |
| 2 | Maximum Resource (your Energy) | Helm, chest, boots, amulet and charms |
| 3 | Ranks to Death Trap and Trap skills | Amulet, Scoundrel's Leathers, charms (up to +4 each), Vehement Brawler's |
| 4 | Trap Arm Time Reduction | Tempered on gloves |
| 5 | Critical Strike Damage | Weapons and jewellery; it ranks above every other damage affix |
| 6 | Vulnerable Damage | Gloves and jewellery |
| 7 | Shadow or All Damage | They share a bucket, so take whichever roll is higher |
| 8 | Shadow Resistance, Life, Armour | Charms and armour, to feed Stone of Jordan |
Hard targets
Four numbers, all required. 1. Death Trap cooldown at 15 seconds or less. 2. At least 225 Maximum Energy; with Sea Lord's Fine Gloves, 173 in town is enough because its stacks add 30%. 3. Enough Death Trap ranks for Aftermath to refund the cast: 40 ranks with a minimum roll, 25 with a maximum roll, or 27 and 17 if Aftermath is on the amulet. Beastfall Boots add 25 Energy. 4. Trap Arm Time Reduction from the glove temper and the Spring-Loaded node, down to 0.15 seconds at best. For endless Shadow Step, get its cooldown under 3.25 seconds.
Tempering & masterworking
Cooldown Reduction on rings and amulet, Trap Arm Time on gloves, Mobility Cooldown Reduction on Beastfall Boots, Life or Armour on the rest of the armour. Weapons take Shadow Damage while you gear up and Critical Strike Chance once finished. Masterwork Cooldown Reduction everywhere first; nothing else matters until the cooldown breakpoint is met. Do not stack more Maximum Energy than your ranks can refund.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Amethysts in weapons and jewellery, Emeralds in the pants.
- Soul Splinters: Pain and Anguish inside Leoric's Crown, then Black Soulstone, then Mother.
- A Gar runeword for crit. Cir + Gar, Yul + Gar or Zan + Gar gives the 10% Critical Strike Chance this build badly needs.
- A Que runeword for a barrier. Zan + Que or Cir + Que. Yul + Vex is the option if you are short of skill ranks.
- Talisman: five Legacy of the Sightless charms. Each Ultimate resets Concealment, and breaking Stealth adds the big damage multiplier. Roll Trap ranks and Shadow Resistance on them, with some Maximum Resource.
- Sixth charm: Sea Lord's Fine Gloves while you are short of Energy (up to 30% more at ten stacks), then Saboteur's Signet.
Paragon
Start with Devious, Deadly Ambush with Canny, No Witnesses with Versatility, Danse Macabre with Explosive, and Eldritch Bounty with Ambush. While gearing, Headhunter can sit in Explosive's place. The nodes that matter most are on Deadly Ambush: Spring-Loaded for trap arm time and the Trap cooldown nodes. No Witnesses gives 5% Attack Speed and Danse Macabre gives Mobility Cooldown Reduction. Glyphs go to 150 on the finished build.
Mercenary
There are two ways to set this up. Raheir hired (Ground Slam, Bastion, Inspiration, Raheir's Aegis) with Aldkin as reinforcement, casting Field of Languish on Death Trap, is the safer pair. Subo hired, for the map reveal, with Raheir's Bastion as the reinforcement on Smoke Grenade is the faster one; Bastion can save you from a fatal hit and boosts damage while you stand in it. Take Raheir while you are still fragile, and Subo once Stone of Jordan is on.
From fresh 70 to finished
This build has no gentle ramp. It is either switched on or it is not.
Collect Beastfall Boots, an Aftermath ring and Cooldown Reduction gear in your stash while you farm.
These two are non-negotiable. With them and a legendary set you can test the loop, but expect gaps between casts.
15 seconds, 225 Energy, enough ranks, fast arm time. Death Trap now chains without end. Add Eyes in the Dark, Scoundrel's Leathers and Misericorde.
Stone of Jordan with Shadow Resistance everywhere, then Leoric's Crown with the Splinter of Pain. The legacy Spirit runeword sword is a strong way to cover missing ranks, Maximum Resource and Attack Speed.
Mobility Cooldown Reduction on the boots and from Danse Macabre takes Shadow Step under 3.25 seconds. The fastest setup then chases a 96% Attack Speed mark with two swords and an Insight bow.
Melted Heart of Selig, no Life on any item, Poison Imbuement and Dash on the bar, Zan + Mot, and two Applied Alchemy charms. Far more durable, with far fewer numbers to hit.
The rotation
Up before you move, and refreshed whenever it is ready.
This starts the Sightless damage multiplier, and Calculation's Critical Strike Chance lands when you break it.
Silhouette at your feet for Critical Strike Chance.
Every cast resets itself and Concealment. Throw it into the pack and keep throwing.
Pressing it early wastes the reset. It is an endless supply of Unstoppable if you time it.
Each Artifice hit builds your barrier. Moving only by Shadow Step also keeps Inner Calm at full stacks.
On bosses
Nothing changes: the same loop kills bosses, and a properly geared set ends lair bosses in a few seconds. On the Selig route, cast Poison Imbuement so more enemies count as Poisoned for Debilitating Toxins.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- Among the fastest clear speeds of any build, with huge area damage.
- Extremely mobile: Shadow Step with almost no cooldown.
- Easy to play. One damage button and a few buffs.
- Endless Unstoppable from Concealment resets.
Where it struggles
- Breakpoint dependent. Miss one number and the build stops working.
- Extremely gear dependent, and it cannot be levelled with.
- Fragile without Stone of Jordan or the Selig route.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Cooldown above 15 seconds. Three Preparation triggers remove exactly 15. Anything over that leaves Death Trap on cooldown.
- Under 225 Maximum Energy. You get two Preparation triggers, not three.
- Too few Death Trap ranks. Aftermath refunds per rank. Without enough, the second cast has no Energy behind it.
- More Maximum Energy than you can restore. A bigger bar you cannot refill resets nothing.
- Forgetting Preparation or Trap Arm Time. Both are silent failures: the build looks right and still stalls.
- Any Maximum Life on the Selig route. That amulet wants your Life as low as possible.
Not for you? The other Rogue builds: Penetrating Shot · Dance of Knives.