Caged Hearts are a new mechanic for the Season of the Malignant and offer potent buffs to every Class. The Rogue is already a powerhouse, and Caged Hearts can kick their power level into the stratosphere. If you’re approaching the endgame and haven’t dabbled with Caged Hearts yet, you’re missing out! Let me show you the best Caged Hearts for Rogue | Twisting Blades, Flurry, Penetrating Shot, and more in Diablo 4 Season 1.
Diablo 4 Season 1 best Caged Hearts for Rogue | Twisting Blades, Flurry, Penetrating Shot, and more
Caged Hearts come in a few different flavors. There are many general Caged Hearts, but some are Class-specific. To complicate things, some of these items are locked behind World Tiers. With this in mind, I don’t recommend farming for them until you hit Level 50 and can play on World Tier 3. As some Caged Hearts are only helpful if you’re running particular builds, this section is divided so it’s easier to follow. If you want to learn about each of the 32 Caged Hearts in Diablo 4 Season One, check out our guide.Â
Caged Hearts only fit into Jewelry, so we’re limited to 3 at a time. Whenever a Caged Heart is replaced, it’s lost forever, so keep that in mind if you get a good one. If you’re running more of a hybrid build and just want to know the best overall Caged Hearts for Rogues, I recommend the following:
- Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary – Wrathful (Black) – World Tier 4Â
- The Caged Heart of Revenge – Brutal (Blue)
- Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart – Brutal (Blue)
The Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary is locked to World Tier 4 for a good reason: it offers a massive increase in damage if you use Imbuements. Revenge and Prudent Heart grant defensive boosts, which the Rogue desperately needs. These Caged Heart bonuses are so strong, they feature in the build-specific recommendations below and are a good starting point if you want to experiment.
Twisting Blades Rogue
Twisting Blades is one of the most powerful builds in the entire game, regardless of Class. We can use Caged Hearts to increase our already ridiculous damage output or help keep us alive, which Rogues generally struggle with.
Caged Heart of Revenge – Brutal (Blue) – World Tier 3
We already deal plenty of damage as a Twisting Blades Rogue, but the Caged Heart of Revenge offers Damage Reduction. With this Caged Heart, up to 20% of incoming damage is suppressed, which keeps our squishy Class alive. On Eternal Characters, we usually slot Skulls into Jewelry for additional Armor. Hearts do the job so much better.
The Caged Heart of Creeping Death – Wrathful (Black)
If you’re following our Endgame Twisting Blades Rogue build, we’ve opted for Shadow and Poison Imbuements to crank up our damage. The Caged Heart of Creeping Death increases the potency of our ‘damage over time’ effects. In practice, this is a straight boost for the build.
Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary – Wrathful (Black) – World Tier 4 only
We spend 2 of our active skill slots on Imbuements, so any increase in their effectiveness is incredibly useful. The Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary does precisely that and gives our attacks a slight chance to trigger our Imbuement effects.
Penetrating Shot Rogue
Playing a squishy Class matters less when you can attack from afar, and the Penetrating Shot Rogue is phenomenal at that role. We can use Caged Hearts to increase our survivability and snag a couple of damage buffs to go with it.
Caged Heart of Revenge – Brutal (Blue) – World Tier 3
The Caged Heart of Revenge suppresses incoming damage. Although we adopt a safer playstyle than Twisting Blades, we can still get caught. With this in mind, I highly recommend Caged Heart of the Revenge as a good survivability option. Penetrating Shot builds already deal fantastic damage, so investing in defense is a good choice.
The Caged Heart of Tempting Fate – Vicious (Orange) – World Tier 3
I initially overlooked this Caged Heart as it increases our Critical Strike damage but lowers Normal hit damage as a trade-off. In practice, Penetrating Shots have a decent chance to land Critical Strikes, and the damage increase makes up for the potential loss. Caged Heart of Tempting Fate should be a blanket improvement for the Penetrating Shot Rogue.
Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary – Wrathful (Black) – World Tier 4 only
Like Twisting Blades, the most common setup for Penetrating Shot Rogues is incorporating Imbuements into the build. The Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary gives our attacks a small chance to trigger Imbuement effects which is a straight damage increase for most situations.
Flurry Rogue
Although a little overshadowed by Twisting Blades, Flurry offers a fun, simple playstyle much tankier than traditional Rogues. With Caged Hearts, we can become even more survivable and kick out even more impressive damage numbers.
Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary – Wrathful (Black) – World Tier 4 only
Imbuements are so valuable for Rogues that they are impossible to ignore for endgame content. The Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary infrequently triggers our Imbuement effects. Unlike most Rogue builds, Flurry can squeeze in all 3 Imbuements, making this Caged Heart ferociously powerful.
Caged Heart of Revenge – Brutal (Blue) – World Tier 3
Although Flurry Rogues are tankier than many other Class builds, we’re still rather fragile. The Caged Heart of Revenge suppresses up to 20% of incoming damage, which is a big deal for melee classes. The defense boost isn’t enough that I recommend playing more aggressively, but it should help with harder content.
The Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart – Brutal (Blue) – World Tier 3
With Rogues, you can never have enough defenses, so Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart is a superb choice. Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart grants a brief period of immunity after we take more than 20% damage in a single hit. The wording is important as ‘After’Â means an attack that kills in one shot will still do that. Still, this is a wonderful survivability buff for the Flurry Rogue and works in tandem with the Caged Heart of Revenge.
Published: Jul 31, 2023 12:17 pm