The Rogue class in Diablo 4 shies away from the Demon Hunter's pure ranged focus in the previous game while gravitating toward a more dynamic and flexible style of combat that fits the agile fighter archetype better. This is shown in-game through the variety of Cutthroat and Marksman skills that the class has to offer.
One such skill is Close Quarters Combat, a Key Passive that's designed to change how characters in Diablo 4 are played. As its name suggests, it encourages players to fight up close and personal while using both ranged and melee abilities, guiding players toward a fun and refreshing playstyle that's just as competitive when it comes to endgame activities.
Diablo 4: Close Quarters Combat Rogue Passive Explained
The Close Quarters Combat Key Passive states that whenever the Rogue uses a Cutthroat or Marksman ability, they will gain additional attack speed per skill type that they use. When the bonuses from both are active, they will also gain bonus damage versus Crowd-Controlled enemies.
This is very similar to the Barbarian's Walking Arsenal Key Passive. Both involve using weaving different abilities together to gain powerful buffs that can really make certain builds shine. The only real difference between the two is that Walking Arsenal gives a massive damage increase, while Close Quarters Combat grants a mix of attack speed and raw DPS against enemies affected by stuns, slows, and other similar CC effects.
Many Rogue Close Quarters Combat builds rely on using Puncture as the Basic Skill with either Flurry or Twisting Blades as the Core Skill to easily get both attack speed bonuses going without wasting cooldowns or Energy. Such a playstyle naturally forces players to fight in melee range, though there are ways to take advantage of this in builds that use Marksman Basic and Core Skills.
Any skill tagged as either Cutthroat or Marksman will trigger Close Quarters Combat regardless of what their skill type is. This means players will be able to get the attack speed and damage bonuses via Shadow Step, Dash, and Rain of Arrows. The two Agility skills are particularly useful for melee/ranged hybrid builds with Rapid Fire or Barrage as Core Skills.
Patch 1.0.3 increased Close Quarters Combat's damage against Crowd-Controlled enemies from 20% to 30%, making it slightly more reliable for builds that make heavy use of the Dazed, Stunned, Chilled, Frozen, or Knocked Down status conditions.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.