The inertial confinement fusion community is actively preparing for the transition from kilojoule- to megajoule-class lasers. To assess laser and target performance, a sophisticated array of diagnostics that can operate in increasingly harsh environments is required. In this paper, we overview some of the needs and challenges related to performing X-ray spectroscopy with very intense and highly energetic X-ray sources. To illustrate issues that will be broadly applicable to diagnostics at high energy density facilities, we relate lessons learned during early testing of the high-energy electronic X-ray spectrometer (HENEX), a core-level diagnostic commissioned by the National Ignition Facility. A spectrometer design employing symmetric Laué diffraction has proven to be particularly well suited for the high energy density environment and will extend existing diagnostic techniques to high-Z, K-shell spectroscopy.