Diablo 4: What is the best class?
It might be daunting to choose which is the best class in Diablo 4, especially for beginners, but we're here to help.
It might be daunting to choose which is the best class in Diablo 4, especially for beginners, but we’re here to help.
Diablo 4 is such a massive game that can take you hundreds if not thousands of hours trying to explore all of its in-depth progression systems. There are currently five different classes to choose from at launch, all of which have their own endless amounts of build diversity and playstyles. Once you pick one, you can’t change it anymore unless you begin a brand new campaign altogether. Picking a class in Diablo 4 is a big decision.
It’s important to note that every single class is powerful in their own right. The Diablo franchise has always excelled at providing players with a massively satisfying power fantasy experience and each class is tailored to make sure that they each have their own take-over factor whether it be running around with other people in multiplayer or demon slaying in a solo session.
What class should you pick in Diablo 4?
Aside from the different skills, what separates each Diablo 4 class from one another is they each have their own class-specific special ability which adds so much more layers to build variety. These can singlehandedly affect the way you decide on what to pick.
The question of what really is the best class in Diablo 4 is a highly subjective one given that it really depends on what type of build, playstyle, or experience you want to have in the game. Given that this is also a live-service title, buffs, reworks, nerfs, etc. are bound to happen. That being said, it would be sort of useless if we just ranked which class is best to worst right now given that this can easily change every month or even every week.
Instead, what we’re gonna do is to try and describe each class as best we can so that you can have a snapshot of what it’s like to use them. With this, you can finally decide which class you’ll want to commit your hours into. Trust us, a lot of it will be lost for sure.
Barbarian
One would say that Barbarians are the most “boring” classes given that they lack the flashy effects of a magic user or the agility of something like a rogue but that’s completely not the case. Barbarians take the pain as well as they dish it out. And before you think that this is also a class that lens well to island players, think again. Having a Barbarian in your party is actually one of the best ways to receive support.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. Yes, a Barbarian is perfect for those who love to get up close and personal especially given how they have a unique 10% damage reduction passive active at all times. What makes this class fun is after reaching level 5, you’ll be unlocking the Weapon Expertise special ability. This allows you to increase your proficiency depending on which weapon type you use the most.
For example, leveling up your Weapon Expertise for Two-Handed Axes will increase their effectiveness against vulnerable enemies. One-Handed Axes increase your critical strike chance against injured enemies. And if you’re the bashing type, Maces can get increased damage to stunned enemies.
If you’re still having a hard time deciding which weapon type you want to double down on, you’re in luck because the Barbarian is the only class in Diablo 4 that allows you to equip a whopping 4 weapons at a time. Yes, you heard that right. 4 weapons. You can have 2 Two-Handed weapons and 2 One-Handed ones equipped at the same time. While you can’t use them all at once (as cool as that may sound), you will receive all the bonuses and buffs from each weapon. If you mix and match the proper loot, you can have one heck of a Barbarian just bulldozing through everyone.
A Barbarian also has different war cries where you can scream to buff yourself and your allies in a number of ways. This can be increasing movement speeds, damage multipliers, cooldowns, etc.
The Barbarian is perfect for players who really like getting in the mix of chaos. You’re the type of player who just likes charging in without a care in the world and absolutely farm the enemies to your heart’s content. Having the ability to equip multiple weapons at once easily makes this class have the highest amount of gear scaling. Mix that in with a number of unique skills that not only benefit you but also your party, and the Barbarian is definitely one of the most powerful classes you can have.
Sorcerer
This is personally my favorite class to pick whenever I boot up a Diablo game at the start. That’s just because I like seeing cool magic effects flood the screen. In Diablo 4, a Sorcerer can conjure up ice, fire, and lightning spells that each take up their own forms.
During my first run in the beta, I ran a sweeping lightning attack for my basic skill which dealt massive damage and had a high chance of stunning multiple enemies at once. I then complimented it with a fireball that gradually does burn damage over time. Then, I activate an overhead blizzard that freezes enemies in one place which then allows me to activate a giant burning serpent to finish them all off. It was glorious. That’s just one out of countless other spell types you can mix and match with each other.
The Sorcerer’s special ability is the Enchantment System wherein you can gain passive buffs from your unlocked abilities. Even if a specific spell isn’t equipped in an active slot, you can still put it in one of your enchantment sockets to receive the passive buff. As of the writing of this article, the current meta build for a Sorcerer involves a lot of ice-centric spells. I placed a spell in the enchantment sockets that generates Ice Shards to automatically fly toward frozen enemies. I teleport in a group, stunning them in the process, activate an AoE freezing attack and let the passive Ice Shards do continuous damage.
A Sorcerer is easily one of the most visually entertaining classes to use. However, a lot of it is at the cost of your defensive capabilities. While a Barbarian has no trouble being surrounded by legions of demons at close proximity, a lot of the Sorcerer’s abilities are ranged attacks. There are defensive spells you can activate that mitigate damage but they all have their own cooldowns and eat up your mana as well. A Sorcerer is a bit of a glass cannon pick but once you build it right, you can have a large variety of hard-hitting offensive options that looks cool at the same time.
Necromancer
This was easily my personal favorite during Diablo 2. I was so heartbroken when I found out Diablo 3 was launching without a Necromancer only for them to slightly redeem themselves with the DLC release of it. Luckily, Diablo 4 has a Necromancer straight out of the box with no extra charge and it is one class to die for.
The Necromancer class can be a perfect pick if you’re just planning on having a solo run. That’s because of the class’ ability to summon undead minions to tackle aggro or deal continuous damage to enemies. If you’re an Evil Dead fan, you’re gonna love the special ability.
Necromancers have the Book of the Dead which allows you to upgrade your minions to give them useful buffs or sacrifice them for a number of benefits as well. This all depends on what’s your desired playstyle.
On a crowded battlefield, a Necromancer thrives. You can utilize fallen enemies to your advantage. My favorite is definitely making a corpse explode and or making dead bodies traps for enemies. It’s pure chaotic fun given the number of mobs you’ll be slaying at any given moment. If you just so happen to stumble upon an encounter that doesn’t have many corpses like a 1 on 1 boss fight, there are skills that generate corpses for you.
The Necromancer class offers a nice balance between close and ranged combat. You can easily just sit back and let your undead companions do the work but your can also jump in with them and do the damage yourself. Who needs friends who lag out and don’t optimize their builds when you can have personal Skeletors running around to do your bidding?
Rogue
If you wanna be an annoying tick on the battlefield, the Rogue is an excellent pick for you. This is a hybrid between melee and range attacks. Daggers and bows are the name of the game here as well as zipping around being a nuisance to the legions of hell. You’re able to equip 2 melee weapons and a bow so like the Barbarian, you can also gain multiple special buffs from your loot.
There are 3 class specializations for the Rogue: Combo Points, Shadow Realm, and Exploit Weakness. Combo Points allow you to build up an indicator using your basic attacks so that you can use them to make your core abilities more powerful. It has a very go, go, go mindset. The Shadow Realm not only sounds cool but it also allows you to bring enemies into a dark void to take them out without having to deal with the rest of the gang. And finally, Exploit Weakness is about as self-explanatory as it can get. It’ll tell you what are the best and most efficient ways to kill enemies.
When you use a Rogue, you’ll only need to remember two words: Twisting Blades. It functions as well as it sounds. Slice and dice your way across demons and feel incredibly slick in doing so.
Druid
And last but most definitely not least, the Druid is your go-to if you wanna get wild. Literally. This is possibly the most varied class in all of Diablo 4 given the different playstyles each ability allows.
Do you want to have the summoning capabilities of a Necromancer? Call upon wolf companions to be good boys and tear enemies apart. Maybe you want to charge in hard like a Barbarian? Unleash your primal instincts and turn into a giant werebear yourself. Jealous of the cool sparks a Sorcerer can do? Use nature to your benefit and unleash thunderstorms. I’d go as far as to say that Druids are basically a tankier version of Sorcerers.
However, from what I played so far, a Druid can be a bit of a slow start but if you stick with it, your enemies are in for a world of pain. It’s definitely a powerhouse when it comes to endgame content. There are a lot of opportunities to build your own archetypes.
Deep into your build, you can choose whether you want to double down on shapeshifting or elemental abilities. And if you’re indecisive, you can get away with being both. The Druid is one of the most versatile classes in Diablo 4. I do notice that it’s easily slept on among my peers because they thought turning into a bear is not cool enough compared to shooting ice out of your hands. If you’re an animal person, the Druid is a go-to. If you can’t decide on which class to pick, a Druid is probably best since it has a little bit of everything.
And there you have it. That’s all five classes in Diablo 4 so far. Do note that this guide is strictly based on PvE content. While Diablo 4 does have PvP, it’s not really something that you’ll spend most of your time doing.
Again, every class in Diablo 4 is fantastic in their own unique ways. The choice ultimately comes down to what you think will be the most fun to start with. One thing’s for sure, once you get a kick of finding the best build for your chosen class, you’ll be curious if you can do the same for the others. Before you know it, you have all 5 in your character select screen.