Ranking All 5 Classes in Diablo IV, From Wimpy to Mighty
For Sanctuary!
Go to hell, and get some great loot while you’re at it. Fans waited for years to check out Diablo IV, and Blizzard Entertainment has opened the gates of hell for everyone. No matter whether you choose to hurl fireballs and lightning or to rip foes apart with teeth and claws, there’s a class for you to try out in Diablo IV. But just which one do you pick?
There’s the weapon master Barbarian, the skeleton-summoning Necromancer, the shape-shifting Druid, the sneaky Rogue, and the elemental Sorceror. You’re going to be sinking a lot of time into this action RPG, so it’s completely fair to want to know which one is the “best.”
At the end of the day, the correct answer is whichever one you have the most fun with. Build variety and random loot drops mean no class is truly the best at an objective level. Still, after dozens of hours of play, we’re come up with a tier list of the best classes in Diablo IV in order to help you get started as a beginner to this world of darkness.
5. Barbarian
After a post-launch nerf, the Barbarian is looking a little less overpowered.
When Diablo IV was in Beta, the Barbarian was one of the most consistent and powerful classes you could pick. Using your Shout ability to keep your resources high, you could essentially use your Whirlwind nearly non-stop and destroy any shambling beast in your path. But after a post-launch nerf that severely hindered the strength of your yell, the Barbarian is looking a little less overpowered.
Still, even with that change, the Barbarian still has some bite. The ability to master weapons, gaining stats as you level up, grants the beefy builder just a bit more power and stats. As long as you balance keeping your Shout up before big fights, you should be able to still do a lot of slaughtering.
4. Necromancer
The Necromancer uses Corpses efficiently.
The DLC character of Diablo 3 was brought back for the sequel, raising an army of undead along the way. The Necromancer relies heavily on his ghoulish buddies to tank enemies and keep him company. You’ll basically never be alone! They also have access to a wide array of macabre weapons, including your Grim Scythe and Blood Siphon.
The Necromancer has access to a tool that no other class does: the corpse. One of my favorite things to do is use Corpse Explosion once one enemy is dead to cause a chain reaction that eliminates everything on the screen. Though it's a strong class, it does suffer against single targets and needs a very precise build to be useful.
3. Rogue
Ice Barrage means serious business.
The Rogue is a sneaky little devil that utilizes traps and daggers to eliminate the competition. It's a versatile class that can attack from afar with high DPS crossbow attacks or goes for the jugular with a well-placed stealthy dagger. The Rogue is considered to be one of the better classes in the game, especially since they can lace their weapons with poison or use their expert mobility to run circles around enemies.
They are also the only class to have access to the Combo Points specialization, which stacks damage and certain attributes depending on how many times you attacked with a weapon, up to a maximum of three. Some abilities can get insane amounts of damage just by repeating them over and over.
2. Druid
Druids have the best-looking armor.
The most unique class is the Druid, utilizing the elements and nature to deal tons of damage. Utilizing the Spirit Boons, you get an extra buff mid-game that helps make you just a tad bit stronger. Add that to the Druid’s elemental affinity, and it allows for multiple different viable builds that all pack their own punch.
Shapeshifting offers a unique path to damage, either using the werewolf’s Shred or werebear’s Pulverize to eliminate whole swarms of enemies with just a few button presses. Or you can go with the popular storm build, using Cyclone Armor and Tornado to stay healthy while you deal tons of damage. With such a wide variety of popular builds, all with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, the Druid truly is one of Diablo IV’s most remarkable classes.
1. Sorceror
The Sorceror has a Hydra who is their best friend.
Now, the Sorceror might not be as tanky or have as much build versatility as its competitors, but it makes up for it with pure damage. You can build straight into the fire and flames, dropping lots of Firewalls to burn all your enemies to a crisp. Then there’s more of a frosty approach, becoming a rapid-fire spell slinger with Ice Shards. Sorcerers can clear entire rooms of enemies with just a few spells and then wait around for their cooldowns to come back to deal even more.
It's a simple character that is a blast to play and we highly recommend giving it a shot on your next playthrough. Just remember that your mana will deplete quickly no matter what you do (but clever builds can dampen the loss) so keep an eye on your resources.
Diablo IV is available now on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
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