Diablo 4 Classes Explained: Which to choose and why?

INTRODUCTION

One of the most important questions was always, which Classes do I choose? Why? Our Diablo 4 Classes Explained post will hopefully help you make the choice.

Since the beginning, Diablo has been one of the top franchises in the ARPG genre, with millions of Players diving into the Sanctuary and experiencing its story. Throughout it’s history it experienced class evolvement, removal, additions depending on the current game expansion and release, but there are some who’ve endured since the beginning.

Diablo 4 is the newest expansion of the franchise and it released on June 5th at 4 P.M. PDT. It is a follow up of what’s going on 50 years after the Diablo: Immortal story.
The game itself has a plethora of additions, and the graphics as well as the design of the Sanctuary are truly a wonder to behold – If your PC can keep up with it!

Without further ado, lets dive right into it!

CLASS OVERVIEW

Initially since it’s announcement on BlizzCon 2019, Diablo 4 had three Classes: The Barbarian, Sorcerer, and Druid. Later on, BlizzCon 2021 & 2022 finally gave us the iconic Rogue & Necromancer Classes.

This sums it up to a total of FIVE Classes that we can choose from before we enter the Sanctuary. That being said, lets start by defining each of them!

• The Barbarian: Is a frontline melee Warrior. If you’ve played any previous Diablo game then the move set will look familiar. With a variety of powerful melee based abilities that lean heavy into bleed damage.
• The Rogue: Is a Class that emphasizes subterfuge and agility to deal damage to enemies. There’s a healthy mix of both melee and ranged attacks on the table. This is one of those classes that can flex either way, depending on your playstyle.
• The Sorcerer: As the name states, sorcery and magic are its style. This Class channels the power of the elements, namely Fire, Frost & Lightning to deadly effect. This is your typical glass cannon – dishing out high damage, but with very little in the ways of protection.
• The Druid: Making it’s triumphant return and with a bang! This class has nature as its true ally, by channeling the power of physical, poison and lightning damage, the Druid is a hybrid class that can be built in various ways. It can fill the role of a front-line Warrior, or a ranged caster.
• The Necromancer: There’s not much to say about one of the most beloved classes in all of Diablo. It’s back and not locked behind DLC. Tapping into bones, darkness, blood and the army, the Class is incredibly flexible. Whether you prefer to play as a scythe building melee Necro, or you choose to let others do the fighting for you – there are a number of playstyles you can explore with it.

Hopefully this quick overview gives you a sense of what each Class brings to the table, but we do need to go much deeper to understand what separates each of them and makes them unique.

CLASS BREAKDOWN

Even though each Class in Diablo 4 already looks and feels different, the development team decided to implement “unique Class mechanics”. These are Class exclusive systems which are meant to differentiate the playstyle for each of them.
It was designed to offer Players more ways to dive deep into a Class fantasy while still being moderately accessible.

The only way for you to decide on which class suits you the most, which one to pick and choose to play is to delve deeper into the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

THE BARBARIAN

When you think Barbarian, you think ‘frontline’. That’s pretty much spot on. Compared to other Classes this one is a brutal damage dealer, ready to take on any number of enemies with overwhelming force. There are certain advantages to this playstyle that some of you, may be drawn to.
Those are:

• Doing a massive amount of damage, from your Core skills and with the addition of any Berserking buff.
• Even though you look big, there’s a moderate amount of mobility to this Class.
• High Armor and Damage Soaking is always a good thing, and it’s just what the Barbarian has.

However, it does have some disadvantages:

• The Class is Highly dependent on it’s resource(Fury), to deal most of the big damage. You build up Fury with your Basic Skills.
• Long cooldowns on many of the Core Abilities.
• In the Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant it has become more of a support Class, and depends heavily on good gear to be back to it’s glory days from the Eternal realm.

This Class gives you an interesting dynamic where you will have to look out for the amount of Fury that you have, as well as your Core skill cooldowns, and anticipate what you may need in the near future. It’s imperative to do this so that you don’t have a significant drop in DPS.

Class specialization – Arsenal

The Barbarian has an ARSENAL system. You are able to equip FOUR different Weapons at once, to fully utilize their Skill loadout, based on that Skills Weapon requirements.

Your character will change the Weapon that it’s equipping based on the Skill that you are using. Also, it’s important to note that each of your Weapons will gain XP based on their use. However, there is nothing to fear, since the majority of Weapon leveling will be done simply by playing.

We believe that after decades of tweaking and refining this Class, it’s safe to say that the Diablo 4 version of the Barbarian has all the potential in the world to be one of the most dynamic melee Classes in an ARPG today.

ROGUE

Making it’s comeback from the original Diablo game back into Diablo 4, it’s the Rogue. This is a really exciting Class as it leans into both Ranged and Melee playstyle. You’ll be able to change things up on the fly and combo various Skills to best take down enemies.

The advantages of this Class are as follows:

• High damage output.
• Fast moment-to-moment action.
• Fastest movement speed and mobility out of all the Classes in the game.
• High bleed potential.
• Overall versatility due to it’s extensive ranged and melee Skill-set.

The disadvantages and weaknesses of this Class are:

• Very low armor, which means that your defenses and durability will be lacking. You might want to pick these up through the aspects and gear as much as possible to provide a more pleasant experience.
• Heavily reliant on positioning to take down enemies and to play the Class to it’s full potential.
• Steeper learning curve.

Even though the Rogue is a physical damage dealer, with it’s various imbuements they make Cold, Poison & Shadow damage their ally. The Rogue can carry One-handed Swords, Daggers, Bows and Crossbows which provides them with a plethora of ways to deal out damage.

What sets the Rogue apart from the rest of the Classes? 

The fact that they are at the pinnacle of Diablo 4 from the start in terms of clear speeds, damage output and versatility. Being able to utilize the vulnerable debuff most efficiently – even after the nerf to it in the current Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant. However, that is not the main reason. The Rogue has a Class Specialization which provides 3 different modes – all of which provide different playstyle enhancements.

• COMBO POINTS – in this spec the basic skills will generate Combo Points which can then be used for additional Skill Effects. Each of the effects differs depending on the Skill that you are using to spend the Points on.
• INNER SIGHT – with this spec your main resource(Energy), can be come unlimited for 4 seconds. Out of the enemies that you are fighting, one will be marked with a purple icon. By engaging, hitting or killing these enemies, your Inner Sight gaze will fill up. Once it’s it’s fully filled, you will gain the above mentioned buff and your Core skill will be free to spam without a second thought.
• PREPARATION – by dealing damage you spend your Energy. This spec provides you with a way to reset your Ultimate Skills by reducing their cooldown by 5 seconds for every 100 energy that you spend. Seeing how the Rogue has a huge amount of attack speed, their Energy generation and spending makes your Ultimate Skill have almost no cooldown if properly managed.

This Class has proven to be at the pinnacle of Diablo 4 so far, and it’s definitely worth investing your time and checking it out. However, there is a learning curve and you shouldn’t get discouraged if things don’t go your way right from the get-go.

SORCERER

Next up, we have the Sorcerer! What would the Diablo 4 game be, without the token Mage style, Elemental wielding, Range damage dealer. This Class specializes in destroying everything with Fire, Frost or Lightning damage, it has many perks and advantages, such as:

• Massive AOE Damage – YES, it is ALL THE TIME!
• A huge array of Crowd Control options, which helps you control the battlefield.
• Decent survivability with defensive skill such as barriers.
• Surprisingly good mobility which is effective, but limited.

Although, all of the above comes with a price, which are the disadvantages of this Class:

• High resource(Mana) dependence. If you run out of mana, you pretty much can’t do anything.
• Even though it has decent survivability, there’s only so much you can do when being overrun by enemies to survive that onslaught.
• The Sorcerer is generally not designed with team enhancements in mind. Which means that it doesn’t bring much to the table to a party.

However, do not despair! If conjuring spells and working with the power of the Elements at your disposal is your thing, this is the Class for you.

Class mechanic – Enchantment slots

These slots allow you to take various Skills and slot them as passives. In such form, these Skill provide you with an alternative benefit. Depending on how you build out your character, will dictate which abilities you want to Enchant.

There is one restriction with this system. You will become unable to slot Ultimate Skills, in addition – any upgrades to that Skill also become passive. The good news is, you can swap these out at any time, which makes for a very customizable system.

To conclude, if you want to Deep Freeze yourself and explode everything around you, Ignite everything as an Inferno or become the manifestation of Lightning to bring the Heavens down crashing on your foes, then this is the Class for you!

DRUID

A master of Nature. The Druid makes it’s triumphant return in Diablo 4 and brings with it an impressive array of Skills and battlefield benefits. When it comes to the advantages of this Class, they are:

• Access to a decent amount of Crowd Control.
• Various debuffs that can weaken the enemies and help with smooth pack clearing.
• A decently high damage output, which tunes amazingly with the new Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant Hearts theme.
• More Ranged options compared to the Barbarian, but where the Druid really shines is in Close Combat.
• The Shapeshifting provides amazing Combat versatility. Depending on which playstyle you choose to pursue the gameplay will change dramatically for you.

When it comes to the downsides or disadvantages of this Class, there are not many:

• It’s important to manage your resource(Spirit) accordingly.
• If you slot too many of the wrong abilities, you will be left unable to call on the power of Nature to aid you in Combat.

The real treat to the Druid Class, is the fantasy element. Druids are Shapeshifters and various abilities will require you to be in the correct form to use them. Fortunately, your abilities will Shapeshift you to the proper form in order to deal their damage. This is a great change that gives you one less thing to keep track of, while keeping the Druid fantasy intact.

Druid Class mechanic – Spirit Offering

The Druid can offer Boons or Sacrifices to various Animal Spirits. Spirits award passive bonuses to the Druid based on the Spirit the Boon is offered to. They all provide you different buffs, Skill enhancements and bonuses that can aid you in various scenarios and give you a plethora of combat options.

The Spirits you can align yourself with are: The Deer, The Eagle, The Wolf & The Snake. Which all provide you with 4 different boons. You can only pick ONE boon from each of the Spirits, but you can pick TWO from the one you’re bonded with.

If you want to become a Grizzly, a Wolf, gain control of the battlefield in mere seconds, unleash Natures Wrath on your enemies – then this is the Class for you!

NECROMANCER

Last but not least, the final Class making it’s reappearance is the Necromancer. They are best known for their command over the dead. If you wish to try out this Class, you have to understand that the Necromancer is one of the harder Classes to play in Diablo 4.

There is a variety of ways that you can play this Class. If you find yourself wanting to test out what you can do, and how high you can reach – then Necro is the way to go! Playing this Class provides you many advantages, such as:

• Being able to summon an Army of the Undead to aid you in Combat.
• Deep level of flexible customizations and playstyle options. This allows you to tailor your experience for both Ranged and Close Combat.
• A huge variety of Vampiric Skills, that will increase your sustainability if played correctly.
• This is a Theorycrafters’ dream Class. There’s not much that can’t be done with it, and the amount of options you can go for in terms of playstyle leaves other Classes in the dust.

As a Necromancer, you will deal Physical and Shadow Damage as well as use: One-handed Swords, Daggers, Wands, Focuses, Shields, One and Two-hand Scythes. Only by looking at the variety of Weapons that this Class can use, you can see the potential and it’s diversity.

When it comes to the disadvantages of this Class, those are:

• Requires a lot of theorycrafting regarding any build to make it work properly.
• Reliant on proper coordination between Skills and resource(Essence) management.
• Steeper learning curve.

Class specialization – Book of the Dead

The Necromancer’s unique Class mechanic is appropriately called – Book of the Dead. This allows you to customize your Undead Army. The Army is comprised of Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages & Golems. Each summon has one of three specializations to choose from, that can boost Single-target or AOE Damage, apply buffs or manage Crowd Control.

Once summoned – you have the option to sacrifice one, some, or ALL of these creatures to apply long standing buffs to yourself. This will help you to further modify your abilities. There is so much potential here, and it’s not worth diving too much into theorycrafting in this post – since it would take a long time just to talk about all the things that this Class can do, let alone write them down.

If you want to play a Class that has great Crowd Control, unlimited potential and a high ceiling. Throw flesh and bones, decompose, deal massive damage, send enemies running from your blood waves, catch them in swirling bones or summon the Army of the Dead that throws itself and explodes on your enemies – then the Necromancer is the Class for you!

Thank you for reading and we hope that this guide helps you with picking your Class in Diablo 4.

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