What is the best class in Diablo 4 for you?

Diablo 4 features five classes: Barbarian, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Rogue, and Druid. Each class has a unique class mechanic along with a skill tree equipped with a variety of spells. All of their playstyles are different, but which one is the best class for you?

In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll explain each of the classes to help you make an educated decision on your next main.

What is the best class for you in Diablo 4?

There are five Diablo 4 classes available to you at launch, and all of them have their own, unique playstyle. But before you dive into the game and pick your class, you may be wondering: Which is the best.

You may be surprised to learn that this is an impossible question to answer — at least in such simple terms.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

While we expect the nerfs and buffs to come far slower than the pre-season during season 1, we still feel it’s important to recognize that classes are much more than their individual builds. So it’s best to avoid picking a class for a specific build and instead try and pick based on the class that interests you most, otherwise you’ll end up disappointed when your ideal playstyle is no longer viable.

So if you shouldn’t just pick the best class, which one should you pick? We’ve got some advice for you below.

Which class should you pick for season 1?

With Diablo 4 season 1, Season of the Malignant, out, the hierarchy of classes is much clearer than it was in the pre-season. All classes are viable, as always, so you shouldn’t worry too much about what the “best” class is unless you want to compete with your friends. Still, let’s talk about what the best season 1 class actually is, now that we’ve had some time to see how Blizzard’s balance patch and Malignant Hearts have shaped the meta.

Sorcerers were once thought to be the worst class going into Season of the Malignant. However, with Blizzard adding armor to the Malignant Hearts (helping makeup for the lack of actual gems going into jewelry) and with Sorcerers getting some very powerful new effects, the class is actually doing pretty well. They’re still squishy compared to many other classes, but their potential damage output is extremely high, and players are doing some impressive things with them. Still, “better than expected” isn’t the same as “good,” leaving Sorcerers as the second worst class in season 1.

Barbarians were once considered the best class in Diablo 4, back when it launched in June. For season 1, however, Barbarians have seemingly fallen behind even Sorcerers. This makes them the worst class in the game at the moment, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid making one if that’s what you really want to play. Blizzard fixed several bugs that were beneficial to Barbs in its most recent patch, which really hurt several popular builds like Hammer of the Ancients. But now players are coming up with new builds to play, which are actually quite interesting — albeit not as powerful as the god-tier Whirlwind build from early June.

Necromancers have one of the best skills in the game right now with Bone Spear, which still does extreme damage compared to many other Core skills in the game. This means that Necromancers are very viable in season 1. And while season 1 has enabled more Necromancer builds than just Bone Spear, they do have fewer options than the top two classes. Which is why we’re ranking them middle of the pack. And sadly, if you’re a fan of minions, the meta still hasn’t shifted in favor of rolling around with a legion of skeleton buddies just yet.

The two best classes in the game are Druid and Rogue. Both have extremely powerful builds that can decimate endgame content while remaining healthy (Druids) or avoiding massive damage (Rogues). And, most importantly, both Druids and Rogues can outperform the other classes on multiple season 1 builds. If you pick one of these, you can jump into different playstyles without actually losing much power.

If we had to pick which class is better, we’d personally go with Rogue — although it’s very close between the two. Design-wise, the Rogue is the most complex class in the game, which means it has a lot of interesting and powerful tools to use (assuming you’re good enough to wield them).

To sum that all up, the class ranking looks like this, from best to worst, for Season of the Malignant:

1. Rogue
2. Druid
3. Necromancer
4. Sorcerer
5. Barbarian

However, at the risk of undermining our own ranking here, it’s important to reiterate that you shouldn’t let this dictate too much of your choice on what to play in Diablo 4. All of the classes are viable. All of them can clear high-level Nightmare dungeons with one build or another. Some just have an easier time.

What is the best class in Diablo 4 for solo players?

The Rogue is likely the best solo class for skilled players looking to bring themselves through the game — even if you’ll eventually have to work harder in the endgame to compete with Barbarians.

As a Rogue, you’re highly mobile, stealthy, and are able to fight from both range and melee. You’re also the most versatile class with a huge variety of builds. You are easy to kill, which can make your class difficult to master, but once you’re practiced, you can take on an army of monsters by yourself without slowing down.

Of course, like the “which class is best for you” section, there is no right answer. You can play all five classes solo, and there is no support class in Diablo 4, only support builds.

What is the best class in Diablo 4 for beginners?

The easiest class for beginners is either the Necromancer or the Barbarian, and there are pros and cons to each.

The obvious boon for Necromancer players is the army of skeletons you have at your disposal. These minions will attack things alongside you and, depending on your build, they can deal very high damage. As a new player, being able to lean on some AI allies all the time is a huge stress reliever. If you mess up your abilities or aren’t sure how to attack and stay alive, you can just focus on keeping yourself safe while your buddies clean out the dungeon.

The con here is that Necromancers technically have two resources to manage, as they cast spells using Essence as well as their unique Corpse mechanic. This can make things a bit overwhelming for new players, as Corpses complicate certain skills and can also visually obscure the ground in dungeons.

Barbarians, on the other hand, are just big, smashy folk trying to do their best to rid Sanctuary of demons. The fantasy and (some of) the playstyles for Barbarians are similarly simple. You’re going to spend a lot of time just running up to monsters and punching them in the face until they die. There are no tricks here. You’re not turning yourself invisible or transforming into a bear. You’re taking a big hammer and you’re smashing stuff.

However, there are two big cons to the Barbarian: one on each end of the play experience. Barbarians are one of the weaker early game classes, and you can die fairly easily when you don’t know what you’re doing. For your suffering, you’ll get to be very powerful in the endgame. But even that comes with a complexity cost, as the reason Barbarians are so strong later in the game is because they are the only class that can wield four weapons at once. This means that you have to find more gear than other classes and you have more powerful Legendary powers to combine together. That’s exciting, but also overwhelming.

The great news about Diablo 4 is all the classes — including Druid, Sorcerer, and Rogue — all have simple builds and complex builds. While Barbarian and Necromancer are probably the easiest for most players, they might not be the best first choice for you.

Diablo 4 class guide

Let’s go through the classes in more detail, one by one.

Barbarian

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Barbarians in Diablo 4 are fierce warriors who leap into the fray. As a Barb, your main mechanic is the Weapon Arsenal, which allows you to hold four weapons at once. Some of your abilities will require you to have a specific weapon type such as slicing, two-handed, dual-wield, or bludgeoning to use. But for some skills, you can manually switch weapons for different effects. You’ll gain expertise the more you use a certain weapon, which will provide you with buffs like increased critical hit chance or more damage against vulnerable enemies.

Not only are you capable of mastering offensive weapons, Barbarians are meant to be bulky bruisers who can take a hit from any foe. With a plethora of shouts and damage reducing abilities, you’ll be spending a lot of time up close and personal due to your survivability.

Necromancer

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The Necromancer is a staple for the Diablo series. As a summoner, you’re able to conjure hordes of undead enemies to do your bidding or sacrifice your minions to empower yourself.

Your unique mechanic is called the Book of the Dead, which allows you to customize your undead army by selecting what type of skeletons you’ll summon (along with a specialization). You can give your pawns more health, increased damage output, or the ability to deal AoE damage. If you don’t want to manage your minions, you can choose to sacrifice either some or all of your minions to gain a permanent buff.

Necromancers have a unique resource that other classes do not have: corpses — which, you guessed it, are left behind when enemies die. You also have Essence, which functions similarly to mana, allowing you to cast your regular abilities, but in order to raise minions, you’ll need a corpse. If you’re going the solo show route, you can also detonate the deceased instead.

Rogue

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Rogues are versatile duelists who can specialize in either ranged or close quarters combat. (If you played the Demon Hunter in Diablo 3, this is the most similar class for Diablo 4).

Your unique class mechanic is Specialization, which changes your fundamental abilities and your playstyle. There are three different specializations: Combo Points, Inner Sight, and Preparation.

Combo points will increase the damage output of some of your abilities and change how they function by increasing the number of arrows fired or adding a chance to knock down your opponents. Inner Sight will provide you with unlimited energy for a short amount of time when attacking a marked enemy. Preparation allows you to use your ultimate abilities more frequently after spending a lot of your main resource.

The Rogue is a mobile class that gives you access to stealth, traps, and imbuements, allowing you to take on any kind of content. You’re able to dart in an out of combat with combination of ranged, melee, and stealth attacks.

Sorcerer

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The Sorcerer is your typical ranged caster or fantasy mage. By using the powers of fire, lightning, and ice magic, you can obliterate your opponents. Whether you want to spawn fire hydras or spam chain lightning, you’ll easily take down anyone in your path.

Your unique class mechanic is Enchantment, which will provide your abilities with powerful passive effects that — when slotted into your Enchantment slots — will trigger without you needing to put them on your bar or spend mana. For example, you can cast Fireball using mana to shoot a giant flaming blasts at enemies. But you can also place Fireball into one of your Enchantment slots, which will cause all enemies to explode when you kill them.

As a Sorcerer, you’re slightly more frail than the other classes, but you do have a bundle of defensive abilities that can make you (temporarily) unkillable. Encase yourself in ice, surround your body with fire, or simply zip away from danger.

Druid

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Druids missed out on Diablo 3, but have been in the Diablo universe since Diablo 2. As a Druid, you’re are shapeshifters who can transform into a savage werebear or a vicious werewolf while also unleashing nature’s wrath to defeat your foes. Your unique class mechanic is the Spirit Animal system, which grants your character a boon such as new passives and stat increases.

Necromancers are not the only summoners in Diablo 4, as you can also call companions to your aid as a Druid. Summon wolves, ravens, and vines to assist you in defeating the demons scattered around Sanctuary. You’ll also be able to bring forth some of nature’s deadliest calamities such as a hurricane to sweep away your enemies.

Update (July 27): We’ve updated the best class for season 1 with a definitive ranking.