Diablo 4 best class: All classes ranked from strongest to weakest
Discover the best character class in Diablo 4
Looking for the best class in Diablo 4? Diablo 4 Season 1 is here, and it included some huge nerfs that have significantly changed the tier list. If you're preparing to hop back in with a fresh character to check out the new Malignant Hearts seasonal mechanic, then you'll want to know which classes are at the top for the Season.
In this guide, we'll break down the best class in Diablo 4 Season 1. This list will primarily focus on endgame content, covering which classes are capable of surviving in high-level content on World Tiers 3 and 4.
This class tier list has been updated for the launch of Season 1, and includes information based on Patch 1.1.0.
Best class in Diablo 4
The best class in Diablo 4 is the Rogue. The Twisting Blades Rogue continues to be the best build in Season 1, furiously fast and able to cut through the journey from levels 1-100 at lightning speed. Vulnerable damage affixes got nerfed in Season 1, undoubtedly bringing the Twisting Blade Rogue's power level down from the original launch, but it's still incredibly strong when levelling up, fighting tough bosses, and tearing through high-level Nightmare Dungeons.
The Twisting Blades Rogue is an incredibly powerful build thanks to its ability to consistently inflict enemies with the Vulnerable and Infect status effects. It does this by using Shadow Imbuement and Twisting Blades, and enemies Infected by these attacks will explode on death to cause a chain reaction that melts mobs in seconds.
Twisting Blades also reduces the cooldowns of your active skills, allowing you to spam Shadow Imbuement, Dash, Shadow Step, and even your Shadow Clone ultimate for maximum damage and mobility in every battle.
From best to worst, here is our ranked list of all five D4 classes:
- Rogue
- Druid
- Necromancer
- Barbarian
- Sorcerer
Below, we'll break down each class, covering their strengths and weaknesses so that you can see why they've ranked in the order listed above.
1. Rogue
Previous position: 1 (no change)
The Rogue is a high damage, high mobility class in Diablo 4, and it has one really strong build that sets it apart: Twisting Blades.
Rogues have access to a powerful synergy using Twisting Blades and Shadow Imbuement. This allows you to deal massive damage to enemies and cause them to explode, getting the best bits of the Necromancer's Corpse Explosion or the Sorcerer's Fireball Enchantment. Using these skills together will also reduce cooldowns and makes enemies Vulnerable, allowing you to spam skills on already-weakened enemies.
What makes Twisting Blades Rogue especially exciting is that you don't need to wait until endgame for it to feel good. I played through the full campaign and into endgame with this class, and I was destroying mobs and bosses throughout.
If this has piqued your interest, check out our Diablo 4 Rogue builds.
2. Druid
Previous position: 3 (up 1)
The Druid is the most varied class in Diablo 4, with plenty of wildly different playstyles to try out. Want to command wolf pets on the battlefield? Druid! Want to become the wolf? Druid! Want to forget all of that and use a combo of Earth and Storm spells to bend nature to your will? Druid!
That variety is great, but more importantly, the Druid's many potential builds are also ridiculously powerful. Raw skill damage aside, they also have ways to inflict debuffs such as Vulnerable and Immobilized on enemies, offering vital Crowd Control that'll make it easier than ever to clear demon hordes.
Unlike other casters, such as the Sorcerer, the Druid is also rather tanky. They have a lot of health and high defense, making it easier to soak enemy hits when you find yourself swarmed in late-game content. This makes the Druid a lot easier to use, and this ease of play and the high number of powerful endgame builds on offer combine to make the Druid one of Diablo 4's best classes.
If the Druid sounds like something you'd enjoy, take a look at our Diablo 4 Druid builds.
3. Necromancer
Previous position: 4 (up 1)
In third place comes the Necromancer. Don't let that put you off, though, because the Necromancer is incredibly powerful. The Bone Spear Necromancer was the first to reach level 100 in Season 1, and its ridiculously high damage output will clear Nightmare Dungeons and Uber Lilith with ease.
Where it struggles, however, is survivability. The Necromancer is one of the more fragile classes in Diablo 4, and you'll need to stay out of melee range while hurling your Bone Spear, at least until you have a Thorns build that'll kill melee enemies before they kill you.
Minions can prove capable of drawing enemy aggression, but they are also quite fragile and won't be able to tank late-game hits. To survive content at the highest levels, you'll need to rely on dealing huge damage and possibly some co-op allies to tank through the big hits.
If controlling the dead sounds fun, make sure to check out our Diablo 4 Necromancer builds.
4. Barbarian
Previous position: 2 (down 2)
The Barbarian was one of the best classes at launch, teetering between first and second position on this list. However, with the recent launch of Season 1 and Patch 1.1.0, the Barbarian has received significant nerfs. Some of these were to be expected, such as the Hammer of the Ancients build which relied on a bug that made damage unintentionally high, but the very popular Whirlwind build also got hit hard with some balancing changes.
With its strongest builds now far weaker than they were prior to Season 1, the Barbarian tumbles down to fourth place on our tier list. It's still tanky and survivable, but isn't able to rival the damage output of the other classes listed above.
The Barbarian's best build, despite nerfs, is still the Whirlwind Barbarian. The recent Hamstring passive nerf might have reduced its potential to inflict crowd control effects, and thus reduced its damage, but it's still the best option since it can sustain reasonably high damage with very good Fury generation.
When paired with Legendary Aspects such as Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind (which increases Crit Chance) and Uniques such as Gohr's Devastating Grips (which makes Whirlwind explode after it ends), Whirlwind is the Barbarian's strongest option right now - especially when paired with Shouts such as Rallying Cry and War Cry.
However, Barbarian buffs are coming in the next few weeks, so take a look at our Diablo 4 Barbarian builds if it takes your fancy.
5. Sorcerer
Previous position: 5 (no change)
The Sorcerer takes the bottom spot on this list, due to some recent nerfs in Patch 1.1.0. It can deal high damage, even in high-level content, but the low survivability means that the Sorcerer will really struggle to withstand hits from enemies in higher tiers of Nightmare Dungeons and against the Uber Lilith boss.
Despite not matching some of the more busted builds that we've mentioned above, the Sorcerer is a strong, varied caster in Diablo 4, largely thanks to some powerful spell combos that will tear through enemies. Fireball's Enchantment effect, for example, makes enemies explode on death, which synergises with almost any DPS spell to cause a chain reaction that melts mobs in moments.
The Sorcerer is also easy to pilot, with simple ranged attacks that will wreak havoc from afar. The biggest issue it runs into, then, is that the Sorcerer is quite weak, unable to tank in the endgame content that is so easily survivable for the Barbarian and Druid. It also fails to match the high damage potential of the Rogue and Necromancer, forcing it to the bottom of this list for now.
If you want to check out a variety of elemental playstyles, take a look at our Diablo 4 Sorcerer builds.
That wraps up our guide on the best class in Diablo 4. For more, take a look at our guide on the max level in Diablo 4 so that you can better understand your journey to endgame. If you're interested in other goodies you'll unlock as you level up, make sure to check out our guide on the Diablo 4 battle pass. And if you need a hand getting around the world of Sanctuary our interactive Diablo 4 map is here to help.
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