Diablo IV beta is over. And do you know what that means? We’re in the middle of the game, spending long nights trying to master each of the five classes in Diablo 4. If you want to master your preferred class, the complete guide below can help.
Before we get started, be sure to grab a PSN Gift Card from OffGamers because there are items in the shop that can make your experience more enjoyable.
Diablo IV Classes
Diablo is a game that has a lot of replay value. On your first run, choose the class that you think sounds the most fun and revisit others to learn what they’re all about the next time you replay the game.
1. Sorcerer
My go-to class in Diablo IV was a sorcerer. Playing a spell caster is a lot of fun because you can do a ton of DPS, and you inflict this misery on your opponents with one of the three schools of magic:
- Fire: The pyromancy school is powerful and will allow you to inflict a ton of fire damage on your enemies. Burn your foes and apply damage-over-time (DoT) effects to multiple foes to burn through their HP.
- Ice: Frost builds always tend to do the same thing: control foes. You’ll find that your damage isn’t as high as a fire sorcerer, but you can freeze enemies and reduce movement speed. While impaired, you can blast away at your enemies and kill them before they have the chance to reach you.
- Lightning: Shock is another school of magic that will allow you to proc more crits and empowers you by refreshing your cooldowns faster.
Enchantment mechanics are built into the class and will unlock at levels 15 and 30. These additional slots allow you to equip passive boons. You’ll get a class-specific quest at level 15 to get your first enchantment.
Levelling with a sorcerer is loads of fun because you have a lot of AoE talents, which you’ll leverage to help take down multiple enemies. The good news is that each school of magic has some form of AoE:
- Spark
- Chain lightning
- Frost nova
- Hydra
- Meteor
- Deep freeze
You can also add the fireball enhancement to your slot because it will cause enemies to explode into a fireball when you kill them. If you have a group of enemies around, the explosion will inflict 50% damage on them. Multiple kills in succession lead to one explosion after another and more or less passive kills.
Note: The developers do what devs do and nerfed fire sorcerers after beta. Unfortunately, the nerf has left fire a little underwhelming to play.
2. Barbarian
A barbarian is a master of melee damage and will charge into battle using either an axe, club or sword. Your weapon will allow you to use certain abilities, so you need to become efficient at weapon swapping to unleash the full power of your Barbarian.
Switching is fast and easy.
If you’re a fan of utility classes, there’s no better choice than a barbarian. You also have two specializations that you can go into to fit your playstyle better. For example:
- Clubs or a bludgeoning weapon is the weapon that will allow you to stun enemies using the bash ability. Two-handed weapons will stun the enemy for even longer. If you crit, your next weapon master or core will overpower.
- Two-handed bludgeoning weapons allow you to use Hammer of the Ancients, which is a powerful AoE attack.
Use the chart below to figure out which skills are opened with what type of weapon.
| Arsenal | 2H Bludgeoning | Dual-Wielding | Slashing Weapons | Bludgeoning Weapon |
| Lunging strike | Bash | Frenzy | Flay | Bash |
| Whirlwind | Hammer of the Ancients | Double Swing | Rend | |
| Charge | Unheaval (any 2H weapon) | Rupture | ||
| Leap | ||||
| Deathblow | ||||
| Iron Maelstrom |
When levelling, we like AoE attacks and leverage them to take down foes faster. Maces are often the go-to weapon because they offer weapon expertise perks, such as a one-handed mace improving stun damage and extra fury when using a two-handed mace.
Two-handed axes also do more damage if you make an enemy vulnerable using the Flay ability.
You can access two specializations:
- Red, which is the Warlord specialization and is more defence-focused than the berserker specialization. You’ll want to choose red if you want to use crowd control on your foes and leverage bleeding effects.
- Orange, which is the Berserker specialization. You will lose a ton of defensive abilities by choosing orange, but you will put out loads of damage. You’ll experience speed boosts and self-buffing, but you’ll be hurt much faster.
Swapping weapons is intuitive and adds a nice element to the game that makes it feel more immersive. However, if you want to smash buttons and don’t appreciate complex weapon swaps, another class may be better for you.
3. Rogue
Rogues are agile and quick, and they can stay in the shadows while they inflict a ton of poison damage on their enemies. You’ll have a wide range of ranged and melee abilities that you can use and also add the following to your attacks:
- Cold
- Poison
- Shadow damage
Rogues come with three talent specializations that you’ll be able to choose at level 15 through the “True Potential” quest. At levels 20 and 30, you get to open up an additional specialization to find the one that you prefer.
Specializations include:
- Combo points, which fill up using basic attacks with a maximum of three. Consume these points to perform more powerful attacks.
- Inner sight allows you to focus on marked enemies. The inner sight level will fill up as you attack and allow you to unleash a four-second barrage of attacks using unlimited energy.
- Preparation is the final specialization and one that was not in the Diablo 4 beta. You can reset your Ultimate skill (more on these below) by using your energy. Actually, all of your skills are reset.
Prep is a lot of fun later in the game when you’re not energy starved and want to start unleashing serious damage with your ultimate skills. Speaking of these skills, let’s take a look at what they offer.
Rogue Ultimate Skills
Rogues have three Ultimate skills to choose from:
- Death Trap: Place a trap that deals a massive amount of damage when triggered by enemies.
- Shadow Clone: Create a clone of yourself that mimics your action and deals a percentage of your base damage.
- Rain of Arrows: Shoot down a rain of arrows over an area twice.
The Rogue is a versatile class that can deal both melee and long-range attacks. Their greatest strength is their ability to make enemies vulnerable, so leverage this innate talent to plough through enemies.
4. Necromancer
Necromancers return in Diablo IV, and they’re still a lot of fun to play. Necromancers have interesting lore, which is part of the reason why they’re a fan-favourite. But they’re also a strong class.
Necromancers can throw curses, shoot bones or even burst enemy blood. They have four playstyles:
- Blood: These skills prioritize health and area-of-effect damage. Blood magic can also heal necromancers.
- Summoner: A classic playstyle that allows the necromancer to reanimate undead golems and minions.
- Bone: This playstyle focuses on direct combat and skills that prioritize crowd control.
- Darkness: These skills will deal short bursts of multiple attacks or damage over time.
Early on in the campaign, Necromancers get the Book of the Dead, which allows them to summon a variety of undead minions, including:
- Warriors. There are three types: Skirmishers, Reapers and Defenders. Skirmishers deal more damage, but have lower HP. Reapers can do high-damage wind-up attacks every 10 seconds. Defenders, as you may have guessed, are tanks with 15% more life.
- Mages. There are three types: Shadow, Cold and Bone. Shadow mages can deal spirit damage, while Cold mages can freeze targets. Bone mages use their own health to deal damage.
- Golems, which are the strongest of all minions. Again, there are three types: Bone, Blood and Iron. Bone golems are tanks that can taunt enemies, while Blood golems use their life to help you by reducing damage or absorbing damage. Iron golems can hit multiple enemies with their attacks and slams.
As you progress through the campaign, you’ll unlock more minions. Each type has its own variants and perks.
Necromancers have many skills at their disposal, but some of the best ones include:
- Army of the Dead: Summons skeletons that explode on surrounding enemies.
- Corpse Explosion: Detonates a corpse to damage nearby enemies.
- Bone Prison: Creates a prison of bones that traps a target.
- Iron Maiden: A curse that causes enemies to take damage each time they deal direct damage.
- Blood Wave: Unleashes a tidal wave that knocks back enemies and deals damage.
Necromancers are fun to play if you like summoner-style characters. Having the ability to choose between variants and perks for different minions also adds an extra layer of customization that fans will love.
5. Druid
Diablo Druids are fierce warriors that draw their power from the energies of living beings. They’re a hybrid class and intimately connected to nature.
Druids excel at spellcasting and can call on the elements. But they’ve also mastered the art of shapeshifting. They can transform into vicious beasts and other forms, each with its own set of skills and abilities.
Druids have three forms:
Human
In human form, druids can do some serious spellcasting, with skills like:
- Earth Spike
- Storm Strike
- Wind Shear
But their best skills in this form include:
- Lightning Storm, which conjures a deadly lightning storm that damages everything in its path.
- Tornado, which conjures a damage-dealing tornado.
- Landslide, which crushes enemies between pillars of earth.
In this form, druids also have a few useful defensive skills, like:
- Cyclone Armor, which gives you a 20% non-physical damage reduction and knocks enemies back.
- Earthen Bulwark, which gives you a rock shield that stops 45% of your base life in damage.
Their wrath skills include:
- Hurricane, which creates a damage-dealing barrier around you for eight seconds.
- Boulder, which unleashes a large boulder towards enemies, knocking them back and crushing them.
Werewolf
In Werewolf form, druids have basic and core skills that include:
- Claw, which claws at enemies.
- Shred, which performs a trio of combo attacks.
- Blood Howl, which causes you to howl and heal for 20% of your maximum health.
- Rabies, which is an infectious bite that poisons the enemy and deals damage over time.
Werebear
In Werebear form, druid skills include:
- Maul, which is a basic attack that mauls enemies.
- Pulverize, which causes you to slam the ground and deal damage to nearby enemies.
- Debilitating roar, which reduces enemy damage by 50% for four seconds.
- Trample, which makes you unstoppable and charges you forward to deal damage and knock them back.
Companion Skills
Druids have a few interesting companion skills, which include:
- Wolves: Summons two wolves that attack enemies.
- Vine Creeper: Vines emerge from the ground periodically to apply poisoning damage and immobilise enemies.
- Ravens: A raven flies above you and attacks enemies periodically.
Druid Ultimate Skills
- Petrify: Freezes enemies in stone, leaving them stunned for 3 seconds. You also deal extra damage against petrified enemies.
- Grizzly Rage: Transform into a Dire Werebear, gaining 20% damage reduction and 20% bonus damage.
- Lacerate: Become a Werewolf and dash ten times between enemies to deal 133 damage. In this form, you’re also immune.
- Cataclysm: Unleash a massive storm with lightning strikes that deal damage and tornadoes that knock enemies back.
Druids are a lot of fun to play, especially if you like variety in your gameplay. Switching between forms gives you lots of mobility and flexibility when facing enemies.
Play Diablo IV Today
If you haven’t bought Diablo 4 yet, what are you waiting for? You’re missing out on one of the most anticipated games this year.
Our guide will help you choose the right class for your playstyle. But don’t forget to watch streamers and gameplay on YouTube and Twitch for more playthroughs, tips and more.
And while you’re playing, use our guide to the most legendary items in Diablo IV to get your hands on some of the best items in the game.
