It’s Hell on Earth right now with orange skies looming around the East Coast, giving players a great excuse to stay indoors and try out Diablo IV. Blizzard’s latest ARPG in the long-running Diablo franchise is finally here, and if you’re like me, you’re seeking out a class that best suits players who have never played a Diablo game before.
Like most ARPGs, Diablo IV features a variety of different classes for you to mess around with and dominate the world of Sanctuary. If you’re new to the franchise, you might benefit from seeking out a class that’s easier to handle and dominate Hell with. Here are all of the classes in Diablo IV, ranked from the most beginner friendly to the more hardcore ones.
Necromancer Is A Great Pick For Diablo 4 Newbies
The Necromancer is a staple class in the Diablo universe and is popular for its ability to conjure up the undead and pit them against the hordes of enemies attacking you. This class is especially helpful for newer solo players, as the addition of extra minions coming to your aid can help take the heat off of you in a crucial moment. And when you notice your minions aren’t slaying as hard as they could, you can instead sacrifice them to gain a buff instead. Plus, your blood-based abilities have the chance of healing you up while dealing damage to enemies around you.
Something to keep in mind as a Necromancer is your lack of mobility, which can be an issue in fights or maps where you need to reposition swiftly. While this might not be too much of an issue with all of the undead you conjure up, it’s worth noting, especially if you’re looking for a more mobile class to play instead.
The Barbarian is another great choice for D4 beginners
The Barbarian is arguably just as easy as the Necromancer and can be built in numerous different ways. The Barbarian is a forgiving class and an absolute beast when built as a tank, with damage reduction and shielding built into their kit. Tanks are generally pretty forgiving — it goes without saying, the harder you are the kill, the longer you stay alive, which is everything in a game like Diablo IV. The Barbarian can wield four weapons at once with the Walking Arsenal mechanic, allowing you to utilize two two-handed weapons or two one-handed weapons.
This class might not be for you if you aren’t a fan of melee classes, however. The Necromancer may be a better choice if you feel uncomfortable with taking the majority of the enemy focus, as tanks often do. This class also struggles somewhat early in the game, which can hurt your progress if you aren’t exactly sure how to maneuver the Barbarian’s kit. But if spinning-to-winning and going hog wild on hordes of the undead sounds like your cup of tea, then the Barbarian is a solid class to pick.
Sorcerer isn’t a bad choice for Diablo 4 newcomers
As the master of all three elements (Diablo IV seems to be missing one), this fantastical class harnesses the power of elemental magic to blitz down foes. As the Sorcerer, you can rain down ice, fire, and lightning magic on the enemies coming your way and dish out some amazing damage. You also have a number of movement and defensive abilities that can help you when you are in harm’s way.
If enemies do manage to break down your defenses, though, then the Sorcerer is a bit squishier than some of the other classes in the game. You’ll want to keep your distance when playing this class, but this is a great pick for players who enjoy the caster mage identity often featured in ARPG games.
Frost builds centered around the Blizzard skill are great at mass clearing enemies and inflicting vulnerable status, works well when playing with others. Lightning builds are all about high critical hit chance and close damage reduction sort of like a Battlemage archetype. Fire builds are centered around inflicting multiple sources of burning/damage over time effects and giving yourself mana cost reduction so you can just keep spraying your incinerate spell all over the place while dropping meteors on people’s heads. Highly recommend!
The Druid is for Diablo newbies looking for some spice
The Druid is here for shapeshifters at heart, as the class can transform into two different forms: the mighty Werewolf and the ferocious Werebear. Druids are able to summon the power of Storm and Earth magic, giving the class a fair amount of crowd control. These classes are rather tanky as well, with reduced damage, passives, and stat increases.
Like the Necromancer, your movement abilities are limited, which can make it hard to traverse around. The Druid suffers early-game like the Barbarian, which can make progressing through the game a bit of a challenge. The Druid’s damage can be on the lower side early game, which can stunt your progress. Additionally, having to manage different forms (each with its own strengths and attacks) can also cause some trouble.
The Druid can equip either a Two-Handed Weapon or a Totem plus a One-Hande Weapon. Consider tooling your build for the latter, as you can use two Legendary Aspects when equipping a Totem. While the Druid is still acceptable for beginners to pick up, you’ll need to target some specific builds and work through some handicaps along the way.
Druid has builds centered around Storm skills and inflicting vulnerable status on enemies, good at dishing out lots of damage but you’re squishier more like a Sorcerer. There are builds focused on shape shifting skills, you can go the tankier Werebear path with high health and overpower attacks that deal extra damage based on your health plus any extra you’ve built up through the Fortify mechanic.
The Rogue is the hardest class for Diablo newcomers
The Rogue is your best bet if you want to live out your assassin fantasy, with some strong movement options, strong damage, and access to some classic assassin abilities, like stealth and trap abilities. This class by far has the highest skill ceiling of any class in Diablo IV, which means the Rogue is probably not the best choice for those experiencing an ARPG for the first time. Rogues can be built melee-focused around imbuements which add elemental effects to your attacks or keeping foes at a distance with traps and caltrops while dishing out damage with your ranged weapon and Rapid Fire core skill.
The Rogue’s identity is to imbue their weapons with Poison, Cold, or Shadow energies, giving your attacks different effects. Poison is most useful for bosses, while Shadow can be used against mobs for AoE damage. The easiest leveling path may be the Flurry variant for the Rogue, which is a Core Skill that hits enemies up to four times in front of you. Build around Flurry for the easiest time.
But if you have some prior Diablo experience or even some playtime in a game like Path of Exile, then the Rogue can be a rewarding experience that lets you blitz through the battlefield.
