Diablo 4 takes place half a century after the events of Diablo 3, specifically the Reaper of Souls expansion. The forces of the High Heavens and Burning Hells have been severely depleted due to the countless battles waged. The demon Lilith took advantage of the power vacuum and seized Sanctuary, once a place where angels and demons could escape the unending war.
Once more, you, the player character, are thrust into a new conflict between Lilith and the angel Inarius, her former lover. The adventure resembles that of Diablo 2, with the player pursuing the main antagonist across a desolate world. Players can embark on this quest as one of five classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, and Sorcerer.
The game rewards bonus XP and loot when played on higher difficulties; first-time players are urged to play on Veteran difficulty. Don’t be afraid to take on this challenge, as power leveling services, among others, can help you progress. You can learn more about them by visiting links like https://kboosting.com/diablo-4 and others.
On that note, this beginner’s guide to the different classes will also help you pick the ideal way to enjoy the Diablo 4 experience. Each class has its own set of quirks and playstyles. However, with another open beta scheduled for May 12 to 14, the information here may change after the official release this June.
The Barbarian
Most players agree that you can’t go wrong with arguably the most beginner-friendly class in the game: the Barbarian. Possessing unparalleled brute strength, the Barbarian is all about getting up close and personal, hacking and slashing enemies while bearing the full brunt of their devastating attacks. Despite their bulky appearance, the Barbarian can move around the battlefield swiftly.
Upon reaching Level 5, you gain access to the class’s Arsenal system, which allows you to equip up to four weapons and switch between them based on the activated skill. For example, using the skills Frenzy and Whirlwind in quick succession will automatically equip the one-handed sword or mace and two-handed weapon, respectively.
Each weapon equipped in the Arsenal grants unique powers and bonuses.
- One-handed axe: Increases the chance of a critical strike against Injured targets. Upon scoring a Lucky Hit, there’s a chance to grant an attack speed boost for two seconds. Power and bonus are doubled when dual wielding.
- One-handed sword: Chance of earning 5 Fury when hitting an enemy under the effects of Crowd Control. Defeating an enemy under Crowd Control increases attack speed by three seconds. Power and bonus are doubled when dual wielding.
- One-handed mace: More damage inflicted on Stunned enemies. Upon scoring a Lucky Hit, there’s a chance of gaining Berserking for 1.5 seconds. Power and bonus are doubled when dual wielding.
- Two-handed axe: Increased damage and critical strike chance to Vulnerable enemies.
- Two-handed sword: Deals 20% of damage as Bleeding damage for five seconds. Upon defeating an enemy, Bleeding damage is increased for five seconds.
- Two-handed mace: Chance of earning 2 Fury upon dealing damage. Berserking doubles Fury generation and increases critical damage against Stunned and Vulnerable targets.
- Polearm: Higher chances of a Lucky Hit. Healthy status grants increased damage.
Maxing out the Arsenal won’t be too hard, as there’s plenty of fighting to do in the game. Every hit on an enemy accumulates XP (not applicable to PvP matches), made faster by playing on a harder difficulty or power leveling services. Visiting pages like https://kboosting.com/diablo-4/power-leveling-services, you can see that some also offer advanced build packs.
Speaking of builds, beta players have criticized the class for being weaker than its counterparts in previous games. While the developers have committed to buffing the class, you’d want the build to dish out as much damage as possible. For this, players suggest maximizing Bleeding damage, allocating most of your skill points to Flay, Rend, and Rupture (and their enhanced versions).
As for stat priority, the Barbarian needs enough Strength and Willpower to increase their staying power in the frontlines. Some Dexterity is welcome to improve their critical hit chance.
The Druid
The newest addition to the open beta, the Druid class shares some similarities with the Barbarian class. But instead of hacking and slashing with weapons, they transform into a bear or werewolf to dish out immense damage. The Druid can also summon animals and harness Mother Nature’s power to fight alongside them.
The Druid class’s unique perk is the Spirit Animal system, which grants passive stat buffs and effects. To unlock this, players must reach Level 15 and finish a quest in the Druids’ homeland of Scosglen. In this quest, the Druid must find and offer boons to the four spirit animals: Deer, Eagle, Snake, and Wolf.
Each spirit animal has four passives. You’ll be limited to one passive per animal but will expand as you offer more offerings. Unlocking a passive requires 100 offerings.
- Deer
The deer spirit is primarily oriented toward defense. It grants the Prickleskin trait, which deploys thorns around the Druid to deal damage to enemies that attack them. Other boons include increased maximum Spirit, reduced damage from elite enemies, and shorter time affected by control impairment.
- Eagle
The eagle spirit is concerned with landing numerous critical hits quickly. The Scyth Talons and Avian Wrath bless the Druid with additional critical hit rate and damage, respectively. Other boons include increased maximum Life and attack speed.
- Snake
The snake spirit blesses the Druid with additional buffs and effects to their elemental attacks, especially if they land Lucky Hits. These comprise Overpower of the next cast of any earth-based skill, additional lighting damage, recovering Life with shapeshifting skills, and chance to reduce Ultimate skill cooldown by casting nature-based skills.
- Wolf
The wolf spirit helps the Druid call their animal companions more often. The Packleader and Energize traits grant a chance to reset the cooldown timer for Companion skills and restore some Spirit with each Lucky Hit. Other boons include Fortify for a portion of your Life with every use of a defensive skill and prolonging the effects of Ultimate skills.
After unlocking all the boons for one spirit animal, you can choose a second boon from the same spirit animal. This brings the number of active boons to five, which can be a game-changer in the diciest situations. The Druid class encourages mixing and matching boons, offering a degree of flexibility lacking in other classes.
As for the best build, it depends on how you want to play the character. Do you want to kill your enemies with your “bear” hands (pun intended) or let your companions do much of the fighting? There’s no correct way to play the Druid, making the class beginner-friendly.
For stat priorities, it’s important for the Druid to stay on the field for as long as possible to build up their Spirit pool. Strength increases damage, while Willpower enhances resistance to physical and non-physical attacks.
The Necromancer
Whereas the Druid can fight with their own strength or with the help of animal companions, the Necromancer is a summoner through and through. Their abilities revolve around conjuring vast undead hordes to destroy everything in their way. Such summons require corpses, which won’t be in short supply in the battlefields of the Sanctuary.
The Book of the Dead enables the Necromancer to summon an army of skeletons or golems to do their bidding. You get the basic skill Raise Skeletons right from the beginning, at level 1. Your undead army can have up to four skeletal warriors, three skeletal mages at a time, and one skeletal priest (only after all skeletons have been summoned).
Your skeletal warrior squad can consist of a mix of the following:
- Skirmishers – frontline fighters that deal more damage but have less life
- Defenders – shield bearers that can negate damage once every few seconds
- Reapers – scythe-wielding brutes that can deal massive damage
Upon reaching Level 15, you can summon skeletal mages. There are three to choose from:
- Shadow – deals Shadow damage, unlocked at Level 15
- Cold – freezes enemies and deals bonus damage, unlocked at Level 18
- Bone – uses their own bones as deadly projectiles, unlocked at Level 22
Reaching Level 25 unlocks a priority quest: Call of the Underworld. Completing the quest grants the Necromancer the ability to summon golems, of which you can only have one on the field at a time. Launch day will introduce three kinds of golems, all of which serve in a supporting role.
- Bone – draws fire away from the Necromancer, unlocked at Level 25
- Blood – takes some damage for the Necromancer, unlocked at Level 28
- Iron – deals area-of-effect damage to enemies, unlocked at Level 32
Playing as a Necromancer may appear intimidating for beginners, but most players vouch for one beginner-friendly playstyle: the Minions build. This build is popular with veteran Diablo players because it maximizes the undead warriors’ uptime on the field. Combined with the Necromancer supporting them from the backline, the undead can plow through hordes of enemies.
To play this build, you need to prioritize improving the minions’ passives. Additionally, upgrade the ultimate skill Army of the Dead to the highest level as soon as possible. Apart from conjuring exploding skeletons, the skill also summons your skeletal army.
For the Necromancer class, Intelligence matters the most. The extra resistance will be useful if you’re attacked, but the Necromancer’s skill power scales off this attribute. Some investment in Dexterity and Willpower can help with dodging and resource generation.
The Rogue
The last two classes in this guide are ideal for players who like to kill enemies from a distance. The Rogue is an adaptable warrior who can fight equally well with melee and ranged weapons. Unlike the Barbarian or Druid, the Rogue specializes in hit-and-run attacks, wreaking havoc on an enemy position and relocating for another strike.
Playing as a Rogue, you can choose from one of three Specializations. This system shares some similarities with the Druid’s Spirit Animal mechanic but with the benefit of switching during combat. Specialization is unlocked after finishing a quest, which opens upon reaching Level 15.
- Combo Points
As the term implies, the Combo Points Specialization enhances the Rogue’s core skills based on the number of combos landed before unleashing a core skill. You can generate up to three Combo Points using basic skills, after which you use a core skill for maximum damage. This Specialization is valuable in the early game when generating Energy is still difficult.
- Inner Sight
The Inner Sight Specialization can be unlocked at Level 20 and is useful against enemy troop concentrations. Defeating marked enemies fills an Inner Sight gauge beside the Energy bar. Once full, the Rogue gains unlimited Energy for four seconds. Dealing larger damage speeds up the filling process, making it ideal for players in the midgame and beyond.
The third Specialization, Preparation, has yet to be officially revealed, as the previous open beta was capped at Level 25 (Preparation is unlocked at Level 30). However, based on an in-game achievement of the same name, some players believe it may be related to resetting cooldowns.
Another system exclusive to the Rogue is Imbue, which enchants their blades and projectiles with Frost, Shadow, or Poison damage. Switching between these elements makes boss fights with elemental resistances much more manageable.
As with the Druid class, the best build for the Rogue class depends on your preferred playstyle. Ranged attacks can help accumulate Combo Points and unleash core skills faster. Inner Sight is situational, especially during boss fights. Melee attacks will require some sleight of hand, but this playstyle can grant near-unlimited uptime for crucial skills like Stealth.
Given their penchant for hit-and-run tactics, Rogues greatly benefit from enhancing Dexterity. Aside from the skill damage bonus, it can also help with dodging. Investing in Intelligence can also be a good idea, but don’t invest too much.
The Sorceress
Described as a “high risk, high reward” class, the Sorceress fells their enemies with a relentless barrage of Fire, Cold, and Lightning magic. They can’t compare to the durability of Barbarians or the mobility of Rogues, but they don’t have to. With an extensive knowledge of magic, the Sorceress destroys their enemies before they get within striking range.
The Sorceress’s unique mechanic is the Enchantment system, which can be unlocked at Level 15 and upon completing the Legacy of the Magi quest. It makes conjuring magic more streamlined by activating the effects of equipped spells when cast. For example, casting Arc Lash has a 20% chance of Stunning enemies for a second.
The Sorceress can have up to nine spells in the system. Six are bound to a hotkey (1 to 4, right and left click), and three are in the Enchantment slots. Spells placed in the Enchantment slots can’t be used normally, but they grant passives when done so. For example, placing Arc Lash in the slot can Stun enemies for 0.5 seconds when in cooldown.
Each element produces various effects, but balancing among three elements can be a challenge. Fortunately, it’s possible to stick to one element—and ice is the best element to do it with. An all-ice build enables the Sorceress to inflict Vulnerable to enemies, dealing 20% more damage to an enemy inflicted with this effect.
Otherwise, don’t be afraid to harness the Sorceress’s full arsenal. Fire-based attacks deal damage over time in the form of Burning, while lighting-based attacks hit multiple enemies. Regardless of what you choose, make sure to invest in the Glass Cannon skill. You’ll take more damage, but you’ll also deal more damage.
As a magic-oriented class, the Sorceress class requires heavy investment in Intelligence to boost resistance and Energy pool. Willpower is also worth it, as extra resource generation is always welcome for an Energy-hungry class.
Conclusion
As the Diablo community counts the days until the fourth installment’s official launch, brushing up on the classes’ strengths and weaknesses never hurts. If possible, try to play previous Diablo games to grasp the game’s character-building and combat mechanics. In fact, online servers for Diablo 3 are still up and running, thanks to an active fanbase.
If Diablo 4 is your gateway into this lore-rich universe, consider starting as a Barbarian. You’ll learn more about the game as you play through the quest to end another scourge of evil.