Updated Diablo IV Class Tier List for Season 5
Diablo 4 has a couple of classes to choose from, ranging from the Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Druid, and Necromancer. Since the balance of power shifts and changes in every update, especially with Season 5 doling out nerfs and buffs for each class, players are wondering who currently sits at the highest rung of the meta. Not only that, the new Uniques for this season will also factor in when it comes to a class’ balance of power, as certain Uniques may elevate them beyond their original rank, but this will require more testing.
In this article, we’ll talk about which class is the best based on one criterion: Do they have a variety of viable builds for many endgame scenarios, from bossing to speed clearing. While some classes may sit in the lower tiers, this doesn’t mean that it’s the weakest — it just lacks the build diversity that the better classes have.
Table of Contents
S-Tier: Rogue
Rogues in Season 5 are currently one of the best classes from level 1 all the way to the edge of World Tier 4. They have a veritable list of builds that are all powerful and will be an engaging leveling experience until reaching World Tier 4. Rogues are great at speed-clearing maps and doing boss DPS with both ranged and melee options. While the class may fall off for melee when reaching the endgame, the fact that they still have access to so many ranged builds means it remains a top-tier option.
Rogues have received a healthy dose of buffs to make them stand out among the competition. Since this class fundamentally has access to solid AoE and single-target skills, a few buffs to them will only increase their versatility in buildcrafting. Some stand-out builds include their Barrage skill with Andariel’s Visage, Penetrating Shot, Rapid Fire, and Twisting Blades. Since this class is effective in speed clearing, they’re the most efficient when running Nightmare Dungeons and Pit waves due to the insane horde clear they have. Rogues in this season have dominated as the best class in Diablo 4.
A-Tier: Sorcerer
Last season, the Sorcerer was extremely weak, with a few limited options for activities like Infernal Pit. With this season, the Sorcerer has received a ton of love from Blizzard with a massive list of buffs to its core skills, completely elevating it to A-Tier. Even their utility skills have received some buffs for extra ease of use. Sorcerers now have more build variety, with builds like Fireball, Chain Lightning, and Frozen Orb becoming endgame viable.
In speed-clearing scenarios, Sorcerers are very effective, as they now have the best AoE spells in the game. Running Nightmare Dungeons and The Pit will be more fun with this class. However, they struggle more with single-target damage, especially against Ladder bosses. They can clear harder bosses, but there are other classes that far excel it in this scenario. Overall, the Sorcerer has become a fun and fair option for players looking to push into the endgame.
A-Tier: Barbarian
The Barbarian previously dominated the S-Rank in Season 4 with its immense build variety. Now in Season 5, while they’ve also received some buffs to Hammer of the Ancients, Upheaval, and Rend, they’ve also been hit with nerfs to their passives. Specifically, Walking Arsenal, Gushing Wounds, Unbridled Rage, and Unconstrained have all had their effectiveness cut in half, which knocks Barbarians down a peg from S-Tier to A. They’re still a solid class in most scenarios, but overall, aren’t as powerful as they were last season.
As it stands, the Barbarian class is in a good spot in the Diablo meta, as many previously weak builds like Flay and Upheaval are now endgame viable.
B-Tier: Druid
Druids are in a fairly balanced spot, neither over nor underperforming amongst their contemporaries. The Druid did receive some buffs and changes, but these haven’t significantly boosted their power. This class can do fairly decently for speed clearing and bossing, but they excel in neither scenario compared to all the others. It’s also a slow affair from level 1 to 50, as much of this class’ power lies dormant even when halfway into the leveling process. Still, the Druid is a fun class to play and has a nice variety of Uniques to mess around with while also having access to a good amount of builds.
C-Tier: Necromancer
The Necromancer is a far cry from its glory days. In Season 5, many of the other classes have received so many buffs that they can push through endgame content in most scenarios. However, for Necromancers, their playstyle has significantly slowed down. The Minion build that they’ve been most famous for is now only viable in the leveling process, falling off hard once they start World Tier 4. They’re especially weak when attempting to speed clear since the class has no mobility options to traverse maps with.
There is some hope for Necromancers as they’ll be receiving new Aspects and Uniques that may help mitigate these weaknesses. But as a whole, there isn’t much in the way of build variety for this class as it currently has so many glaring weaknesses.
