Diablo 4 is soon coming out after an extensive testing period that saw players access three separate betas, with the most recent being the Server Slam weekend, and this alone has seemingly cemented the fans' opinion that the game is headed in the right direction. Diablo 4's live-service model has also seen many positive comments thanks to it moving away from the issues that plagued Diablo Immortal and instead drawing inspiration from the industry giants, such as Destiny 2. One of the main issues for players over the betas has been class balance, but Blizzard did make significant changes to all five classes recently, and they are in a place where none of them is bad.
There are classes that are better than others for a variety of reasons, but the game's classes are all in a great spot, and with some fine-tuning before launch or when Diablo 4's first season launches they will likely be more balanced than ever. Blizzard has indeed proven to be taking players' feedback seriously, to the point that the company even made changes to the characters during the Server Slam beta to see what fans would think and to generally improve the gameplay loop. Right now, the game seems to be in a good place as a whole, and build diversity proved to be great - and that can only improve after launch.
S Tier
Sorcerer - Even after the many nerfs in Diablo 4's Server Slam beta, the Sorcerer is just too powerful on many levels, and it has incredible damage potential, add-clearing capabilities, mobility, and versatility for other classes to compete. For example, Diablo 4's Fireball Enchantment that players can unlock as early as level 15 can make any skill incredible at defeating clusters of enemies with one click or button press thanks to the AoE damage it provides at virtually zero cost. Chain Lightning was indeed nerfed after the first two rounds of beta, but this doesn't mean it lost its status as one of the best Core Skills in the game thanks to its single-target damage potential and how good it is to dispose of random enemies and elites.
Not only that, but the Sorcerer also has some of the very best utility tools in the game alongside other top picks for damaging skills. Again, despite the nerfs, Hydra remains an amazing skill in Diablo 4 thanks to its single-target damage and the fact that Sorcerers can easily cast it time and time again mid-fight or whenever it expires, essentially being a mainstay ability in most builds. Skills like Teleport, Ice Barrier, and the Deep Freeze ultimate simply make the Sorcerer unstoppable even when players pick its aptly called Glass Cannon passive to increase damage at the cost of damage taken. With infinite combinations through the Enchantment system and little reliance on gear, the Sorcerer is set to be lethal from the get-go and all the way up to the endgame.
Necromancer - Even after the various nerfs that hit the Necromancer and its minions, this Diablo 4 class is incredibly good anywhere and both solo or in groups. Bone Spear is still one of the hardest-hitting skills in the entire game, if not the one with the highest DPS, and it allows Necromancers to just about obliterate any and all enemies they come across very early on and throughout the rest of the game. Early game is coincidentally where the summons will shine the most thanks to how minions in Diablo 4 and other action RPGs scale with progression, too, and even if skeletons end up dying relatively quickly they will still put in work for what is otherwise a free-to-cast skill with no cooldown.
Then again, Blizzard made sure to address players' concerns regarding the Necromancer's minions in Diablo 4's Server Slam beta with a patch that went live over the weekend to make summons bulkier after the survivability nerfs. Furthermore, the Book of the Dead allows players to customize their minions or even give up on them entirely to obtain powerful bonuses that apply to the Necromancer itself, empowering its ability to deal damage, for example. The only downsides of Necromancers come with a limited skill selection and no mobility option to move fast through Dungeons or Sanctuary itself.
A Tier
Rogue - It can be said that Diablo 4's Rogue has good single-target damage, if not the best in the entire game, which was proven by those who managed to solo Ashava the Pestilent or shred The Butcher in a few blows. The Rogue has the advantage of going the full ranged route, and even with melee builds the Rogue has some range, which other classes don't, and that is a great boon considering how melee-focused most of the game can feel like. Of course, this class also has the best mobility tools in all of Diablo 4, easily allowing players to race through the map with increased base Movement Speed or skills like Dash, which makes the Rogue an appealing choice for those who want to complete content as fast as possible.
An example comes from the incredibly powerful combo of Penetrating Shot from Diablo 4's Core Skills and the Rogue's Shadow Imbuement, which essentially makes each arrow capable of starting chain reactions and depleting enemy packs in a matter of seconds. This is not unlike what the Sorcerer can do by simply picking the Fireball Enchantment at level 15, however. One of the main issues with the class is that it doesn't have great survivability even with Dark Shroud active and it lacks reliable AoE tools without giving up some skills or obtaining Legendary Aspects in Diablo 4. It does seem to have a lot of potential in the endgame, but that remains to be seen based on how easily the Rogue can survive Sanctuary - something that the other classes have better tools for.
B Tier
Barbarian - Although the Barbarian is now given a 10% damage reduction right off the bat, it is a bit frail compared to other classes simply because it requires players to constantly be in the fray of battle. The leveling experience can feel slow until the Barbarian unlocks all of its Shouts, for example, which were nerfed in the latest Server Slam beta likely in an attempt to make other options more viable and the meta less stale. Still, build diversity is not incredible for the Barbarian given how powerful and useful Shouts really are and how reliable Whirlwind is as a skill, often being picked over anything that isn't Upheaval. The early game may be a bit painful, but this class outshines many others the more players get to progress on Diablo 4's skill tree and get more gear.
The downside is that, with it being very dependent on its weapons for every different skill, the Barbarian is the most gear-hungry class in Diablo 4. Regardless, this is arguably the class with the best support value in the entire game, and its effectiveness can vary greatly depending on a solo experience or party play. The main problem is that Diablo 4's Barbarian builds often rely on items to get Thorns, Legendary Aspects for synergies, or skills to deal damage over time through Bleed, which are all issues that other classes never really face to the same degree. On the other hand, the Barbarian is also the class that gets access to the most offensive Aspects in the game by having multiple weapons, and this can really make a difference also thanks to two-handed arms that make Legendary Aspects provide a larger bonus, like amulets.
Druid - One of the biggest pros about running Diablo 4's Druid is its incredible survivability combined with good damage, but these are not things the class can really achieve anytime soon in a new playthrough. The first few levels will be very difficult to get through reliably with little damage and skewed resource costs in skills like Pulverize and Landslide, and it takes a while for players to unlock skills like Poison Creeper or Wolves to help out. The Druid is a class that can come together really nicely later on in the game the more skills and passives one unlocks and the more powerful gear or Legendary Aspects become available, but it relies on these features too much to stand out.
It arguably has one of the best Basic Skills in the game alongside the Sorcerer's Arc Lash in Storm Strike, which not only provides a lot of resources and deals decent damage, but can also give players 20% damage reduction and make enemies Vulnerable, all with one click or button press. There's a lot of value in skills like Earthen Bulwark too, or even Diablo 4's meme skill Hurricane, but the Druid is probably the best class to run as a second character or later, even. However, the Druid is the only class in Diablo 4 that players couldn't test more fully given that its class specialization was not available in the betas, and this could shake things up in the long run, or even as early as level 15-to-20.
Diablo 4 will be available June 6th for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.