Diablo 4 will feature five playable classes during open beta: barbarian, necromancer, wizard, rogue, and druid. Each class – all of which will be available when the game launches in early June – has unique class mechanics as well as a skill tree equipped with a variety of spells. All of their playstyles are different, but which one is right for you? Read on to learn more about all the classes Diablo 4 has to offer and find out which class suits you best.
Barbarian Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Barbarians in Diablo 4 are fierce warriors who charge into the fray. Their main mechanic is the weapon arsenal, which allows them to hold four weapons at once. Some of their abilities require you to have a specific weapon type, such as slash, two-handed, dual wield, or bludgeons. The more you use a specific weapon, the more expertise you gain, which grants you buffs like increased critical hit chance or more damage against vulnerable enemies.
Not only are they capable of mastering offensive weapons, barbarians are said to be hulking brawlers that can be hit by any foe. With an abundance of shouts and damage-reduction abilities, these warriors like to get up close and personal due to their survivability.
Image of the Necromancer: Blizzard Entertainment
The Necromancer is new to the open beta (it wasn’t playable the first weekend), but is an integral part of the series. These summoners will summon hordes of undead enemies to do their bidding or sacrifice their minions to bolster themselves.
Their unique mechanic is called the Book of Dead, which allows you to customize your undead army by choosing what to summon and their specializations. You can give your pawns more health, increased damage output, or the ability to deal AoE damage. If you don’t want to manage your minions, you can either sacrifice some or all of your minions for a permanent buff.
Necromancers have a unique resource that other classes don’t have: corpses. You have essence, which works similarly to mana and allows you to cast your normal abilities, but to raise minions you need a corpse. Alternatively, if you choose the one-man show route, you can detonate the deceased instead.
Villain image: Blizzard Entertainment
Rogues are versatile duelists who can specialize in either ranged or close-ranged combat. Their unique class mechanic is specialization, which alters your core abilities and playstyle. There are three different specializations: Combo Points, Inner Sight, and Preparation.
Combo points increase the damage output of some of your abilities and alter how they work, increasing the number of arrows fired or adding a chance to knock down your opponents. Inner Sight grants you unlimited energy for a short time when attacking a marked enemy. Unfortunately, the preparation is not available in the beta, but can be unlocked at level 30. (The Diablo 4 beta caps characters at level 25.)
The rogue is a mobile class that has access to stealth, traps, and imbuements that allow them to engage in any type of content. With their access to ranged and melee abilities, they’ll be down and betraying you before you know it.
Wizard Image: Blizzard Entertainment
The magician is a typical long-distance caster or fantasy magician. Using the powers of fire, lightning, and ice magic, a sorcerer can obliterate their opponents. Whether you want to spawn fire hydras or spawn chain lightning, casters will easily take down anyone in their path.
Her unique class mechanic is Enchantment, which endows your abilities with powerful passive effects that cast themselves. There are three enchantment slots, one for an ability of each element. If you use an ability of a certain element, there is a chance that the passive ability will activate. For example, if you use a fire ability or an enemy takes burn damage, there’s a chance your enchanted fire ability will trigger on its own.
Wizards are a little more frail than the other classes, but they have a bundle of defensive abilities that can make them invincible. Cover yourself in ice, encase your body in fire, or simply flee from danger. The Sorcerer was the king/queen of the Early Access beta and will continue to be a demon-slaying powerhouse.
Druid image: Blizzard Entertainment
Druids are new to open beta but have been in the Diablo universe for quite some time. They are shapeshifters who can transform into a feral bear or a vicious werewolf while unleashing nature’s wrath to defeat their enemies. Her unique class mechanic is the Spirit Animal system, which grants your character a boon such as new passives and stat increases.
Necromancers aren’t the only summoners in Diablo 4, as druids can summon companions to help them. Summon wolves, ravens and vines to help you defeat the demons scattered throughout Sanctuary. You will also be able to summon some of the deadliest natural disasters like a hurricane to sweep away your enemies.
