Diablo IV Server Slam Tier List

May 19th, 2023

Compared to the first beta weekend, classes have seen massive changes. This required a lot of testing and theory crafting of other builds to find what was strongest. In this article, we will discuss our thoughts on the classes and show the builds that we were using during the Server Slam.

Tier List

Rogue (S-TIER)

Although the early game feels a bit rough due to the lack of resource regeneration, the power of their skills makes up for this. Once you hit level 20 and unlock inner sight, resource is no longer an issue. The skill that really stands out here is Twisting Blades. This ability has a somewhat weird playstyle and takes some getting used to, but once you master it, you can clear rooms in seconds and delete bosses like nothing.

Another viable build for the rogue is with barrage. The barrage playstyle is much easier and could be a good alternative for newer or less experienced players. It does a great job clearing rooms due to shadow imbue and the ricochets, but it falls a bit behind in single-target damage compared to twisting blades. It runs the same set up, but instead of points in twisting blades, put 5 in barrage and go for improved barrage. Even though we have guaranteed vulnerability with Puncture, when we proc innersight, we can just unload barrages and have 100% uptime on vulnerable for a huge burst window. Due to it being a bit weaker than Twisting Blades, this build would probably be high A-Tier.

Sorcerer (A-TIER)

Chain lightning was nerfed for the server slam but still felt very powerful. The nerfs were definitely necessary, whether we wanted to admit it or not. In the first beta weekend, you could just teleport and chain lightning spam your way through content in the blink of an eye. But, luckily this playstyle is still very strong and very powerful with the Fireball Enchantment. The single target was still pretty high and the AoE was great. All around a solid class.

Necromancer (A-TIER)

Necro felt pretty good early. They have incredibly clear and relatively decent single-target damage. There are a few ways to play necro.
Blood Surge is incredibly tanky. The fortify and overpower damage really makes this build shine. Blood Surge’s AoE damage has no issues ripping through packs of monsters and actually does quite well in single damage. There is a legendary aspect that can be picked up very early in the game that will help you blast through the early levels. This can be found in Hoarfrost Demise in the Fractured Peaks. It causes Blood Surge’s nova the echo after a short delay. It does a bit less damage than the initial explosion, but it is a great boost to your dps.

Bone magic necromancer is for those that do not want to play a build that requires you to be in the middle of the chaos. Bone Spear has great range and has no issue clearing packs as well as taking down bosses with quite high single-target damage. This build also utilizes Bonespirit, which drains all of your essences for a huge nuke of damage. In the downtime, you just spam your Bone Spears and generate essence with corpse explosions and bone splinters.

Barbarian (B-TIER)

The only major issue with Barbarian is their early game. It can be quite painful if you are unlucky since your core skill requires a specific item type. If you don’t find a good Two-handed slashing weapon, you will struggle if you wanted to go Rend. If you can’t find a good Two-handed bludgeoning weapon, you will struggle with Upheaval, and so on so forth. Early game, you should take Lunging Strike as a gap closer and Fury generator. I found this incredibly useful early on since they are so slow. But, once this class levels up and starts getting gear, they feel much better. Each skill choice seems pretty well balanced. HotA even seems like it may have some potential in the later stages of the game.

Druid (D-TIER)

Very weak. Felt pretty strong with good clear early but almost felt as if you were not getting any stronger. Many of the other classes just outshine this class in every way, shape, and form. This build seemed to be one of the stronger that we played. Some people prefer Tornado over Lightning Storm, but both still feel pretty weak. The companions really seemed to be the saving grace of this build. The Poison Creepers active and Ravens active was great at obliterating packs and did decent single-target damage as well. You can even go with a Pulverize build but we did not get a chance to test this out. This class does seem like it is going to shine in the end game though as they have access to many powerful unique and legendaries we have not gotten to see in game yet. Their paragon boards and glyphs also provide powerful benefits. We will also get access to their Spirit Boons at level 30. In the server slam, we were not able to use the classes specialization like the other classes. I believe this definitely had an impact on the overall strength of this class compared to the others. Hopefully Druids find some love in the future.