The best part of ARPGs like Diablo 4 is crafting powerful character builds, and it's just welcomed a hoard of new players as it arrived in Xbox Game Pass. Returning players may find a lot new, too, as Patch 1.4.0 adds a swathe of changes to items and balancing to classes in both the Eternal and Seasonal Realms.
Navigating the vast array of talents available for all five classes and maximizing the efficiency and synergy of your skill points can be quite challenging. We've been exploring various build concepts since the early stages of the game's Early Access, which began in March 2023 and continues through its current Season 4 'Loot Reborn'.
Through this journey, we've uncovered several exceptional builds that will provide a significant advantage against Lilith's formidable forces. In this guide, we'll introduce our favorite builds for each Diablo 4 class. You'll find insights into the skills, upgrades, leveling strategies, and gameplay tactics that make these builds shine. These builds will perform well in both the Eternal Realm and the Seasonal Realm, though with the gear rewards in Seasonal play you'll find it much easier to get these builds off the ground there.
Best Diablo 4 Necromancer build guide: Leveling, endgame, and skills
- Best Diablo 4 Necromancer build and skills
- Best Diablo 4 Druid build and skills
- Best Diablo 4 Sorcerer build and skills
- Best Diablo 4 Rogue build and skills
- Best Diablo 4 Barbarian build and skills
- All Diablo 4 Legendary Aspects
- All Diablo 4 Unique items
The Necromancer is a popular class, and it has experienced ups and downs in the meta since the Diablo 4's beta phase and throughout the seasons. With Season 4, however, we should see the class at its strongest with a return to form on minion builds.
The best thing about playing Necromancer is it's probably the easiest class to level, being that you have an army of skeletal minions to back you up in a fight and take aggro. Still, historically, minion builds have been weak in the endgame. For Season 4 Loot Reborn, though, we're getting a significant boost to minion/summoner builds with both Book of the Dead and Paragon node improvements and minions inheriting the player characters' damage stats. If you are playing the seasonal content, you'll be rewarded with some relevant gear for a Minion Army build, so I'd advise targeting this for leveling and endgame.
This build deals high damage to groups of enemies, making Helltides a breeze. You'll concentrate on powering up your minions and letting them do the heavy lifting while you cheer them on and give moral support.
For this build you'll not be dealing much damage yourself, your goal is to command your minions to do it for you and control the battlefield. Corpse Explosion is equipped to buff your minions and damage, Corpse Tendrils will group up your enemies and inflict vulnerable to tenderize them for your skeletons to finish the job.
Cast Decrepify to slow and weaken enemies, making them easier for your minions to destroy. Use Raise Skeleton and Golem intermittently if any minions go down, and save your Army of the Dead for tough encounters, as it's an incredibly powerful skill with a long cooldown.
The Necromancer also gets Book of The Dead from level 1, which you will level up throughout your journey to either power up or sacrifice your minions. For this build we want all our minions and a healthy golem to boost our health and damage. You'll get the quest to unlock the Golem ability at level 25 so do that as soon as it becomes available.
- Skeletal Warriors - Reaper - this will generate corpses for our corpse tendrils
- Skeletal Mages - Cold - this will generate essence so we aren't short on resource
- Golem - Blood - this will give us some healing and add another minion to our army
Best Necromancer Aspects, gear, and gems
Here are the Legendary Aspects we recommend looking for as you take this Necromancer build past the campaign and into the endgame.
For this build, there is only one Unique item you should keep an eye out for as you grind endgame activities like Nightmare Dungeons or Helltides. This can either drop naturally in-game, or if you want to increase your chances, go and farm Echo of Varshan under the Tree of Whispers.
You should also add these gems to your weapons, armor, and jewelry to get some valuable stat buffs.
- Weapon: Skull (extra Life on kill for you and your minions)
- Armor: Rubies (increase your % life)
- Jewelry: Diamond (extra resistance to all elements)
Best Diablo 4 Druid build guide: Leveling, endgame, and skills
There are lots of great Druid builds in Diablo 4 thanks to the incredible skill diversity in the class' kit. After experimenting with the Druid skill tree extensively — we've tried everything from a Werewolf setup with Rabies and wolf companions to an approach that was completely centered around Storm and Earth Magic — we've settled on a build that takes advantage of the Werebear form's brawling abilities and the amazing Pulverize AoE Core skill.
Early on, you'll use Storm Strike for the 25% damage resistance it provides to counteract the Druid's early game squishiness. Once you unlock and max out Rampaging Pulverize and pick up Earthen Bulwark for defensive utility, you can swap it for Maul. At this point, Pulverize will frequently Stun foes and deal Overpower damage, while Maul will ensure you're almost always in your tanky Werebear form.
After this, you'll take Trample for its value as a mobility and initiation tool, Mending for extra healing from potions, and Provocation for even more Overpower damage every 20 seconds. Next, get the Grizzly Rage Ultimate for the massive damage and damage resistance buffs the Ultimate gives you, along with passives that bolster your offense and defense like Wild Impulses, Predatory Instinct, and Iron Fur. Ursine Strength raises your health by 20% when you're in Werebear form (you very rarely won't be), so choosing this Key Passive for the build is a no-brainer.
The build truly starts to take off once you get some gear with the Offensive Aspect of the Ursine Horror and Utility Aspect of Quicksand on it (use the Codex of Power if you don't find the Aspects in the wild). The former transforms Pulverize into an Earth skill and adds tectonic spikes that deal damage-over-time (DoT) after each cast, while the latter Slows enemies hit by Earth skills by 25-50%. Together, these two Aspects make Pulverize even deadlier, give it additional utility, and make it compatible with powerful damage buff passives like Crushing Earth and Defiance.
Respec Raging Pulverize to Primal Pulverize (the Stuns it provides won't get much value anymore now that you're Slowing everything), and cap the build off with Stone Guard, extra levels of Iron Fur, and Defensive Posture for increased Fortify gains from all your Fortify-generating skills.
With your Renown skill points, fully upgrade Earthen Bulwark and invest in Safeguard for even more Fortify tankiness. Upgrading Trample to Natural Trample will help you get Fortify as well, and Circle of Life will make your Earth version of Pulverize restore lost HP with Mending-enhanced healing.
Best Druid Aspects, gear, and gems
In addition to the Aspects that are already crucial for the Pulverize build, these will enhance it even further.
And these are the Uniques that synergize with this build. Keep an eye out for them as you play through the endgame.
Finally, make sure you slot your gear with the following gems for bonuses that synergize well with this setup.
- Weapon: Ruby (adds Overpower damage)
- Armor: Sapphire (damage reduction while Fortified)
- Jewelry: Skulls (extra Armor points)
Best Diablo 4 Sorcerer build guide: Leveling, endgame, and skills
The Sorcerer is the best Diablo 4 class for dealing ranged damage, and overall, the Sorcerer skill tree is quite diverse. Ahead of launch, we favored a setup with a combination of Frost and Pyromancy, and for the Loot Reborn season we're returning to a build of Ice and Fire. If you're playing seasonal you'll be rewarded with some gear to boost a Sorcerer Incinerate build, and a new Flamethrower's Aspect will be added in Patch 1.4.0 to really set this build on...fire. Here's what skills to look for to get started with that.
As mentioned above, use Firewall for the first of your Enchantment Slots to generate more burning for the combustion passive. Then, enchanting Fireball will be a lifesaver for taking out large groups of small enemies.
Your skill loop here will involve dropping Blizzard, standing still, and channeling Incinerate (while rebuilding your resource with Fire Bolt). You will also use your defensive and movement skills, such as Teleport, as required.
Best Sorcerer Aspects, gear, and gems
These Legendary Aspects will enhance this build as you delve into the endgame, making it even more powerful.
As you continue to progress further and further into the endgame, you'll want to use these Uniques if you come across them.
To bolster your offense and defense, socket these gems into your equipment for their bonuses.
- Weapon: Amethyst (extra Damage over time)
- Armor: Ruby (for Maximum Life)
- Jewelry: Skull (Armor)
Best Diablo 4 Rogue build guide: Leveling, endgame, and skills
Rogue has become one of the most powerful classes in Diablo 4, and Twisting Blades has dominated the meta since launch as a levelling and endgame build. However, with Season 4 Loot Reborn, we're taking a different path. The Barrage Rogue is a balanced build for crowds and single-target damage, using both distance and mid-range to succeed. You'll also be rewarded with gear tailored to this build for playing the seasonal content, so why not invest early on?
Barrage itself shoots multiple arrows in a cone to hit multiple targets, but you can move in closer for a 'barrage' of damage on a single target. This build requires a lot of movement, but Rogues are fast, and you'll have Shadow Step equipped to zip you back and forth.
Rotation wise, you will be building your resource with Puncture and unleashing a Barrage of arrows on your foes, but you'll want to 'imbue' your shots first with either cold or shadow. Have Dark Shroud equipped at all times for the bonus movement speed, and use Shadow Step to close in on tougher, single-target enemies. Use Poison Trap for further damage, crowd control and resetting your cooldowns.
At level 15, you'll get a quest to complete to unlock your specialization. Complete this as soon as it becomes available and select the Inner Sight specialization for energy regeneration. Later when you have better gear and aren't struggling for resource, switch to Combo Points for the extra damage.
Best Rogue Aspects, gear, and gems
These Legendary Aspects will make this already-great build even stronger, so make sure you hunt them down as you move from leveling to endgame.
While slicing and dicing your way through Nightmare Dungeons and other endgame activities, keep an eye out for these Uniques.
Make sure to use these gems to gain some valuable bonuses to your attacks and defensive stats.
- Weapon: Emerald (adds Critical Strike damage to Vulnerable enemies)
- Armor: Topaz (damage reduction when control impaired)
- Jewelry: Skulls (adds extra Armor points)
Best Diablo 4 Barbarian build guide: Leveling, endgame, and skills
There are several good talents and setups you can put together with the Barbarian skill tree, but nothing tops a build centered around the mobility of the Lunging Strike Basic skill and the class' iconic Whirlwind Core skill. The former makes it incredibly easy to leap between targets and generate tons of Fury to use with the latter, allowing you to shred entire rooms of monsters to pieces in seconds with Whirlwind's deadly AoE.
In addition to your core rotation between Lunging Strike and Whirlwind, you'll also be using Leap whenever you need to quickly get away from a deadly attack while your evade is on cooldown or you want to start fighting an enemy outside of Lunging Strike's range. Additionally, you'll need to rely heavily on shout skills like Rallying Cry and War Cry for extra Fury generation, movement and attack speed, and protection whenever you're in the thick of the fray (these buffs are applied to nearby allies as well). When you need a little extra firepower, use the Call of the Ancients Ultimate to summon three spirit Barbarians that fight at your side.
You want Unbridled Rage as your Key Passive for significantly more Whirlwind DPS, along with a huge variety of different passives that improve your Fury generation, raise your offensive and defensive capabilities, and strengthen the effects of your shouts. All of these passives are listed in the table above.
One incredibly powerful skill that levels the build up even further is Hamstring, which makes your Battle Lunging Strike and Furious Whirlwind skills Slow enemies as they inflict Bleeding. This stops monsters from escaping your fury once you're in their face, and also allows you to infinitely take advantage of No Mercy's increased Critical Strike Chance against Slowed foes. You can take advantage of Hamstring even more if you use a two-handed sword for your weapon since its Arsenal bonus deals 20% of your damage as Bleed, or you could opt to use a two-handed axe for extra damage against the targets you make Vulnerable with the Pressure Point passive. Whichever weapon you choose, make sure you use the other's bonus in your Weapon Technique slot.
The best use of your extra Renown points is to max out Pressure Point and Thick Skin, while picking up some useful additional passives like Guttural Yell and Counteroffensive for further combat buffs.
Best Barbarian Aspects, gear, and gems
This Whirlwind build is incredibly strong on its own, but it'll perform even better in the late stages of the campaign and in the endgame with these Legendary Aspects.
Next, look for these Unique items as you progress into the endgame for better survivability and total damage output.
Round out your build by adding these gems to your gear, which will give you some solid stat bonuses.
- Weapon: Skulls (health on kill)
- Armor: Ruby (max HP increase)
- Jewelry: Skulls (extra armor points)
Diablo 4 is out now and is available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, Windows PC, PS5, and PS4. It's also just joined the library of Xbox Game Pass games. It's one of the best Xbox games for fans of dungeon crawlers and hack-and-slash combat, and we've been having an absolute blast with it.
