Diablo 4 has returned, with an Early Access Beta being available for those who have pre-ordered the game to test out the new RPG. Keeping within a similar format of the third installment, Diablo 4 allows you to try out a variety of Classes at your own leisure to match your typical RPG playstyle that you would normally run. For its full release, five Classes will be available for players but within the Beta, players will only be able to try out three Classes: Rogue, Barbarian and Sorcerer. With the Beta ending 19th March, 2023, this guide will show you the best Builds in Diablo 4 for Rogue, Barbarian and Sorcerer.
Best Builds for each Class in Diablo 4
Rogue: Twisting Blades Build
The Rogue Class is known for its close-range combat with fluid and fast-paced agility to match the option of dealing damage from afar with long-ranged Weaponry that can either finish a weakened enemy or hit those all important beginning shots that provide an opening to punish a hoard. When fighting as Rogue, you want to utilize the dash as a means of attacking and wiping out hoards of enemies surrounding you. This will allow you to clear out mass amounts of enemies at once where you can then put your focus into the stronger, singular enemies.
Related: How to Upgrade Weapons and Armor in Diablo 4.
Base Build
- Shadow Clone
- Shadow Imbuement
- Shadow Step
- Twisting Blades
- Dash
The Twisting Blades move set goes as follows; you want to dash through the enemies, preferably a large amount of common enemies to utilize the Twisting Blades through your sweeping motion. The Shadow Imbuement will follow suit, dealing a 6 second duration of damage. By using the Shadow Clone, you movement will be copied for a duration of 15 seconds, meaning that any damage inflicted on opponents will be replicated once again with the Clone. The use of the Shadow Step will get you into the fight initially, or as a means of repositioning when you get surrounded. This will target a singular enemy and can also be used when going in for the kill on Bosses.
What the Twisting Blades Build does so well is save you from taking in any unnecessary hits. The Dash and Shadow Step allows you to either initiate a fight or move out of the way so that you can evade attacks whilst your Skills are on cooldown. This is a great Build for those who love to fight multiple enemies at once and leaving behind bodies as you sweep the floor with your repeated damage output in one set of attacks.
Skill Tree
- Invigorating Strike (1/5) – Enhanced Invigorating Strike
- Twisting Blades (5/5) – Enhanced Twisting Blades – Advanced Twisting Blades
- Dash (2/5) – Enhanced Dash – Methodical Dash
- Shadow Step (1/5) – Enhanced Shadow Step – Disciplined Shadow Step
- Shadow Imbuement (2/5) – Enhanced Shadow Imbuement
- Shadow Crash (1/5) – Consuming Shadows (3/3)
- Shadow Clone – Prime Shadow Clone – Supreme Shadow Clone
Legendary Aspects and Specialization
The best Legendary Aspect you can use is the Volatile Blades which can be imprinted onto your Weapon or Ring for an explosive damage which will perfectly compliment the Twisting Blades move set. Alternatively, use Shadowslicer to deal a minimum of 20% of your Base Damage as another Clone spawns to use Dash upon you executing Dash yourself. This will give you three sets of attack. For Specialization it is best to stay on Combo Points which will allow you to greatly increase your Base Skills for the Twisted Blades Build.
Rogue: Penetrating Shots Build
Base Build
- Penetrating Shot
- Caltrops
- Shadow Imbuement
- Shadow Step
- Dark Shroud
- Heartseeker
What this Build does differently to the Twisting Blades Build is that it focusses on the long-ranged Base Skills for its high damage output. This is best for players who like to rock the lone wolf, Legolas-type Build. With Legendary Crossbows imprinted with Arrow Storms to increase your chances of hitting those critical shots. This Build will never put you in harms way due to its Skills being used from a distance. You will not have to go through the enemies to kill them, unlike the Twisting Blades Build. For that reason, players may want to use this Build in favor of the Twisting Blades as the focus moves from agility in a fight to lining those heads up and knocking them out in one shot of the arrow.
Skill Tree
- Penetrating Shots (5/5) – Enhanced Penetrating Shots – Improved Penetrating Shots
- Caltrops (3/5) – Enhanced Caltrops – Methodical Caltrops
- Shadow Imbuement (3/5) – Enhanced Shadow Imbuement
- Dark Shroud (1/5) – Enhanced Dark Shroud – Countering Dark Shroud
- Shadow Step (1/5) – Enhanced Shadow Step – Disciplined Shadow Step
- Heartseeker (1/5)
Legendary Aspects and Specialization
Holding the Legendary Ring ‘Trickshot Loop‘ will enhance the Penetrating Shot Skill tremendously in battle. What the Penetrating Shots Build thrives in is its high damage output that can take down tons of enemies with only a single arrow spent. This Build is great for taking on Bosses such as Ashava in the Beta. Trickster’s would work perfectly here as the Legendary Aspect with the use of Calstops. These deal a minimum of 52 damage and stun enemies on impact.
Related: How Diablo 4 Transmog System Works.
Barbarian: Upheaval Build
Whilst this will likely change upon the Diablo 4’s full release in June 2023, the Barbarian Class appears to be the weakest by far. With many players testing out each Class within the Beta Early Access, big changes such as nerfs across specific Skills for Sorcerer Class will likely be implemented for the full release game. But from the Beta showing, the Barbarian does not stand a chance when fighting Bosses such as Ashava. But the Barbarian Class is for players who focus on Bleed and like to truly get invested and to be centre stage within a fight.
Base Build
- Frenzy
- Upheaval
- Rallying Cry
- Iron Skin
- Call of the Ancients
This Upheaval Build for Barbarian is fantastic for stacking damage. This is due to the Furious Upheaval which you need to max out in order to fully utilize this Build. When attacking enemies, every time you use the Base Skill of Combat Frenzy you will follow this up with Furious Upheaval which can stack the damage given by 10 with the initial 8% damage output. Using Defensive Skill Iron Skin gives you a chance to live longer and can save you multiple times within a fight. You will need all the defences you can get and by using the Iron Skin which will absorb any Missing Life, giving you more opportunities to fight. This will help you in all of the close-quarter fights you will be initiating in Diablo 4.
Skill Tree
- Frenzy (5/5) – Enhanced Frenzy – Combat Frenzy
- Upheaval (5/5) – Enhanced Upheaval – Furious Upheaval
- Imposing Presence (1/3) – Martial Vigor (3/3)
- Rallying Cry (1/5) – Enhanced Rallying Cry – Strategic Rallying Cry
- Call of the Ancients – Prime Call of the Ancients – Supreme Call of the Ancients
- Iron Skin (1/5) – Enhanced Iron Skin – Tactical Iron Skin
- Pit Fighter (3/3)
Legendary Aspects and Specialization
For Legendary Aspects, you should use Ancestral Echoes as the Skill Upheaval is a huge part of this Build where you will be utilizing this whenever possible. The aim is to get these lucky shots using Upheaval that has a base 40% chance of summoning an Ancient that will use Upheaval once again. As a lot of Points are needed for this Build, we recommend using the Combo Points Specialization.
Related: How to Unlock Exorcist’s Cache in Diablo 4.
Sorcerer: Frozen Orb Build
In regard to the Beta Early Access the Sorcerer Class is the best you can use. This Class thrives across all circumstances and gives you great damage output whilst having the best ability to get out of the action as you do not need to get close to attack. Similar to the Penetrating Shots Rogue Build, the Sorcerers are able to consistently bombard enemies with magical projectiles, whilst keeping the distance away from enemies so that you are not taking any unnecessary damage in a fight by overextending. The Sorcerer does best in Raid settings, where a lot of Rogue and Barbarian Builds have no choice but to get close to the Boss to get in those critical hits. But a Sorcerer does not need to do this at all.
Base Build
- Frost Bolt
- Frozen Orb
- Teleport
- Blizzard
The Frozen Orb Build thrives in a long-range combative setting. You will never need to get close to enemies using this Build as your Basic and Core Skills deal damage from far away. All you need to do then is focus on your positioning so that no enemy or Boss can get close enough to you to deal damage. The maxed out Frozen Orb will explode on impact, easily taking out hoards of enemies which is a regular occurrence in Diablo 4. You should keep moving around the environment to draw the enemies in so that you can utilize the Frozen Orbs abilities.
If you happen to be in a position where enemies are getting close to you or you have taken more damage than you had hoped in a fight, by using Teleport, you can quickly and easily reposition in a fight. This can save you from getting surrounded, especially in a moment when you are on cooldown.
Skill Tree
- Frost Bolt (2/5) – Enhanced Frost Bolt
- Frozen Orb (5/5) – Enhanced Frozen Orb – Greater Frozen Orb
- Teleport (1/5) – Enhanced Teleport
- Blizzard (1/5)
Legendary Aspects and Specialization
In regard to Legendary Aspects, players should either use Control which will allow you to deal more damage against frozen enemies, or Efficiency to reduce Mana cost on Core Skills which will be crucial for the Frozen Orb Build. For Specialization, players should use Inner Sight which gives you the ability to gain infinite Energy for a period of 4 seconds. This will massively help you in dealing repeated magical damage as you will need Mana often in battle within a short frame of time.
Sorcerer: Lightning Build
Base Build
- Spark
- Chain Lightning
- Ice Armor
- Hydra
- Blizzard
- Deep Freeze
This Lightning Build is for players who like to get a little more involved in a fight than keeping such a distance away from other players or the hoard of enemies itself. Similarly to the Twisted Blades, the Chained Lightning acts as a boomerang, ricocheting off of enemies and bouncing off of yourself and downed victims that it continues to spread across the land, wiping out all that is within its radius. Even when you are not pointing your Weapon to distribute Lightning on a foe, by shooting Spark out you will have Lightning bounce off walls and your character which can hit any enemies within close proximity to yourself. This gives you more options in escaping out of a fight if you need to.
Related: What Should You Inscribe on the Holy Cedar Tablets in Diablo 4? Answered.
The Hydra is a crucial part of this Build and can be used as the focal Skill in another Sorcerer Build for its high DPS and ability to be placed to attack any singular enemy. So this Skill is best used on Bosses as you continue to take out the lower levelled enemies inside the area.
We have chosen Ice Armor and Deep Freeze in this Build over Teleport to give you a different option when fighting. Instead of teleporting away, the Deep Freeze will allow you to stay still and use Spark, Chained Lightning and Hydra without taking damage from a nearby foe. What this means is that you can continue to fight even whilst getting hit, although temporarily as you are protected within a magical cloak of Ice. Although this Build requires a higher level and more Points to be able to max out and gain the Ultimate Skill Deep Freeze, it is well worth the wait for this high DPS Sorcerer Build.
Skill Tree
- Spark (2/5)
- Chain Lightning (5/5) – Enhanced Chain Lightning – Greater Chain Lightning
- Ice Armor (1/5) – Enhanced Ice Armor – Shimmering Ice Armor
- Hydra (3/5) – Enhanced Hydra – Invoked Hydra
- Blizzard (1/5)
- Deep Freeze (1/1) – Prime Deep Freeze
Legendary Aspects and Specialization
Recharging Legendary Aspect will replenish your Mana by gaining 4 Mana every time the Skill Chain Lightning is used. As this is your primary move for this Build, this Aspect will help you tremendously in regaining Mana back so you can keep hitting enemies with your magic. Alternatively, you can use Snowguard’s so that you take less damage within your own Blizzard. Once again, use Inner Sight for Specialization, especially in Sorcerer Builds where your Mana count is crucial.
That was our guide on the current best Builds in Diablo 4 for the Classes available in the Early Access Beta. Whether you are playing the Beta or preparing for Diablo 4’s full release on June 6th, 2023, we have a lot more news and guides available at Gamer Journalist to fulfil all of your RPG needs.
