Diablo 4: Best Classes for Beginners

What starting Class should you choose?

Want to know what the best classes for beginners are in Diablo 4? Your choice of character is the biggest you'll make, determining how you'll play over the course of dozens (or hundreds) of hours. It's quite rude, then, that you're asked to make this decision right out of the gate. On this page, as part of our Diablo 4 guide, we won't pull any punches, giving you what are (in our mind) the best classes for beginners to get you into the game.

While it's perfectly possible to play through Diablo 4 with any class, at any skill level (provided you're willing to grind enough), at least to our mind, there are two characters clearly more suited to beginners, and that is the Barbarian and Necromancer. Of course, no shade is intended if you're a veteran and you play one of the below; rather, they're just both uniquely survivable!

The Sorcerer and Rogue, meanwhile, are extremely powerful glass cannons, dealing death in all directions, but they fall down like a paper tiger in a stiff breeze if not played correctly. There is an argument to be made for the Druid, but at the end of the day, we feel the Barbarian and Necromancer are the best classes for beginners in Diablo 4.

The Barbarian is a force of nature on the battlefield, indomitable and equipped for any situation, thanks to the versatility of the Arsenal system. Equipped for any situation, the Arsenal system allows the Barbarian to equip four weapons simultaneously, utilising any combination of two two-handed weapons and two one-handed weapons (dual-wielding). Outside of the options these give you, it's really fun to be swapping in and out different combinations as you find them (and can function as ad-hoc Inventory space in a pinch).

With a massive HP pool and a vast array of offensive and mobility-based skills at their disposal (such as Leap or Charge), Barbarians can be found in the thick of every fight. By keeping different types of magical weapons on hand, you can take advantage of elemental weaknesses, and as you learn to master the class, you can even assign specific weapons to specific skills, ensuring the most optimal weapon is used every time.

The Necromancer is a versatile caster, able to spec for close combat or ranged damage, and can rely on the support of a small horde of summoned skeletal Minions in combat. While not initially very powerful, these pawns will take the pressure off the player admirably, allowing a respite to put those necromantic powers to work as and where they're needed. Or failing that, you can sacrifice the ability to summon Minions for powerful and permanent buffs (like 30% extra damage to Weakened enemies, for example).

Beyond, the Necromancer can harness the power of Blood, Darkness, and Bone magic. All three disciplines feature powerful offensive magicks but spells like Bone Prison and Blood Mist allow for some crowd-control and utility spells as well. Whichever way you decide to build your necromancer (and if you need pointers, check out our Best Necromancer Builds), you will have a whole host of abilities at your command to deal with any situation thrown at you.

The Rogue is a powerful class in the hands of a skilled user, able to control the battlefield through the skilful use of Traps and deal a wide variety of damage types via Imbuements. With high mobility, dual-wielded swords and daggers, and Talents geared towards generating insane critical damage, it's a flamboyant playstyle, but not for the faint of heart.

For a more classic approach, you could focus on the Marksman's set of skills and employ a purely ranged playstyle. This makes you just as deadly from afar, nailing demonic foes with pinpoint accuracy and dealing insane damage precisely where it's needed. Of course, keeping the howling hordes of Hell in place long enough to do so is a challenge in its own right.

The Druid is a primordial conduit of Nature's wrath, capable of tearing the Earth asunder and restricting the movement of enemies. Once pinned down, the Druid can unleash the power of the Storm, raining Lighting upon hapless foes, blowing away what remains with powerful blasts of Wind.

When all else fails, the Druid can Shapeshift into a lithe and agile Werewolf, increasing their attack speed and critical rate. For more heavy-duty destruction, there's the option of the Werebear form, which deals massive area-of-effect damage to anything caught in its path, and vastly increases survivability.

The Sorcerer employs arcane magic to annihilate their enemies, chief amongst them the schools of Frost, Pyromancy, and Shock. Incredibly powerful, the Sorcerer is also exceedingly fragile and needs to be played cautiously, managing Mana and ensuring enemies don't live long enough to harm them.

Frost magic is ideal for crowd control, slowing the movement speed of enemies, and can even Freeze them in place. Pyromance is all about big, bombastic Fire damage geared towards inflicting maximum carnage. Finally, Shock magic might have the most utility, with Abilities that will reduce cooldowns, increase critical damage and, eventually, allow the Sorceress to Teleport safely out of harm's way.

Did you find this page on the best classes for beginners in Diablo 4 beneficial? Be sure to check out the rest of our useful Diablo 4 guide coverage.