Each of the six classes in the new franchise game has its own style, strengths and weaknesses: Arcanist, Demon Hunter, Necromancer, Barbarian, Crusader and Monk. Here is a general guide, with the elements to consider for your choice.
Choosing your class is a dilemma that often comes up in games, particularly RPGs, and is also the case in Diablo Immortal. For those who always play with the same class in the different games of the franchise this may not be a problem, but it is an important choice for many other players. There are a number of factors to consider if you want to become one of the best players, so we made this guide to help the undecided.
Understand each Class
Before getting into the details, know that your preferences are the most important. There are no major imbalances between classes in Diablo Immortal. And even if different classes are more or less efficient in specific areas, you will normally never be significantly disadvantaged by your class choice.
Melee or distance
Traditional tank, DPS, and healer/support roles aren’t as present in Diablo Immortal. Each class has damage capabilities with hybrid elements. Some have more buffs and party support skills, others have more control skills, or mobility, etc.
The biggest distinction is in the distance the character will fight. There are different builds possible for each class, but the variety is less than in some of the other Diablo games, and of course some classes are better suited for melee combat than ranged combat and vice versa. This is probably the most important thing to consider after which class you like best. Melee ones are closer to the action, so they are much more exposed to attacks, both in PvE and PvP. To compensate, they are also more robust. These are: Crusader, Barbarian and Monk.
Ranged classes have the advantage of being safer as they are further away from combat, so you’ll take less damage and have a little more time to react. On the other hand, they are more fragile than melee classes. That would be the case for Arcanist, Demon Hunter and Necromancer.
An additional distinction is in attack types, melee classes favor more AoE damage, while ranged classes are better at single target DPS. But again, this rule is not absolute, all classes have decent attacks in AoE and single target.
Solo or Group
Before talking about the classes, let’s also mention the playstyle. Diablo Immortal will encourage you to do a little bit of everything every day, from farming, events, quests, dungeons, battlegrounds, with PvE, PvP activities etc. You can do a lot of this yourself, but some activities involve four or even more than eight players.
Barbarian
The franchise’s brave and savage warrior is once again present, with gameplay similar to previous titles. Melee combat is therefore favored over ranged. This is probably the most OP class in the game (to date), plus it has good AoE abilities like the Tornado, which lets you deal damage while moving. She also has several party buffs with Shouts, and she proved to be formidable in both PvE and PvP in the beta. That makes her a solid choice anyway.
Demon Hunter
With a crossbow in his hand, the Demon Hunter is considered the best single target DPS in the game, which immediately makes him a very attractive choice for many players, as bosses are extremely important in Diablo Immortal.
Being able to inflict high damage while keeping your distance makes it a great solo class, but it all comes at a price: the Demon Hunter’s mobility is perhaps the worst in the game, and it’s also the most fragile class. Its party bonuses are also pretty poor compared to others, but the DPS makes up for it.
Crusader
This heavily armored knight is probably the closest thing to a tank in this game, but don’t think that’s his only role.
It’s an incredibly mobile class thanks to its Steed Charge ability that allows it to cut through hordes of enemies and unleash powerful zone attacks in all directions.
Crusader has great party bonuses, which also makes him the best pseudo support. For players who want to combine roles and features, this is an excellent choice: mobility, survivability, AoE, support. His single-target attacks are by far the worst in the game and he’s also heavily reliant on having his abilities off cooldown. In summary, this is definitely the best class to play in a group.
Wizard
The Wizard also returns in Diablo Immortal with his vast arsenal of elemental spells. If you like combos this class is a treat to play – freezing a group of enemies, stunning them with lightning, and spraying them with a meteor to finish them off is the core of the gameplay.
This is a class with very varied gameplay, which combines both excellent AoE damage with good single target damage. If you add good mobility with instant-range teleportation, it looks pretty good, right? The problem is that many of his techniques are skillshots, which means you have to aim them well, with the right timing, to create a combo, which is not always possible.
That’s why the difficulty of playing well with a Wizard is greater than for other classes, and this also makes PvP difficult. The Arcanist is also terribly reliant on its cooldowns, which can leave you off guard.
Monk
This fast and agile fighter is a master of martial arts who uses his fists, feet and holy skills to decimate demons.
It’s a melee class with some control tools, like the ability to herd enemies together before inflicting AoEs on them, all with excellent mobility.
The flip side of the coin is that this fast-paced style of play requires performing combo attacks, which isn’t always easy or possible.
Its single target damage is also a little low. As you would expect from Monk, he also offers good party contributions with shields and buffs. We could not forget to specify that he is interesting in PvP, as he will be able to position other players, which can be absolutely formidable.
Necromancer
Finally, the Necromancer and his undead summon are also in the game. He stands out from other classes thanks to his pets that will tank a bit and deal damage while releasing his curses and various unholy spells.
In addition to his exotic gameplay, he has good group contributions and effective control techniques in many situations. As a bonus, the class is played from a distance, which makes it a very powerful one early in the game, even if the gap tends to narrow later on.
While this is a ranged class, it also tends to have to play relatively close to enemies, which leaves it more exposed. Popular builds also tend to sacrifice mobility in favor of the ultimate.
