Diablo 4: Season of the Malignant has been out for a while now, and it evokes a mixed bag of emotions. While the balance patch that went live at the start of the season still stings, there are plenty of viable builds out there whether you are looking to level up the season pass or are planning to push Nightmare Dungeon tiers. Currently, four of the five classes are viable for high-tier Nightmare dungeons with Sorcerer being the only exception. With a bunch of Sorcerer buffs coming, I would recommend holding off on playing the class for now and trying out something else instead.
Rogue
Rogue is possibly the best class in the game right now and is challenged only by Druid. The class has plenty of crowd control and damage and the one build that stands out to me is Death Traps. It feels like a better version of the highly popular Twisting Blades Rogue. The one big differentiator between Twisting Blades and Death Traps is that the latter offers a slower playstyle which might not be to your liking if you have been maining Twisting Blades from the start.
Death Traps focuses on a slower but hard-hitting playstyle. It is comfortable to play and more appealing to players who are new to the class. The build begins to shine past level 50 when you get some paragon points going into your build but it struggles
You should play Rogue if:
- You enjoy crowd control builds
- You want to offer your co-op teammates group utility
- You want infinite Ultimate uptime
- You want to deal massive amounts of damage
Barbarian
Thorns Barbarian with the Caged Heart of Revenge and Caged Heart of Ignoring Pain feels incredibly fun to use. You get to enjoy the same melee playstyle we’ve grown to love but with a unique twist. You get enemies to attack you and die to their own damage. Some of the Caged Hearts work really well with Thorns Barbarian builds and it might take a while to get the right setup.
It is also a great PvP build and anyone foolish enough to attack you will get turned to ashes in seconds. You can sometimes stand still and bait other players into attacking you and they will end up getting one shot.
You should play Barbarian if:
- You want to play as a tank class
- You don’t enjoy managing cooldowns and want a relaxed experience
- You want a build with no Uniques
Druid
Tornado Druid continues to dominate the meta with its simple playstyle and massive AOE damage. This is a weird class to evaluate as the go-to build if you do not have Tempest Roar would be Lightning Shred. But if you do manage to get a copy of Tempest Roar, then Tornado Druid is on a whole other level.
The reliance on Tempest Roar is worsened by the fact that it is quite rare and I had to level my Druid all the way to 93 before I got my first drop of the season. If you do not mind being at the mercy of RNG, I recommend going for Tornado Druid for endgame clears. Season 2 will add a way to target farm exotics which should hopefully alleviate the issue in future seasons.
You should play Druid if:
- You enjoy self-sustaining characters
- You want to play a tank class
- You want high mobility
Necromancer
Bone Spear Necromancer’s infamous damage has been gutted to the ground, and the archetype’s survivability is not the best. Despite the nerfs, Bone Spear Necromancer is one of the best builds out there if you are looking for massive single-target damage. But if you are looking for something new to try out, we recommend giving Infinimist a try.
The Infinimist builds doing the rounds in Season of the Malignant are a lot faster at AOE clearing than previous Season 0 counterparts, thanks to Caged Heart of the Decrepit Aura. The heart ensures that enemies are constantly hit with Decrepify, which synergizes really well with the rest of the build and helps you reduce cooldowns and maintain permanent Blood Mist uptime.
You want to play Necromancer if:
- You want a tanky build that is also fast
- You want massive AOE damage
- You enjoy a proactive playstyle
What About Sorcerer?
Sorcerer is in a weird spot right now. The class offers an incredibly comfortable experience when going from level 1-50 but things come crashing down as you get to the endgame. It might sound like we are exaggerating, but the fact that the class is forced to use multiple defensive tools to stay alive
While you get to enjoy a proactive character with high burst damage and mobility, the nerf to the Cooldown Reduction has impacted all of the popular Sorcerer archetypes and I do not recommend the class to new players right now, especially if you have not tried all of the other classes yet. Blizzard will buff the class soon and hopefully, the devs are able to enable at least a couple of viable endgame builds for Sorcerer players.
Know Your Goals Before Finalizing A Build
Not every player wants to push all the way to Nightmare Dungeon Tier 100 or take on Uber Lilith. You can essentially make any class or build work as long as it has enough synergy and offers sufficient damage that meets your expectations.
My go-to recommendations for this season would be Druid or Rogue, and I would lean more towards Rogue due to the proactive playstyle and lack of reliance on Uniques. The class has top-tier damage and performs well in almost any situation. The best part about Rogue is that if you want to re-spec into a different build, it is not that expensive to do so, considering a lot of the core kit remains the same across builds.
At the end of the day, you should play what gives you the most enjoyment in the game. If you want to go all mad scientist and come up with a build of your own, feel free to do so as that is exactly what the seasonal model in Diablo 4 is meant to offer.
