Highlights

  • Diablo 4 Season 3 needs to make significant changes to the class meta to make the new endgame challenge, The Gauntlet, worthwhile for all classes.
  • The game's Rogue class has been consistently strong, but other classes need to be brought up to its level of versatility and rewarding gameplay.
  • Tanky classes like Barbarian and Druid need early-game leveling buffs to address their slow leveling and make the gameplay experience smoother for new players. Necromancer and Sorcerer classes also need buffs in certain areas for improved gameplay in Season 3.

As Diablo 4 is wrapping up its Season of Blood and looking towards the start of Season 3, there are a variety of changes players are hoping to see in the upcoming season. Some of the changes Blizzard plans to implement for Diablo 4 in Season 3 were teased at Blizzcon 2023 and include a new endgame challenge called The Gauntlet along with leaderboards that allow players to show off their skills in tackling this challenge. However, with the addition of this new endgame activity, there needs to be some significant changes to Diablo 4's class meta to make participating in it worthwhile for all classes.

While the addition of a new Diablo 4 class in the Vessel of Hatred expansion is sure to shake up the game's meta, this content expansion isn't slated for release until late in the year. As such, Blizzard needs to find a way to keep Diablo 4's class meta fresh in the next few seasons to hold players over until Vessel of Hatred is released. Luckily, there are a few classes in need of attention in Season 3 that could breathe new life into their builds with a few adjustments in the upcoming season.

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Changes Diablo 4's Class Meta Needs to Make in Season 3

The Current State of Diablo 4's Class Meta

Since the game launched back in June 2023, Diablo 4's Rogue has consistently been one of the best classes in the game. It excels at both early-game leveling as well as endgame boss farming and Nightmare Dungeons thanks to its versatile moveset, diverse build variety, and high skill ceiling. While the Rogue class shouldn't necessarily receive a nerf in Diablo 4 Season 3, Blizzard should work to ensure other classes are brought up to be on par with the same versatility and rewarding high-skill gameplay the Rogue has seen thus far.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Diablo 4's Barbarian has been in a tough spot throughout the Season of Blood due to the changes made to damage buckets this season. Previously, Diablo 4 Barbarians could reach ridiculous levels of damage thanks to how the game calculated Critical Hits, but in Season 2, many damage types were changed to be additive instead of multiplicative, resulting in an overall nerf to Crits and builds that utilized them. This left some of the best Barbarian builds in the dust, while other builds that focused on Overpower damage were in a better overall position, though the class itself still felt sluggish to play.

How the Meta Could Be Improved in Season 3

The biggest change Blizzard could make to improve the Diablo 4 class meta, especially for new players, is to buff early-game leveling for tanky classes like Barbarian and Druid who suffer from slow leveling due to the nature of their play style. Most of the builds for these classes rely on Legendary Aspects and passives unlocked at higher levels in order to reach their full potential, but players likely won't be able to access them until they reach somewhere around level 30. To compensate for these issues, Blizzard should buff the damage done by these classes' Basic and Core skills at early levels to ensure players can make it through that early-game grind more smoothly.

Two other classes that could use some buffs in Diablo 4 Season 3 are the Necromancer and Sorcerer. While they both received some improvements in Season 2 that made Ball Lightning Sorcerers and Bone Spear Necromancers quite powerful, some improvements could be made to other build types for these classes in Season 3. Necromancers still need their minions buffed to make a pure summoner build more viable, and the Sorcerer's Fire skills and general survivability still need some work, making them the areas Blizzard should target for improvement in Diablo 4 Season 3.