Diablo 4 class tier list: All classes from best to worst (Season 9)

Curious to know our take on the Diablo 4 class tier list for Season 9? You’re in the right place! It’s no surprise that every Diablo 4 class offers unique gameplay experiences. Each class has its strengths and weaknesses and encourages specific play styles. 

Every major update has the potential to shake up class meta, so a good Diablo 4 tier list is ever-evolving. A historically inferior class may be at the top of the meta next season and become everyone’s go-to class for leveling up or endgame speed farming.

That said, choosing the best Diablo 4 build or class isn’t just about looking at the current meta. Several other attributes, such as the fun factor, play complexity, and even time commitment, can influence one’s decision. As such, we have diligently curated our Diablo 4 Season 9 tier list, in which we rank all classes based on a multitude of notable factors.

Updated on July 4, 2025: Please note that our Diablo 4 tier list acknowledges the class balance changes and improvements made by Blizzard in Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim.

Before we get into our Diablo 4 tier list for leveling up, you may want to first check our criteria for this tier list: 

Sorcerer is one of the most accessible and fun-to-play Diablo 4 classes. Its wide range of elemental abilities makes charging through most early-game stuff enjoyable and smooth. Also, since enemies don’t hit as hard as they do on torment difficulty, Sorcerer’s weak defense will not hinder your progress. 

In Season 9, Horadric Spells can make the Sorcerer’s power fantasy more appealing. Catalysts like Disintegrate and Cosmic Anomaly will have you unleashing laser beams and area of effect (AoE) detonations, perfect for wiping out enemies in Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons. Some of the best Sorcer leveling builds in Season 9 include Chain Lightning, Arc Lash, and Hydra.

After being on the side for two seasons, Spiritborn is back to being the most powerful class in Diablo 4 Season 9. It’s a fast-paced class that emphasizes both melee and ranged damage. Most Spiritborn builds have a good defense and boast strong damage output, irrespective of the Spirit Guardians you choose. That said, Spiritborn has a relatively complex playstyle compared to most classes and requires a ton of micromanaging.

In Season 9, Thorn builds are specifically powerful, thanks to the new Unique Balazan’s Maxtlatl. Furthermore, Horadric Spell Catalysts like Disintegrate and Cosmic Anomaly synergize well with top-tier leveling builds like Quill Volley and Evade.

Rogue has been consistently powerful in all Diablo 4 seasons, and not much has changed here. It’s still a tricky class to play, though most of its builds can easily clear early-game stuff.

Flurry is good for leveling up in Season 9, especially when paired with the new Unique Deathmask of Nirmitruq. Other builds include Dance of Knives and Barrage. For the Horadric Spell catalyst, we recommend Disintegrate for additional AoE damage.

Both Barbarian and Druid are strong endgame classes in Diablo 4 that are suited for Pit farming and boss encounters. However, their leveling experience remains underwhelming, mainly due to poor resource management, which doesn’t improve until you get the appropriate aspects and equipment.

For Druid, Pulverize is a decent leveling build. It’s easy to play and boasts strong defense, making it ideal for solo play. Furthermore, you can pair up Pulverize with the Celestial Surge Catalyst to make the build’s AoE damage more effective. 

Barbarian is the most straightforward melee class in Diablo 4. While it lacks the elemental prowess of Sorcerer and Druid, its relatively slow and methodical approach to combat is satisfying.

However, as mentioned above, it doesn’t offer an ideal leveling experience. You could go with Whirlwind. It’s easy to play and deals decent AoE damage. Furthermore, Whirlwind makes it easy to use the Disintegrate Catalyst effectively.

Here’s how we rank our Diablo 4 class tier for endgame:

Spiritborn is easily the most powerful endgame class in Diablo 4 Season 9. Whether it’s pushing high-tier Pits or taking down Astaroth in Escalating Nightmares, there are multiple Spiritborn builds that can do so with ease. 

As mentioned above, the new Unique Blazan’s Maxtlatl empowers Thorn and poison setups. Some of the best endgame builds include Rake, Thrash, and Quill Volley. Thrash is more relevant than ever, thanks to the basic damage buff in Season 9. Pair these up with new Horadric Jewels like Seal of Denial and Tyrant’s Bane to further boost Thorn and Damage Over Time (DoT).

Sorcerer has a few incredibly potent build options for the endgame in Season 9. The most important among them are Hydra and Chain Lightning. Hydra is an S-tier endgame build this season, courtesy of the new Unique Ophidian Iris, which lets you spam Hydra all over the arena. 

To make these builds more deadly, you can equip Horadric Jewels like Scornful Light to boost any elemental damage or Tyrant Bane to boost Hydra’s DoT damage. Sorcerer isn’t the best class for running high-level Pits on Torment 4 difficulty, especially solo, but the builds mentioned above should have no trouble clearing other endgame activities.

Unfortunately, the best Necromancer endgame builds from Season 8 aren’t as effective in season 9, courtesy of the massive Overpower nerf. That said, popular builds like Blood Wave and Minions are still strong enough to clear Pits, Nightmare Dungeons, and Escalating Nightmares. 

You can increase your Necromancer’s damage output by equipping Horadric Jewels like Scornful Light and Tyrant Bane.

It’s no surprise that Blizzard loves Rogue. Hence, despite several nerfs to its skills and passives in Seasons 5 and 6, this is still one of the best-performing classes in Diablo 4. Most of its builds are fast-paced, have good defense and resource regeneration, and can simultaneously inflict crowd control (CC) and AoE damage to enemies. 

While Death Trap got nerfed in Season 9, builds like Rain of Arrows and Twisting Blades are especially good at slaying bosses and clearing high-level Pits. You can hone them further by equipping Horadric Jewels like Elemental Brand or Tyrant Bane.

Druid and Barbarian got hit hard by the Overpower nerf in Season 9. Unlike last season, Cataclysm isn’t an S-tier Druid build anymore. Instead, you may want to run Pulverize, especially if you get the new Unique Rotting Lightbringer. It will not only let you unleash Pulverize twice in quick succession but also boost its damage. Furthermore, you can buff its damage by equipping the Elemental Brand or Scornful Light Horadric Jewel. 

None of the endgame Barbarian builds is ideal for pushing Pits, taking down lair bosses, or fighting Astaroth. However, it doesn’t mean they can’t get the job done. Thanks to the basic damage boost and the new Unique Hooves of the Mountain God, builds like Lunging Strikes and Flay are quite potent in Season 9. You can make them more effective by equipping the Mydriad Stone Horadric Jewel that boosts attack speed.

That sums up our Diablo 4 class tier list.

While you're here, why not check out our guide on how to level up fast in Diablo 4 for a quick recap?

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