Season 5 has completely thrown the balance of Diablo 4 into disarray. The once overpowered Barbarians have slipped, while the laughed-at Sorceresses are suddenly on top. MyMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is pleased about this, but it makes the decision harder than ever.
Since August 6, Season 5 has been playable in Diablo 4, the season of the Hell Hordes. And from what I see so far, Blizzard has done everything right:
- The item rework from Season 4 continues, now all Uniques are significantly better than before.
- The endgame has more options; for the most important materials, I can visit the new content or continue farming the Pit.
- Hell floods have competition in terms of fun: the new dungeons are basically “Dopamine Tunnels” 2.0.
What surprises me the most is the new balancing. Blizzard has really cranked the screws with buffs, nerfs, and new items. You can find the details in the patch notes for Season 5.
In general, it can be said that the new best classes are Sorceresses and Hunters – exactly the classes that I enjoy playing the most.
As a “Sorc Enjoyer”, I have suffered quite a bit over the last 4 seasons. Sure, the builds are fun, but compared to the Barbarians with their 500,000 Life Points and fantastillions of damage, I have always been just a small flame.
Now my class is suddenly on top, and I don’t even know how to deal with it.
2 classes with 4 builds each in S-Tier
In the tier list with the best builds in Season 5, shortly after the start, Sorceresses and Hunters each have 4 builds represented. Sorceresses even have at least 3 builds in the following A-Tier.
This may sound like a luxury problem, but: what in hell should I actually play now? Until now, there may have been one or two builds per season that weren’t completely out of the race. Now I don’t even know which gear to farm first.
And what may be even worse: Do I remain loyal to my now seventh Sorceress, or will my main this season actually be a Hunter?
At the moment, I’m just playing and seeing what happens. As a Firewall Sorceress, it levels quite comfortably, and depending on the Uniques I find, I’ll then decide on my build in the endgame.
Sorceresses and Hunters dominate, but why?
The strength of Hunters and Sorceresses is due to new items and buffs. Sorceresses now receive significantly more damage per attribute point, just like Druids and Necromancers. Hunters at least get a bit more.
The “game-changer” is, however, new or revised items. For Hunters, especially the Umbracrux, a new dagger, which is included in almost every build. With the Unique, you summon totems that reflect your damage onto multiple enemies. Due to a bug, the powerful weapon even had to be disabled.
For Sorceresses, there are two items that I see in many strong builds:
- Splitter Verathiels, a sword that adds mana costs to base skills and increases their damage.
- Zersplittertes Winterglas, an amulet that buffs the spell Frozen Orb and is quite easy to obtain.
Most of the S- and A-Tier builds are based on one of these items and, what’s even better, they even allow for previously unseen builds. I can’t remember that the selection of strong builds in Diablo 4 has ever been so varied.
Season 5 has a pretty good balance – for now
At the moment, Sorceresses and Hunters are the two best classes – perhaps Hunters even have a bit more power. Nevertheless, at the moment, every class has at least one, usually even two or three builds in S- or A-Tier.
No matter which class you play: You will be able to keep up in the endgame. At least as it stands now, the tier lists are still adjusting. And even though Blizzard has promised to “generally” change nothing about the balance in the seasons, I sense a nerf for the Umbracrux. If I’m wrong, I’ll be even happier.
I’m currently pleased with the direction Diablo 4 is heading, even if I have to get used to suddenly playing a meta class. Do Barbarians always feel this way? Are all expecting some heroic deeds from me now? But if this continues, I foresee a bright future for Vessel of Hatred – and I’m almost a bit sad that Season 5 will probably be significantly shorter than usual. Because the expansion is coming soon. Here you can find all the info on Vessel of Hatred.
