As with any major patch, upcoming Season 14 brings significant balance changes to existing classes and builds in Diablo 4. The aim of these balance changes is to catch any outliers and bring them down to a more reasonable level, while at the same time boosting underperforming classes and making them more competitive.
Paladin fans can be cautiously optimistic with the new patch, as the class is getting some much-needed buffs across the board. Paladin items, skills and Oaths are all getting a big power increase, which will affect every build.
Barbarian players, on the other hand, may not care too much. Barbarians have been the top class in Season 13, so the nerfs to their performance have been expected. With major readjustments to Barb items, skills and most notably aspects, every top Barbarian build has been affected. And while you might expect this to have an impact on the meta, Barbarians look as strong as ever, and are expected to take the top spot again next season, with Rogues in close second.
Warlock, on the other hand, is in an unusual spot. The newest class in the game continues to struggle, with projections placing it dead last in terms of viable endgame builds.
Overpower is performing too well in Season 13, so devs are looking to bring down Overpower options for all classes, especially the Dominate glyph.
While this breakdown is a result of analyzing patch changes and PTR testing, unexpected builds always emerge much stronger than expected, as players discover new interactions and mechanics. The new Mythic Seal and its three Unique Charm slots will likely be the difference maker. Below is the overview of balance changes for every class, and what you can expect in Season 14.
Barbarian
The most significant change is the one pertaining to the Limitless Rage aspect. Until now, all top Barbarian builds have been using this aspect to massively scale up their damage, by stacking as much Fury as possible. Season 14 curbs this aspect to just a fraction of its power.
In S13, each point of Fury generated equaled up to 1.5%(x) damage increase. Now, this changes to 0.20%(x) instead. Furthermore, a new cap is introduced which will allow this aspect to grant a damage bonus up to a maximum of 350 Fury generated.
While this nerf is significant, there are buffs in other areas coming to Barbarian. Talisman bonuses now give more damage, while Wrath of the Berserker gets a boost as well, in hopes of promoting more Ultimate choices late-game.
Barbarian is looking to dominate the meta yet again, with Whirlwind Barb projected to be the top Diablo 4 build for a second season in a row.
Druid
Underperforming in Season 13, Druid is looking to be one of the stronger classes emerging into Season 14, with strong buffs across the board.
Boons are getting some much-needed attention, with Scythe Talons doubling in critical strike chance bonus. Devs are hoping to promote lesser-used skills, so items speaking to Boulder, Cataclysm, Claw and Petrify have all been buffed.
Many Druid fans will not like heavy nerfs to Companions. One of the strongest Druid builds last season will be heavily impacted by the nerf to the Shepherd’s Aspect, with its damage bonus going from 13%(x) down to 3%(x).
Lightning Storm and Shred are expected to dominate Druid leaderboards as the new season launches.
Necromancer
Necromancers have been enjoying a good balance of builds in Season 13. Next season, however, brings meta shakeups. Necromancers will struggle a lot with nerfs to Overpower. Red Blessing and Banished Lord’s Talisman nerfs will be especially difficult to manage.
Overpower stacking is still expected to dominate, but this time it will be much harder and more expensive to hit the right rolls. Top builds will have to get a max roll on their Mythic Banished Lord’s, while also having a high roll on Red Blessing in their charm slot. Final step would be to transfigure Tidal aspect on the amulet, for a huge increase of maximum Overpower stacks.
The strongest power spike for Necromancers is the upcoming fix on Lidless Wall, which did not properly increase Critical Strike Damage based on the number of active Bone Storms. With this fix, Necro builds that can use Bone Storm (i.e. those not using other Ultimates), will see a huge rise in power, not just from Lidless, but also through major bonuses offered by Bone Storms themselves – more Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed.
On the other hand, Blood Wave and Army of the Dead builds are expected to fall behind as a result. Blood Wave was an S tier build in S13, but now it will struggle with getting a high Critical Hit Chance that is crucial for its performance. This is mainly due to the absence of guaranteed Crit Chance rolls on Heir of Perdition and Ring of Starless Skies.
New Mythics also bring massive buffs to other builds. Mythic variant of Pact of Bone will easily cap both Crit Chance and Attack Speed for minion builds, while Blood Moon Breeches with their guaranteed Critical Strike Damage roll will be the best in slot item for every build but Blood Wave.
Nerfs to Glynn’s Anvil aspect and Resolve stacking will leave Necromancers struggling with survivability, once again. Bone Storm’s Barrier option will be a good solution.
Necromancers have every right to be excited about Season 14. While Blood Wave will no longer dominate like it used to, bug fixes and item changes open a lot of variety, and Bone Storm will be the biggest star of the show.
Paladin
Paladin was one of the worst performing classes in Season 13 in terms of power and Pit clears. As a result, this patch has a big focus on bringing up the fan-favorite class. All Paladin Oaths are getting some much-needed buffs, which should increase the viability of all builds. Judicator Oath now grants the max damage bonus immediately, with no stacking required.
Defensive options are also getting an upgrade – Defiance Aura grants more Armor and Resistances, while Aegis now gives an Armor bonus while it lasts.
Plenty of underused skills might now see some action – Zenith, Shield Charge, Brandish and Heaven’s Fury are all getting major buffs through damage values, item changes or both.
One thing Paladin players will not like, however, is Blizzard nerfing Thorns builds, especially since Shield of Retribution build was the strongest Paladin option in Season 13.
While these buffs are extensive, early projections give Paladins little hope to be competitive in the S tier once again, with only Arbiter Wing Strike showing some promise.
Rogue
Rogues were in a solid spot in Season 13, with multiple high end builds to choose from, but none of them being an S-tier build. This may change in Season 14, which is poised to be the Season of the Rogue. Based on the patch notes and PTR testing, Rogues have quickly risen as the top contenders in class rankings and viable builds in the Endgame.
In Season 13, two of the best Rogue builds were Penetrating Shot and Fan of Knives, and they’re still looking quite strong. Next patch, however, will likely see the rise of Death Trap as the leading Rogue endgame builds once more.
Devs are also hoping to see Flurry in the leaderboards, as it received several significant buffs.
It is a very good time to be a Rogue player right now.
Sorcerer
Sorcerer has been an S-tier class in Season 13, going toe to toe with Barbarian, and even surpassing them in terms of viable builds in the Endgame. In season 14, however, Sorcerers will be brought down a notch.
A significant nerf comes in the form of Unstable Currents. A Sorcerer ultimate, used for all top Sorc builds in S13, is getting readjusted, as it will now only increase Crackling Energy damage. Aspects of Armageddon and Overwhelming Currents are also suffering a nerf as well.
On the other hand, Fire Sorcerer builds are getting a major damage boost. Meteor, Hydra, Firewall and Fire Ball should all be a lot more competitive, and the top Sorcerer build of the season will probably emerge from one of these.
Sorcerer is always a good option for players who enjoy dishing out elemental carnage with incredible mobility, but don’t expect them to dominate the Endgame like they used to.
Spiritborn
Spiritborn in Season 13 has also been one of the worst performing classes. However, Evade Counterswarm still managed to be one of the strongest builds of the season. This changes in Season 14, as heavy nerfs to Evade builds will leave them uncompetitive late game.
The new patch notes offer some buffs to Razor Wings and Payback, but nothing too exciting to really move the needle for the class.
Out of the several potential builds emerging to Season 14, Soar Swarm is looking to be the strongest, and has the most potential. We’ve also ranked Withering Fist in S Tier as well. These builds may not rank Spiritborn among top classes in Season 14, but if you enjoy the unique playstyle that Spiritborn offers, you will have no problem blasting through T12 and completing the Season objectives.
Warlock
Warlock has had a very bizarre journey through the class rankings. When Lord of Hatred first released, it was slightly overperforming, which is to be expected from any new class in the game. Apocalypse Warlock was especially strong.
However, with several patches and tweaks that happened soon after release, Warlock was steadily declining in power and ended up in last place for high-performing endgame builds.
Patch notes offer little hope of that changing. Survivor Damage upgrade for Apocalypse suffered a justified, but severe nerf, as did Cremator’s Aspect. But the biggest nerf to Warlock likely came with the reduction of Chain of Horazon’s 2-piece Set Bonus – those using Ae’grom Soul Shard demon will now only receive 10%(x) increased damage from an active Greater Demon, down from 15%(x).
As with other classes, Overpower stacking has been nerfed, so Command Valloch now gives fewer stacks.
Shadow Warlock builds on the other hand managed to survive the nerfs mostly untouched, and they are likely to be the top Warlock builds in Season 14. Builds such as Dread Claws, Abyss Rampage and Infinistep are expected to take a much bigger role, and they will have you comfortably blasting T12. Unfortunately, just like with Spiritborn, Warlock builds will still hit their ceiling much sooner than other classes.