Diablo 4 Class Changes Revealed After Beta Feedback

Diablo 4 players expectedly had a lot to say about the game after spending time with the open beta, and a lot of those conversations dealt with how the game’s various classes felt. The Barbarian, Necromancer, and Sorcerer in particular were frequent topics when it came to talks about classes with players saying that the Barbarian (and to an extent, the Druid) was too weak while the Sorcerer and Necromancer were easier to play than they should’ve been. In response to that feedback, Blizzard has since shared a rundown of what it plans to do in terms of changing up the classes ahead of the game’s launch.

All five classes are getting changed, Blizzard said, with specific buffs, nerfs, and adjustments being applied to each of them while a few other general changes will affect all classes. The Barbarian, for example, is getting flat damage reduction, and in some abilities’ cases, more damage and more efficient Fury usage. Necromancer’s Corpse Explosion was expectedly nerfed, and the damage of some Sorcerer abilities was reduced, too.

You can find all of the changes for the various classes listed below:

General

• Effects like Stun and Freeze can be applied to Elite Monsters twice as long before they become Unstoppable.
• Reviewed class skills to confirm that all classes have access to sufficient skills that remove control impairing effects.
• Many Legendary Powers have had updates to their effectiveness.

Barbarian

• A flat 10% passive damage reduction has been added for the Barbarian Class. Some Skill Tree passives had their damage reduction effects reduced to compensate.
• The Whirlwind Skill now deals more damage and consumes more Fury.
• The Double Swing Skill Enhancement refunds its full Fury cost when used on Stunned or Knocked Down enemies.

Druid

• Companion Skills will now deal heavily increased damage.
• All Ultimate Skills have had their cooldowns reduced.
• Usability improvements have been made to Maul and Pulverize.
• Using a non-Shapeshifting Skill will transform a Druid back into their human form.

Necromancer

• Summoned Minions will die more often, requiring players to utilize Corpses more often.
• Many bonuses in the Book of the Dead have had their stats increased.
• The damage dealt by the Corpse Explosion skill has been reduced.
• The brightness of the Skeletal Warriors and Mages has been reduced.

Rogue

• Upgrades for Subterfuge Skills have had their bonuses increased.
• Multiple passive Skills have had their bonuses increased.
• All Imbuement Skills have had their cooldowns increased.

Sorcerer

• Charged Bolt’s damage was increased and the Mana cost to cast has decreased.
• Decreased the damage of Chain Lightning and reduced its effectiveness against Bosses.
• Decreased the cooldown for the Incinerate Skill’s Enchantment bonus.
• Firewalls will now spawn underneath enemies more frequently when using its Enchantment bonus.
• Increased the Lucky Hit chance for the Meteor Skill’s Enchantment bonus.

Blizzard said it’ll be hosting a developer update livestream on April 20th, so tune in then to hear more about these beta changes as well as other topics of interest ahead of the game’s June release.