League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics
Legends of Runeterra
Valorant
Lost Ark
Destiny 2
Diablo 4
Download APP
Home
Profile
Build Planner
Tier List
Builds
Overlay
Collapse
Diablo 4 Season 3 Class Updates and Balance Changes
The new Season of the Construct, is mere days away, and with it comes Diablo 4 Season 3 class updates. The January 18th Developer Campfire showcased many of the major highlights.
Full patch notes for the new Season will be released on the 19th of January, with the new Season following shortly after on the 23rd of January.
In this post, we’ll be covering the changes that were revealed and compare them to the class’s Season 2 meta.
Barbarian
In Season 2, Barbarian was powerful, topping a lot of AoZ ladders, especially with HoTA builds and using the buffed Overpower mechanic. In Season 3, things will be shifting for Barbarian a little as Overpower will be toned down.
One of our Barbarian Experts, Beatdropper, commented, “Senechal could be absolutely busted as Barb are easily the class with the mob self %dmg buff if those are taken into account for your senechal pet(dmg while berserk, all dmg, dmg vs close etc), physical dmg also with carefully chosen skillz, toss in the “Shaco” support stone (depending on shout changes) and we’re golden”
Even though they’re getting a hit to Overpower, things are looking strong in the Senechel department; they’ll also be getting a reasonable buff to their base damage. This means you’ll do more damage out the gate, but they’re shifting this damage from legendaries and other effects.
They’re also adjusting Shouts as players didn’t like how mandatory they felt with changes, as well as buffs coming to Charge and Key passives.
Sorcerer
Sorcerer got a massive boon in Season 2 due to what was a bug on Ball Lightning; with this getting fixed in Season 3, the Ball Lightning will likely be coming down in power a notch or two, but do not fret, as they’ll be seeing buffs in quite a few builds this season. We hope to see more diversity in builds compared to last season.
Sorcerers will be getting new Vulnerability options to clear up some of the pain points of the Sorcerer and Vulnerability application. Lightning Spear, in particular, will now apply Vulnerability on critical Strikes.
The Biggest change of note is that Meteor will be getting hit with some updates and buffs, as well as a new unique. Buffs to Elemental Summoner builds, specifically something on the Paragon Board that should make Summoner players happy.
Rogue
In Season 2, Rogue was considered powerful. Although maybe not as powerful as two other classes in particular, they didn’t have much build diversity and were heavily relegated to abusing a unique interaction for extra combo points, as well as Twisting Blades and Poison Imbue interactions that made it far more potent than other builds, these will all be getting hit going into Season 3.
The Rogue will see some buffs to underused skills, specifically ranged builds, to make them more viable, such as a buff to all the ranged uniques, the precision key passive, most notably is getting a rework with some things coming for Penetrating Shot.
Druid
Druid was broken last season, able to use some double-dipping mechanics to do some absurd damage; this allowed players to skyrocket to the top of AoZ. Unfortunately, mechanics like this will get hit in Season 3, and the Druid will no longer be able to Double Dip.
Though not all grim, our Druid expert Aceofspades commented, “Druids will be the best class to use Spear of Ahavarion, which will receive massive buffs via the new season journey, giving 60% Shrine Buff Duration. Shred also looks rather strong for speed farming with Spear of Ahavarion.”
As well as this, buffs targeting Spirit Boons, such as Prickleskin (Thorns), are coming through, with around a 4x increase. Rabies and Lightning Storm will see buffs and a new legendary for both.
Necromancer
Necromancer probably suffered the most in Season 2, coming in as one of the worst-performing classes in AoZ; However, although they weren’t incredibly weak, they were weaker than other classes and were slow to boot.
Blood and Iron Golem will now cleave a small area, similar to what the Bone Golen had done previously, and all golems, in general, will be seeing buffs on Necromancer.
A quality-of-life change to Bone Prison will be coming, allowing your minions and friends to walk into the Bone Prison. On top of that, there will be some Bone Spirit buffs and buffs to the Legendary Swelling Curse, giving Bone Spirit more Crit Chance and Spirit.
