Ever since update 1.1.0a drastically affected how powerful Diablo 4 character classes were for the worse, players have been scrambling to put together the perfect Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List. Whereby all five character classes are ranked in order of effectiveness for their use in Season of the Malignant.

If you’re a curious player seeking the best Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List, then we’ve put together our own personal ranking that is in no way endorsed by Activision Blizzard. Our Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List is based on how effectively you can progress through Season of the Malignant, making the most of your time and effort.

Tier S - The Necromancer

Of all the character classes that were just nerfed in the recent update, the Necromancer was the least affected and by default tops our list of the Diablo 4 Season 1 tiers.

This is a massive change compared to the previous rankings whereby the Barbarian, Whirlwind specifically, was almost guaranteed to top every list. It’s the Necromancer’s Bone Spear build that is one of the smoothest to take advantage since the new update placing high emphasis on distance play and generating high levels of critical hit strike damage.

Both these aspects working in tandem should make running through Malignant Tunnels more of a breeze than it otherwise would be, ensuring that corpses are easy to generate fast, which is what the entire class is built around.

Tier A - The Sorcerer

next up is the Sorcerer.

Famously, the class so-called casual players tend to gravitate towards, Diablo 4’s Sorcerer might be somewhat of a glass cannon. In that, it can’t withstand a great deal of damage.

But this is more than made up for by the Ice Shard character build. It’s incredibly effective despite the recent nerf due to its tendency to imbue enemies with both Vulnerable and Frozen temporary states.

The Ice Shard Sorcerer takes the position of A tier on our list because of its ability to deal out mass amounts of damage to a wide group fast, mainly due to those passive states that stack and take great effect. You can harvest a lot of Diablo 4 Gold for this.

As is always the case with this class, though, keeping it alive remains a challenge. But the hope is that you never let enemies get this close in the first place.

Also Read: How To Quickly Level Up Necromancer Build In Diablo 4 Season 1?

Tier B - The Rogue

Always, the favorite for Diablo players who prefer doing their demons laying up close, the Rogue class comes in as the third best to use as part of our Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List.

It’s the Twisting Blades build, specifically, that will be the most useful for players jumping into Season of the Malignant. There is a type of Rogue that does well from afar. But, generally, it’s the Twisting Blades variant so far for now that will always outperform it.

Not only does the Twisting Blades Rogue offer a great deal of Mobility to help you get out of potential danger quicker, but it also benefits from fairly high damage output.

Sure, it requires a good amount of cooldown management to enjoy the full benefits. But it’s a solid class choice for Diablo 4 Season 1, only coming in under the Sorcerer slightly due to the damage potential being a tad less.

Tier C - The Druid

The Druid will always be one of the tankiest classes available to play in Diablo.

But the recent nerfs introduced by the update mean that the cost of maneuverability is higher than ever before. That’s why the Pulverize Werebear Druid build is second from the bottom of our Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List for Season of the Malignant.

We’ve gone for the Pulverize Werebear Druid build specifically. Because despite the drastically lower damage output compared to before, the Pulverize ability is still somewhat effective at controlling enemies due to its high area of effect impact.

When wielded alongside a smart Druid Spirit Boons setup, you can even improve its overall defense without having to sacrifice that all-important critical damage.

Tier D - The Barbarian

Now, this won’t be a popular position for the ever popular Barbarian class.

But the fact is the class has suffered enormously from Activision Blizzard’s recent stat changes. It’s simply not as user-friendly or effective in the endgame as it once was. That said, though, the Whirlwind Barbarian character class build still has plenty of perks.

Despite the fact that, in its current state, the Barbarian cannot compete with the other Diablo 4 classes on pure damage output. It’s not completely impossible to have a good time chasing down Malignant Hearts, providing you focus on the Whirlwind skill tree path.

Combined with different types of shouts, you should be okay at managing the Demon Hordes if only this class wasn’t so slow to level up in the early hours. But it does have the potential to pay off.

So, there you have it for our specific Diablo 4 Season 1 Tier List, designed to specifically help you manage the hunt for Malignant Hearts during Diablo 4’s debut season.