The Diablo 4 Season 1 update buffs mainly target skills, passives, and aspects that are underutilized. That said, it’s difficult to look at the silver lining considering the substantial nerfs across the board to vulnerable damage, crit damage, and cooldown reduction. The majority of the most powerful and popular builds have been nerfed, so in a way the biggest buffs are to classes and builds that haven’t taken as a large of a hit than the others. There are of course specific buffs to various abilities that are worth considering to try and compensate for all of the nerfs. Here’s a quick look at which class as received the biggest buffs from the Diablo 4 Season 1 patch notes for Build 1.1
What class has the best buffs in Diablo 4 Season 1?
The Druid and the non-Hammer of the Ancients Barbarian received the best buffs in Diablo 4 Season 1.
To be clear, the Druid and Barbarian didn’t go untouched by the nerfs. Prime Grizzly Rage only grants Unstoppable for 6 second instead of its entire duration, and the Masochistic passive now requires a Lucky Hit chance. The Barbarian’s Hammer of the Ancients no longer deals crazy amounts of damage using the Aspect of Ancestral Heroes, and Hamstring now only slows healthy enemies.
However, the Barbarian has received numerous buffs to Rupture and Ground Stomp, many underutilized aspects, and Gohr’s Devasting Grips now explodes every 2 seconds or after it ends. The Whirlwind Barbarian still looks a viable build. Druids have also received general buffs to a handful of aspects as well as the Cataclysm skill.
Pouring through all the class adjustments and fixes in the Season 1 patch notes, the Sorcerer has received the largest nerfs with the fix to Aspect of Control and the damage reduction of the Destructive Blaze passive. The Rogue has gotten some buffs to Penetrating Shot and Puncture, but the change of Siphoning Strikes now requiring a Lucky Hit severely lowers their overall survivability. The Bone Spear Necromancer has also been nerfed quite a lot, with some buffs made to Corpse Explosion and Blood Lance.
Here’s hoping that the Malignant Hearts in Season 1 will make up for the nerfs, though many non-seasonal characters in the Eternal Realm will surely feel the impact of this update.