Diablo 4’s Most Popular Class Shouldn’t Be a Surprise
Diablo 4's most popular class probably won't surprise anyone who has been playing the game.
Each of Diablo 4‘s five classes (Necromancer, Barbarian, Druid, Rogue, and Sorcerer) offer a worthwhile way to experience the game. Yes, some are more powerful than others, but the unique nature of each class’ playstyle makes it easy to argue for any of them when it comes to a “fun factor” debate. However, we now know what the most popular class in Diablo 4 is at the moment, and it really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Diablo producer Rod Fergusson has been having a great time on Twitter since Diablo 4‘s recent release. Why shouldn’t he? The game has not only quickly garnered widespread critical acclaim but is, by all accounts, absurdly popular. Diablo 4 has already become the fastest-selling Blizzard game ever, and Fergusson even recently revealed that Diablo 4 continues to break its concurrent player count records.
That’s not all Fergusson revealed, though. Late last night, Fergusson seemingly broke PR protocol by confirming that the most popular class in Diablo 4 so far is the Sorcerer/Sorceress.
Some seem a little surprised by that reveal, but I’m honestly not sure why. Not only do you tend to see a lot of Sorcerers while you’re playing Diablo 4, but it was pretty obvious that they were going to be incredibly popular in the weeks leading up to the game’s release.
Why is the Sorcerer Diablo 4‘s most popular class? The most likely reason for the class’ popularity at the moment is their power level. During the Diablo 4 betas, Sorcerers and Necromancers were considered to be the two strongest classes in the game by some distance. Both got nerfed since then, but Sorcerers remained quite strong while Necromancers took a pretty noticeable hit to their overall power level in ways that made the class less enjoyable to play.
More importantly, Sorcerers are powerful in two areas that probably matter most to a lot of players: solo-play and leveling. Sorcerers are pure damage machines, which means that they don’t bring a lot to a party besides raw damage. However, that also means that they don’t need a lot of help from other players either. Even better, Sorcerers are probably the best option for anyone looking to reach level 50 (the rough start of Diablo 4‘s “endgame”) as quickly as possible. They’re not really dependent on the quality of the gear they receive, which means that you don’t have to worry about getting the absolute best drops as some other classes do. Honestly, a few of the Sorcerers’ basic abilities will carry you through most of the early game.
Beyond all of that, Sorcerers are incredibly fun to play. Their magic-based attacks are visually impressive and always feel good to unleash against massive packs of foes. Even better, there are actually several viable Sorcerer builds out there at the moment. Whereas some other classes have been “solved” fairly quickly, Sorcerers remain a pleasant mystery. Lightning, Fire, and Ice Sorcerers are all quite strong, and you can even easily mix and match spells from those major elemental schools to fit your preferred playstyle. There’s also the fantasy of playing as a caster in role-playing games, which has remained quite the draw over the years through the evolution of the genre.
I do wonder about Diablo 4‘s other classes, though. I suspect that Necromancers are the second most popular class at the moment based on general chatter and what I’ve seen while playing the game. I also suspect that Druids are the least popular class due to their complexity and their weak power level in the Betas (though they’re actually incredibly strong in the retail version of the game). Barbarian is probably slightly more popular than Rogue at the moment, though that may change given how many powerful Rogue builds have been discovered and how many popular Diablo 4 streamers are playing as Rogues at the moment.
In any case, I suspect Sorcerers will remain popular for quite some time. They’re fun, they encourage creativity, and unless someone discovers something about them that nobody else has, they’re probably not in danger of being seriously nerfed in the near future.
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Matthew Byrd is Games Editor at Den of Geek and an entertainment enthusiast living in Brooklyn. When he's not exploring the culture of video games, he's…