Tag: Diablo IV

Endgame Growth & Activities, PVP & Release Times in Diablo IV

Endgame Growth & Activities, PVP & Release times in Diablo IV

(a look at growing stronger after completing the campaign, endgame exploration & activities plus PVP)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s team has shared some additional information (via a video) about the post-story experience and the PVP aspects of the game. I’ve got some of things I’d like to say about what was shared with us in that video. I’ll express my thoughts, including some concerns, regarding what was revealed as well as what is already known from previous Blizzard videos and interviews.

Video Version:

Post-story Experiences

Blizzard are promising “A variety of different experiences players can pursue. An entire world of sanctuary for players to offer. There’s going to never be an absence of something to do. After a player has finished the campaign, there’s a lot more game to go and participate in.” Players gain access to a special – what Blizzard calls – Capstone Dungeon that they have to complete. Once players finish this Capstone Dungeon they will gain access to the first additional World Tier (Word Tier III a.k.a. Nightmare). Each World Tier brings better experience rates and gold drop rates. It’s worth noting that certain powerful loot (Unique Items also Ancestral & Sacred gear) only drop on World Tier III and above (it supposedly will go all the way to World Tier VI).

the World Tiers selection screen

Whether we’re fans of dungeons, PVP or just roaming around the world (Whispers) there’s a way to continue our Diablo adventure long after hitting max level.

Growing in Power

Blizzard states that, as our character(s) continue(s) to grow in power, we’ll start with the skill tree and expand out into the Paragon system. A lot of the choices the players will make are grounded on skills themselves and the fantasies associated with those skills.

the Paragon Boards menu and an example Legendary Tile of a Paragon Board

The Paragon Boards will allow us to have a lot more depth, a lot more customization, many more options as we go. We can rotate the board so we can choose a different path. This will allow us to approach the Glyphs, board sockets, and legendary tiles we are after in different ways that will involve taking different board tiles on the way. The majority of tiles on each board are basic ones that simply give + 5 to one of the core attributes but there are also blue and yellow ones that give a little bit more depth and are more suitable for specific types of builds. Charting their own path trough the Paragon Boards (and picking the Boards that suit their chosen Skills and Playstyle) will hopefully be enough for the more capricious players out there that were unhappy with how ‘small’ the Skill Tree was in the Beta. The Paragon Boards are a way for a player to keep expanding their character(s) and making it/them ‘uniquely yours’. I’ll make content dedicated specifically to this as a deep-dive very soon.

the Codex of Power UI menu that contains unlocked Legendary Aspects

Blizzard also briefly talked about the Codex of Power (for which I already have a written guide+list). In a nutshell, it’s a system that allows players to obtain certain Legendary Aspects/Powers by completing dungeons for the first time as well as by reaching certain points in the game’s main story/campaign. In the Open Beta there were 114 Aspects that can be obtained via the Codex which is around half of the total number of Aspects in the Beta, 224, that was confirmed via a Beta datamine. Codex of Power Aspects always have the minimum roll possible unless obtained regularly by a drop but can be imprinted as many times as you want while dropped Aspects can be re-used, sadly, only once. This allows players to take Rare or Legendary item bases that they like and imprint them with the exact Aspect that their build needs. Rare items Imprinted that way automatically turn into a Legendary item.

Nightmare Dungeons

Blizzard says that every part of Sanctuary is fulfilling and satisfying. Nightmare Dungeons are going to give players the opportunity to experience the regular dungeons in each area they might have already done in the past BUT with various twists added to them. Players will enter a Nightmare Dungeon with a Sigil (that they either found or crafted at the Occultist). That dungeon will be a modified version of one of the 120+ standard dungeons with added modifiers that may alter the playstyle & the intensity of the dungeon. Those dungeons will be more difficult and may even have additional objectives. This is achieved by introducing dungeon affixes/modifiers that grow in number as the rank/grade of the Sigil goes up.

a Hell Gate spawning monsters inside a Nightmare Dungeon

One example of such Nightmare Dungeon affix is called Hell Gate. Occasionally, portals will come up throughout the area that will just pour out different monsters that aren’t native to that region/dungeon. Players will have the added difficulty of dealing with those extra enemies while handling everything else inside the dungeon. Imagine the Butcher showing up for some fresh meat as you’re dealing with a Hell Gate + some regular dungeon-native enemies at the same time. The number of dungeons Blizzard has confirmed is 120+. I do remember them previously saying 150+ in an interview or a video. I guess the other 30 have either been removed or won’t be ready for launch. Any one of those 120+ dungeons can become a nightmare dungeon if you find or craft the right Nightmare Sigil and then use it. Using a Nightmare Sigil will activate a Nightmare version of that dungeon with the affixes that were on the Sigil. This will supposedly “add a little bit of a twist of flavor on your particular dungeon”.

Endgame Exploration

There will be some targeted activities in Diablo IV that suit what players are feeling in the mood for. The forces of Hell are starting to have more influence in parts of Sanctuary, in the vast, interconnected overworld of the experience, and as the players are going into Helltide Areas, they’re going to find even more powerful enemies. By killing those enemies, players will be able to “gain these special shards they can take to go and use to purchase these big rewards that are available at these caches that are found throughout Helltide Areas“. Basically, what they are saying here is that we, the players, will encounter Helltide events, and upon clearing those, we’ll be awarded keys that can unlock Helltide caches, which can be found in Helltide Areas.

a Helltide Area and what looks like a Helltide overworld event
a Helltide Area and what looks like a Helltide overworld event
a Helltide Cache being opened
a Helltide Cache being opened
an opened Helltide Cache

“The sky darkens and the rivers run red, meteors fall from the sky and the monsters get harder”. Blizzard say they really want to create new experiences for the players. One such experience is the Whispers of the Dead system.

Whispers of the Dead

Whispers of the Dead is a system similar to Diablo III‘s bounties. Players get Whispers of the Dead/bounties from the Tree of Whispers. Apparently, “the tree has a little bit of a grudge against our players, and it would like for them to go serve its needs”. Players will take 10 bounties that they need to serve, which the game seems to refer to as “Whispers silenced“. Here I hope it’s not time-gated but rather simply limiting it to just 10 bounties per full whispers run. We’ll gather different rewards, different items, and bring those back to the tree, in hopes that the tree will reward us something really meaningful (hello bounty rewards RNG à la D3).

The Tree of Whispers from where players will take on ‘bounties’
completing a Whisper shows the X/10 Whispers Silenced pop-up
example choice of 3 ‘collection’ rewards given upon completing all 10 Whispers (or maybe it’s after only a single one?)

One thing that Blizzard revealed is the choice between 3 different types of rewards players can make. So, while it seems to be random what 3 types of rewards collections we’ll get, it’s also going to be random what is in those collections. My guess is that they may have made it to maybe have a guaranteed at least 1 Legendary but that’s just me being hopeful. Whispers are contained activities that can be done either solo or in a group. Here I’m hoping that split-pushing whispers will be possible. Blizzard says that they really “wanted to create a variety for people to be able to spend time where they wanted to in the world”.

The Fields of Hatred

a Sorcerer fighting versus a team of Druid + Necromancer

In Diablo IV, the focus is on the world of Sanctuary, and there are parts of that world that are called the Fields of Hatred, where Lilith’s presence in Sanctuary has begun to seep through and manifest these poisonous areas throughout the world. When players go to these regions, they get to engage in player-vs-player conflict. These offer opportunities for the player to collect shards, with a catch. Shards need to be purified before players can take them back to town and turn them in for random gear rewards. When someone attempts to purify their shards, other players in the same field of hatred will know of this and can choose to go and intervene for the chance to steal those shards for themselves. Blizzard mentions that people should “be prepared that you might lose some stuff in the meantime”. What this refers to should be the loss of unpurified shards (purified shards can not be dropped as per what was officially confirmed many months ago).

players fighting next to an Altar used to purify Shards of Hatred

Once players have purified their shards, “they can take these, go back to nearby towns to sell them, and then use that to buy a whole bunch of interesting cosmetic items and rewards.” While technically true, and they are not lying in our faces, they do make it sound that EVERYTHING you can buy via PVP rewards is cosmetic BUT that’s not the case. Yes, you can exchange purified shards for cosmetic rewards (not sell the shards as Blizzard said but straight up use them as currency as seen in the video). Note how they said “cosmetic items and rewards” and that is not clear whether cosmetic refers to the rewards part of this statement. Well, it doesn’t.

Gambling Vendor for Shards of Hatred
purchasing random Gloves for 2000 Shards of Hatred
you can see a message of the item obtained as well as the item itself in the player’s inventory

As the video showed us, we can use the shards at a PVP gambler vendor to directly buy random gear the same way gold can be used to gamble at the regular gambler npc. So, what I’ve been trying to warn people about is how this introduces a terrible dis-balance by not separating PVP and PVE gear and by letting people earn non-cosmetic rewards by partaking in PVP. PvE players may feel forced to partake in PVP IF, AND ONLY IF, the good loot chance from the PVP gambler ends up like a faster and a better way to earn good loot than the regular gambler, doing Nightmare Dungeons, and silencing Whispers.

Further on, Blizzard confirms that the Fields of Hatred are “a place for people who really love PVP and want to still get loot and still increase their character’s power. If that’s the way they want to play, they can.” While there’s nothing wrong in getting stronger and rewarded for partaking in PVP, it’s only right & fair if there are separate PVP and PVE versions of one’s character (like, for example, Guild Wars 2 structured PVP versions of the PvE characters).

Launch is just the beginning

“Launch is just the beginning” is what Blizzard say and it’s to be expected with a game that has adopted a seasonal content model. They say that one of the things they are really focused on is “creating a living, breathing set of updates for players to engage with after the game has gone live”. It’s going to be “a way to keep coming back and experiencing more Diablo IV in fresh ways”.

an Open World Boss fight/event in progress


Global Launch Times

North America Early Access:
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT): 4PM, June 1
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): 7PM, June 1

South America Early Access:
Brasilia Time (BRT): 8PM, June 1

Europe Early Access:
British Summer Time (BST): 12AM, June 2
Central Europe Summer Time (CEST): 1AM, June 2

Asia and Australia Early Access:
Korea Standard Time (KST): 8AM, June 2
Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT): 10AM, June 2

North America standard release:
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT): 4PM, June 5
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): 7PM, June 5

South America standard release:
Brasilia Time (BRT): 8PM, June 5

Europe standard release:
British Summer Time (BST): 12AM, June 6
Central Europe Summer Time (CEST): 1AM, June 6

Asia and Australia standard release:
Korea Standard Time (KST): 8AM, June 6
Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT): 10AM, June 6

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

I’ve also made two spreadsheets: one for theorycrafts/builds that shortlist the active and passive skills + legendary aspects that work well together with each build & the second one contains the full skill trees of all classes + all aspects (known so far) that the classes can use.

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes My Endgame Growth & Activities, PVP and Release Times info post for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Diablo 4 Aspects and Codex of Power Crafting Guide

Welcome to this short Diablo 4 Aspects and Codex of Power crafting guide. Its for all thoses that dont like to watch videos 😉

First we need to unlock the Occultist for beeing able to imprint and export Aspects and Codex of Power. You can do this once you reach level 25 or by acquiring Codex of Power. That means you just need to run a dungeon.

The quest for unlocking the Occultist will then just pop up in your journal. Extraction and Imprinting.

Codex of Power

You get these as rewards on the first completion of dungeons. You need to know that you only have to do the dungeon once and you can use these over and over again.

The complete list can be found if you open the codex of power collection tab

You can sort them also for your class only what really helps a lot. Also you can see the allowed item types what is very important when it comes to imprinting these stats on your rare gear.

Aspects

Will be extracted at the Occultist from legendary gear you found. You will only be able to do imprint this once to your gear so make sure if you have a rare aspect you dont waste it on bad gear. The legendary item also will be destroyed.

Crafting

The crafting is really simple, just put your gear you want to craft it on in. No stat will be lost during the crafting, choose the Aspect or Codex of Power and start crafting it on your rare gear. The power of your Aspects and Codex of Power on your 2H weapon will be increased by 100% and also for the amulet by 50%. So choose wisely.

You will be able to see the outcome before you craft. As you can see on the 2H we get the 100% Bonus on this one what is really nice.

HFGL

Stef

Juggler Diablo IV Barbarian Build

Juggler Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV

(keep Juggling those weapons to confuse your enemies & make it seem as if you have 6 hands)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Barbarian Class called Juggler.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Juggler) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & differ from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Frenzy – Unleash a rapid flurry of blows, dealing 26.83% (X – ?) damage with each pair of hits. Dealing damage with Frenzy increases Frenzy’s Attack Speed by +20% for 3 seconds up to 60% Requires dual-wielding weapons. Damage: Physical Generate Fury: 5 Lucky Hit Chance: 30%
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frenzy – While Frenzy is granting +60% bonus Attack Speed, it also generates 1 additional Fury.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Combat Frenzy – You gain 8% (multiplicative) Damage Reduction for each stack of Frenzy you currently have.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Hammer of the Ancients – Slam your hammer down with the fury of the ancients, dealing 107.31% X – ?) damage to a concentrated area. Requires a two-handed bludgeoning weapon. Damage: Physical Fury Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 40%
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hammer of the Ancients – Gain 10 Fury when Hammer of the Ancients damages 2 or more enemies.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Hammer of the Ancients – Gain Berserking for 2 seconds when hitting 2 or more enemies with Hammer of the Ancients.
  • (passive – NOT INVESTED INTO IT but good to consider) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core Passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Ground Stomp – Smash the ground, dealing 18.20% (X – ?) damage and Stunning enemies for 3 seconds. Damage: Physical Cooldown: 16.0 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ground – Stomp Increase Ground Stomp’s duration by 1 second.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Strategic Ground Stomp – Reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate skill by 1 second for each enemy damaged by Ground Stomp.
  • (passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
    • (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, Bosses, and Players is increased by 4% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive Passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) Leap – Leap forward and slam downward, dealing 62.28% (X – ?) damage and Knocking Back nearby enemies on impact. Cooldown: 17.0 seconds Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Leap – If Leap doesn’t damage any enemies, its Cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Power Leap – If Leap damages at least one enemy, gain X Fury.
  • (passive) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
    • (upgrade)Battle Frenzy – When a Brawling Skill damages at least one enemy, gain Berserking for 1 second.
    • (upgrade) Prolific Fury – did not pick to save points
  • (passive) did not pick any other Brawling Passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Steel Grasp – Throw out a trio of chains that deal 24.15% (X – ?) damage and Pull In enemies. Charges: 2 Charge Cooldown: 11.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Weapon Mastery Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Steel Grasp – Steel Grasp also makes enemies Vulnerable for 2.5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Warrior’s Steel Grasp – Steel Grasp gains 1 additional Charge.
  • (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the upgrades) Pit Fighter – You deal 3% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2% Distant Damage Reduction.
    • (passive – did not put any points here) No Mercy – You deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage against Immobilized, Stunned, or Slowed enemies.
    • (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the next upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8% increased damage against Injured enemies.
    • (passive – only put 1 point to save points) Expose Vulnerability – Dealing direct damage with a Weapon Mastery skill causes your next Core Skill to make enemies Vulnerable for 1.5 (multiplicative) seconds.
  • (passive – did not pick but worth considering) Thick Skin – Each time you take direct damage gain X Fortify.
    • (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Counteroffensive – While Fortified for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Iron Maelstrom – Activate to attach a chain to your Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon and slam the ground, dealing 63.00% (X – ?) damage and Stunning them for 2 seconds. Reactivate a second time to attach a chain to your Two-Handed Slashing weapon and swipe it in front of you, dealing 21.00% (X – ?) damage and 126.00% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Reactivate a final time to attach a chain to your Dual Wield weapons and swing them around you, dealing 34.13% (X – ?) damage per hit. Requires a Full Arsenal of weapons. Cooldown: 60.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Ultimate
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Iron Maelstrom – Iron Maelstrom gains +10% increased Critical Strike Chance and deals 20% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Iron Maelstrom – Dealing direct damage to an enemy after swapping weapons reduces Iron Maelstrom’s Cooldown by 1 second.
  • (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the upgrades and save points) Tempered Fury – Increase your Maximum Fury by 3.
    • (upgrade) Furious Impulse – Each time you swap weapons, gain 2 Fury.
    • (upgrade – only put 2 points to save points) Invigorating Fury – Heals you for 2% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
  • (passive – – did not take this to save points) Wallop – Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
    • (upgrade – – did not take this to save points) Concussion – Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
  • (passive) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
    • (upgrade – did not take this to save points) Brute Force – Your Overpower deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon *NOTE: It seems that unlocking this skill upgrade requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
  • (passive) did not pick any other Ultimate Passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Walking Arsenal – Dealing direct damage with a Two-Handed Bludgeoning, Two-Handed Slashing, or Dual Wielded weapons grants 10% (multiplicative) increased damage for 6 seconds. While all three damage bonuses are active, you gain an additional 15% (multiplicative) increased damage.

Arsenal (Class Mechanic):

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-wielding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’. Here are the types:

  • Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons are Slashing and can be Swords, Axes, or Maces (strange why the 1H Maces are clumped together with Swords & Axes under Slashing and not listed as Bludgeoning maybe the information I found is incorrect… hopefully 1h Maces are not Slashing)
  • The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
  • Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you got for a swap-centric build

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Juggler) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Relentless Armsmaster
  • Amulet: Aspect of Retribution
  • Chest: Aspect of Tempering Blows
  • Pants: Aspect of Bul-Kathos
  • Gloves: Relentless Berserker’s Apect
  • Boots: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Unrelenting Fury
  • 1H Weapon: Windstriker Aspect
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Ancestral Echoes
  • 2-H Weapon One (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of Ancestral Force
  • 2-H Weapon Two (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of Veteran Brawler

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Juggler Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Volatile Diablo IV Rogue Build

Volatile Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV

(vanish from their sight to get up close and personal then unleash clones to throw them into disarray)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Rogue Class called Volatile.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Volatile) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & different from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Puncture – Throw your blades, dealing 59.66% (X – ?) damage and Slowing enemies by 20% for 2 seconds. Requires Dual Wielded Weapons. Damage: Physical Tags: Basic, Ranged Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Puncture – Gain 5 Energy when Puncture damages a Crowd Controlled enemy.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primary Puncture – Puncture has a 30% chance to make Crowd Controlled enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Twisting Blades – Impale an enemy on your blades, dealing 107.38% (X – ?) damage and making them take 8% (multiplicative) increased damage while impaled. After 1.5 seconds the blades return to you, piercing enemies for 139.60% (X – ?) damage. Combo Points increase damage and grant a Movement Speed bonus: 1: 57% damage & 20% Movement Speed bonus ; 2: 70% damage & 40% Movement Speed bonus ; 3: 83% damage & 60% Movement Speed bonus Requires Dual Wielded weapons Energy Cost: 21 Damage: Physical Tags: Core, Melee, Imbueable
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Twisting Blades – Twisting Blades deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage per enemy it passes through when returning, up to 60% (multiplicative).
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Improved Twisting Blades – Enemies are Immobilized while impaled with Twisting Blades.
  • (passive) Sturdy – You gain +12% Melee Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) Siphoning Strikes – did not pick to save points
  • (passive) did not pick other Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Caltrops – Leap backwards and throw caltrops on the ground, dealing 71.59% (X – ?) damage and Slowing enemies by 50%. Lasts 6 seconds. Energy Cost: 21 Damage: Physical Tags: Agility, Trap
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Caltrops – Enemies take 3% (multiplicative) increased damage from all sources each second they’re in Caltrops.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Disciplined Caltrops – You have 15% Critical Strike Chance against enemies inside your Caltrops. Double this amount against Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type: Daggers: 15.0% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies. Swords: 9% (multiplicative) increased damage. Bows: Up to 12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Crossbows: 15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage. For all weapons: Vulnerable enemies take 20% (multiplicative) increased damage Healthy characters have more than 80% of their life.
  • (passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) Dark Shroud – Surround yourself with up to 5 protective shadows. Gain 8% Damage Reduction per active shadow. Each time you take direct damage, that damage is reduced and a shadow is consumed Cooldown: 20.0 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Dark Shroud – Dark Shroud’s shadows have a 10% chance to not be consumed
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Countering Dark Shroud – While you have at least 2 active shadow from Dark Shroud, gain 10% Critical Strike Chance.
  • (passive) Exploit – You deal 18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Malice – You deal 9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Imbue Weapon: Poison – Imbue your weapons with lethal poison. Your next 2 non- Basic Melee or Ranged Skills apply up to 198.85% (X) Poison damage over 5 seconds. Cooldown: 9.0 seconds. Tags: Imbuements
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Imbue Weapon: Poison – Poison Imbue’s Poison Duration is increased by 1 second.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Blended Imbue Weapon: Poison – Critical Strikes with Poison Imbued Skills deal 30% (multiplicative) increased Poison damage.
  • (passive) Deadly Venom – You deal 3% (multiplicative) increased Poison damage.
    • (upgrade DID NOT take) Alchemical Advantage – You gain +1% increased Attack Speed for each enemy you’ve Poisoned, up to +15%.
    • (upgrade DID NOT take to save points) Debilitating Toxins – Poisoned enemies deal X% less damage.
  • (passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Death Trap – Place a trap that arms after 1.25 seconds. It activates when an enemy moves near, dealing 596.56% (X – ?) damage to enemies in the area. Cooldown: 45.0 seconds. Damage: Shadow Tags: Ultimate, Imbueable
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Death Trap – Enemies are Pulled into Death Trap when it activates.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Death Trap – If Death Trap kills an enemy, its Cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
  • (passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to gain 5 Energy.
    • (upgrade) Second Wind – Every 100 Energy you spend grants you +10% increased Lucky Hit Chance for 5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
  • (passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25 Energy.
  • (passive – DID NOT take to save points) Trap Mastery When Poison Trap or Death Trap activates, you gain 4% increased Critical Strike Chance against Vulnerable and Crowd Controlled enemies for 4 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Victimize – Lucky Hit: Dealing direct damage to a Vulnerable enemy has up to a +30% chance to cause an explosion, dealing 23% of the original damage to them and nearby enemies.

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much information about the 3 Specializations of the Rogue which are their Class Mechanics:

  • Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Certain Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
  • Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
  • Preparation – This specialization was not available during the closed beta builds of the game.
probably evolved into Inner Sight
probably replaced by Preparation

My guess is that it would be best to switch between specializations depending on the situation/content. For now I won’t go into detail or say use only a certain one of those until the game launches and I try them out.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Volatile) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Amulet: Aspect of Unstable Imbuements
  • Chest: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Pants: Aspect of Might
  • Gloves: Vengeful Aspect
  • Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect
  • Ring 1: Blast-Trapper’s Aspect
  • Ring 2: Volatile Blades
  • 1H Weapon (see NOTE below): Volatile Shadows
  • Off-hand (see NOTE below): Aspect of Corruption
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Volatile Shadows
NOTE: You'll be using a Dual-Wielded Weapon & Offhand combo for this build.

I do not currently know if having a 2H weapon equipped as a 2nd weapon set will grant the aspect on it at all times so I've put the same aspect on both the 1H and 2H.

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Volatile Rogue Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Storm Lord Diablo IV Druid Build

Storm Lord Druid BUILD for Diablo IV

(call upon the forces of Nature to smite your foes with the power of wrathful storms)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Druid Class called Storm Lord.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Storm Lord) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & different from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Storm Strike – Electricity gathers around your weapon, dealing +27.34% (X-?) damage split between your target and up to 3 nearby enemies. Type: Storm Magic Damage: Lightning Generates: 15 Spirit
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Storm Strike – Dealing damage with Storm Strike reduces your damage taken by +25% for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Storm Strike – Storm Strike has a 50% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Tornado – Conjure a vortex that moves outwards and curves in a random direction, dealing 105.00% (X-?) damage every second. Talents: Natural Balance, Eye of the Storm, Elemental Exposure, Natural Resonance, Fury of Nature, Perfect Storm. Type: Storm Magic Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 38
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Tornado – Each time you cast Tornado, you have a 20% chance to spawn an additional Tornado.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Raging Tornado – Each time an enemy is damaged by a Tornado, they take 5% (multiplicative) increased damage from Tornado for 3 seconds, stacking up to 15% (multiplicative) increased damage.
  • (passive) Heart of the Wild – Maximum Spirit is increased by 3.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take to save points) Wild Impulses – Your Core Skills cost 5% (multiplicative) more Spirit but deal 10% (multiplicative) increased damage
    • (upgrade) Abundance – Basic Skills generate 5% more Spirit.
  • (passive – did NOT take to save points) Predatory Instinct – Critical Strike Chance against nearby enemies is increased by 3%.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take as it’s not needed) Iron Fur – While in Werebear form, damage reduction is increased by 3%. This bonus persists for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take as it’s not needed) Digitigrate Gait / Lycanthropic Speed
  • (passive) did not pick other Spirit/Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below

  • (active) Cyclone Armor – Powerful winds protect you, granting 20.0% ranged damage reduction. When an enemy in melee range hits you, there is up to a 15.75% (X- ?) chance for the winds to knock it back. Type: Storm Magic
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Cyclone Armor – Enemies who are Knocked Back by Cyclone Armor are also Slowed by 40% for 3 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Cyclone Armor – Every 10 seconds, Cyclone Armor intensifies, reducing the next instance of non-Physical damage by an additional 40%.
  • (passive) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your non-physical resistances by 5%.
    • (upgrade) Vigilance – You Take X% reduced damage for X seconds after using a Defensive Skill.
  • (active) Blood Howl – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and howl furiously, restoring X% Life. Cooldown: 15 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Howl – Kills reduce the cooldown of Blood Howl by 1 second.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Innate Blood Howl – Blood Howl also generates 20 Spirit.

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11 ) I did NOT take a companion BUT if you want to sacrifice one of the Defensive skills, I recommend the skills & upgrades below

  • (active) Ravens – Active: The target area is swarmed with ravens. dealing 89.25 (X-?) damage over 6 seconds. Type: Companion Damage: Physical Cooldown: 25 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ravens – Passive: Ravens fly above you and periodically attack your enemies for 13.85% (X-?) damage every 5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ferocious Ravens – Enemies inside the swarm of Ravens when it is activated become Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points BUT even if you take a companion I still won’t recommend the Companion passives for this build

Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Hurricane – Form a hurricane around you that deals 102.37 (X-?) damage to nearby enemies over 8 seconds. Talents: Storm and Claw, Eye of the Storm, Natural Resonance, Endless Tempest, Fury of Nature, Perfect Storm, Type: Storm Magic Damage: Physical Cooldown: 20 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hurricane – Enemies who are damaged by Hurricane are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Savage Hurricane – Enemies who are in Hurricane’s radius have their damage reduced by 20%.
  • (passive) Elemental Exposure – Lucky Hit: Your Storm Skills have up to 20% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 1.0 seconds.
    • (upgrade 1) Endless Tempest – Increase the duration of Hurricane and Cataclysm by 5%.
    • (upgrade 2 – did NOT pick this one) Charged Atmosphere – Every 18 seconds, a Lightning Strike hits a nearby enemy dealing 47.25% (X-?) damage.
    • (upgrade 3 – did NOT pick this one) Bad Omen – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10% chance when dealing damage to a Vulnerable, Immobilized or Stunned enemy that a Lightning Strike also hits dealing 57.75% (X-?} damage.
    • (upgrade 4 – did NOT pick this one) Electric Shock – Lucky Hit: Dealing Lightning damage to enemies has a 5% chance to Immobilize them for 3 seconds. If the target is already Immobilized, the Lightning damage dealt to them is increased by X% instead.
  • (active) Ravens – Active: The target area is swarmed with ravens. dealing 89.25 (X-?) damage over 6 seconds. Type: Companion Damage: Physical Cooldown: 25 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ravens – Passive: Ravens fly above you and periodically attack your enemies for 13.85% (X-?) damage every 5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ferocious Ravens – Enemies inside the swarm of Ravens when it is activated become Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Wrath passives

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Cataclysm – A massive storm follows you for 8 seconds Tornadoes knock back enemies, and lightning strikes wildly dealing 54.60% (X-?) damage. Cooldown: 80 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Cataclysm – Cataclysm’s duration is increased by 2 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Cataclysm – Lightning strikes from Cataclysm make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) Defiance – Nature Magic skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
    • (passive) Natural Disaster – Your Earth Skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Your Storm Skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
    • (passive – did NOT pick to save points) Circle of Life – Nature Magic skills that consume Spirit restore 1% of your maximum Life.
    • (passive – did NOT pick to save points) Resonance – Nature Magic skills deal 2% (multiplicative) increased damage. Triple this bonus if an Earth Skill is the next skill cast after a Storm Skill, or a Storm Skill is the next skill cast after an Earth Skill.
  • (passive – did NOT pick to save points) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.
    • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for X.
    • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Nature’s Resolve – 5% chance when struck to Fortify you for X
  • (passive) did not pick any other Ultimate passives

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Perfect Storm – Your Storm Skills grant 2 Spirit and deal 20% (multiplicative) increased damage when damaging a Vulnerable, Immobilized or Slowed enemy.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category + maybe 1 more from another. I’ll leave this empty for now.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Storm Lord) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Storm Beast’s Aspect
  • Amulet: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Chest: Skinwalker’s Aspect
  • Pants: Cyclonic Force
  • Gloves: Stormshifter’s Aspect
  • Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Ring 2: Overcharged Aspect
  • 1H Weapon (see note below): Nighthowler’s Aspect
  • Off-hand (see note below): Aspect of The Tempest
  • 2-H Weapon (see note below): Nighthowler’s Aspect
NOTE: I recommend using 1H + offhand so that you can get an extra aspect. 

If you go for 2-Handed and put Aspect of The Ursine Horror in the Gloves Slot you could move Aspect of Quicksand to the Chest Slot, while removing Skinwalker's Aspect from the setup or replacing Mending Stone in the Pants slot with it (skinwalker).

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Storm Lord Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Iceplosion Diablo IV Sorcerer Build

Iceplosion Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV

(chill then freeze your enemies to shatter their frozen selves into an icy explosion)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Sorcerer Class called Iceplosion.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Iceplosion) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & different from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Frost Bolt – Throw a bolt of frost at an enemy, dealing 39.00% (X- ?) damage and Chilling them for 13%. Damage: Cold Tags: Basic, Frost
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frost Bolt – Frost Bolt has a 10% chance to explode on Chilled targets, hitting nearby enemies. Chance increased by 100% against Frozen targets.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Glinting Frost Bolt – Frost Bolt generates 4 Mana when hitting Chilled or Frozen.

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Ice Shards – Launch 5 shards that deal 25.00% (X-?) damage each. Deals 25% (Multiplicative) increased damage to Frozen enemies. Mana Cost: 30 Damage: Cold Tags: Core, Frost
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ice Shards – Ice Shards have 15% chance to ricochet to another enemy.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Greater Ice Shards – While you have a Barrier active, Ice Shards treats enemies as if they were Frozen.
  • (passive) Potent Warding – Your non-Physical Damage and Resistances are increased by 2%.
  • (passive) did not pick other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I picked two Defensive skills for this build

  • (active) Frost Nova – Unleash a torrent of frost, Freezing enemies around you for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 14.7 Tags: Defensive, Frost
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Frost Nova – Frost Nova’s radius is increased by 25%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Frost Nova – Frost Nova generates 4 Mana per enemy hit.
  • (passive) did not pick any Defensive passives to save points
  • (active) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25.00% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival. Cooldown: 10.8 Damage: Lightning Tags: Defensive, Shock
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – After Teleporting, take 30% less damage for 5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 ) I DID NOT pick a Conjuration skill but you can remove 1 of the defensive skills and add Ice Blades

  • (active) Ice Blades – Conjure ice blades for 6.0 seconds that rapidly slashes enemies for 30.67% (X – ?) damage and has a 20% chance to make them Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 11.8 Damage: Cold Tags: Conjuration, Frost
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ice Blades – Ice Blades has a 10% increased chance to make enemies Vulnerable.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Summoned Ice Blades – Every time Ice Blades hits a Vulnerable enemy, it gains 25% Attack Speed, up to 100%.
  • (passive) Align the Elements – You gain 5% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.  
    • (1st upgrade) Mana Shield – Every time you spend 100 Mana, you gain 5% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade) Protection Using a skill with cooldown grants 10% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Blizzard – Summon a frigid blizzard that deals 120.00% (X) damage and continually Chills enemies for 18% over 5 seconds. Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Cold Tags: Mastery, Frost
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blizzard – Blizzard’s duration is increased by 2 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mage’s Blizzard – Every second an enemy is in Blizzard, they take 2.5% (multiplicative) increased damage from you, up to 20% (multiplicative).
  • (passive I ONLY invested ONE point hereto unlock the upgrade ) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a 5% increased duration. Barriers absorb damage from all sourced up to a specified amount.
    • (upgrade 1) Hoarfrost – You deal more damage to enemies the more Chilled they are, up 6% (multiplicative) while they are Frozen.
    • (upgrade 2 – did get this to save points) Cold Front – While you have a Barrier active, you apply 8% more Chill.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Deep Freeze – Encase yourself in ice, becoming Immune for 4 seconds, continually Chilling enemies for 20%. When Deep Freeze ends, Frozen enemies shatter for 200.00% (X- ?). Casting Deep Freeze again ends the effect early. Cooldown: 58.8 Damage: Cold Tags: Ultimate, Frost
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Deep Freeze – Gain 5% of your Life as a Barrier for 6 seconds for each enemy shattered by Deep Freeze.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Deep Freeze – When Deep Freeze ends, your active cooldowns are reduced by 50%.
  • (passive) Frostbite – You deal 3% (multiplicative) more damage to Frozen or Vulnerable enemies, and 6% (multiplicative) more damage to enemies who are both Frozen and Vulnerable.
    • (upgrade) Icy Touch – You deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
    • (upgrade) Permafrost – Frost Skills deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
    • (upgrade) Snap Freeze – Lucky Hit: Frost Skills have up to a 3% chance to instantly Freeze.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Shatter – After Freeze expires, enemies explode for 25% of the damage you dealt to them while Frozen.

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much info regarding sacrificing skills as “Enchantments” and if it even is still a part of the game so I’ll leave this empty for now.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Iceplosion) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Amulet: Aspect of Control
  • Chest: Aspect of Might
  • Pants: Snowguard’s Aspect
  • Gloves: Aspect of Biting Cold
  • Boots: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Retribution
  • Ring 2: Prodigy’s Aspect
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Piercing Cold
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Pummeling

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Iceplosion Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Hemomancer Diablo IV Necromancer Build

Hemomancer Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV

(the Hemomancer will bleed you dry and consume your vitality to keep themselves Healthy)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Necromancer Class called Hemomancer. (you can call it Mrs. or Ms. bones if suits you better

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Hemomancer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

The images you see are PLACEHOLDERS due to lack of any real skill icons leaks for the Necromancer class. I will replace them once the Beta starts and I can screenshot the actual icons.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Hemorrhage – Burst an enemy’s blood, dealing 25.00% (X-XX) damage. Hemorrhage has 20% chance to form a Blood Orb. Blood Orbs heal you for 15% of your maximum Life when picked up. Generates: 7 Essence Damage: Physical
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hemorrhage – After picking up a Blood Orb, your next Hemorrhage also hits nearby enemies and grants 2 additional essence per enemy hit
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Initiate’s Hemorrhage – Hemorrhage grants X Fortify each time it hits and enemy, and had a 1.5% chance per enemy hit to Fortify you.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Blood Surge – Draw blood from enemies, dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing 50.00% (X-?) damage. Blood Surge’s nova damage is increased by 10% (multiplicative) per enemy drained, up to 50% (multiplicative). Essence Cost: 30 Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Surge – Blood Surge heals you for 1% of your maximum Life per each enemy drained, up to 5%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supernatural Blood Surge – Each time an enemy is hit by Blood Surge’s nova, you are Fortified for X.
  • (passive) Unliving Energy – Your maximum Essence is increased by 3.
    • (1st upgrade) did not pick to save points
  • (passive) Reconstitution – Your damage has up to a 4% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took two Macabre active skills

  • (active) Blood Mist – Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for 3 seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 50.00% and you periodically deal 1.75 (X-X) damage to enemies, healing for 100% of the damage dealt. Cooldown: 19 Seconds.
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Mist – Blood Mist’s Movement Speed penalty is reduced to 20%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Blood Mist – Blood Mist leaves behind a Corpse every 1 second.
  • (passive – only put 1 point here to unlock the upgrade) Grim Harvest – Consuming a Corpse generates 3 Essence.
    • (upgrade) Fueled by Death – You deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
  • (passive – only put 1 point here & it’s optional) Necrotic Carapace – When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for X.
  • (active) Bone Prison – Unearth a prison of bone with X Life that surrounds the target area for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 20 Seconds.
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Prison – Gain 3 Essence each time an enemy hits your Bone Prison.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Dreadful Bone Prison – Fortify for X for each enemy trapped by Bone Prison.

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 ) DID NOT pick a Corruption skill but you can remove Bone Prison and pick Iron Maiden

  • (active 1) Iron Maiden – Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Iron Maiden take 10.00% (X-XX) damage each time they deal direct damage. Lasts 10 seconds. Essence Cost: 10 Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden no longer costs Essence. Instead, gain 5 Essence for each enemy Cursed. Does not work with enemies already cursed with Iron Maiden.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Iron Maiden – Heal for 5% of your maximum Life when an enemy dies while afflicted with Iron Maiden.
  • (passive) did not invest into Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Corpse Tendrils – Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage to them. Cooldown: 11.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse Tendrils – Enemies who are in range of Corpse Tendrils are Slowed by 50% before being pulled.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Corpse Tendrils – Enemies slain while Stunned by Corpse Tendrils have a 25% chance to drop a Blood Orb.
  • (passive) Blood Begets Blood – While below 50% Life, you receive 10% more healing from all sources.
    • (upgrade 1 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Tides of Blood – Your Blood Skills deal 5% increased (multiplicative) Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade 2) Coalesced Blood – Blood Orbs heal you for 15% more.
    • (upgrade 3 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Drain Vitality – Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to 25% chance to Fortify you for X.
    • (upgrade 4) Transfusion – Blood Orbs also heal your Minions for 15% of the amount.
  • (passive) did not invest into Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Blood Wave – Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals 90.00% (X-XX) damage and knocks enemies back. Cooldown: 50.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Blood Wave – Blood Wave Slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Blood Wave – Blood Wave leaves behind 3 Blood Orbs as it travels.
  • (passive- ONLY PUT 1 LEVEL here to save points & to unlock the upgrade) Stand Alone – Increases Damage Reduction by 6%, reduced by 2% for each active Minion.
    • (upgrade) Memento Mori – Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by 20%.
  • (passive) Golem Mastery – Increase the damage and Life of your Golem by 15%
  • (passive) did not invest into Ultimate passives to save points but there are some nice options

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Rathma’s Vigor – Increase your maximum Life by 10%. While Healtthy, you deal 25% (multiplicative) increased damage

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about doing as much shadow dmg hits as possible and focuses on ranged DPS. Sacrificing our melee minions might make it hard by not having a “tank” but it also boosts our dps in a lovely way. As for the types I picked, I’d recommend as follows:

  • Skeletal Reapers + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
    • Description: Your critical strike chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
  • Shadow Mages + Sacrifice is a lovely build synergy
    • Description: Your maximum essence is increased by 15, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
  • Iron Golem + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
    • Description: You deal 30% (multiplicative) increased critical strike damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Hemomancer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of Potent Blood
  • Amulet: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Chest: Fastblood Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of Might
  • Gloves: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Boots: Aspect of Grasping Veins
  • Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Bursting Bones
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Retribution
  • Off-hand: Blood-bathed Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Retribution

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Hemomancer Necromancer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Butcher Diablo IV Barbarian Build

Butcher Barbarian BUILD for Diablo IV

(flay the skin off of their bones and bleed them dry)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Barbarian Class called Butcher.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Butcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & differ from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Flay – Flay the enemy, dealing 9.58% (X – ?) damage. Inflicts 80.48% (X) Bleeding damage over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Damage: Physical Generate Fury: 9 Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flay – Flay has a 10% chance to make the enemy Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Double this chance when using a Two-Handed weapon.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Battle Flay – When Flay deals direct damage to an enemy, they take 10% (multiplicative) increased Bleeding damage for the next 3 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Rend – Cleave enemies in front of you, dealing 23.00% (X – ?) damage and inflicting 183.96% (X) Bleeding over 5 seconds. Requires a slashing weapon. Damage: Physical Fury Cost: 35 Lucky Hit Chance: 33%
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rend – Dealing direct damage with Rend extends the duration of Vulnerable on enemies by 2 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Furious Rend – Direct damage with Rend grants 4 Fury per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 20 Fury.
  • (passive – NOT INVESTED INTO IT but good to consider) Pressure Point – Lucky Hit: Your Core Skills have up to a 10% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) Endless Fury – Basic Skills generate 5% (multiplicative) more Fury when using Two-Handed weapons.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core Passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Challenging Shout – Taunt nearby enemies and gain 40% (multiplicative) Damage Reduction for 10.4 seconds. Cooldown: 16.0 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Challenging Shout – While Challenging Shout is active, gain +20% bonus Maximum Life.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Tactical Challenging Shout – While Challenging Shout is active you gain 3 Fury each time you take damage.
  • (passive) Imposing Presence – Gain 15% (multiplicative) additional Maximum Life.
    • (upgrade) Martial Vigor – Damage Reduction against Elites, Bosses, and Players is increased by 4% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive Passives to save points

Brawling Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) Charge – Become Unstoppable and rush forward pushing enemies with you then swinging through them for 47.91% (X – ?) damage and knocking them back. Cooldown: 17.0 seconds Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Charge – Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain by Charge take 28.74% (X – ?) damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Power Charge – Reduce Charge’s Cooldown by 3 seconds if it Knocks Back an enemy into terrain.
  • (passive) Booming Voice – Shout skill durations are increased by 30% (multiplicative).
    • (upgrade) Raid Leader – did not pick to save points
    • (upgrade) Guttural Yell – Your Shout Skills cause enemies to deal 8% (multiplicative) less damage for 5 seconds.
  • (passive) Aggressive Resistance – Gain 4% Damage Reduction while Berserking.
    • (upgrade) Battle Frenzy – did not pick to save points
    • (upgrade) Prolific Fury – did not pick to save points
  • (passive) did not pick any other Brawling Passives to save points

Weapon Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Rupture – Skewer enemies in a line, inflicting 13.65% (X – ?) damage then rip your weapon out, damaging enemies for their total Bleeding amount receiving all Bleeding damage from them. Requires a slashing weapon. Cooldown: 15.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Weapon Mastery Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rupture – If an enemy dies while being skewered by Rupture, then reset its Cooldown. Enemies who survive take 20% (multiplicative) increased Bleeding damage for the next 8 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Warrior’s Rupture – Killing enemies with Rupture increases your Attack Speed by +20% for 4 seconds.
  • (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the upgrades) Pit Fighter – You deal 3% (multiplicative) increased damage to Close enemies and gain 2% Distant Damage Reduction.
    • (passive – did not put any points here) No Mercy – You deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage against Immobilized, Stunned, or Slowed enemies.
    • (passive – only put 1 point to unlock the next upgrade) Slaying Strike – You deal 8% increased damage against Injured enemies.
    • (passive – only put 1 point to save points) Expose Vulnerability – Dealing direct damage with a Weapon Mastery skill causes your next Core Skill to make enemies Vulnerable for 1.5 (multiplicative) seconds.
  • (passive – did not pick but worth considering) Thick Skin – Each time you take direct damage gain X Fortify.
    • (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Counteroffensive – While Fortified for over 50% of your Maximum Life, you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage.
    • (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.
  • (passive – only put 1 point to save points) Hamstring – Your Bleeding effects Slow enemies by 10%
    • (passive) Cut to the Bone – Your Bleeding effects deal 6% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable Enemies.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Call of the Ancients – Call upon 3 Ancients to aid you in battle for 6 seconds. Korlic leaps at enemies, dealing 80.00% (X – ?) damage and swings his weapon in a Frenzy dealing 30.00% (X – ?) damage per hit. Talic spins in a Whirlwind rapidly attacking enemies for 50.00% (X – ?) damage. Madawc Upheaves the ground, dealing 150.00% (X – ?) damage. Cooldown: 50.0 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Ultimate
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Call of the Ancients – While Call of the Ancients is active, gain +10% bonus Attack Speed and 10% (multiplicative) increased damage.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Call of the Ancients – Each of the Ancients gains additional power: Korlic: You gain 10 Fury each time Korlic damages an enemy with Frenzy. Talic: Enemies are Slowed by 50% for 1 second when damaged by his Whirlwind. Madawc: 30% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds when using his Upheaval.
  • (passive – did not pick but worth considering) Tempered Fury – Increase your Maximum Fury by 3.
    • (upgrade) Furious Impulse – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
    • (upgrade – did not pick but worth considering) Invigorating Fury – Heals you for 2% of your Maximum Life for each 100 Fury spent.
  • (passive – did not pick due to using Slashing) Wallop – Your Skills using Bludgeoning weapons deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage if the enemy is Stunned or Vulnerable.
    • (upgrade – did not pick due to using Slashing) Concussion – Lucky Hit: Skills using Bludgeoning weapons have up to a 10% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds, or up to a 15% chance when using a Two-Handed Bludgeoning weapon.
  • (passive) Heavy Handed – While using Two-Handed weapons you deal 5% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
    • (upgrade) Brute Force – Your Overpower deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage when using a Two-Handed weapon *NOTE: It seems that unlocking this skill upgrade requires investing into either Wallop OR Heavy Handed (can still get both if you want)
  • (passive) did not pick any other Ultimate Passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Gushing Wounds – Killing a Bleeding enemy creates an explosion that inflicts 11.55% (X) Bleeding damage over 3 seconds.

Arsenal (Class Mechanic):

The Barbarian class mechanics is called Arsenal and this is how I believe it works:

The Barbarian class can equip 4 weapons at the same time: a Dual-wielding set of 2x One-Handed weps + two separate Two-Handed weapons (not dual-weilding those). They switch in combat between those based on what weapon is assigned to specific skills via the class unique Arsenal System. So each skill can have its own weapon assigned to it as long as it’s one of the 4 weapons equipped. The weps you don’t actually use work as ‘stat sticks’. Here are the types:

  • Dual Wielded 1-Handed Weapons are Slashing and can be Swords, Axes, or Maces (strange why the 1H Maces are clumped together with Swords & Axes under Slashing and not listed as Bludgeoning maybe the information I found is incorrect… hopefully 1h Maces are not Slashing)
  • The two slots of Two-Handed Weapons can be occupied by Slashing type weps like Swords, Axes, & Polearms and/or by Bludgeoning Maces
  • Ideally 1x 2h Slashing, 1x 2h Bludgeoning and a Dual Wield 1h combo for the 4 weps if you got for a swap-centric build

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Butcher) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Amulet: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Chest: Aspect of Anemia
  • Pants: Aspect of Numbing Wrath
  • Gloves: Relentless Berserker’s Apect
  • Boots: Wind Striker Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Echoing Fury
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Unrelenting Fury
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Berserk Ripping
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Veteran Brawler
  • 2-H Weapon One (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of Retribution
  • 2-H Weapon Two (see Class Mechanic for info): Aspect of The Dire Whirlwind

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Butcher Barbarian Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

Coldstep Diablo IV Rogue Build

Coldstep Rogue BUILD for Diablo IV

(vanish from their sight to get up close and personal then unleash clones to throw them into disarray)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Rogue Class called Coldstep.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the build instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Coldstep) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & different from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Forceful Arrow – Fire a powerful arrow at an enemy, dealing 78.75% (X – ?) damage and making them Vulnerable for 2. seconds. Requires a Ranged Weapon Damage: Physical Tags: Basic, Ranged
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Forceful Arrow – Forceful Arrow makes the enemy Vulnerable for 4 seconds instead if they are nearby.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primary Forceful Arrow – Forceful Arrow pierces through the first enemy it damages if they are nearby.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Rapid Fire – Rapidly fire 5 arrows each dealing 37.46% (X – ?) damage. Combo Points increase damage and Arrows Fired: 1: 22% damage & 6 arrows ; 2: 24% damage & 7 arrows ; 3: 29% damage & 8 arrows Requires a Ranged Weapon Energy Cost: 25 Damage: Physical Tags: Core, Ranged, Imbueable
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Rapid Fire – Each subsequent arrow from Rapid Fire has +5% increased Critical Strike Chance.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Advanced Rapid Fire – Rapid Fire deals 15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) Sturdy – You gain +12% Melee Damage Reduction.
    • (upgrade) Siphoning Strikes – did not pick to save points
  • (passive) did not pick other Core passives to save points

Agility Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Shadow Step – Become unstoppable and quickly move through the shadows and stab your victim from behind for 171.81% (X – ?) damage. Gain 50% increased Movement Speed for 2 seconds afterwards. Requires Dual Wielded weapons Cooldown: 9.8 seconds Damage: Physical Tags: Agility, Melee, Imbueable
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Shadow Step – Damaging an enemy with Shadow Step increases your Critical Strike Chance against them by +8% for 3 seconds
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Methodical Shadow Step – Enemies damaged by Shadow Step are Immobilized for 2 seconds.
  • (passive) Weapon Mastery – Gain a bonus when attacking based on weapon type: Daggers: 15.0% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy enemies. Swords: 9% (multiplicative) increased damage. Bows: Up to 12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Crossbows: 15% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage. For all weapons: Vulnerable enemies take 20% (multiplicative) increased damage Healthy characters have more than 80% of their life.
  • (passive) did not pick other Agility passives to save points

Subterfuge Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) Stealth – Cloak yourself with shadows to hide from enemies for 4 seconds. Attacks during Stealth break Stealth and deal 50% more damage. You are Unstoppable and can move through enemies freely while in Stealth. Cooldown: 16.0 seconds. Tags: Subterfuge
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Stealth – You gain 40 Energy when you enter Stealth.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Subverting Stealth – The skill that breaks Stealth makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) Exploit – You deal 18% (multiplicative) increased damage to Healthy and Injured enemies.
    • (upgrade) Malice – You deal 9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
  • (passive) did not pick other Subterfuge passives to save points

Imbuements Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Imbue Weapon: Cold – Imbue your weapons with frigid energies. Your next 2 non-Basic Melee or Ranged Skills deal Cold damage and Chill enemies for up to 50%. Cold Imbued skills deal 15% (multiplicative) damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. Cooldown: 9.0 seconds. Tags: Imbuements
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Imbue Weapon: Cold – Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mixed Imbue Weapon: Cold – Cold Imbued Skills deal 30% (multiplicative) increased damage to Frozen enemies.
  • (passive) Frigid Finesse – You deal 5% (multiplicative) increased damage to Chilled enemies. This bonus increases to 10% (multiplicative) against Frozen enemies.
    • (upgrade DID NOT take to save points) Chilling Weight – Chilled enemies have their Movement Speed further reduced by up to 10%.
  • (passive) did not pick other Imbuements passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Shadow Clone – Your shadow mimicks your actions for 15 seconds. The shadow deals 60% of your damage. Cooldown: 60.0 seconds. Damage: Physical Tags: Ultimate
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Shadow Clone – You are Unstoppable while your Shadow Clone is active.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supreme Shadow Clone – Your Shadow Clone deals an additional 20% of your damage.
  • (passive) Innervation – Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to gain 5 Energy.
    • (upgrade) Second Wind – Every 100 Energy you spend grants you +10% increased Lucky Hit Chance for 5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Alchemist’s Fortune – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
  • (passive) Aftermath – After using an Ultimate Skill, restore 25 Energy.
  • (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Close Quarters Combat – Damaging a nearby enemy with a Ranged or Melee Skill grants a +5% Attack Speed bonus for 8 seconds. While both Attack Speed bonuses are active, you gain “Lucky Hit: up to a 75% chance to generate 10 Energy and deal +15% increased damage when you deal direct damage to a Crowd Controlled enemy.”

Class Mechanic:

I don’t have much information about the 3 Specializations of the Rogue which are their Class Mechanics:

  • Combo Points – Your Basic Skills now generate Combo Points. Certain Skills consume Combo Points for additional effects.
  • Inner Sight – Attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy for 4 seconds.
  • Preparation – This specialization was not available during the closed beta builds of the game.
probably evolved into Inner Sight
probably replaced by Preparation

My guess is that it would be best to switch between specializations depending on the situation/content. For now I won’t go into detail or say use only a certain one of those until the game launches and I try them out.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Coldstep) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Amulet: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Chest: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Pants: Aspect of Might
  • Gloves: Vengeful Aspect
  • Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect
  • Ring 1: Ravenous Aspect
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Unstable Imbuements
  • 1H Weapon (see NOTE below): Aspect of Inner Calm
  • Off-hand (see NOTE below): Aspect of Corruption
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Arrow Storms
NOTE: You'll be using a 2H Bow or Crossbow + a Dual-Wielded Weapon & Offhand combo for this build. I do not currently know how swapping out will work for different skills. 

Barbs auto-swap when you use the skill to the weapon it requires due to their arsenal system which Rogues don't have. There may just be a button to swap between 2h and dual wield so we'll see about that. 

The good thing is that shadow step might be able to work even if you have the dual-wield setup on your secondary weapon set

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Coldstep Rogue Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website

BIG GRIZZ Diablo IV Druid Build

BIG GRIZZ Druid BUILD for Diablo IV

(this build’s got that BIG GRIZZ energy & uses two defensive skills, making it beary tanky)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Druid Class called BIG GRIZZ.

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (BIG GRIZZ) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Some of the skill icon images you see could be outdated & different from what is seen in the Full release version. I plan to replace them once the Beta ends or after the full launch

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Maul – Shapeshift into a Werebear and maul nearby enemies, dealing +21.00% (X-?) damage. Type: Shapeshifting Damage: Physical Generates: 11 Spirit
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Maul – If an enemy is hit by Maul, then Fortify for X.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Maul – While Healthy, Maul grants 4 additional Spirit.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

  • (active) Pulverize – Shapeshift into a Werebear and slam the ground, dealing 52.50% (X-?) damage to nearby enemies. Talents: Iron Hide, Hunt the Weak, Feral Spirit, Quickshift, Storm and Claw, Elemental Exposure. Type: Shapeshifting Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 34
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Pulverize – Pulverize deals 20% (muiltiplicative) increased bonus damage when hitting 2 or more enemies.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primal Pulverize – Enemies hit with Pulverize deal 15% reduced damage for 4 seconds.
  • (passive) Heart of the Wild – Maximum Spirit is increased by 3.
    • (upgrade did NOT take to save points) Wild Impulses – Your Core Skills cost 5% (multiplicative) more Spirit but deal 10% (multiplicative) increased damage
    • (upgrade) Abundance – Basic Skills generate 5% more Spirit.
  • (passive) Predatory Instinct – Critical Strike Chance against nearby enemies is increased by 3%.
    • (upgrade) Iron Fur – While in Werebear form, damage reduction is increased by 3%. This bonus persists for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take cuz it’s a Werewolf synergy) Digitigrate Gait / Lycanthropic Speed
  • (passive) did not pick other Spirit/Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below

  • (active) Debilitating Roar – Shapeshift into a Werebear and bellow with ferocity, reducing the attack speed of nearby enemies by 50% for 4 seconds. Talents: Iron Hide, Hunt the Weak, Feral Spirit, Quick Shift, Storm and Claw. Type: Shapeshifting Damage: Physical Cooldown: 22 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Debilitating – Roar Debilitating Roar also Fortifies you for X.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Debilitating – Roar Debilitating Roar also heals you for 4% of your maximum Life each second for its duration.
  • (passive) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your non-physical resistances by 5%.
    • (upgrade) Vigilance – You Take X% reduced damage for X seconds after using a Defensive Skill.
  • (active) Earthen Bulwark – Rocks surround you for 3 seconds, making you Unstoppable and absorbing up to X damage. Type: Earth Magic Damage: Physical Cooldown: 16 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthen Bulwark – Earthen Bulwark makes you Unstoppable while active.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Earthen Bulwark – Casting Earthen Bulwark grants X Fortify.

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11 ) I did NOT take a companion BUT if you want to sacrifice one of the Defensive skills, I recommend the skills & upgrades below

  • (active) Ravens – Active: The target area is swarmed with ravens. dealing 89.25 (X-?) damage over 6 seconds. Type: Companion Damage: Physical Cooldown: 25 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Ravens – Passive: Ravens fly above you and periodically attack your enemies for 13.85% (X-?) damage every 5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ferocious Ravens – Enemies inside the swarm of Ravens when it is activated become Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points BUT even if you take a companion i still won’t recommend the Companion passives for this build

Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Trample – Shapeshift into a Werebear and charge forward, dealing 26.25% (X-?) damage and Knocking Back enemies. Enemies who are Knocked Back into terrain take an additional 47.25% (X-?) damage and are Stunned for 3 seconds. Type: Shapeshifting Damage: Physical Cooldown: 14 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Trample – You are Unstoppable during Trample.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Savage Trample – Casting Trample grants 20 Spirit.
  • (passive) did not pick any Wrath passives to save points but there are some worth considering

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Grizzly Rage – Shapeshift into a Dire Werebear for 10 seconds gaining 20% (multiplicative) bonus damage and 20% (multiplicative) damage reduction. Damage bonus is increased by +3% each second while in this form. Kills extend the duration by 1 second up to +10 additional seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Grizzly Rage – You are unstoppable when Grizzly Rage is active.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Grizzly Rage – Gain X Fortified Life per second while Grizzly Rage is active.
  • (passive) Defensive Posture – Increase the Damage Reduction gained while you are Fortified by an additional +3%.
    • (upgrade) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for X.
    • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Nature’s Resolve – 5% chance when struck to Fortify you for X

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Ursine Strength – Gain 20% (multiplicative) additional maximum Life while in Werebear form and for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form. While Healthy, deal 20% (multiplicative) increased damage.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category + maybe 1 more from another. I’ll leave this empty for now.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (BIG GRIZZ) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Amulet: Ballistic Aspect
  • Chest: Skinwalker’s Aspect
  • Pants: Mending Stone
  • Gloves: Aspect of Quicksand
  • Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect
  • Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Ring 2: Aspect of The Rampaging Werebeast
  • 1H Weapon (see note below): Crashstone Aspect
  • Off-hand (see note below): Aspect of The Ursine Horror
  • 2-H Weapon (see note below): Crashstone Aspect
NOTE: I recommend using 1H + offhand so that you can get an extra aspect. 

If you go for 2-Handed and put Aspect of The Ursine Horror in the Gloves Slot you could move Aspect of Quicksand to the Chest Slot, while removing Skinwalker's Aspect from the setup or replacing Mending Stone in the Pants slot with it (skinwalker).

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

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This concludes the BIG GRIZZ Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website