With the Diablo 4 Season 9 Public Test Realm (2.3.0 PTR) now live, players are getting a preview of the sweeping changes coming to the game. From class updates to item rebalancing and system tweaks, this patch is packed with major adjustments. Based on the already revealed patch notes, current date, and testing, we've sorted out the new best classes and builds to try out in the Season 8 PTR.
Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR Tier List - Best Class & Builds in D4 2.3.0 PTR
The PTR brought a host of class balance changes, most of which were reductions in power across the board. Significant reductions to tempering recipes, especially for additive stats like crit damage, overpower, and fortify; weapon implicit nerfs, such as 2H maces dropping from 400% to 130% overpower damage; universal nerfs to overpower, now nearly on par with crit damage; and more. Taking all the info we've known already about the 2.3.0 PTR into consideration, here we are going to sort out the tier list of all classes and the most promising builds post-nerf. Keep in mind this is based on early PTR impressions and subject to change.
1. Sorcerer (S Tier)
Sorcerer receives major adjustments in Season 9, with Hydra builds getting the most impactful buffs. Hydra in general is just being made at a base a little bit best to use. The Hydra build benefits from new unique items and aspects, including Serpentines and Oidian Iris, enabling huge multiplicative damage scaling. This is going to be very, very good with serpentines.
Main Changes:
All basic skills are having their base damage increased.
Hydra’s mana cost reduced, base damage increased, and lucky hit chance doubled.
Combustion has been capped at 100%... a humongous nerf.
Enlightenment now takes your highest elemental additive and makes all of them the highest, not all of them combined.
Lightning Spear is having so many nerfs… I would be very surprised if it’s the top S build.
Best Sorc Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
Hydra Sorcerer (S Tier) - Receives multiple buffs including a new unique amulet and a reworked serpentine aspect, allowing massive scaling via mana consumption.
Ice Shards Sorcerer (A Tier) - Still performs well even after Enlightenment nerf. Cleared Pit 100 on live.
Lightning Spear Sorcerer (A Tier) - Fast-paced with automated damage, hit with nerfs but still fast and viable. High attack speed and auto-targeting.
Blizzard & Chain Lightning Sorcerer (A Tier) - Good damage profiles and flexibility. Not top-tier but still strong for high-end content.
2. Spiritborn (A Tier)
Spiritborn receives considerable buffs, especially to its poison and thorns archetypes. The new unique armor introduces large amounts of base thorns while enabling passive poison application, opening up new build paths that were previously underwhelming. Important passives such as Toxic Claws and Nourishment are reworked to provide generic poison scaling.
Main Changes:
Toxic Claws is a very interesting one. This has been changed to just be a generic poison damage multiplier now.
Noxious Resonance flat removed the critical damage scaling. That is a humongous nerf.
Hunter ultimate changed from cooldown reset to 5 seconds per kill, 1 per boss hit.
New unique gives you massive amounts of extra thorns on your attacks.
Best Spiritborn Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
Quill Volley Spiritborn (S Tier) - Machine-gun style projectile spam, virtually untouched by nerfs. Already cleared Pit 108 on live.
Thorns Spiritborn (S Tier) - Durable and reactive. Damage comes from taking hits and automated skills. New legendary pants greatly improve thorns uptime and scaling.
Firestorm Evade Spiritborn (A Tier) - Key Passive Buff, Bad for Pushing but best Speed Farmer, easily clear the Pit 85
Razor Wings Spiritborn (B Tier) - Few buffs, still not great
Payback Spiritborn (B Tier) - Receive OP nerfs in Season 9 PTR
Rushing Claw Spiritborn (B Tier) - No changes, but still MEH
3. Barbarian (A Tier)
Barbarian enters Season 9 with a clear focus on empowering basic skills through both direct buffs and a new unique pair of boots that grant cleave and 100% multiplicative damage while at full Fury. Bash in particular benefits from a new temper that allows it to hit twice, which when paired with the new boots, may revive this once-dominant skill.
Main Changes:
Basic skills, base damage increase straight across the board.
New boots give cleave to basic skills and 100% multiplicative damage at max fury.
Bash temper changed from chance to cleave to chance to hit twice.
Ugly Bastard helm now requires Wrath of the Berserker to be active.
Paragon nodes now apply full bonuses without conditional triggers.
Best Barb Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
Flay Barbarian (Bleed Build) (A Tier) - Fast-hitting bleed DoT with high uptime, new boots significantly boost basic skill damage. Stacks bleed and uses Tyrant’s Bane for burst.
Pet Twister Barb (A Tier) - Twister portion of Petquake untouched, but 2.5x gone from Boss Power
Pet Earthquake Barb (A Tier) - Damage /2 Paragon + Decimator, No more Ugly B. 2.5x gone from Boss Power, Pit 113
Lightning Strike Barb (B Tier) - New Unique & x3 dmg
Bash Barb (B Tier) - Bash can't play Ramalala but gets 1.4x from HotA OP
Double Swing Barb (B Tier) - OP NERF no buffs, Pit 86 clear
Mighty Throw Barb (B Tier) - OP + Snapshot Nerf
4. Druid (B Tier)
Druid receives notable buffs to Pulverize, Claw, and Grizzly Rage, alongside basic skill improvements. Several key passives are adjusted to reduce reliance on conditional triggers. However, nerfs to popular items like the Malignant Ring and aspects like Runeworker’s Conduit may temper expectations for top-end pit pushing.
Main Changes:
Pulverize has also had its base damage increased.
Grizzly Rage now gives unstoppable for the full duration.
Toxic Claws changed to just be a generic poison damage multiplier.
Malignant Ring has had its damage bonus reduced pretty drastically.
Runeworker’s Conduit no longer scales with willpower.
Best Druid Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
Machine Gun Smelly Druid (A Tier) - Rabid Bear + Poison scaling, New Ruture mechanic with Gizmo Arcana
Shred Druid (B Tier) - Strong but relies heavily on overpower, which was nerfed.
Companion Druid (B Tier) - Lost boss powers and suffers from overpower nerfs.
Boulder Druid (B Tier) - Overpower nerf
Earth Spike Druid (B Tier) - x5 dmg but still MEH
Stone Bust Druid (B Tier) - OP Nerf
Cataclysm Druid (B Tier) - Still can snapshot, but gets OP nerf and Cata nerf
5. Necromancer (B Tier)
Several nerfs target core Necromancer mechanics, particularly overpower and Soul Rift, which loses its barrier generation and sees its Prime bonus damage reduced significantly. However, a new unique pair of gloves for skeletal mages introduces a new offensive minion build concept, offering some hope for diversity.
Main Changes:
Soul Rift’s Prime damage bonus reduced from 75% to 15%.
Affliction, Rathma’s Vigor, and Ossified Essence—damage caps introduced.
New unique gloves... completely focused at the skeletal mages.”
Blood Bath node reduced from 100% to 40%.”
Shadowblight... damage bonus capped at 300% but scales more easily.
Best Necro Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
Summon Mage Necromancer (A Tier) - New gloves allow full mage specialization. Good synergy with pet scaling and Mendel's ring.
Blood Spear Necromancer (B Tier) - Still decent, but not what it used to be.
Blood Wave Necro (B Tier) - OP Nerf and pants nerf
Bone Spirit Necro (B Tier) - OP Nerf
Blood Lance Necro (B Tier) - OP Nerf
Blood Surge Necro (B Tier) - Great for farming
6. Rogue (C Tier)
Rogue takes the hardest hit in Season 9. Nearly all key passives are capped or reduced in effectiveness, and signature builds like Death Trap and Flurry suffer from cooldown and healing nerfs. Poison trap mechanics receive attention through new aspects, yet it remains uncertain whether these will be enough to revive the class’s competitiveness.
Main Changes:
Key passives have just been capped, this will affect the majority of rogue builds.
Death Trap only gets this bonus damage every 10 seconds.
Flurry now heals over 1.5 seconds rather than instantly.
Subverting Concealment now grants all skills crits for 4 seconds.
New unique makes Flurry scale with life spent instead of energy.
Best Rogue Builds To Play in D4 S9 2.3.0 PTR
McFlurry Rogue (A Tier) - New helm buffs Flurry, but overall rogue power is down. Still, it’s the top rogue build for now.
Death Trap Rogue (B Tier) - Once dominant, now limited by cooldown and item nerfs.
Rain of Arrow Rogue (B Tier) - Boss Power hard nerf & Ulti capped at 200% but still decent build
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