Is Diablo 4 getting a Paladin class? In Diablo 4 Season 11 Paladin build tier list, ranking the best Paladin builds from S to A tier based on mechanics, damage profiles, and expected playstyle.

Diablo 4 Season 11 Paladin Tier List - Best Paladin Builds Ranked in D4 S11

The Paladin in Diablo 4 is shaping up to be one of the strongest and most exciting classes ever added, combining holy magic, heavy melee, shields, auras, and huge AoE bursts into a fast, flashy hybrid that fills a missing role in the roster; leaks point to iconic builds like Auradin and Hammerdin being S-tier right out of the gate, with Holy Flames, Divine Shield, and Smite Paladin close behind, all backed by powerful blessing mechanics, defensive immunities, burning ground effects, and vulnerable-shredding holy or shadow auras. Next, we'll dive into Diablo 4 Season 11 best Paladin builds ranking.

S Tier

Auradin Paladin

• Playstyle: Aura-based hybrid DPS + support, constant AoE damage, team buffing
  

• Damage Types: Holy Damage, Shadow (Unholy Aura), Vulnerable uptime, Support auras
  

• Resource: Blessing

The Auradin basically combines persistent passive damage, teamwide buffs, and huge utility into one package. The leaked skills show

Holy Light Aura

Heals nearby allies. Passively restores life per second. Can be activated for higher crit chance. This essentially gives the Paladin free sustain and group healing — something no other class has.

Unholy Aura

Applies Vulnerable in an AoE. Deals Shadow damage. Grants increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. This alone is enough to push the build into S tier because vulnerable is one of the strongest damage amplifiers. Group-wide application makes it broken in parties. Passive Shadow pulses add huge off-screen clearing.

Auradin becomes the meta group support and a top solo build thanks to constant passive DPS and broken utility layer.

Hammerdin Paladin

• Playstyle: Classic D2 fan favorite — swirling hammer projectiles that shred everything

• Damage Types: Holy damage, projectile AoE + insane single-target stacking

• Leaked Skill: Blast Hammers

Summons spinning holy hammers. They orbit outward for 5 seconds. If multiple hammers hit the same target → devastating damage. AoE clear + bossing in the same button. This is literally the D2 Hammerdin behavior — a build that dominated Diablo II for 20+ years. Hammerdin is the Paladin’s “face build” — dominating both clear and boss DPS from day one.

A Tier

Holy Flames Paladin

• Playstyle: Fire/holy hybrid DoT paladin, burning damage, big AoE circles
  

• Damage Types: Fire (Holy Flames), Shadow (Unholy Flames DoT variant)

• Leaked Skill: Holy Flames

Blessing-based ability that ignites the area around the Paladin. Deals fire damage + burning DoT. Can be corrupted into Unholy Flames. While Hammerdin and Auradin provide damage AND utility, Holy Flames is more straightforward. Strong, fun, but not meta-breaking. A great farming build with simple gameplay, but a step below the top two monsters.

Divine Shield Paladin

• Playstyle: Tank/support paladin, barrier uptime, immunity windows
  

• Damage Types: N/A (primarily defensive)

• Leaked Skill: Divine Shield

Grants immunity for 4 seconds. Generates barrier based on max life. Very similar to Necromancer’s immunity skill but longer uptime potential. A top-tier defensive specialization that enables face-tanking gameplay, but not the highest damage output.

Smite Paladin

• Playstyle: Direct holy strikes, stun-focused melee fights
  

• Damage Types: Holy, possibly Lightning if they follow classic D2 Smite design

Although Smite wasn’t fully detailed, classic-style Smite usually gives guaranteed hit, bonus holy damage, potential stuns and strong single-target melee burst. Without aura scaling or massive AoE, Smite likely can’t compete with hammerdin’s map clear, auradin’s massive passive damage and vulnerability uptime. But it remains a very strong and fun melee build.