Enhance your favorite class in Diablo 3 Season 11 with this top 10 builds list, created by The Escapist’s favorite in-depth Diablo madman Rhykker.
The introduction of the Necromancer, naturally, has totally thrown a femur bone (or twenty) into the Season 10 tier list. Our main man Rhykker is an expert in the field of Diablo 3, and he’s got the builds you need, ranked in order of power, to get the end-game job done. The following builds cover every class, and each is designed for that good solo Greater Rift pushing. That’s a fancy way of saying you’ll be tough enough to handle stuff by yourself.
NOTE: Just to be totally clear, these are the top 10 best builds for Patch 2.6, Season 11. Future patches might change up the tier list, but these builds should still be viable for all.
Check out the full video detailing the top 10 best classes in Diablo 3 Season 11, or jump to each tier with the Table of Contents below.
For more awesome Diablo 3 videos, subscribe to Rhykker’s Channel on YouTube.
Table of Contents
- S Tier Builds – GR 115-112
- A Tier Builds – GR 110-108
- B Tier Builds – GR 108-105
- C Tier Builds – GR 105-102
- D Tier Builds – GR 102-100
- F Tier Builds – GR 97-94
Quick-Look Tier List
All credit (images & text) for this tier list goes to CJ Miozzi, a.k.a. Rhykker on YouTube.
The apex of the pyramid, this singular S Tier build beats everything else out these in Season 11 so far. If you like the Necromancer and want to crush those Greater Rifts solo, this is the best option available.
S Tier Builds – GR 115-112
NOTE: The following entry is an excerpt from Rhykker.
Trag Corpse Lance
With the necromancer less than a month old and already topping the leaderboard clears of any other class, it more than deserves the number one spot on this list and entire tier level unto itself. Clearing GR 115s after only being out for a few weeks, it’s entirely possible we have yet to unleash the full power of the necromancer, and we may see it climb higher yet. The Trag Oul corpse lance build is currently the necromancer build that has proven itself on the leaderboards, but who knows what other combinations theorycrafters will find. If you want to push as high as you possibly can this season, necromancer will be the way to go. We have a build guide for the trag oul corpse lance build.
The best of the best. There’s only one build that’s (currently) better than these high-end build options. All of A Tier are awesome picks, even if S Rank outclasses them.
A Tier Builds – GR 110-108
NOTE: The following entries are excerpts from Rhykker.
Raiment Duo-Gen
Retaining its position in the A tier but dropping from 4th place to 5th because of the necromancer muscling his way into the list, the raiment duo-gen will, once again, be the top build you see on the monk leaderboards.
Hammerdin
Falling from the S tier to the A tier and from 2nd place to 4th, the hammerdin is still the best crusader build.
LoN Spirit Barrage WD
Coming in at #3, this build was completely absent from our previous Tier list. Once an overpowered build on the test server, this build was nerfed into oblivion before a former patch went live, but then stealthily reemerged in patch 2.5. It was only once season 10 had started that the true power of this build was discovered, and it now reigns as the top WD build by a mile.
Lightning Wizard
Previously in the S tier and the best build in the game, the lightning wizard has been bumped down to the number 2 ranking and a whole tier level thanks to the necromancer and an absolutely insanely powerful build. The lightning wizard was iterated upon until a variant using the aether walker and foregoing hydras was found to be the best for solo pushing.
Now we’re getting somewhere. These are buffed-up builds for top-tier Greater Rift pushing. These are the above-average choices when it comes to viable end-game builds.
B Tier Builds – GR 108-105
NOTE: The following entries are excerpts from Rhykker.
FB Wizard
Falling from the A tier and 3rd place to be tied for 6th, the FB wizard was once the best Wizard build. It has not dropped in power, but the lightning wizard eventually surpassed it.
UE Grenades
This build not only retains its tier position from last season, it also retains its position in our top 10 list, tied for #6. This is the best Demon Hunter build, and it hasn’t fallen lower in the list because it was pushed further in season 10.
Inna EP
This is the final build tied for 6th place. In our previous tier list, we made a conservative estimate and placed this build in the C tier at rank 8. It surpassed those estimates and rose up into the B tier as a build deserving of consideration. We previously had the inna generator monk listed in the B tier as an alternative to the raiment generator monk.
The definition of average. These builds will work for just about everyone. They’re not the very best, but they’re functional and fun.
C Tier Builds – GR 105-102
NOTE: The following entries are excerpts from Rhykker.
Rathma Singularity
We’ll start with a necromancer build and immediately note that this is a conservative estimate. Currently tied for 9th place but almost definitely capable of higher, we’re keeping this build in the C tier until it proves its strength. In theory, there’s a variant of the rathma singularity build that can out-DPS any build in this game, but it’ll come down to how practical the build is in play. These builds combines the rathma’s 6-piece bonus, which revolves around skeletal mages, with the singularity rune on skeletal mage which makes you dump all your essence to create a super-powered mage. With Rathma’s being the starter set for necromancers in season 11, gearing toward this build is a solid choice.
LoN FoK
The other build tied for 9th placed, this was the best demon hunter build for a while before the introduction of grenades builds. Falling from its #7 spot, this build is difficult to gear for, difficult to play, and only marginally more powerful than the Shadow Impale build. At least the shadow impale build is also useful for group play, so if you don’t want to opt for the most powerful DH build, which we’ll cover in a bit, then I’d recommend shadow impale over this one.
LoN Bomb
Tied for 8th place, this build has fallen from the A tier and 5th place into mediocrity. The best crusader build in ages past, it has fallen out of favor due to being difficult to gear for, not particularly fun to play, and weaker than the top crusader build.
Roland’s Sweep
The other build tied for 8th place. It received a big buff in patch 2.5, and as a conservative estimate, we placed it in the D tier last season. However, it has proven its worth and landed in the C tier this time around. While not the easiest build to play, it’s easier to gear for than the LoN Bomb sader, and is perhaps the best build to use to gear for the top crusader build. Even better, it’s the starter build for the crusader in season 11.
Thorns Trag’ouls Pets
Tied for 7th place, we have another necromancer build. Conservative estimate. With unoptimized gear and paragon levels – it can certainly push higher, possibly up into the B tier or higher. Still, it is not the most powerful build that uses Trag’Ouls set, and being a thorns build, requires completely different gearing than other builds, so it’s difficult to recommend this one unless you really want to run a thorns pet build.
Whirlwind Barb
The other build tied for 7th placed. In our previous list, this build landed in 9th place in the D tier, and is one of the few builds to have actually risen, proving that reports of the barbarian’s death were greatly exaggerated. While the barbarian is still the weakest class, it’s only one greater rift level behind the demon hunter and certainly respectable.
Not terrible, but not even close to the best. These are the D tier builds. Use these if you like the class / skill combo, because there are better builds out there.
D Tier Builds – GR 102-100
NOTE: The following entries are excerpts from Rhykker.
Marauder Grenades
Previously placing in the C tier, the marauder grenade build has been bumped down a tier, as have most builds, thanks to the necromancer. If you want to run a grenade build, the DH has more powerful options, but if marauder is the only set you have, then this build will get the job done.
Firebats (Helltooth and Arachyr)
There are two variants of the firebats build: the helltooth version, which is tankier, and the arachyr version, which deals more damage. The arachyr version is superior by a single greater rift level and was formerly the best witch doctor build before the surprise resurgence of a previously defunct witch doctor build. While firebats previously landed the witch doctor in the c tier, despite it now falling to the D tier, the witch doctor has only risen in power since our last tier list. You’ll see why soon enough. Arachyr Firebats actually takes us into our top 10 list of best builds, tied for 10th place with three other builds.
Arachyr Skills
Sunwuko LTK
Also tied for 10th place. Sunwuko’s was previously in our F tier, but it’s actually managed to climb up into our D tier this season. The build has barely changed, and there have been no balance changes to any class since last season; it just took a dedicated player to prove that the power gap between the sunwuko lashing tail kick build isn’t as far behind the legacy of nightmares Lashing tailkick build as we once thought. Throw in the fact that Sunwuko is a set with some great speed farming builds, and Sunwuko’s just looks better and better.
LoN LTK
Also tied for 10th. This is by far the more popular variant of LTK to play over Sunwuko’s, partially thanks to not having to manage the mechanic of sweeping wind stacks that the 6-piece bonus of Sunwuko’s relies on. Previously tied for 8th placed, the LoN LTK is bumped down as another casualty of the necromancer.
Shadow Impale
The last build we have that is tied for 10th place. In our previous tier list, this build was emerging, and we estimated its power as C-tier – we were correct about its relative strength, but GR range for C tier has changed in our new list, so it’s not in the D-tier. It’s a popular misconception that this is the most powerful Demon Hunter build – it’s a very popular build, it’s easy to play, it’s fun, and it’s a great build for killing rift guardians in groups, but it is definitely not the best solo pushing demon hunter build for greater rifts.
F Tier sounds like a bad place to be… and it kind of is? But these are still great builds. Some of the best in Diablo 3. They’re just the weakest compared to all the rest on our list.
F Tier Builds – GR 97-94
NOTE: The following entries are excerpts from Rhykker.
The Inna Uliana Monk
The only way to keep Uliana’s halfway relevant is to combine it with the much more powerful Inna set. Uliana’s is a set that combines 7-sided strike with Exploding Palm, but Inna’s can pull off a far more powerful Exploding Palm build. The Inna Uliana build focuses instead on 7-sided strike, using the powerful buffs from the full 6 pieces of the inna set, along with the four-piece bonus of Uliana’s, to make 7-sided strike do as much damage as possible. Unfortunately, this build is still strictly inferior to straight Inna’s combined with more synergistic items. If you haven’t found the items needed for a good Inna build and happen to have some Uliana’s lying around, feel free to use this build as you work your way to a proper Inna build, but otherwise, only pick this build if you love 7-sided strike.
Inarius Bonestorm
There was a time when the Bonestorm build was looking to be the top Necromancer build, clearing Greater Rift 107s before a more powerful set was discovered at the same time that a nerf to the Bonestorm build was about to release. The build previously relied on the use of the mirinae gem to smite enemies, but the nerf made the gem no longer a best-in-slot choice for the build and knocked it down about 5-10 greater rift levels. Inarius’ place in the F tier, currently, is a conservative estimate of its power – we’re less than a month into the release of the necromancer, and I suspect we have yet to see the full power of the necro unleashed. It would not surprise me to see Inarius rise to at least D tier by the end of the season, but there’s really no guarantee – so we’ll leave it in F tier for now. We have a bonestorm build guide that you can check out if you like the playstyle – just swap out the mirinae gem for a gogok of swiftness.
Jade Doc
Jade is still clinging to relevance, a relic of a bygone era for Witch Doctors. Previously in the D tier, the introduction of a far more powerful Witch Doctor build in the midst of season 10 leaves us with little reason to play Jades other than using it to gear for stronger builds. Still, it’s not a terrible set to have.
Charge Barb
Once the best barbarian build, the charge barb has fallen from grace, left behind ever since greater rift density changes a few patches ago allowed other builds to rise to compete with it. Previously in the D tier, the charge barb is bumped down to the F tier thanks to the necromancer power creep.
Helltooth Garg
Previously in the D tier, the Helltooth garg was once the top WD build. Now, not only is there a more powerful helltooth build, the dominant witch doctor build is so far beyond this build’s power that the only reason to take this build is if you really want to play a passive pet build. If you’re unhappy with the necromancer’s minion builds, you can try this pet build.
Leapquake Barb
The final F Tier build. This build was D tier in our previous tier list, ranking worse than the charge barb, but it has actually managed to muscle its way above the charge barb – not far enough to escape the F tier, however.
Published: Aug 7, 2017 02:15 pm