Now live! Which Diablo 3 class should you play in Season 32?

The next season of Diablo 3 is now live with Ethereal Weapons returning for Diablo 3 Season 32. This is one of many future seasons, because Diablo 3 isn’t going anywhere: future seasons will continue to remix past Seasons to keep things interesting — this season marks the return of the Season 24 theme, as well as retaining the Altar of Rites from Season 28 and the Visions of Enmity from Season 29.

Season 32 will be different, but also familiar, as we’re once again given the opportunity to start Diablo 3 over again with a fresh slate. So what class should you play in Diablo 3 Season 32 to wield their legacy power? Whether you’re jumping into the new season or just looking to make a fresh start, here’s what you need to know about picking the best class in Diablo 3.

Classes for melee players

The melee-focused classes in Diablo 3 are Barbarian, Crusader, and Monk. Each of these has a different flavor to them that drive their approaches to battle:

• Barbarians focus on brutal mass damage with huge splash attacks like Seismic Slam, Hammer of the Ancients, and Whirlwind.
• Crusaders use a big shield to block — and in some cases redirect — damage, with withering attacks like Bombardment and Heaven’s Fury that lay waste to an area.
• Monks are nearly the polar opposite of Crusaders, with high maneuverability that allows them to avoid damage that Barbarians simply absorb and Crusaders block or reflect. Attacks like Tempest Rush and Exploding Palm allow them to deal out damage while avoiding it themselves.

If you’re looking for a melee class, consider your preferred method of combat: do you want to take a beating to dole out one of your own (Barbarian); use a shield both to avoid damage and deal it out yourself while smiting every fool in reach (Crusader); or nimbly sidestep threats and use the enemies’ own numbers to destroy them (Monk)? Pick your playstyle and you’ll find you class.

Classes for ranged players

Ranged players have one more class option than melee, with the Necromancer, Witch Doctor, Wizard, and Demon Hunter.

• Wizards are pure casters. Magic Missile, Ray of Frost, Arcane Orb, Mirror Image, and Teleport are just some of the tricks Wizards have at their disposal. Want to rain utter elemental destruction without worrying about things like pets or minions? Wizards are the ranged class for you.
• Demon Hunters are ranged bow-wielders for the most part, with a focus on traps, turrets, or pets to help them as they cartwheel around the battlefield using Vault, Strafe, and Multishot to their advantage and skills like Fan of Knives or Impale to manage melee threats.
• Witch Doctors are a hybrid class, relying on summoned minions and curses to soften up their enemies. Then, they either use their magic to make their minions and curses stronger and whittle their crippled foes down, or they wade in to kill their debilitated enemies. If you want to use mindless Zombies as fodder and summon Gargantuan ones to fight, Sacrifice one and watch it explode, or even rain Firebats down on your foes, the Witch Doctor could be for you.
• Necromancer is a close cousin of the Witch Doctor, but with more of an Evil Dead flavor. Wield a scythe, unleash a host of skeletons, and explode the fallen corpses of your enemies to victory. If you like the concept of using minions and debilitating your enemies, but not so much the specific aesthetic of the Witch Doctor, this may be your class.

While these classes do have ranged attacks, they can use those attacks on things up close and personal to them, so don’t worry that you’ll get surrounded — each of these classes have options to bring the pain no matter where the enemy is.

How does the Season 32 theme affect your class choice?

Ethereal weapons are a pretty unique inclusion, with each class having three base weapon options pulling from a pool of class-specific legendary weapon or offhand powers. While none of the weapons will disappoint, there’s always an ideal power for each build. Let’s review what combination to look for as you’re starting out with the Haedrig’s Gift class sets:

• Barbarian’s Immortal King’s Call set buffs Call of the Ancients and Wrath of the Berserker. Look for an Ethereal (such as The Grandfather for its incredible damage) with the Remorseless affix once you have enough pieces of your set to leave the included Mighty Weapon. (Sample build)
• Crusader’s Seeker of the Light set buffs Blessed Hammer and Falling Sword, with occasionally reducing the cooldown for Provoke. Look for an Ethereal with the Faithful Memory affix. (Sample build)
• Demon Hunter’s Natalya’s Vengeance set buffs Spike Traps when leveraged with Caltrops. Look for the Doomslinger Ethereal (the other two options are 2H weapons, removing another legendary power from your rotation), but none of the options in the affix pool buff Spike Traps, so go with the Dawn affix to work towards 100% Vengeance uptime. (Sample build)
• Monk’s Uliana’s Stratagem set is varied, working with your Spirit-generating abilities while buffing Exploding Palm and Seven-Sided Strike. This gives you a few options for powers to look for on any of the three Ethereal weapon options with The Fist of Az’Turrasq or Lion’s Claw. Alternatively, if you find one with the Flow of Eternity affix, you can swap its place in Kanai’s Cube for one of the one-hander powers. (Sample build)
• Necromancer’s Trag’Oul’s Avatar set is interesting in that it ties together Blood Rush, Siphon Blood, and your life-spenders. Now, you might think the Iron Rose is a good option, but you’re going to want that equipped in your offhand. Instead, look for the Bloodtide Blade affix and cube your Funerary Pick. (Sample build)
• Witch Doctor’s Spirit of Arachyr set is an interesting one that can result in build variations due to its permanent Spider Queen buffing your Corpse Spider damage while the set’s 6-piece also buffs Corpse Spiders, Plague of Toads, Fire Bats, Locust Swarm, Hex, and Piranhas. Combine the Staff of Chiroptera affix with the Ghostflame Ethereal to significantly buff Fire Bats and free up your weapons slot in the Cube. (Sample build)
• Wizard’s Vyr’s Amazing Arcana set works solely with the Archon skill. However, it is normally combined with the Chantodo’s weapon set, which you cannot benefit from when wielding an Ethereal! If you like a challenge, try tackling a colloquially-termed “Reverse Archon” build with one of the two 1H Ethereals — the 2H Mang Song’s Lesson would remove a potential benefit from an offhand. Powers will depend on which variation of the build you choose: (Sample build)
  • For Arcane Orb’s Frozen Orb: either Unstable Scepter or Wizardspike affixes.
  • For Energy Twister: Valthek’s Rebuke affix.

How to get started and make the most of your class in Season 32

Actually starting a Season character is easy. Once the Season starts, there’s an option on the character creation screen to choose between a normal and Seasonal character. Seasonal characters start off with nothing — they don’t have any Paragon levels, they don’t share any stash tabs with your other character: they’re level 1 with starter gear.

Everyone’s equally squishy and underpowered at level 1. That’s why the game starts you off with a few shambling undead in Act 1 and gradually ramps up as you clear your way through the Cathedral. If you’re just getting started with the theme features, there are plenty of guides and info to help you out:

• Ethereal Weapons in Diablo 3 Season 32
• The Altar of Rites, how to spend your first five points, and how to farm all the rare materials required: Primordial Ashes, a Staff of Herding, an ancient Puzzle Ring, and 6900 Blood Shards.
• How to run the Echoing Nightmare (Now a permanent feature in Diablo 3)
• How to make the most of Diablo 3’s Followers
• Find the best build with Icy Veins’ class guides for Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, and Wizard, or Maxroll’s class build guides

From there, play the game as normal, just as you did the very first time you rolled a character in Diablo 3. All the content is available to you — all five acts and Adventure Mode — so you can level to 70 doing the story, running bounties, doing rifts and greater rifts, or you can play with friends. Season play is basically a reset that makes leveling as challenging as if you had no higher level characters to funnel you gold, gems, and legendaries. The way Diablo 3 works, you can succeed on just about any class once you have the proper gear and spec sorted out, so take a gander at all those powers and decide which one sound like the most fun to you.

Originally published June 14, 2018. Updated July 10, 2024.