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Project Diablo 2 Builds Tier List

Project Diablo 2 Builds Tier List

Build Tier List for Project Diablo 2's Season 2 Transcendence

Project Diablo 2
Build Tier List

 

Introduction

Balance changes introduced in Project Diablo 2 have shaken the well-established Diablo 2 meta. Some of your favorite builds from LOD are not nearly as strong in PD2. On the other hand, some builds that were not worth picking up before are extremely strong in the mod. This is why we have decided to look a bit deeper into the current balance between the viable Project Diablo 2 builds. The results of our research are best shown in the form of something everybody loves to hate - a Tier List. 

 

The Tier List

To make things clear and more casual, here are loose Tier descriptions: 

  • The S Tier - Undeniably the best builds in the game, often approaching "overpowered" territory. A build is worthy of this category if it performs better than all other builds that feature a similar playstyle or because it is simply overturned and can breeze through high-end content like it's easy-mode. 
  • A Tier - Very strong choices that should provide you with a noticeable edge over an "average" pick. This is where most of the "competitive" builds will find themselves in. A Tier builds are among the strongest available but they don't make you feel like you're playing on the easy mode (at least in some of the harder maps). 
  • B Tier - Average choices. These will get the job done, nothing more, nothing less. These builds are either heavily specialized and lack versatility or they have a downside that prevents them from ascending to the A Tier. 
  • C Tier - Below-average choices that will put you at a disadvantage. If a build lands here, it has some core problems or needs a buff. 

Before we start with the list, here are a few important disclaimers: 

  • We will try to add all newly-established Builds to the Tier List as they come up, but only after we've evaluated them properly. 
  • The List is not concrete by any means, and there is a possibility that Builds will shift around over time. Either because of balance changes, fine-tuning, or simple reconsideration. 
  • Builds inside respective Tiers are not listed in any particular order. 

Note: Below, you will also find links to our versions of some of the featured builds. You can check all of them at once in our "Project Diablo 2 Classes and Builds guide". If you'd like us to feature a particular build that we didn't cover yet, feel free to let us know! 

 

The S Tier

  • Wake of Fire Trap Assassin - This trap-based Assassin build is one of the strongest picks for solo farming. It achieves clear speeds other builds can only dream of, thanks to its amazingly high AoE damage output, very high mobility, and adequate defenses. The build's main ability, Wake of Fire, is a trap that generates fire waves when it's triggered. These waves travel to the closest enemy which makes them miss very rarely and ensures that the build is easy to play with high efficiency. Uncharacteristically for S-tier builds, this one has a weakness of sorts - it relies mainly on one damage type (fire) which means it might have some problems when dealing with fire-immune enemies. This, however, is easily fixed with a strong Merc and a Death Sentry trap that gives access to other types of damage. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Wake of Fire Trap Assassin guide! 

  • Double Throw Barbarian - If you like the Barbarian but you don't like Whirlwind, this build is a great alternative. It's focused on throwing weapons and the Double Throw skill that allows you to throw two different throwing weapons at the same time. If you're new to PD2, you might think that this is nothing special, but... Weapons you throw with Double Throw bounce to nearby enemies and the number of bounces increases with skill levels (for a max of 5 bounces/weapon, so 10 in total). Because of this, Double Throw Barbarian has insane DPS capabilities and can deal damage in a massive area without moving an inch. Moreover, because the DW is so powerful, you can focus your gear on defenses (life leech works especially great) and ensure that the build does not lack anything (except mobility, someone might argue). You can also easily play this Build on a budget and still farm high-end content successfully - DT Barbarian is a great starter build. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Double Throw Barbarian guide! 

  • Chain Lightning Sentry Assassin - Finding another trap-based Assassin build in the S tier is not a coincidence, as Traps are among the most powerful Skills in Project Diablo 2. Just like its Wake of Fire-based twin, this build shines in all types of content and can achieve unbelievable clearing speeds. But unlike WoF Assa, it is not that popular (which makes it an extremely solid candidate for picking, actually). Chain Lightning Sentry Assassin utilizes three types of damage (Lightning, Physical, and Fire), compared to only one damage type that the Wake of Fire version focuses on. This gives the described build a versatility advantage. It is extremely strong in solo PvE and can deal with most monster immunities very easily. If you are looking for a build designed for farming in the Cow Level, that is still capable of easily clearing all other types of end-game content, this is an excellent choice. If we were to point out a weakness of Chain Lightning Assa, it would be its focus on lightning damage which makes it a bit less effective in some areas (it can still deal physical and fire damage, though). 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Chain Lightning Sentry Assassin guide!

  • Multi-Shot Bowazon - The decision to put this build in the S Tier is one of our more controversial ones, we admit, but there is a good reason for it - Buriza-Do Kyanon and how Crossbows synergize with Multi-Shot in general, thanks to their ability to negate a part of enemy's physical resistance. On this note, we would like to point out that this build hangs somewhere between A and S Tiers - it all depends on the Gear you use; with enough Enhanced Damage and Skill Levels - this is an S-Tier, without - only an A (we've put it in S as we assume the best gear possible). With proper gear, Multi-Shot can easily deal over 10k Damage per shot (and much more than that with Runes and Corruptions) which is definitely worthy of the S Tier. In addition to this incredible offensive power, Multi-shot Bowazon also packs some quite impressive defenses and very good utility. Skills, like Evade, Decoy, Dodge, and Valkyrie ensure that this build can stand its ground against densely packed groups of monsters and come up on top each time. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Multi-Shot Bowazon guide!

  • Frost Nova Sorceress - Frost Spells are very strong overall, and the Frost Nova is the strongest one among them (in Season 2, at least). It offers extremely powerful AoE that not only damages but also slows all enemies in range. If you get max block and invest enough points into the Energy Shield, this build becomes almost unstoppable; it has everything - great mobility with Teleport, great defenses with Energy Shield and maxed block, and solid crowd control as well as incredible Damage with the Frost Nova. Just be aware that this build is not the best to level up with and becomes its true self only after you've reached the end game and equipped it properly. 
 

A Tier

  • Holy Bolt Paladin - This highly synergistic (Holy Bolt receives synergies from Holy Light, Fist of Heaven, Holy Nova, and Prayer) Paladin Build deals high Magic Damage which is one of the most universal damage types in Diablo 2, as straight-up magic immunity is very rare on monsters, even on the highest difficulty. Its main skill, the Holy Bolt, damages monsters and is capable of healing allies which makes it extremely convenient to use, even when solo (you can heal your Merc with it). The build's secondary skill, Holy Nova (that should be maxed anyway as it synergizes with Holy Bolt), offers very good AoE and can help with clearing more spread-out packs of enemies, greatly improving the build's versatility. Thanks to a variety of auras and high damage offered by the Holy Bolt, HB Paladin build is very easy to level up with and is a great choice if you're looking for a starter build. Moreover, just like every other Paladin build that utilizes the power of auras, this one also offers great team utility and will be greeted with open arms in any group. The only two things that prevent us from putting it into the S Tier are the recent Holy Bolt nerf that lowered its healing and damage effectiveness slightly, and potential mana problems you can encounter when running the build with budget gear. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Holy Bolt Paladin guide!

  • Frozen Orb Sorceress - A build based on one of the most popular Sorceress's spells in the PD2's Season 2. Frozen Orb offers a large area of effect and deals extremely high amounts of damage. This, when paired with Sorceress's signature mobility, results in a truly amazing build capable of breezing through enemies.  Frozen Orb Sorceress is very good for farming, thus high magic-find variants of the build are prevalent. When optimized properly, the build can retain most of its formidable offensive power while boasting very high Magic Find. As a result, it can smoothly farm most of the popular Magic Find locations without breaking a sweat. If you are looking for a Magic Find build that offers an amazing balance between Damage output, defenses, and Magic Find stats, and throws unmatched mobility on top of these, look no further. The main downsides of the Frozen Orb Sorceress include its inability to deal with cold immune monsters efficiently and rather high gear prices (these are caused by the build's popularity which confirms its high power level, really). Also, if you are looking for a Sorc build for farming end-game Bosses, there are some better choices but Frozen Orb Sorc can still get the job done. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Frozen Orb Magic Find Sorceress guide! 

  • Charged Strike/Lightning Strike Javazon - Javelin and Spear builds were extremely popular in the original Diablo 2. The main reason for this popularity was overturning, which has lead PD2 developers to put some of the more powerful Javelin and Spear Skills back in line. As a result, Javazon builds are not as powerful in PD2 as they were in Lord of Destruction, however, some of them (such as this one) are still very powerful and offer a good alternative to ranged Amazon builds. Charged Strike/Lightning Strike Javazon offers an amazing mix of high single-target DPS (with Charged Strike) and great AoE (Lightning Strike). The build is extremely versatile and capable of clearing all types of content with solid speeds. It offers good survivability with a very high dodge and boasts solid utility. Moreover, it is rather cheap to run as core gear is not that expensive - this makes it a great starter choice. However, both Charged Strike and Lightning Strike deal lightning damage, which hinders the build a bit. Also, it is single-target-focused and may struggle against densely packed groups of monsters (when there are too many enemies, Lightning Strike starts to lose its usual efficiency as it has to hit every monster individually - it's a chain lightning-like effect). 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Charged Strike/lightning Strike Javazon guide! 

  • Dragondin/Holy Fire Aura Paladin - This powerful 'Auradin"-type build is based mainly on the Holy Fire Aura that periodically deals Fire damage to all nearby enemies. With enough skill levels, and proper Runewords (Dragon and Hand of Justice), you can actually stack multiple powerful Holy Fire Auras on top of each other. This results in an insanely high, constant, AoE Fire damage around the Paladin; all that you have to do is run around while your Auras scorch nearby monsters. As for the defense, Dragondin does not benefit too much from Life Steal, so its defenses are focused around Block Chance and Replenish Life instead - overall, it can stand its ground reasonably well; the main trick is to never stop moving and turn the build's amazing offense into its defense (dead enemies won't attack you...). Because of these properties, Holy Fire Aura Paladin can breeze through most maps with ease. Overall, the build is very easy and very enjoyable to play, but rather expensive to gear up, because of its high popularity and the expensive Runewords it utilizes. Also, while its damage output is unmatched, fire immune enemies cause a lot of problems. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Dragondin/holy Fire Aura Paladin guide!

  • Curses/Dark Pact Necromancer - After the much-needed buff, Dark Pact is finally worth using. Not only that, it is actually extremely strong - to a point where it allows the Necromancer to AoE nuke groups of monsters almost effortlessly (the ability consumes the curses placed on enemies within an area, dealing high amounts of damage per each curse devoured). With Dark Pact, DP/Curse Necromancer is not a pure support character anymore; it's a fully-fledged damage dealer with unmatchable group utility. Because of this, the build shines while playing solo or in a group. The build's main strong point is the fact that Dark Pact deals Magic Damage, which is the most universal damage type in the game. Of course, you have to make some compromises to get the Dark Pact, so this build will never be as strong at supporting teammates as the pure Curse Necro is. The tradeoff is worth it and you should make it without hesitation, we'd say. As for solo gameplay, the build more than holds its ground with a bunch of summons, crippling curses, and solid defenses. However, it can run into problems if something survives the first Dark Pact (as it removes Curses from affected targets, making them a threat again). All in all, this build is a way to go if you'd like to play with Curses but you don't really like the idea of being a dedicated support character - just be aware that constantly re-applying Curses can get tedious after a while. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Curses/Dark Pact Necromancer guide!

  • Bone/Teeth Necromancer - Necro is not only a master of curses and summons, but can also deal devastating direct damage to his enemies. This build shows off this ability extremely well. Teeth skill is an extremely powerful AoE ability that summons multiple projectiles that travel in a cone in front of the caster, damaging everything on their way (especially after the buff). The area of coverage of Teeth makes Multishot Bowazon blush and the damage they deal can evaporate packs of monsters unbelievably quickly. Unlike some other AoE-focused builds, Bone/Teeth Necro can also easily dispatch high-health enemies with his Bone Spear. As for defenses, the build utilizes the Bone Armor to its full potential (it synergizes with the build's main offensive skills, so the absorption it provides is a nice bonus, really - it can, and will, save your life). Moreover, Bone/Teeth Necro does not shy away from Summons, utilizing them as meat shields with great success. Playing Bone/Teeth Necro fees refreshing and offers a completely different experience from the "standard" summon and curse builds. If you're after a solo Necro build, this one should meet your expectations; just remember that you won't have anywhere near the amount of utility a Curse Necromancer boasts. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Bone/Teeth Necromancer guide!

  • Whirlwind Barbarian - Whirlwind has received A LOT of love from Project Diablo 2 developers. At some point, it was a bit (this is an understatement of the century btw.) overturned. After they've tuned it down a bit, it became a much more balanced but still extremely powerful offensive ability. In season 2, WW Barb builds are very close to the S tier, but they lack just a little bit of versatility to make it. In terms of overall strength, Whirlwind Barbarian is really, really powerful when properly geared, and can achieve ludicrous damage numbers with its main Skill. Defensively, WW Barb is somewhat less durable than its Double Throw brother, but can still soak up a lot of punishment (especially with life leech that works extremely well with Whirlwind's damage output). Other than that, it is still a Barb which means that it synergizes really nicely with high Magic Find gear, especially when you invest some points into the Find Item Skill. If you want to feel like a Tasmanian Devil and shred through enemies like a bladed twister, you will definitely enjoy this build. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Whirlwind Barbarian guide! 

  • War Cry Singer Barbarian - one of the most unusual Barbarian builds which utilizes War Cry with its massive synergies to deal damage to enemies and stun them. This build offers very high AoE Physical Damage that allows you to farm most of the in-game content, and you shouldn't worry much about Monsters with immunities and just a handful of those have the Physical Immunity. It's also a great Starter build as it doesn't require much equipment to start off, and you can easily farm your initial equipment in Travincal. You can also hork with Find Item Warcry for extra Loot, which is extremely useful after a Ladder Reset. With end-game equipment you end up with nearly 50 levels on your Warcries Tree, not only greatly boosting your owns capabilities, but offering insane Team Utility, making this Barbarian an extremely valuable team partner

You can check our War Cry Singer Barbarian build right here:  War Cry Singer Barbiarn Build for PD2

  • Summoner Druid - Druid's Summoning skills have received a lot of rather substantial changes in PD2. These changes have made the tree quite a lot stronger and fun to play with. As of Season 2, Summoner Druid is an extremely solid starter choice - its gear dependence is low, its summons scale very well into the late game, and Ravens are ridiculously powerful in the early game (this one skill will carry you through normal difficulty on its own pretty much). If you like the summon-based gameplay but don't like the Summoner Necro, this build is a solid alternative... just a bit wilder. Defense-wise, Summoner Druid is very solid as well -  your summons should soak up the majority of incoming damage in most cases, and if you go for Max Block (which is expensive, but worth it) you won't have any problems with standing your ground in a fight. Summoner Druid is a very good choice for Hardcore, especially, as its survivability can hardly be matched by any other build. We recommend this build to newer players and people who want to try hardcore for the first time. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Summoner Druid guide! 

  • Wind Druid - In season 1, this Build was rather underwhelming. It dealt enough Damage to get the job done and had great mobility, but that was not nearly enough to call it an A-Tier. In Season 2, however, things look much better for the Wind Druid; It still has extremely good mobility, especially if you combine Gust with the Enigma. Moreover, wind skills now deal real Damage. Tornado, Twister, and Hurricane are true powerhouses in PD2's Season 2 and allow Wind Druid to breeze through maps, especially the ones that are more cramped and/or feature a lot of narrow passages (as these can be easily turned into kill zones with Wind Skills); Tornado is amazing for single target damage (it has received a 20% damage buff recently). Hurricane now feels better than ever, and Twister shreds packs of enemies with incredible efficiency. If we add Gust, which is Druid's version of the Teleport, we get an amazing mix of Damage and Mobility that carries Wind Druid straight into the A Tier. 
  • Blessed Hammer Paladin/Hammerdin - This build utilizes one of the most widely-known Diablo 2 Skills - Blessed Hammer; The ability summons Hammers that spiral outward, damaging enemies (they deal Magic Damage which makes them solid in pretty much all scenarios). Blessed Hammer Paladin was one of the most powerful builds in the Lord of Destruction. Because of this, the developers of Project Diablo 2 had decided to nerf its main ability... and they have overdone it in Season 1. The result? As you might expect - Hammerdin was very underwhelming in S1. In Season 2, however, the ability was re-buffed and is now very strong again. We can safely say that Blessed Hammer Paladin, while not as strong as it was in LOD, is definitely an A-Tier Build in PD2's Season 2. 
  • Poison Necromancer - One of the deadliest high mobility builds available in Project Diablo 2. It utilizes Poison Nova as its main offensive ability. With it, the build can shred multiple enemies at a time with terrifying efficiency. Thanks to no cooldown Blood Warp, the build is also extremely mobile which makes it even deadlier to monsters. If not for its survivability problems (Blood Warp drains your life and you don't have efficient defensive skills at your disposal with this build - remember that Bone Armor only blocks physical damage), Poison Necromancer would be a solid candidate for the S Tier. Right now, it is a very strong A Tier build. 

You can check our recommended Poison Nova Necromancer setup in this Guide.

  • Phoenix Strike Assassin - one of the most versatile and unique Assassin builds that utilizes the Phoenix Strike Attack Skill. It builds up charges and depending on the number of your active charges it triggers additional effects. It can cast Meteor-like Spell, multiple Lightning Bolts that hit enemies from a distance, or a flurry of Ice Missiles similar to the Sorc's Frozen Orb. Offering nearly all types of Damage with a single ability, allows you to efficiently farm all the Maps, and with the proper equipment and mastering this build's basics, you will be turning your Assassin into a real monster

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Phoenix Strike Assassin Build Guide

  • Skelemancer - A variant of Summon Necromancer that mainly utilizes Skeletons but does not shy away from the aid of Clay Golems either. This build is one of the easiest-to-play, laid-back ones available - you send your army of Skeletons and Golems forward while you chill in the back. While an individual Skeleton is not that strong, Raise Skeleton Skill can maintain up to 8 of them at a time. When you combine it with level 20 Golem Mastery, you get THIRTEEN melee fighters that stand on your side and act as meat shields. This build shows that strength really comes in numbers as the damage output of all of its summons combined is very high. 
  • Clay Golem Necromancer - yet another powerful Minion/Summoner Build for the Necromancer class. Clay Golems received a lot of love in Project Diablo 2 when compared to the original Diablo 2: LoD and they now make a fully fledge build. It's one of the best builds of that archetype, with your Golems dealing tons of damage with melee splash attacks. This build offers a very smooth playstyle that allows you to stay in safety while all your Golems do the dirty work for you. With decent damage and various Curses to choose from, you can efficiently farm most of the in-game content using this setup

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Clay Golem Necromancer Build Guide

  • Claws of Thunder Assassin - A martial arts Assassin with great damage output and very solid AoE. The build relies on Claws of Thunder which is a charge-up skill that adds lightning damage to finishing moves and finishing moves (Dragon Talon, Dragon Tail, or Dragon Flight) to deliver high amounts of AoE Lightning Damage. This is the most reliable martial arts-based Assassin build currently available and you can't go wrong with it. 
  • Fire Bowazon - A variant of Bowazon that mainly uses fire-based skills - Fire Arrow, Exploding Arrow, and Immolation Arrow. The build has a very high overall damage output, with great single-target DPS from the Fire Arrow and very respectable AoE from the Exploding Arrow. Its weakest link is the Immolation Arrow that could really use a buff (which would bump Fire Bowazon to the S Tier most likely). The build's main weakness is fire-immune enemies, but this is to be expected just like with all other builds that focus on a single element. 
  • Fire Hydra Sorceress - overall, this build ranks somewhere between A and B Tier, but in terms of single-target damage, and end-game Bossing capabilities, it's truly a powerhouse. Hydras deal massive single-target damage while you can kite and avoid incoming damage without losing on your DPS. Hydra Sorc is designed for farming the rarest and valuable Uniques, which makes it a great money-making build, however, the overall experience from solo farming Maps may be a little less satisfactory because of the mediocre clear speed, and the build itself dealing solely Fire Damage

You can check our recommended Fire Hydra Soso setup in this guide: Fire Hydra Sorceress Build for PD2

  • Zealer Paladin - a very solid Paladin Melee build. Zeal is incredibly strong starting very early on, without much equipment, just by utilizing Auras you can basically kill everything from low to mid Tier content. Eventually, when you end up getting better equipment, you can easily farm Ubers and Dclone with it, making it one of the best Bossing builds for Paladin class. Farming Maps is also ok, but with limited AoE of skills, it's much less efficient but still decent. Overall, it's a solid A-Tier build that you can't really go wrong with

You can find our recommended setup in the following Build Guide: Zeal Paladin Build for PD2

 

B Tier

  • Combustion/Frozen Orb Sorceress - A solo play version of the standard Fire Ball/Combustion Sorceress build that forges some Fire Skills to get more versatility by picking up the Frozen Orb. Combustion is a fun-to-use spell that fires many flaming balls in all directions, covering almost the entire screen and scorching every enemy in range in the process. This is one of the most enjoyable Sorceress builds available, however, it has received a substantial nerf in Season 2 (Damage bonus from Combustion's synergies was reduced by one-third). To not put all the eggs in one basket, the build also utilizes the Frozen Orb which is irreplaceable for dealing with fire-immune enemies. For the defenses, this build relies on high Life, Shiver Armor, and extra Block Chance from Shields. Despite the nerf, Combustion/Frozen Orb Sorceress is fully capable of breezing through early and mid-tier content. High-tier content is where the build starts to struggle - without substantial gear investments, you will find it extremely difficult to play with this build at a competitive level. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Combustion/Frozen Orb Sorceress guide!

  • Werewolf Shape Shifter Druid - Werewolf Druid utilizes the Werewolf form, combined with Fury, to tear its enemies apart. It offers surprisingly high Damage output thanks to how shapeshifting works with equipped weapons, however, it's not without some downsides.. This is one of these builds that offer a very enjoyable playstyle but are lacking in some important areas. In this case, its Attack Rating and widely-understood Defense holding the build back (constantly missing attacks can get quite frustrating after a while, even despite the build's high Attack Speed). On the plus side, Werewolf Druid can be easily run on a budget and scales surprisingly well with each gear upgrade. If you're after the "classic" Lord of Destruction experience in Project Diablo 2, you will have a lot of fun with this build. If you're after raw power and meta builds, however, you better pick something else. 

If you're interested in this build, feel free to check out our Werewolf Shale Shifter Druid guide! 

  • Sacrifice Paladin - Sacrifice is a well-designed Skill. It allows the Paladin to deal a lot of damage, but at the cost of his own Health. At higher Skill Levels, Sac deals just 3% of its total Damage to the user but that can still be problematic at times, especially if you don't have enough Life Leech. To make the most out of Sacrifice, Sac Paladin invests points into Fanaticism Aura and Redemption (for synergies), and relies on Prayer and Life Leech to keep himself alive. Moreover, many versions of the build also go for max block to ensure good enough survivability in the end game. All in all, while pure Sacrifice Paladin is definitely viable and deals amazing amounts of Damage, it gets outclassed by other Paladin variants and so it lands in the B Tier. 
  • Lightning Sorceress - A variant of Sorceress that utilizes Lightning, Chained Lightning, and Charged Bolt to electrocute enemies. The damage output of pretty much all lightning-based Sorceress spells was nerfed in PD2. Because of this, the Lightning Spells Skill tree feels very underwhelming, especially when compared to what it was like in Lord of Destruction. Don't get us wrong, Lightning Sorceress can still get the job done. The problem is, Fire and Cold-based Sorceress builds are much stronger and fun to play overall. If there is one thing the Lightning Sorceress has going for it, it's her high single target Damage that comes from the Charged Bolt. 
  • Poison Javazon - A build based on two Spear and Javelin Skills - Poison Javelin and Plague Javelin. Both of its main abilities deal decent Damage but they are not without problems; Poison Javelin has a rather small hitbox which makes it awkward to use sometimes, and Plague Javelin has a cooldown that greatly limits its potential (if it didn't have the cooldown, this build would easily reach the A-Tier). As a result, both main abilities of this build feel rather clunky and frustrating, especially when compared to lightning-based Javelin Skills. Nevertheless, they deal very respectable Damage, and the build as a whole is perfectly viable, especially in areas where there are not too many poison-resistant enemies. 
  • Frenzy Barbarian - A dual-wield Barb build that stacks attack speed and combines it with Frenzy to deal devastating single target damage; Frenzy allows you to swing both weapons at once, with each successful attack increasing your overall speed (both Attack Speed and Walk/Run Speed). While this build is very powerful against single targets, it gets outclassed by other popular Barbarian variants. However, if you are looking for a less common Barbarian build that's till boasts respectable damage and above-average mobility, it might be worth a try. 
  • Leap Barbarian - A fun but rather clunky Barbarian build that jumps around smashing enemies with the Leap Attack and employs the regular Leap to gain more mobility. Its main offensive ability, the Leap Attack, deals massive damage, but... it is quite hard to actually hit enemies with it sometimes (it has a surprisingly small hitbox and requires a lot of practice to master as a result). When you get used to it and learn to precisely aim your Leaps, this Barb build will provide you with a lot of entertainment and become a great alternative to other well-established Barbarian variants. 
 

C Tier

  • Vengeance Paladin - On paper, Vengeance might seem like a solid Skill - it adds Elemental (Fire, Lightning, and Cold) damage to all melee attacks, which is great, right? Sadly, wrong. This Skill leaves a lot to be desired and has some severe core problems; mainly, its damage output is laughably low and it synergizes with skills you don't really want to take all at once (it synergizes with defensive auras, and you can only have one of them active at a time. Also, they are useful mainly while in a group). What can't be taken away from Vengeance is its meme value - if you wear 4 pieces of the Trang-Oul set and the Dragonscale, you can combine your Vengeance and Resist Fire Aura with Sorceress's Fire Skills to create a true abomination; Paladin who shoots Fire Balls, Meteors, and summons Hydras, while focusing on the Vengeance's fire damage component. 
  • Dragon Talon Assassin/Kicksin - Dragon Talon, just like the rest of Assassin's "finisher" Skills, is great on paper and features a very cool mechanic. Sadly, it is quite underwhelming and requires you to jump through some hoops before you can utilize its potential. On the plus side, Dragon Talon only requires 20 points which leaves a lot of room for fine-tuning, experimentation, and choosing just the right toolkit from Assassin's vast arsenal. While you can make this work, we would recommend you to wait until PD2 developers decide to give some love to Assassin's Finishing Moves as a whole. 

 

END NOTE

Please remember that every in-game decision should be based on your preference, as fun is the most important aspect of the game. You should not base your Build choice on raw statistics unless you are a true hardcore player focused on speed-clearing end-game content. Choosing a strong Build that uses mechanics that you don't like might kill all your enjoyment. 

We hope that you have found this guide useful and informative.  If we have missed a piece of information that is important to you, please let us know! Also, if you want us to add a specific Build to the list, feel free to write it down in the comments section!