Diablo 4 Season 11 is significantly more difficult than previous seasons, with monsters dealing more damage, which may impact character leveling.
Also, you might not want to take too much time on the campaign, so here are some of the most reliable leveling builds for every class this season.
Evade Spiritborn Build
This build revolves entirely around Accelerated Thunderspike, and each time you evade, Spiritborn automatically fires a large number of feathers, dealing area damage.
You don't need to aim at enemies, and simply dive into the monster horde and use the high-frequency evades to automatically clear them. The evasion also allows you to move quickly across the map while attacking, making it extremely efficient.
Defensively, Evade provides invincibility frames, allowing you to avoid damage while dealing damage, making it very safe. This build primarily relies on evasion cooldowns, requires minimal resource management, and is very easy to play.
You only need to adapt to this dodge-centric playstyle, which may feel different from other class-specific builds. Its transition to endgame is also very smooth, as you can continue to develop this build, using it as the core for endgame content, or seamlessly transition to other top-tier endgame builds like Quill Volley Spiritborn using resources accumulated during leveling.
Firewall Sorcerer Build
This leveling build primarily uses Firewall and Hydra as its core damage skills. Firewall's continuous damage and Hydra's multi-headed attack can quickly melt enemies.
After casting Firewall and summoning Hydra, you can move freely or cast other skills, allowing DoT effects to automatically deal with monsters, making it particularly suitable for dealing with groups of monsters and elite enemies. This indirect damage method provides a stable output environment even when your gear is poor in the early game.
The transition of Firewall Sorcerer build to endgame is also clear. Because it focuses on fire damage, it can be transitioned to Hydra build, and you only need to slightly adjust your Diablo 4 items. Alternatively, you could transition to Crackling Energy Sorcerer endgame build, which utilizes the new season mechanics and enhancements, and might be the strongest Sorcerer build this season.
Dance Of Knives Rogue Build
While Rogue's strength in endgame is relatively average, its high movement speed makes it one of the fastest-leveling classes. Dance of Knives Rogue is its most classic leveling build, used by Rogue players almost every season.
Dance of Knives is a continuous spinning attack, utilizing high-frequency AoE attacks, making Rogue very efficient at clearing mobs and very fun to play. Rogue's high mobility allows for repositioning during the spin to dodge monster attacks. Dance of Knives has good base damage and effects and doesn't rely on items, so it's quick to build in the early game.
The ideal goal for this build in endgame is to transition into Death Trap Rogue build. This is a classic build with high burst AoE damage, allowing for a smooth transition from Dance of Knives build.
Minion Build Necromancer Build
One of the defining features of Necromancer build is its summons, which serve as both primary damage dealers and defenders. Necromancer gains Skeleton Mages from level one, making for a smooth start.
Furthermore, with summons fighting at the front, Necromancer can safely command and cast support skills from the rear, reducing survivability pressure. Skeleton Mages' ranged attacks are effective in handling various situations. However, due to the class's characteristics, movement speed is slow, but its advantages are simplicity and safety.
Minion Build Necromancer can be perfectly transformed into one of the newest and strongest builds of the season - Golem Necromancer - at endgame. This build is built around the new and unique item Gravebloom, boasting an extremely high damage cap and capable of challenging levels 110 and above in The Pit, making it one of the most fun builds in Season 11.
HOTA Lunging Strike Barbarian Build
This is a hybrid build that utilizes Fury displacement and small-area attacks provided by Lunging Strike to handle single enemies, and Hammer of the Ancients for high-damage area-of-effect burst damage to clear dense groups of monsters.
The official release in Season 11 significantly buffed Barbarian's core skills, Paragon Legendary nodes, and primary stat scaling. This means that from level 1 to the endgame, Barbarian's base damage and scaling are better. You can flexibly focus on one of the two skill builds depending on the gear and effects you acquire.
At endgame, you can transition to either the pure HOTA build or the pure Lunging Strike build, depending on your gear and preferences.
Companion Druid Build
With the removal of Season 10 Chaos Perks, Druid's strength has returned to normal. However, the relative weakness of basic skills and early legendary effects has slowed down early-game monster clearing efficiency and pace.
You can choose Companion Druid build, playing like a Necromancer in the early game. However, this build isn't viable from the start, and you'll need more meticulous planning of your skill path and gear choices, and the experience might not be as smooth as other classes.
While leveling is weaker, Druids can still rise to prominence in the mid-to-late game after acquiring key legendary and unique items. You can switch to Pulverize Druid in the endgame.
Finally, when choosing your class and build, besides The Pit level, you should consider your personal preferences. Because if you're very familiar with the leveling process, the difference in leveling time between the fastest and slowest builds might only be 10-20 minutes. The important thing is whether you can obtain the necessary items during this process.
