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Diablo 4‘s Season 2 update is not only surprisingly fun but it raised the general power level of nearly every class in the game by a healthy degree. Of course, even the healthiest update will still result in builds that are simply broken.
In this case, I’m reserving the term “broken” for builds that can easily clear high-level content without demanding much skill in the process. These builds are also capable of generating six or seven-figure Critical Strike attacks and are able to do so with relative consistency. So, yes, I think the word “broken” applies.
Before we get into that, though, you may notice there isn’t a Barbarian build on this list. Well…there are some good Barbarian builds out there, but none of them are on the level of these other builds. If you want to play Barbarian, consider a Whirlwind or Death Blow/Upheaval build.
Diablo 4: Best Season 2 Rogue Build – Poison Twisting Blades
Skills: Twisting Blades, Poison Imbument, Poison Trap, Puncture, Dash, Shadow Step
Key Legendary Aspects/Unique Items: X’Fal’s Corroded Signet, Bladedancer’s Aspect, Aspect of Bursting Venoms, Aspect of Pestilent Points, Aspect of Corruption
One day, Blizzard will need to need to not just nerf but fundamentally reimagine Twisting Blades. Until that day, some version of Twisting Blades Rogue will almost certainly crawl its way to the top of the meta. At least that’s what happened the moment Diablo 4’s Season 2 update was released.
The strategy for this build is pretty much the same as it ever was. Use Puncture to keep your enemies in a near-permanent state of Vulnerability, dance around them using evasion maneuvers, and spam Twisting Blades to deal massive single-target and AoE damage. The gear and skills you’ll be taking help ensure that Twisting Blades maintains nearly constant AoE uptime.
The big twist in Season 2 is that Poison Imbument is generally more powerful than Death Trap and Shadow Imbument versions of this build. In the past, those versions of the build were prized for their “safety” and high “AoE” damage potential. To be fair, both variants are not only still viable but among the best builds in Diablo 4 regardless of class.
What elevates Poison Imbument this time around, though, is the new Unique item called X’Fal’s Corroded Signet. That ring turns your damage over time effects into a massive damage bomb that impacts any nearby enemies. In essence, it turns your incredibly powerful single-target abilities into nuclear weapons.
On top of that, we have not just the global buffs that damage over time effects like Poison received in the last update but the Vampiric abilities that further enhance the effects of your poison damage. Put it all together, and you have a build that was already melting the toughest bosses in the game that is now also capable of doing the same to packs of lesser enemies in Nightmare Dungeons. Oh, and did I mention that this build almost never runs out of resources and is surprisingly tanky?
Diablo 4: Best Season 2 Sorcerer Build – Infinite Ball Lightning
Skills: Arc Lash, Teleport, Frost Nova, Flame Shield, Lightning Spear, Unstable Currents
Key Legendary Aspects/Unique Items: Flickerstep, Aspect of Overwhelming Currents, Gravitational Aspect, Esadora’s Overflowing Cameo, Raiment of the Infinite
Over the last few updates, Sorcerer fans have been trying to perfect an Unstable Currents build. The basic idea is that Unstable Current’s cooldown reduction features should allow you to reduce its cooldown down to basically nothing so that you can maintain constant uptime. Given that you are essentially an invincible storm of lightning and death when Unstable Currents is active, that’s a pretty big deal.
While versions of that build have worked in the past, a couple of vital Season 2 additions convert it from a novelty into arguably the most overpowered build in Diablo 4.
The two big pieces of this build are Gravitational Aspect and Flickerstep. Gravitational Aspect not only increases the damage of our Ball Lightning abilities but allows them to orbit around you and constantly strike enemies. With the upgrades you’ll be taking, Ball Lightning strikes have a high chance of generating Crackling Energy. When Crackling Energy hits an enemy, it reduces the cooldown of Unstable Currents, which, it must be said, also produces additional Ball Lightning effects. That’s the core of the engine that allows you to keep Unstable Currents up pretty much 100% of the time.
However, Flickerstep ends up being a surprisingly strong addition to that strategy. It allows us to reduce our Ultimate cooldown even further by evading through enemies, which is typically easy to do with the other abilities we’re taking (most notably, Teleport). That item really gives you the cooldown reduction consistency that previous versions of this build lacked. I’ve even seen some versions of this build run Flickerstep rather than the Key Passive that contributes to Unstable Currents’ cooldown reduction. Ultimately (pun intended), I think it’s better to aim for overkill in this instance.
Honestly, some of those new Vampiric abilities almost seem custom-made to support this build. They further reduce your cooldowns (something that Sorcerers can never get enough of) and greatly increase your movement and attack speeds (which feed into the principal strategy of the archetype).
Again, the beauty of this build is that it basically operates on auto-pilot. Once you assemble the main pieces (which, admittedly, may take a while), you just have to walk or teleport around while constantly summoning lightning effects and enjoying the defensive benefits of barriers that never seem to go down. As long as you spam your Arc Lash attack to keep the engine running and use your defensive abilities when appropriate/possible, you’ll constantly be filling the area around you with deadly projectiles that can even melt end-game bosses.
Diablo 4: Best Season 2 Necromancer Build – Infinimist
Skills: Reap, Decrepify, Blood Mist, Bone Storm, Corpse Explosion, Corpse Tendrils
Key Legendary Aspects/Unique Items: Howl From Below, Aspect of Ultimate Shadow, Blood-soaked Aspect, Aspect of Explosive Mist, Aspect of Decay, Blighted Aspect
“InfiniMist” Necromancer is one of the most unique, powerful, and enjoyable new builds enabled by Season 2 numerous additions and changes.
The name InfiniMist refers to the Necromancer’s Blood Mist ability. Previously, Blood Mist was largely just an Immunity granting movement ability that allowed Necromancers to escape danger. There were some who tried to experiment with ways to get that ability to deal massive damage through various exploits, but it never seemed to be quite where it needed to be to rise above the level of a gimmick.
Well, it’s much more than that now. Like many of the other best builds in Diablo 4’s Season 2 update, Infinimist is really all about never slowing down while summoning massive amounts of damage all around you. The basic idea is to generate a corpse, use Corpse Tendrils to pull enemies in, and cast Decripfy. From there, you enter Blood Mist. While in Blood Mist, you are immune, dealing a surprising amount of base damage, and triggering Corpse Explosions which often trigger even more powerful explosions. Oh, and did I mention that Bone Storm is almost constantly swirling around you dealing extra damage, granting you damage modifiers, and keeping you alive? I should have.
The beauty of this build is found in the ways that nearly everything synergizes with Blood Mist and how easy it is to reduce Blood Mist’s cooldown to nearly nothing. Do you remember what it felt like to spam Corpse Explosion in the beta before it got nerfed and ask yourself how anyone thought that ability was balanced? Well, now imagine being able to automatically trigger a Corpse Explosion of that power level while being invincible and never slowing down.
Interestingly enough, though, it’s actually the Metamorphosis Vampiric Power that sneakily contributes to this build’s “broken” status. See, that ability allows you to turn into a cloud of bats when you evade through enemies. While that comes with various offensive and defensive benefits, it also “parks” your active Bone Storm effect. However, because the game thinks your Bone Storm is no longer up, it will allow you to generate an additional Bone Storm effect. That means that you can actually have multiple Bone Storms up; one that is around you and one that is swirling nearby dealing damage to enemies. If that was an innate ability, every Necromancer would run it.
Though this isn’t the best boss killer in the game due to its reliance on Corpses, it is a monster in Nightmare Dungeons that is more than capable of dealing with any endgame content currently in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4: Best Season 2 Druid Build – Boulder Hurricane
Skills: Earthen Spike, Boulder, Hurricane, Earthen Bulwark, Blood Howl, Petrify
Key Legendary Aspects/Unique Items: Vasily’s Prayer, Aspect of Metamorphic Stone, Aspect of Natural Balance, Symbiotic Aspect, Dolmen Stone
Try to be surprised, but this is yet another build that revolves around surrounding yourself with some kind of object that deals massive amounts of damage while you simply exist. It turns out that is very much the new meta.
This particular build revolves around a powerful new Unique item called Dolmen Stone. With that item equipped, you can summon a swirl of Boulders around you whenever you cast Boulder while your Hurricane is active. On its own, that’s a very powerful effect that deals massive damage to anything that gets near you. However, we can take things a bit further than that with a few modifications.,
See, Aspect of Metamorphic Stone allows you to turn Boulder into a Core skill and increase its general uptime. Nature’s Fury, meanwhile, allows you to occasionally trigger a free Earth or Storm skill in the same category when you cast one or the other. That combination of abilities allows you to ensure almost constant Boulder Hurricane uptime. Either you are casting it naturally, or it is automatically being cast by virtue of already being active.
But let’s go one step further than that. Let’s further reduce our cooldowns with Symbiotic Aspect, turn our Earth Skills into Werebear skills that often stun enemies, and increase the amount of Fortify we generate whenever we deal damage with an Earth skill (which will be 100% of the time). Just for fun, let’s also take a combination of Vampiric Powers that will AoE damage, Critical Strike chances/damage, and movement speed.
When it is all said and done, you will become an absolute tank that moves like a racecar while summoning an infinite hurricane of boulders around you that stun enemies, deal massive damage, and keep you alive pretty much indefinitely all the while. While it’s not quite as flashy as something like Infinimist or Ball Lightning Sorcerer, there is really nothing that this build can’t do.
The post Diablo 4: Most Broken Builds For the Season 2 Endgame appeared first on Den of Geek.
