Best Diablo Immortal builds: PvE, PvP, Gems, and everything you need to know

Diablo Immortal is now available, with an expansive story mode to go through and player vs. player (PvP) combat to master. The world of Sanctuary is constantly under threat, which means that in order to succeed, you'll want to build out your character to be the best they can possibly be.

To that end, we've rounded up details for what players should be focusing on when aiming to create the best builds in Diablo Immortal. Now, it's worth pointing out that for much of the game, you're simply going to want to take a piece of gear because it's better. Regardless of the class you choose in Diablo Immortal, you'll be getting new equipment at a fairly rapid rate.

If you need to level up quickly or get some beginners tips and tricks, we've got you covered, but due to the simplified structure of Diablo Immortal, you won't really need to start thinking about your build until you reach level 50 or so. Unlike other Diablo games, you'll unlock your skills automatically, without having to distribute points. As such, thriving with a great build will come down to which skills you choose and the gems you slot into your gear.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Barbarian

• Primary skill: Lacerate
• Secondary skills: Whirlwind, Wrath of the Berserker
• Key attributes: Strength, Vitality, Fortitude
• Important gems: Berserker's Eye, Fervent Fang, Lightning Core, The Hunger, Trickshot Gem

For Barbarian players, combat is all about getting up close and personal with foes. You'll want to be able to dish out damage and survive taking heavy hits at the front line of a fight. As such, you'll want higher Strength to increase your damage and increased Fortitude and Vitality to aid in your protection and overall health, respectively.

In PvE, unless you're in a boss fight, you want to mow down hordes of foes as fast as possible. Using Lacerate as your primary skill means constant healing, while Whirlwind is great for dealing damage around you. Combine this with the Lightning Core gem for additional damage, and The Hunger gem to further empower your healing.

Lacerate is still the primary skill to go for in PvP. Wrath of the Berserker boosts your attack and movement speed, meaning it can give you an edge when going toe-to-toe with other players. Berserker's Eye is a gem that boosts damage you deal and take, so if you've got high health and healing, it can be used to great effect. Fervent Fang, a gem that stacks damage with additional hits, is perfect for punishing squishier characters in PvP like Wizards.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Crusader

• Primary skill: Punish
• Secondary skills: Draw and Quarter, Holy Banner
• Key attributes: Fortitude, Vitality, Strength
• Important gems: Battleguard, Everlasting Torment, Fervent Fang, Lightning Core, Seled's Weakening

Crusader players, like Barbarian players, will be at the forefront of a battlefield. High Fortitude means lasting longer in fights, while additional Strength means dealing more damage in return. Extra Vitality can also be helpful in order to soak up damage with a higher pool of health.

Using Punish as your primary skill is simple but efficient, giving you a decent chance to block incoming attacks. Draw and Quarter raises your movement speed, allowing you to maneuver around hordes of monsters coming after you. This pairs well with the Lightning Core gem, as well as Battleguard, which increases your resistance to melee damage, increasing your overall survival in the thick of fights. Seled's Weakening is also a solid choice, increasing the damage you deal after killing an elite monster.

The benefits of Punish apply here too. Holy Banner is a key skill for PvP, increasing your critical hit chance. Combine it with the Everlasting Torment gem for devastating effects, as this gem debuffs enemies every time you deal a critical hit. Fervent Fang is also great for PvP, making it more dangerous for other players to engage with a Crusader.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Demon Hunter

• Primary skill: Crossbow Shot
• Secondary skills: Multishot, Rain of Vengeance
• Key attributes: Strength, Fortitude, Vitality
• Important gems: Berserker's Eye, Ca'arsen's Invigoration, Everlasting Torment

If you're running a Demon Hunter, you're all about trying to increase your damage, by picking enemies off and slowing them down with traps. Higher Strength means higher damage output, and that's the most important attribute to focus on. Higher Fortitude and Vitality can also increase survivability if you're concerned about staying mobile during fights.

Crossbow Shot is your primary skill, as the Demon Hunter is focused on dealing damage and staying mobile. Everlasting Torment and Berserker's Eye are great choices when facing down monsters in dungeons and tombs, rapidly amping up the damage you deal with skills like Multishot.

When fighting other players, Ca'arsen's Invigoration is a great gem to use as it increases your attack speed, letting you whittle your foes down faster than they can recover. Rain of Vengeance can blanket an enemy in a torrent of arrows, so having Power and Command equipped is helpful, as it will alternate between buffing your primary skill and your other skills. Bloody Reach is also useful given the Demon Hunter attacks from range, as this gem increases damage as you move further away from enemies.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Monk

• Primary skill: Fists of Thunder
• Secondary skills: Exploding Palm, Seven-Sided Strike
• Key attributes: Strength, Vitality, Willpower
• Important gems: Ca'arsen's Invigoration, Chained Death, Fervent Fang, Lightning Core, Nightmare Wreath

Anyone playing a Monk will want to have high Strength. While not quite as important as it is for Barbarians, it still means higher close-range damage. High Vitality is key to staying alive during these encounters. Finally, high Willpower means better debuffs applied to enemies, which is helpful for the Monk in playing a support role.

Fists of Thunder is the primary skill of choice here, as it allows you to continually deal damage without being rooted in place. Save Seven-Sided Strike for key moments when you become surrounded and you can clear a group of enemies with ease. Lightning Core and Nightmare Wreath are good gem choices, as the latter can cause enemies to run in fear. Chained Death is a solid choice specifically for dealing with large groups.

In PvP, the Monk doesn't have the frontline sustainability that the Barbarian or Crusader do, so you need to quickly overwhelm single opponents. Use Ca'arsen's Invigoration and Fervent Fang. Exploding Palm is a key secondary skill, causing foes to bleed over time, undercutting the healing and superior health of other players' builds.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Necromancer

• Primary skill: Soulfire
• Secondary skills: Command Skeletons, Corpse Explosion
• Key attributes: Intelligence, Vitality, Fortitude
• Important gems: Berserker's Eye, Bloody Reach, Follower's Burden, Freedom and Devotion, Seled's Weakening

Aspiring Necromancers need gear that'll bump up their Intelligence, as it's important for increasing the damage dealt by their dark magic. Outside of that, higher Vitality and Fortitude aren't bad as they'll increase your survivability, though they aren't as important due to the Necromancer usually using their skin-deprived goons to keep distance from hordes of foes.

Soulfire is the go-to primary skill for endgame Necromancer builds. When you're playing by yourself doing some dungeon-crawling, Corpse Explosion is perfect for clearing mobs while staying safely behind your wall of summons. Freedom and Devotion improve the damage dealt by your summons, so they can be combined with Seled's Weakening to turn you and your summons into a wrecking ball.

Unlike many classes, Necromancers actually play similarly in PvP as they do in PvE. Command Skeletons is going to be your go-to friend in keeping enemy players unable to move without taking damage. The Follower's Burden gem further increases the power of your summons and the damage you'll deal while having them on the field. Combine this with Berserker's Eye and Bloody Reach to ramp damage output and cut through stronger defenses.

Best Diablo Immortal builds: Wizard

• Primary skill: Magic Missile
• Secondary skills: Disintegrate, Ice Crystal
• Key attributes: Intelligence, Vitality, Willpower
• Important gems: Berserker's Eye, Bloody Reach, Chained Death, Lightning Core, Seled's Weakening

Those who choose a Wizard will also want high Intelligence. Wizards are pure, raw damage with their variety of spells, and more Intelligence means more damage. Outside of that, additional Vitality will help the Wizard from being too squishy when getting mobbed by foes. The Wizard has some elemental debuffs, so higher Willpower isn't a bad choice either.

Magic Missile is fairly versatile, if basic, making it a good primary skill choice. The Wizard is raw damage manifested, and you can crank that up even further through the use of the Lightning Core and Bloody Reach gems, allowing your attacks to carve through waves of enemies before they even reach you.

The Wizard's main flaw is their mobility, and addressing this in PvP is critical. Combine the Ice Crystal ability (which slows enemies down) with the Disintegrate beam, and you'll send powerful beams in every direction, making it dangerous for enemy players to approach. Chained Death and Seled's Weakening are excellent gem choices for PvP. If you're feeling bold, Berserker's Eye can allow your damage to hit truly ludicrous levels, but you'll be extra-vulnerable to enemy attacks.

No bad choices

All in all, Diablo Immortal is a fairly relaxed game if you want to continue to build your character. Like many of the best iPhone games, Diablo Immortal is free-to-play and doesn't require you to spend any money, but you will have to take your time if you're not intent on buying the Battle Pass, especially if you intend to play co-op.