21 December 2025

Say goodbye to Diablo 4’s longest reigning meta class and welcome a new monarch

By newsgame

Diablo 4 recently released its Season of Divine Intervention, Season 11 for short. The patch that came with it made a lot of significant changes to Diablo 4‘s crafting system, including how Masterworking and Tempering work, while also adding the new Sanctification step for making great items the best they can be. Yet, one could argue that the most important and least advertised parts of Season 11 were the Uber versions of the Lesser Evils and the addition of the new Paladin class, which is already a fan-favorite due to its flavor and gameplay.

New bosses, a rework of core crafting mechanics, and an entirely new class all call for a massive meta shift, and that’s exactly what happened to Diablo 4 with Season 11. Season 10 had a rather clear-cut meta when it came to which classes were best to pick, and then which of their builds were the most effective at clearing endgame content. The Spiritborn was particularly good in Season 10, possibly thanks to benefiting more from Chaos Armor than other classes and builds, so it ended up dominating the charts for D4‘s Pit. Now, after a long time, Season 11 is clearly no longer the Spiritborn’s kingdom, but the Paladin reigns supreme.

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Diablo 4 Season 11 is Killing Season 10’s Best Build

Diablo 4 Season 10 players should enjoy the game’s best build while they can, as it will be effectively dead when Season 11 starts.

Say Hello to the New Best Class in Diablo 4 Season 11

D4 Paladin Character Creation Screen — Diablo 4 Paladin Character Creation Screen

Diablo 4‘s best Paladin builds don’t boil down to just a handful of skills, as the class’ kit is great overall and allows for incredible variety. Judgment builds are arguably the best right now for clearing bosses and regular enemies, but skills like Advance, Blessed Hammer, Blessed Shield, Divine Lance, Consecration, and Zenith are all fantastic options to build around for the endgame. This alone gives the Paladin more replay value compared to the Spiritborn, which has a few outstanding builds, like Evade ones and possibly Crushing Hand, but it doesn’t bring much variety to the table.

Why Diablo 4’s Paladin is Suddenly The Most Popular Class

Be it because it’s the newest toy to play with, be it because its kit is more well-rounded, the Paladin is the clear winner of Season 11. Diablo 4‘s Aura Paladin builds can even delete endgame enemies and high-tier Pit just by walking around and not using their weapons, which is a fun spin on the now classic Evade Spiritborn.

The so-called Auradin build from renowned Diablo 4 player and content creator Wudijo requires the Dawfire Unique Gloves to work.

Diablo 4‘s Spiritborn builds have been dominating the game since the new class came out with Vessel of Hatred, making it all the more refreshing for a different one to take the crown in Season 11 ahead of the Lord of Hatred expansion in April 2026. Since Evade Spiritborn builds have been so good for well over one year now, having them retain their greatness while making room for all-new, fun builds for a different class is something the game needed a lot, as the recent hype around new Druid builds reveals.

Diablo 4’s Paladin vs. Spiritborn: Which is Better?

Why You Should Play a Spiritborn in Diablo 4 Season 11

The main reasons why the Spiritborn is a meta class now and has been for a very long time are:

Diablo 4‘s Evade Spiritborn is a speedy endgame clearer that’s easy to use.
The various Quill Rain Spiritborn builds made each season are consistently strong and fast, rewarding good positioning.
The Spiritborn has some great guaranteed Aspects in Diablo 4, making it very accessible and reliable.
The Spiritborn is a tested and true class that typically doesn’t get many changes across seasons, so it’s a fantastic pick for a first character in a given season, and it’s easy to make the best builds in the game for it.
The Spiritborn has a unique power fantasy that can’t be found in other classes, as it focuses on spirit animals and their guidance.

Why You Should Play a Paladin in Diablo 4 Season 11

However, the new Paladin is possibly on par with the Spiritborn, if not outright better. This is because:

The Paladin’s Arbiter of Justice in Diablo 4 can make the otherwise more sluggish class quite speedy, even if the extra movement speed on this skill was recently nerfed in patch 2.5.1.
Evade Paladin builds exist and are quite powerful as an alternative to the Spiritborn.
The Paladin more easily enables “passive” builds like Holy Light Aura and Thorns in Diablo 4, whereas the Spiritborn requires more buildup for equal or less effective results.
The Paladin is a naturally bulky class with self-healing options in multiple skills, like Consecration and Fanaticism Aura’s Rite of Redemption upgrade.
The Aura Paladin build makes for an incredible alternative to minion builds for Necromancer and Druid with Wolf-related Aspects, powering allies up while also weakening enemies and dealing damage to them.

Ultimately, both classes have their pros and cons, but it’s undeniable that the Paladin generated an incredible amount of hype for Diablo 4‘s present and future, spawning not a couple, but over a dozen meta builds that mostly surpass every other option in the game. This doesn’t mean that there are no outliers, as the Sorcerer’s Crackling Energy build and the Rogue’s Death Trap build in Diablo 4. Yet, the Paladin is the new shiny thing, and it’s understandable that it’s dominating the meta while rapidly becoming a fan favorite.