It appears that, starting with Riven Tides update, ARC Raiders is determined to implement transformative changes across multiple aspects of the game, much like the changes introduced last week regarding Expeditions, this week the focus shifts to trials!

Although they serve different purposes, both Expeditions and trials are fundamental features of ARC Raiders; as such, they must be designed with sufficient robustness to ensure the game's continued growth and success.

Below, we will walk you through the comprehensive overhaul of the trials system, ensuring you are fully prepared to continue completing your weekly trials smoothly and efficiently once Riven Tides update goes live.

Trials system overview

Trials were one of the core mechanics available right from the launch of ARC Raiders. They refresh weekly and typically consist of five specific objectives.

These objectives reward you with trial points based on your level of completion; the higher your performance rating, the greater the rewards, culminating in the ability to unlock a maximum three-star rating.

Furthermore, you can earn additional points to climb the trials leaderboard and compete against other players, ultimately unlocking extra loot as you improve your ranking.

Although ARC Raiders does not feature a strictly defined seasonal structure, players have naturally come to track trials in a season-like manner, aligning them intuitively with the game's expedition cycles.

Consequently, the game is currently in the final week, Week 8, of Season 3. Immediately following this, and upon the release of Riven Tides update, a brand-new cycle will begin.

Why participate in trials?

For every star you earn to improve your trial rating, you unlock a new reward, potentially even earning the chance to acquire brand-new or high-tier ARC Raiders blueprints!

Moreover, the process of completing trials often requires you to engage in specific combat scenarios; these encounters yield enemy-dropped loot, which may even include rare crafting materials.

Additionally, if you achieve a high final ranking on the trials leaderboard, you will be rewarded with exclusive cosmetic items unique to the current season!

What fundamental changes are coming?

On April 25th, ARC Raiders published an article titled "Trials Season 4: What's on the Horizon", detailing the specifics of the major overhaul to the trials system. We will now walk you through these changes point by point.

Changes to start times

During the first two expedition departure windows, weekly trials were previously unavailable; players had to wait until the departure window closed, signaling the start of a new expedition cycle, before they could access the trials.

However, following the launch of Riven Tides, Season 4 Week 1 trials will commence immediately the very next day, Wednesday, April 29th. Subsequently, they will continue to update on a fixed schedule, refreshing every Wednesday.

This change appears to stem from a shift introduced during Expedition 3 launch window: the method for earning permanent Skill Point rewards was changed from accumulating a specific value of materials or coins to dealing a specific amount of damage during combat.

Since this change was announced relatively late, the current window of opportunity has been extended.

Furthermore, the earlier start to the trials means you can explore the new maps sooner, allowing you to simultaneously complete trial objectives and advance your Expedition progress.

Changes related to map conditions

Previously, you could earn double points by completing trial objectives during Major Events that spawned on the map; however, this mechanism has now been removed.

While this means you will no longer have the opportunity to rapidly catch up on weekly trial progress when time is running short, you will also face fewer restrictions imposed by specific map conditions.

On a related note, ARC Raiders will no longer feature trial objectives tied to specific map events, such as the previously notorious task of deliberately getting struck by lightning during an Electromagnetic Storm.

Such tasks not only lacked inherent value but also occasionally created imbalances, as some players were unable to complete them simply because the required events failed to spawn. Consequently, removing them represents a net benefit.

New trial objective types

In addition to the changes mentioned above, the development team plans to introduce a wider variety of new trial objective types. These additions will serve not only to fill gaps in the current rotation but also to enhance both the value and the overall enjoyment of the trial system.

In fact, this is not a onetime occurrence; ARC Raiders plans to continue making ongoing adjustments to the trial system in the future, ensuring that a broader range of players can participate within a fair and balanced combat environment.

Trials Season 3 & 4 rewards

Following the conclusion of the Season 3 trials cycle on April 28th, if you have successfully secured a spot on the trials leaderboard, you will be awarded various cosmetic variants based on Torque Set, distributed according to your specific rank tier.

These rewards, listed from lowest to highest rank, are as follows:

• Rookie II: Torque Set (Orange Variant)
• Tryhard I: Jacket Outfit Variant
• Tryhard III: Headgear Outfit Variant
• Wildcard II: Shoulder Pad Outfit Variant
• Daredevil I: Torque Set (Yellow/Grey Variant)
• Hotshot: Torque Set (Red Variant)

Furthermore, looking ahead to the conclusion of Season 4, you will receive the base Recon Outfit upon reaching Tryhard I, with additional cosmetic variants becoming unlockable as you continue to climb the rankings.

This outfit blends a coastal aesthetic with a tactical camouflage style, exuding a heavily armored look. It features a scout-style cap, a headset, and a uniquely designed mask, making it appear significantly more refined than the rewards offered in previous seasons.

Finally, it is worth noting that ARC Raiders has partnered with select streamers, granting them early access to the new map. However, the teaser footage ultimately released remains based on previously known information and does not reveal a significant amount of new content.

Riven Tides officially kicks off tomorrow, marking the definitive end of Season 3 trials cycle. If you still have any unfinished objectives, be sure to make every moment count!

Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred expansion goes live on Monday night. Because the skill trees for all classes will be reset, almost every class - except Paladin - will deliver a brand-new experience.

However, this also creates a problem: it's hard to predict which builds will be the best. So, let's analyze the changes for each class, rank them, and save you the trouble of choosing a class for Lord of Hatred.

Key Mechanic Changes

Preview Before diving into each class, we need to understand a few critical systemic changes in the new version.

Damage over Time

DoT multipliers have received an exaggerated boost in Season 13, and these values can now appear on gear affixes. From the skill tree snippets we've seen, Barbarian Bleed and Burning, Sorcerer Burning, and related builds for Rogue and Spiritborn will all benefit. It's fair to say the power of DoT builds in this version will be unprecedented in Diablo 4 history.

Item System

The gear system has changed dramatically. In the past, you would quickly be flooded with Legendary and Unique items, and stat increases on gear felt negligible. Now, you can roll multiple damage bonus affixes on gear, and gems are more powerful.

You'll feel the improvement from each gear upgrade far more clearly, rather than gaining overly explosive power early on and jumping straight into the highest Torment difficulty. This means a build that feels average in the early stages could really take off once your gear comes together in the mid-to-late game.

Skill Tree Customization Options

The skill tree reset is obviously the biggest factor driving class changes. Many skills now split into Damage and Support options. A lot of former Basic, Core, or Specialization skills can now serve as utility choices and become usable. This greatly increases build customization - for the same core damage skill, you can create five completely different skill bar setups, which hugely enriches the gameplay.

Barbarian

Strengths

Barbarians naturally wield multiple weapons, and this advantage will be amplified in the new version. More weapons mean more damage bonus affixes from gear and the ability to socket more powerful gems.

The skill tree features a lot of support for Bleed and Burning. Besides the well-known Whirlwind, Weapon Mastery skills also received massive buffs. From Basic to Core skills, almost every skill has a use, and build options are vastly expanded.

Weaknesses

Some skills can summon Ancients to fight alongside you, but the AI for this mechanic, especially the targeting logic, is currently unclear. However, this might be a minor issue since Barbarian is melee-oriented anyway.

Another point is that Barbarians lack ranged attacks and need to invest in mobility or rely on Diablo 4 items like Gohr's Devastating Grips or Runes to group enemies. Fortunately, they have skills like Leap that provide high mobility.

Overall, Barbarians could be extremely powerful, but similar to when the game first launched, they have a high endgame growth curve, meaning they might not come together quickly and tend to perform better in the endgame.

Druid

Strengths

After the skill rework, Druids can freely choose to cast almost any skill in Human, Werewolf, or Werebear form, and each form has its own inherent bonuses tied directly to the skill tree, removing the need to rely on specific Unique items.

Furthermore, spell builds using Human form like Tornado and Lightning Storm have been massively strengthened, ensuring at least a solid floor of power and offering insane combo potential.

Weaknesses

Although Druid mobility has improved, their cooldowns are still quite long. Survivability outside of Werebear form has been an issue for several seasons; while Werebear now has built-in damage reduction, other forms may still be fragile.

Druids have performed rather average in the previous Seasons, but after the rework there is a lot to explore and great potential.

Necromancer

Strengths

Necromancer arguably received the biggest improvement of all classes. The old feeling of being clunky, fragile, and slow has been completely swept away.

All minions can now be customized a second time via the skill tree, in addition to Book of the Dead. This opens up a wealth of active or passive minion build options, making them a true summoner class, whereas Warlock can only do temporary summons.

Mobility is a massive advantage for Necromancer. One of Sever's enhancement options appears to incorporate the power of Inexorable Reaper's Aspect without a cooldown, allowing you to teleport endlessly. Blood Surge could also become a second movement option. Necromancer's gameplay pace will be ten times faster than before.

Weaknesses

Necromancers lost their key Barrier passive. Although there are other ways to obtain Barrier and the protection of their minion army, survivability is no longer free - you need to build for it deliberately.

Rogue

Strengths

With resource generation being nerfed across all classes, Rogue's Combo Points and Inner Sight specializations are indirectly buffed. More importantly, Imbuement skills have been reworked from a charge limit to a duration limit. With high attack speed, you can keep Imbuement effects active constantly, providing a huge and stable damage boost. Now you can even grant Imbuement effects to Basic or non-Imbued skills.

Weaknesses

Previously relied-upon barrier passives like Second Wind have been removed. While Rogue has Dark Shroud, the built-in defenses on the skill tree are relatively sparse, so you may need to deliberately invest in survival stats.

Sorcerer

Strengths

Sorcerer will break away from the situation of having only one top-tier build each season. Both Core skills and Mastery skills will be able to stand on their own. Since skill tree customization options have increased dramatically, even if Enchantment effects themselves haven't changed, the utility they carry is much richer. For example, Ball Lightning Enchantment can now summon a black hole that pulls entire screens of enemies together.

Weaknesses

However, Sorcerer might be the class hit hardest in terms of survivability. Mana Shield, Protection, and Align the Elements - three powerful defensive passives that nearly every build took - have all been removed. While their effects may have been moved to gear, the early game without defensive skills will be very tough.

Spiritborn

We don't know much about the changes to Spiritborn, but overall, it has received buffs. Spiritborn has lost almost nothing on the defensive side, which used to be its biggest weakness. We see skills like Vortex and Scourge now have built-in damage reduction. The long-underdeveloped Centipede skill line is receiving major upgrades. Powerful mechanics like Noxious Resonance are returning, and Spiritborn also boasts high Unstoppable uptime and 100% block chance.

Warlock

Strengths

The developers have clearly stated that to promote the expansion, new classes are intentionally designed to be strong to encourage players to try all builds. Therefore, Warlock is likely one of the strongest classes in Season 13.

Weaknesses

However, Warlock skill tree has numerous interactions and tags, making its mechanics the most complex and not very beginner-friendly. Additionally, Warlock skill tree has almost no defensive capabilities; you must plan your survivability through gear. If you overlook this, you will be extremely fragile.

Paladin

Paladin remains powerful and straightforward. It was released in Season 12 and was almost overwhelmingly strong. Although it will be nerfed in Season 13, as one of Lord of Hatred expansion classes, it still maintains its dominance.

Class Ranking

So, combining the strengths of each class above with their performance in previous Seasons, let's rank them.

Leveling

• S-Tier: Rogue, Spiritborn, Necromancer
• A-Tier: Paladin, Warlock
• B-Tier: Druid, Sorcerer, Barbarian

Endgame

• S-Tier: Spiritborn, Paladin, Warlock
• A-Tier: Druid, Necromancer, Barbarian
• B-Tier: Rogue, Sorcerer

That concludes the conclusion drawn from in-depth analysis and research of all known information. No matter which class you choose, it will be a fantastic experience, because every class will have multiple builds capable of tackling the highest difficulty content.