Looking for any good reviews for how the builds and classes actually play.
For example, I've played mid 50s firewall and ice shards sorc. Ice shards felt like I was always waiting for frost nova. Even with ice shield sharing the load I'd always end up with a handful of stragglers or an elite with 30% life left and I'd be waiting on mana for weak raw shard casts.
Firewall felt better because the waiting for mana could be done while hydras worked and I kited around the death zone. Stacking up dps and working bosses into the ranges I wanted was also a challenge and fun. However, sorc seems like it's destined to be waiting on mana or cooldowns.
Now, I worked a hammer barb into the 40s and I'm having a lot more fun. I'm in control of choosing the right targets to keep death strike rolling and the rotation for arms master is a challenge that yields better results. I'm in more control of the game essentially. A boss can't just walk out of my 10-firewall nova setup. Barb is just more engaging for me because -- while barb sure have cooldowns -- gameplay isn't tied to them.
Alternatively, I leveled a druid to 15 and it felt like a good loop was there for bear pulverize. I got taken out of it because bear couldn't beat a boss. Wolf did in the next try, and I liked the teleport aspect of the werewolf swipe, but not that I couldn't control when it teleports.
What do you all think? Anyone aware of reviews that approach the game this way, instead of regurgitated build guides?
The best place for this type of content was, sadly, the Diablo4 subreddit. Something is also on YouTube but you'd have to dredge through hundreds of clickbait cringe videos to find anything worthwhile.
I think it's hard to find "professional" reviews discussing gameplay/classes in depth because the game leaves almost no room for experimentation and people just gravitate towards the meta builds. As an ice shard sorc main I'd love to form my own opinion on fire or lightning builds as well, but at level 60 it already seems like too much of a hassle to respec everything just to try something out.
They should either address the severe balance issues between supposedly viable builds or at least give players the tools to figure the alternatives out for themselves through experimenting.