Light’s Calling – Top 3 classes to begin your next adventure
Introduction
This is my personal list of favorite classes to begin the next Season 27 – Light’s Calling, based on the Patch notes (2.7.4) and Haedrig’s gift rewards. This guide is not intended for the mid-end season and only aims for the fresh day one/level 1 start.
Season 27 Start Date is August 26, 2022. (confirmed post here)
In case you are new to seasonal themes, you can check out my old video here where I show one little trick on how to get free bounty materials to ease your fresh start with level 1 character.
Angelic Theme
Season 26 is now gone, but Echoing Nightmare arenas now stay permanently in the game, which means it will also be available in the upcoming seasons. I believe newcomers and veteran players found this seasonal activity quite repetitive and not really exciting after a few runs.
But it is time to change that, and Blizzard have introduced a new seasonal theme called Light’s Calling. Season 27 adds a new type of in-game mechanic, as sanctifying. Players will be able to find a new crafting material called Angelic Crucible, which is used to upgrade any of your items, including weapons to the Primal Ancient (but you can equip only one at a time). Additionally, these sanctified items will also include one of three powers unique to each class (21 different effects in total).
This feature strongly reminds me of Season 24, back when Ethereal items with unique bonuses were first introduced as the main game-changers. This time, players themselves will be able to choose which items to reforge and test their luck for perfect rolls.
So, basically, Season 27 is opening many new doors for different builds and playstyles, thanks to these special effects coming from item sanctification. This seasonal theme will especially come in handy with the recent set tweaks for Akkhan crusaders, Tal Rasha and Delsere wizards, and Trag’Oul Necromancers. As for the monks, Inna has been nerfed to the ground, but it doesn’t mean that monks are going to be the outcasts.
Video Guide
Rank 7 – Crusader
Place number 7 is Crusader with the Roland’s legacy set.
To my sadness, this is probably the least popular set available for crusaders, and for a reason. Roland is underperforming in both key activities – Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts and Blizzard has done nothing to improve this set.
While this set certainly doesn’t require many extra legendaries to make things work, it desperately needs more toughness and mobility. Without these 2 aspects, Roland stays way behind of many other crusader’s sets and other classes in general.
His Sweeping Attacks can successfully kill large enemies and crowds of enemies thanks to the 6-piece bonus, but he is clumsy, the process of killing stuff is tedious, and he is simply not efficient for farming keys or bounties.
Equipping Crimson set later on may definitely improve your toughness and reduce abilities cooldowns to use Steed Charge more often, but this is really time-consuming and is not worth your effort.
So if you still plan to start your next season as Crusader, consider switching to Akkhan as soon as possible. But keep in mind that you will need at least 56% cooldown reduction to make it work properly.
Rank 6 – Monk
Place number 6 in my list. Monk. Raiment of a Thousand Storms.
This is another set which is probably not worth using at the beginning of the season, but don’t rush to conclusions just yet. Raiment still remains in the shadows, and nobody bothers much to push or farm rifts with this set. It definitely has some not so obvious pros and cons.
First of all, you will have no cooldown on Dashing Strike which will allow you to travel fast on long distances even when you have no In-geom early on, but as a trade-off, it will cost you 75 spirit.
Secondly, there is another annoying buff which comes from 6-piece bonus. This set basically boosts only your primary gen skills, and it is tied to one ability – the same Dashing Strike I mentioned earlier. You fill also need to press this ability every 6 seconds, or else you significantly lose your damage.
Fundamentally, it is the same old gen-monk which was used a long time ago in meta as boss killer, and it performs the best with a combination of Shenlong Fists. Same as Inna Mystic ally pushing build, but mostly for solo targets. It is also worth mentioning, that Raiment doesn’t boost your toughness whatsoever. For this, You will have to rely on many defensive items like Unity, Spirit Guards, Endless Walk and Lefebvre Shoulders.
Long story short, it is super mobile, but it is squishy, and it is mostly for solo targets. I personally don’t recommend you to keep this set for long, and you should search for Sunwuko (Monkey King) or Inna pieces instead. Because despite Inna being nerfed to the ground, it is still capable of dealing tremendous damage in mid-range Greater Rifts and Torment 16 Rifts.
Rank 5 – Witch Doctor
Moving next, We have Witch Doctor. Helltooth Harness.
Witch Doctors have not received any updates (regarding sets) once again. So don’t expect to hear anything new here. At least The next seasonal theme is going to shake a few things, presumably for Jade Harvester, Arachyr, and our starter set – Helltooth.
Speaking of this set itself, it performs quite well in both Rifts, and Greater rifts, but consider it only as a fun and lazy build to crush your enemies with your Zombie Dogs and Gargantuan. Pets AI still lives on its own, so you will have to reposition them from time to time. Toughness is also quite average, but Sacred Harvester and Lakumba bracers can make things easier. As For extra mobility, Shukrani’s Mojo will come in handy.
Generally speaking, Helltooth is a fun build capable of farming Rifts and Greater Rifts, but this set is heavily dependent on your pets. Without them, your Witch Doctor is nobody.
And to make your pets stronger and your life easier, you will need to find these 3 specific items – Short Man’s Finger for Gargantuan, Ring of Emptiness to amplify pet’s damage, and Mask of Jeram. The rest is up to your preference.
Overall it is quite average, with average mobility and average toughness. Don’t plan to push top tier GRs with it. Just enjoy the process. If you prefer to stay idle while your pets deal with the enemies, then this set is for you. And if you wish specifically to push high GRs, then consider trying out Mundunugu or Arachyr.
Unfortunately, Witch Doctor still underperform, compared to other classes, but the newest seasonal theme is going to change that (for the entire duration of Season 27).
Rank 4 – Necromancer
Necormancer. Bones of Rathma.
There are many interesting variations on how to use this set. Depending on your preferences, it can be classic Mages build with Scythe of The Cycle and Circle of Nailuj or plain Army of the Dead with Jesseth set pieces, Fate’s Vow and Bonds of C’Lena.
What’s important to know here is that if you have the right legendaries, it can be incredibly strong early on. It does not require many items to start dealing damage with Skeleton Mages or Army of the Dead. The downside? Necromancers usually lack toughness at first, but once you make him strong enough, you won’t need it, because enemies will never reach you. But if you prefer to play less aggressive, then Dayntee’s Binding with any Curse will be more than enough to stay alive.
As for mobility. It is also not a big problem. For that, we have Steaurt boots. It is considerably easy to find, and this buff lasts 10 seconds.
In general, I’d personally recommend to play Mages build for casual rift farming, and in the meantime search for Legacy of Dreams ancient pieces with Trag’oul just in case. Because Trag’oul has been drastically buffed, and it can now easily destroy high tier GRs and has high chances to be in the meta. As for the Rathma’s Army of the Dead version, save it only for pushing GRs.
I’d say it is a great choice, if you plan to actively play in a group, farming rat-speeds, playing as (Support) Znec, or simply farming Rifts. It is also to beat The Thrill conquest with Legacy of Dreams Necro.
So the choice is yours, the rest is some luck and decent items.
Rank 3 – Barbarian
Place number 3 is Barbarian. Wrath of the Wastes.
Probably one of the best sets for farming Nephalem rifts, Bounties and mid-range Greater Rifts. This is basically Run & Gun aka. Spin to win build where holding just one skill is more than enough to be efficient.
It is not hard to complete this build, but for that, you’d require a few specific items: Bul-Kathos Swords for extra mobility and rage gen, Band of might for 80% damage reduction and Lamentation with Ambos Pride to apply Rend which each whirlwind attack.
And the easiest way to find most of these items is to use the cube and convert mighty belts and one-handed mighty weapons. As for the ring… it is only a matter of luck. I recommend you to look for Band of Might as early as possible, starting from level 9. Because on higher levels, the droptable will gradually increase.
Another benefit of this set apart from non-stopping Whirlwind, is that you can play mid and high GRs without changing much. But for the best performance, it is recommended to use Istvan blades instead of Bul-Kathos and Mortick’s brace.
Overall, this starter set is well-paced, it is incredibly tanky with the Band of Might, and it is viable for the most GRs. This will also come in handy later if you are planning to play in meta, as Zbarb.
Rank 2 – Demon Hunter
Second place is Demon Hunter. Unhallowed Essence.
This starter set has not received any updates, but it doesn’t mean that it is bad. Unhallowed Essence is a very capable and straightforward set for new and veteran players, and for a few reasons.
First, The more Discipline you have, the more mobile you are and more damage you deal. His mobility skills usually include Vault or Smoke Screen. As for the damage – Any gen skill, usually Evasive Fire and Multishot which has extremely wide area of impact.
And secondly, it is super easy to complete the build and go straight to Torment 16 with two important items – Dead Man’s Quiver and Yang’s Bow. The First one can be easily found by gambling from Kadala, and the second, if you roll yellows from cube.
Additionally, you can make Unhallowed Essence even stronger with 2 pieces of Crimson set, and two rings Restraint and Focus. This set may certainly not be the best for Farming Rifts and Bounties as it requires discipline to skip large areas, but it gets the job done.
Once you squeeze enough damage for Torment 16, you can start searching for Gears of Dreadlands. As this is it another spin to win set which is very convenient for efficient speeds and pushing Greater Rifts. And if you aim for the meta, you can then adapt these items to Support DH role, which is still 100% viable.
Rank 1 – Wizard
And the final place is Tal Rasha’s Elements. Wizard. Here are a few reasons why I put this class at the top of my list.
Some might of course disagree, but personally I like this build even more now. Because meteors now have no cooldowns, and they drop each time you can a spell.
This opens many creative ways to slay your enemies because it doesn’t matter much what abilities you choose. You can literally pick any, like for example Blizzard which nobody uses, Hydra, Wave of Force or Explosive Blast. Tal Rasha basically can handle it with deadly meteors, and there is just one rule – to use 4 different elements to maintain the buff.
Of course if we are talking about mid and high tier Rifts, you would need to pick specific abilities and items for that, but still. There is plenty of room for creativity.
Tal Rasha has many build variations with Frozen Orb, Archon, Manual Meteors, or unstoppable Explosive Blasts. Basically, you can make a working build from anything you find first. Just one tip, though, Tal Rasha can be really squishy even against elemental damage.
So I’d recommend you to find Halo of Karini and equip it as soon as possible. It is probably the best Wizard’s ring for damage reduction, which can be used across many builds. And of course don’t forget about Crimson set or Orb of Infinite Depth for additional toughness, but sometimes this may not be applicable to your build.
Another big plus, is that Tal Rasha consists of 7 pieces, unlike all other starter sets. This makes it way easier for fresh characters to fully gear up within the first few hours. Because of that, It also opens many rooms for experiments.
Unfortunately, though, Tal Rasha is not universal, and if you plan to push high tier GRs or Go full Meta, then you should pick Firebird or Delsere. Both of these sets are now viable, and the newest unique powers from the seasonal theme can make them even better.
Overall, Tal Rasha as the starter set is pretty good. Obviously it is not perfect, for the fresh start it is more than enough: High mobility, build flexibility, 7 set pieces instead of 6, and decent performance in Rifts and mid-range Greater Rifts.
Class table Performance (personal preference)
Time for some summary. I have provided a table below which shows what classes are the most efficient in farming and playing certain activities in Season 27. One plus (+) represents the possibility to run a certain activity, and up to Three pluses (+++) for strongly capable classes.
This table is just my prediction of certain classes. It is based on their set performance, previous PTR tests, and leaderboards. This table may not reflect the actual S27 capabilities.
| Class | Speeds | Meta Play | Solo Push |
| Wizard | +++ | +++ | ++ |
| Monk | +++ | + | +++ |
| Barbarian | ++ | +++ | +++ |
| Witch Doctor | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| Demon Hunter | +++ | +++ | +++ |
| Necromancer | +++ | +++ | +++ |
| Crusader | + | + | ++ |
Some conclusions
As Season 27 also introduces new unique buffs for each class, then I assume that Necromancers, Wizards and probably Monks will have really high chances to dominate the leaderboards, especially in the new meta.
Necromancer is going to be played as trash killer, Wizard – possibly as Boss killer, and Demon hunters with Barb for the support roles. Some recent Angelic Power’s tweaks also suggest, that Witch Doctors might join the meta play too.
Speaking of early progression, starter sets for Wizard, Barbarian and Demon Hunter have much more potential in finishing seasonal chapters than other classes. Here, you can easily finish your set dungeon and also beat most of the conquests like The Thrill, and Boss Mode with ease. Avarice conquest however would require players some preparations – either to kill enemies with the Maxed Boon of the Hoarder and Gold Find %, Or farm 32 bounty chests on Torment 16.
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Thank you for reading this Season 27 Starter Guide article. Have a nice day!
