Blizzard announced Diablo 5’s Plague Knight at BlizzCon 2026 and the theorycrafting scene started that same night. Poison-tick scaling, curse spread, and the new siphon mechanic mean builds already look wildly different from anything Diablo 4 shipped. If you play on PC, you need tools to keep up: build planners, itemization guides, filter managers, and stream references. Here are the eight desktop apps we use to plan a Plague Knight from paper to endgame.
What to look for in a Diablo build app
- Simulator that models damage-over-time stacking, not just a stat calculator
- Item filter that catches unique legendaries specific to the new class
- Live database that updates as datamined info drops
- Skill tree editor with sharable build codes
- Overlay support so you can read your build during a Nightmare Dungeon
- Streamer VOD library so you can copy proven builds without waiting for written guides
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxroll | Endgame build guides | Yes | $5 | Curated tier lists with paragon paths |
| D5Planner | Sharable build codes | Yes | Free | Fork any streamer build in one click |
| Icy Veins | Beginner rotation guides | Yes | $3 | Skill priority walkthroughs |
| Path of Building | Precise DPS simulation | Yes | Free | Community fork adapted for Diablo scaling |
| Blizzard Battle.net | Official launcher and profile | Yes | Free | Season pass and PTR access |
| Loot Filter Manager | Highlight Plague Knight uniques | Yes | $2 | Auto-updates when the community adds new items |
| OBS Studio | Recording gear finds | Yes | Free | Free replay buffer for loot moments |
| Discord | Group loot trading | Yes | $10 | Voice chat and screenshare in Diablo servers |
Why Plague Knight breaks old planners
Plague Knight’s kit isn’t a straight port of any Diablo 4 class. The poison damage-over-time stacks separately from the curse debuff, and both scale off intelligence with a hidden critical-tick coefficient. Old spreadsheet planners built for Necromancer or Sorcerer produce wildly wrong numbers because they don’t model the second-order interactions.
The tools below either handle that math correctly (Path of Building’s Diablo fork), pull from live datamined tables (Maxroll, D5Planner), or sidestep the problem entirely by cribbing from streamers who have already tested rotations on Blizzard’s beta servers.
The apps
1. Maxroll — Best for endgame guides
Maxroll is where most Diablo players end up for build guides. The team publishes tier lists within 48 hours of any class change and updates paragon paths every patch. For Plague Knight, expect their first S-tier guide the week after launch.
Where it falls short: The free site has ads and comment gating. Membership skips both, which matters when you’re reading nine tabs at once.
Pricing:
- Free: All build guides, comment access, tier lists
- Paid: Membership at $5/mo removes ads and unlocks early-access articles
Platforms: Web with a Windows shortcut
Download: Maxroll web app
Bottom line: Start here for a working build. Iterate later.
2. D5Planner — Best for sharable builds
D5Planner is a browser-based skill tree editor that generates a share code. You can fork a streamer’s Plague Knight setup, swap out passives, and paste the code back into a Discord channel for a friend to try. It reads Blizzard’s live skill data so new nodes appear the same day as a patch.
Where it falls short: No damage simulation. It shows what you built, not whether it works.
Pricing:
- Free: Full editor, unlimited builds, share codes
- Paid: None
Platforms: Web
Download: D5Planner
Bottom line: Every Plague Knight tinkerer will paste D5Planner links this season.
3. Icy Veins — Best for beginner rotations
Icy Veins writes the “here’s exactly what to press” guide most players actually need for a new class. Their Plague Knight opener, sustain phase, and cooldown priority walkthroughs are the first thing to read after you finish the campaign.
Where it falls short: Guides lag Maxroll by a day or two on hotfixes. If you’re chasing the ladder, you’ll want both.
Pricing:
- Free: Every guide, forum access
- Paid: Icy Veins Premium at $3/mo removes ads and adds a printable rotation cheat sheet
Platforms: Web
Download: Icy Veins
Bottom line: The most beginner-friendly reference on the internet.
4. Path of Building (Diablo fork) — Best for DPS simulation
Path of Building is legendary in the Path of Exile scene, and the community fork ported to Diablo handles the same detailed math. For Plague Knight specifically, it models poison-tick stacking and curse spread separately, which spreadsheet planners fail to do.
Where it falls short: Steeper learning curve than a browser planner. Expect an evening of setup before you understand the UI.
Pricing:
- Free: Open source, complete feature set
- Paid: None
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: Path of Building on GitHub
Bottom line: The only free tool that gives you real numbers on Plague Knight’s DoT stacking.
5. Blizzard Battle.net — Best for official access
The Blizzard Battle.net desktop client is the launcher for Diablo 5, but it also handles PTR access, season pass tracking, and cross-title friend lists. When Plague Knight ships to the PTR ahead of the live server, that’s where you install the build to test theory.
Where it falls short: No build planning of its own. Purely a delivery pipe.
Pricing:
- Free: Included with the game
- Paid: None
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Download: Battle.net desktop
Bottom line: Required. It’s already installed if you own Diablo.
6. Loot Filter Manager — Best for highlighting Plague Knight uniques
Loot Filter Manager ships a Diablo 5 loot filter that highlights class-specific uniques on the ground. Community-maintained filter packs update within a day of a new class launch, so Plague Knight-only items get their own color and audio ping.
Where it falls short: The filter format changed twice in the Diablo 4 lifecycle. Expect the same churn early in Diablo 5.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic filters, manual updates
- Paid: Plus at $2/mo for auto-updates and custom sound packs
Platforms: Windows
Download: Loot Filter Manager
Bottom line: Turns endgame farming from tedious to actually fun.
7. OBS Studio — Best for recording gear finds
OBS Studio is the free, open-source recorder every ARPG player should have running during boss farms. Set up a 60-second replay buffer, and when a class-defining unique drops, you save the clip after the fact.
Where it falls short: No stats parsing. You still need Path of Building or Maxroll to know if the item you found is actually good.
Pricing:
- Free: Full-featured, no trial
- Paid: None
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: OBS Studio
Bottom line: Turn it on before every boss run this season. You’ll want the footage.
8. Discord — Best for group loot trading
Discord is where Plague Knight guilds will trade uniques, run parties, and screenshare builds. Diablo servers already have loot channels and voice rooms; join two or three and you’ll never solo-farm again.
Where it falls short: Signal-to-noise is bad in the biggest servers. Look for a smaller guild-run community.
Pricing:
- Free: All the essentials
- Paid: Nitro at $10/mo for HD screenshare and larger uploads
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download: Discord for PC
Bottom line: Pair it with a working screenshare and it beats any dedicated trading site.
How to pick the right one
- If you just want a working build fast: Maxroll plus Icy Veins.
- If you’re a build tinkerer: D5Planner plus Path of Building.
- If you’re farming Plague Knight uniques all day: Loot Filter Manager with OBS Studio running.
- If you’re trading and grouping: Discord plus a class-specific server.
- If you’re on the PTR: Battle.net delivers the beta client.
Most Plague Knights end up with Maxroll, D5Planner, Loot Filter Manager, and Discord open at once. Add Path of Building only if you want to prove your own build is real math.
FAQ
When did Diablo 5 launch?
Blizzard officially announced Diablo 5 at BlizzCon 2026 alongside the Plague Knight class reveal. The release window and full class roster were confirmed in the same keynote.
Do these tools work on Steam Deck or Linux?
Path of Building, OBS Studio, and Discord ship native Linux builds. Battle.net runs through Bottles or Lutris on Linux with mixed results. The web-based planners (D5Planner, Maxroll, Icy Veins) work everywhere.
Is there a free Diablo 5 build planner?
Yes. D5Planner is free with unlimited builds, and Path of Building’s community fork is open source. Between the two, you can plan and simulate any Plague Knight build without paying.
How fast do these apps update after a patch?
Maxroll and D5Planner usually reflect balance changes within 24 hours. Icy Veins is slower by a day or two. Path of Building depends on volunteer contributors, so major skill-tree overhauls can take a week.
Which apps track my paragon points?
D5Planner and Maxroll both persist paragon boards inside build codes. Path of Building’s Diablo fork imports paragon nodes into its main simulation view.
