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Although Diablo III only features 5 classes, for many new players it's going to be a little bit tricky to choose their class. Obviously, there's a very rigorous balance between those 5 Diablo III classes, and you should have equal chances with any class and skill specialization versus any other class in the game, or in PvE.
However, depending on the part of content that you like, you should choose a certain class and spec, to be more proficient. In this article, I'm going to make a short presentation of each Diablo III class, along with their main roles.
The Barbarian
The only class in Diablo III which was also present in the previous editions of this game is the Barbarian. It is a pure melee class, and also the class that can serve best for the tank role. If you've also played World of Warcraft, then you should know that the mechanics of this class are similar to the Warrior class in this MMO. Barbarians can also be specialized to be damage dealers, dual-wielding axes, maces or swords, but this class can also be played as DPS with 2-handed weapons.
So, if you usually like melee classes, the Barbarian is the best to choose. For PvP and arena, a single-target DPS specialization would be the best. For PvE, you will surely find more groups if you specialize as a tank. However, for the usual solo grind, it's best to boost some of your AoE abilities and stuns because you will be fighting hordes of demons.
The Demon Hunter
Since there's no Amazon class in Diablo III, this is the class that replaces it. The Demon Hunter is the ranged physical damage class of of this game, which uses mainly crossbows. And the cool thing about it is that you can actually dual-wield crossbows. It's a class that deals heavy amounts of ranged, single-target damage, but of course, you can also boost some of the Demon Hunter's AoE abilities to deal better with large groups of demons.
The Demon Hunter also has quite a few traps and crowd control attacks which makes it great for PvP.
As a general idea, in conjunction with a Templar as a follower, the Demon Hunter is a great class for solo-farming items and money. For PvP, its CC attacks can severely cripple the opposite team.
The Wizard
The Wizard is the pure caster class of the game, pretty much similar to the Sorceress class in Diablo II. So, if you like to cast bolts of fire or to freeze your foes, and eliminate them from distance, the Wizard is the class for you. Wizards deal massive amounts of elemental AoE damage and also single target damage, have nice self regeneration effects for their HP and Arcane Power and if you're using only your primary abilities, you basically never remain out of juice, unless other players or mobs drain it from you.
Although the Wizard is a pretty squishy class, you receive quite enough protective spells to shield yourself from basically any type of attack coming from other players or NPCs.
The Monk
As its name suggests it, the Monk is the class that serves best as a healer and as a group buffer. So, if you want to join groups and fulfill the role of a healer, the Monk is the class for you. Although the Monk is the healer class of Diablo III, they can also be specialized to act as damage dealers having powerful melee attacks, enhanced with holy damage. Also, they have short duration crowd control attacks, like AoE knock-backs, stuns etc.
Some say that the Monk can be compared with the Paladin class in Diablo II, due to their Holy damage abilities.
So, the Monk is the number one group support class. If a group wants to defeat various difficult demons in the game, the Monk is the class they would surely want among them. However, playing the Monk solo, specialized on martial arts and melee attacks, and decently geared, you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with any mobs or bosses.
The Witch Doctor
The Witch Doctor is the summoner class of Diablo III. They can summon various nasty creatures to defeat their foes, beginning with level 4. Also, they have quite an arsenal or curses, debuffs and ranged damage spells at their finger tips.
The Witch Doctor is also a great class for group support. They have decent crowd control abilities and can deal with large hordes of demons keeping them at bay and debuffing them, while the group takes on the bosses or elite mobs.
Although they don't have extremely good defenses like other classes, the Witch Doctors rely on their debilitating spells for PvP or PvE, reducing the damage of their foes considerably, kiting them until they eventually die from their locust swarms, clouds of acid or burning flames.
I hope what I've said here will help you a bit in choosing your Diablo III class. However, once you have chosen your class, you probably would want to learn how to play it at maximum, squeezing every bit of effectiveness from it, and knowing each and every dirty trick that can be pulled with that class.
For that, I strongly recommend: The Best Diablo III Guide.
