Everyone had some expectations of what they wanted from a Diablo IV expansion – and hot diggity did we eat well. A new area to explore (particularly one that is quite beloved, the steamy jungles of Kurast), Mercenaries and a revisit to one of the more unsung baddies of the Prime Evils – the delightfully devilish dork known as Mephisto.
But after a trailer, a deep dive and numerous interviews – one major question still plagues all of the heroes of Sanctuary.
What the heck is the new class going to be?!?
While the developers have been open that a new class absolutely will be making an appearance within the expansion, the one card they are playing extremely close to their chest is precisely what the class will be. It’s a dog-eared card at this point though, because they have been pretty cavalier with explaining that it is apparently a class ‘never before seen in the Diablo franchise’ – so perhaps dash your hopes of a return to the Monk or Crusader, or even Paladin for all my Zeal fans out there.
It’s actually one of the most critically established archetypes that is missing from Diablo IV – the ‘Holy Warrior’ type of class. Uncharacteristic for the series, there is no golden glowy goober gallivanting around with magic hammers or swords blasting demonic filth. It was such an egregious omission that people basically went all-in on the idea that a Cleric must surely be arriving with the first big expansion. But if we are told that this is a class ‘never before seen’ in the franchise, could they possibly reinvent the religious zealot again?
In an interview with Press Start, they at least offer a point about “iconic fantasies that players want to be able to re-experience” when it comes to selecting a new class offering. So perhaps what we can expect is something familiar, but put through a fairly rigorous update to match the return to darkness credo of Diablo IV.
Within the BlizzCon campfire chat, the developers did mention that the idea of a new class was really a crossroads decision – do you deliver another classic class, or something new. In the interest of expanding the world it seemed the obvious answer was something new – and then broke my mighty heart by openly saying it will not be the Witch Doctor of Diablo III. So that rules out the rickety toadslinger.
The big thing I keep coming back to is the wording of ‘never before seen’ – which drives the inclination that this won’t be something simple like a holy warrior remix.
Diablo plays fast and loose with fantasy tropes in it’s dark world, offering familiar experiences – but ones that are wholly Diablo-inspired and coded. It’s rather impressive that you can put a Warcraft Mage next to a Diablo Sorcerer and clearly identify which is which – so even rifling through my Dungeons & Dragons guidebook does nothing to really stimulate my rumormongering.
So where does that leave us?
Well, there is a confidence to imagining that the new class will not be a holy warrior. We can also rule out the Witch Doctor, if only for the heart-breaking clarification from the campfire chat. The new Blood Knight class from Diablo Immortal also technically counts as being ‘seen’ within the Diablo universe, so they are not sneaking in (but how good would have been to see them in the Season of Blood).
There are people datamining out there, and they have some snippets of information – but honestly that feels a little like googling trivia answers, so I won’t personally be going down that road.
So I am inclined to think that the new class may well be something themed around our return to Kurast. Something jungle-borne, but different to a Witch Doctor. A melee class perhaps, without a huge reliance on spells or summons.
But in all honesty, I have no idea. We’ll just have to wait and see what 2024 brings us. I just hope that we eventually get a Crusader-like class eventually. Holy heroes are my jam.
What do you think? Got a hot tip on the new Diablo IV class that is incoming in Vessel of Hatred? Is it mindblowing and incredible in every way you can imagine? Let us know in the comments, or on social media.
