The paladin has had its time to bask in the Light of Diablo 4. On Wednesday's Diablo Spotlight stream, Blizzard showed us the new warlock class that has emerged from the action RPG's shadows to fight hellfire with hellfire… and demons.
Whereas the paladin was a fan-favorite holy warrior class that originally debuted in Diablo 2, the warlock is an entirely new creation. With a mix of apocalyptic spells and the ability to summon demons, the newest class gives players a heavy metal option for taking on the Prime Evils.
The warlock isn't just showing up in the latest fight for Sanctuary -- instead, it's coming to Diablo 2: Resurrected today, Diablo 4 in April and the mobile-focused Diablo Immortal later this summer. That's an unprecedented range of additions that introduces the warlock into the series' history and future.
I was at Blizzard's campus in Irvine, California, in late January to get a glimpse at the Diablo 2: Resurrected class and talk with devs about the warlock, as well as the upcoming Diablo 4 expansion. The new class was created with a sense of progression in mind: The warlock class appearing in Diablo 2 represents its origins, whereas the versions in Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4 will show how the demonic spellcasters have developed over time in Sanctuary.
"There was also this room for each warlock to kind of have its own expression, its own personality for each of the games," Matt Burns, narrative designer for Diablo 4, told media in a group interview.
The Spotlight showcased details about the new Reign of the Warlock expansion for Diablo 2: Resurrected, which is available today. We also got more details about the new region, endgame features and other updates coming to Diablo 4 in April's Lord of Hatred expansion. The warlock is also coming to Diablo Immortal in June, along with a return to the city of Lut Gholein (the desert port that first appeared in Diablo 2), now under the control of Andariel, one of the lesser evils.
Witness the warlock's origins in Diablo 2: Resurrected
The warlock is the first new class added to Diablo 2 in a quarter of a century, and uses its powers to summon, bind and even consume demons. I got to play as the warlock briefly in a playtest at Blizzard last month ahead of the spotlight. It was admittedly my first experience with the famed D2 (which launched in 2000), but the vision and fantasy of the warlock class were immediately apparent, even to my newbie eyes.
Summoning and binding demons and then consuming them to fuel your own power fit seamlessly into the overall Diablo universe. I found myself devouring demons frequently just for the fun of zipping around the map with the additional speed. The hexblade build I played felt like a natural way to adapt the warlock concept in a Diablo game.
Game Designer Tim Vasconcellos said the Diablo 2 warlock is an "idealist scholar" who's spent a lifetime studying the mysteries of creation, but jumps into the fire when things go wrong in Sanctuary.
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