In spite of all the hype, news aroundDiablo 4has been hard to come by. There’s plenty of important details about the game that remain a mystery, even though the game itself has been public knowledge for a long time. Blizzard still drops news now and again, such as its most recent showcase on character customization inDiablo 4. However, another important area of knowledge remains incomplete. After all this time, there’s still one player class inDiablo 4that Blizzard hasn’t revealed, and it seems like it isn’t getting revealed anytime soon.
Since Blizzard’s latest quarterlyDiablo 4update focused on character customization, the reveal of the fifth class is probably months away. That means fans are left to speculate about the last class. Luckily,Diablo 4’s near-complete roster of classes give a good picture of what the game already has and what the game still needs. There’s one thing about the lastDiablo 4class that’s looked fairly clear for a while, and seems increasingly certain now that the Rogue is public knowledge.Diablo 4already has the Sorceress and the Druid, which mean that the last class probably isn’t another spellcaster.
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Diablo 4 is Rich in Magic
From the earliest days ofDiablo 4,it was clear that fans would have plenty of magical options to choose from.The Sorceress is a master of fire, ice, and lightningthat offers a tremendous amount of damage. Players who want to blow up hordes of demons at a moment’s notice will be served well by the Sorceress' fireballs and lightning blasts. The Druid offers plenty of magical damage too, controlling elements of nature like wind and stone. Druids are also masters of shapeshifting, offering a very different school of magic from the Sorceress' raw damage.
Between these two classes, there’s very little room inDiablo 4for another spellcaster. The Sorceress fills the role of the glass cannon mage, featuring little in the way of defensive maneuvers but offering an overwhelming amount of tools for dealing damage and destroying enemies before the Sorceress gets threatened.The Druid, meanwhile, offers the alternativeof a beefy spellcaster that can go toe-to-toe with tough enemies while knowing a few impressive spells for crowd control. With these categories covered, a new spellcaster isn’t necessary. If anything, it’d risk givingDiablo 4too many classes that rely on magic.
There’s certainly other types of magic thatDiablo 4could include. After all, there’s a few noteworthy magic users fromDiablohistory thatDiablo 4is willfully omitting. For instance,Diablo 3’s Wizard could’ve introduced more arcane spells with its power over time, gravity, and other cosmic forces, but insteadDiablo 4went back to basics with the Sorceress. Similarly,the Necromancer isn’t available inDiablo 4,although its blood magic and legions of undead would be very unique in the new game. The Rogue features some dark magic instead, sidelining the Necromancer’s spellcasting in favor of archery and cloak-and-dagger fighting styles.Diablo 4has other class areas to look into instead of another magical DPS class.
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Diablo 4’s Remaining Options
Diablo 4’s last class will be decided by what the game is missing. For instance, althoughDiablo 4has a Barbarian, there isn’t a tanky melee fighter that uses traditional heavy protection like shields and plate armor. The Paladin or Crusader could make a comeback and play that sort of role. They’d be perfectly fitting; like just about everyDiabloclass, they use at least a little bit of magic, but they’re focused on their martial skill and heavy-duty equipment rather than magical prowess.Lore questions about the state of Heavenare the biggest thing getting in the Paladin’s way. It’s possible that Blizzard instead opts for a heavily armored character with dark themes, like a Death Knight or a Blackguard. A purely martial Knight isn’t off the table either.
If the lastDiablo 4class does surprise everyone by focusing on magic, it’ll have to be unique to preserve balance. A supportive spellcaster could accomplish that.Diablofans have been debating the odds ofa Priest or another flavor of Healer classtaking up the fifth slot. Although someDiabloclasses can heal, there’s never really been a dedicated support class. Multiplayer is much more central toDiablo’s identity than it used to be, so maybe Blizzard is open to a Priest or a reimagined Bard that focuses on healing, protection, and crowd control while only offering weak damage output. On the whole, something martial seems a little more likely.Diablo 4has two magic-focused classes already, meaning any kind of magic-user would makeDiablo 4lean really heavily on magic, causing a bit of imbalance.
What Else Does Diablo 4 Need?
The big question aboutDiablo 4that might make some fans scratch their heads is what kind of class the game even needs.Barbarians and Druids have tankiness covered, Sorcerers and Druids offer spellcasting, and Barbarians and Rogues offer melee and ranged weapons mastery. There’s not really any niches left thatDiablo 4needs to cover. That also means that anything is possible, so long as it’s not another magical class. There’s a small chance that a Monk could show up, for instance, since Monks offer healing as well as a unique melee fighting style, but they seem unlikely since they don’t address the heavy armor question and also unexpectedly shift Dexterity into a majorDiablo 4stat.
In a way, the Rogue’s reveal made theDiablo 4class debate even more excited than before. So far, the game’s classes suggest that Blizzard really wants to go back to basics, so it’s hard to imagine a classic archetype that would also be extremely unique compared to these other classes.Diablo 4news calls for a lot of waiting, but the enigmatic, exciting nature of features like these make the news worth waiting for.
Diablo 4is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
