Diablo 4: The 5 classes at release and what they can do

Diablo 4 will be released with five character classes. In this article, we give you an overview of what they are and what they can do.

Piece by piece, Blizzard has revealed which classes are joining Diablo 4 this time around. As was once the case in Diablo 2, there will be five brave warriors at the release who will fight against the hosts of hell.

And as usual, each class brings its own unique background and fights the fiends in its own way. We as players can not only shape the appearance of each hero according to our preferences, but will above all define the abilities with which they will go into battle.

In this article, we will introduce you to all five classes that will be available in Diablo 4 at release and explain in detail what they can actually do. All classes can be both male and female.

Overview

• The Barbarian
• The Druid
• The Necromancer
• The Huntress
• The Sorceress

The Barbarian

Skills

Barbarians are brutal melee fighters who deal mainly physical damage to their enemies. To do this, they draw on a wide arsenal of weapons. However, barbarians are also able to strengthen themselves or their companions with the help of war cries. For example, the barbarian becomes temporarily immune to psychological effects.

The barbarian’s abilities are divided into two different categories:

• Warlord
• Berserker

Each skill belongs to one of these two categories. Warlord skills are aimed at gaining a strategic advantage. For example, the barbarian increases his defence, strengthens party members or inflicts bleeding on enemies. Many war cries thus belong to the Warlord skill set.

Berserker skills on the other hand strengthen the barbarian’s offensive. He thus deals high damage, strengthens himself and also increases his speed. The well-tried whirlwind is a classic berserker ability.

Class Mechanics

The barbarian’s unique class mechanic makes it possible to switch fluidly between multiple sets of weapons all the time. The barbarian can have two sets of weapons in each hand and two sets of two-handed weapons equipped at any time. The affixes of the weapons are all active at the same time. The barbarian can also assign certain weapons to an equipped skill so that the warrior automatically switches sets.

Weapons

• Swords
• Mace
• Axes
• Two-handed swords
• Two-handed maces
• Two-handed axes

The Druid

Skills

After having to take a break in Diablo 3, the Druid is back in Diablo 4. The nature mage relies mainly on four different types of abilities in battle.

• Storm Magic
• Earth Magic
• shapeshifting
• Animals

Storm and earth magic are classic spells with which the druid influences the environment. He can summon lightning or create an armour of air around himself. At the same time, he makes the earth tremble or hurls chunks at his enemies. With shapeshifting, the druid changes form fluidly in battle. He can appear as a human, werewolf or werebear. Unlike in Diablo 2, however, the forms are not permanent. The druid transforms when triggering certain abilities, keeps the form for a few seconds and then transforms back again.

Next to the Necromancer, the Druid is the second Pet class. He is therefore able to call companions. In his case, these are animals such as wolves or birds that pounce on his enemies.

Class Mechanics

Little is known about the Druid’s unique class mechanics. We do know, however, that he can trigger so-called Crushing Blows with earth magic. These are hits that take a percentage of damage away from the enemies.

Weapons

• Wands
• Mace

The Necromancer

Skills

The necromancer is a classic pet class that can summon whole armies of undead monsters. However, she is also able to defend herself completely independently of skeletons. The Summoner uses two different resources for her abilities:

• Essence: With this astral power the necromancer casts her spells. Essence charges automatically and is increased by the use of basic skills.
• Corpse: This resource is dynamically created around the necromancer when enemies near her pass away. However, there are also certain skills that create corpses. Corpses are needed to create undead henchmen.

The necromancer’s skills can be divided into four categories: Bones, Darkness, Blood and The Army. Bones are used to create and deploy projectiles or prisons made of bones. It is also possible to summon a spirit from bones. Darkness is shadow magic that causes damage but also weakens enemies. For example, you can shoot a plague bullet that creates a contaminated area.

Blood magic is used to drain life energy from enemies and use it for your own protection. It can also be discharged, causing damage to groups of enemies in the form of a blood nova. With the help of blood mist, the summoner becomes untouchable and drains energy from the enemies in the process. Finally, the army focuses on creating skeleton warriors and golems to fight in place of the summoner.

Class Mechanics

The unique class mechanic of the necromancer is the Book of the Dead. Using the book, you can set exactly what form of undead henchmen are usually summoned. Here you can also modify your skeleton warriors, skeleton mages and the skeleton golem. Optionally, it is possible to dispense with summoning some or all of the Minions, thus strengthening the Necromancer herself.

Weapons

• Senses
• Swords
• Daggers
• Wands
• Focuses
• Shields

The Slayer

Skills

The Huntress is a very diverse class, strongly reminiscent of the Demon Hunter from Diablo 3, with a dash of the Assassin. She is agile and can ruin the day of entire groups of monsters in ranged combat. However, she is also able to attack quickly in close combat. That is why the huntress is able to switch smoothly between two weapon sets. She always has one set for ranged weapons and one for light melee weapons.

In addition to her mundane fighting skills, the huntress also has three very special abilities:

• Trapping
• Shadow Magic
• Penetration

Traps explain themselves and are triggered when enemies get too close. She can use shadow magic to gain a strategic advantage. For example, one of them creates three shadow clones. With the help of the penetration system, the huntress can equip her weapons with special effects. Thus, the blades become poisonous, cold or shrouded in shadow magic.

Class Mechanics

The Slayer may choose one of three specialisations as a unique class mechanic. However, these specialisations must be unlocked in-game by completing special quests for factions. One specialisation aims to collect a high number of combo points. The hunter can then spend these points on skills. The second specialisation exploits temporary weaknesses, so attacks from enemies can be quickly countered. The last specialisation briefly transports the slayer into a shadowy parallel dimension in which she causes more damage and has far fewer enemies in front of her.

Weapons

• Bows
• Crossbows
• Daggers
• Swords

The Sorceress

Skills

No Diablo without a sorceress. The powerful sorceress naturally resorts to elemental magic as usual, which she can combine into death-dealing storms, destroying several enemies at once. However, the sorceress is also the most fragile of all classes and should better stay out of close combat.

Her spells are composed of three different elements:

• Fire
• Ice
• Flash

Each skill is assigned to a different element. Each element in turn triggers special effects from which the sorceress can benefit. Lightning spells, for example, can create small balls of energy that the sorceress can use to replenish her mana supply. Ice magic, on the other hand, slows down enemies visibly. The more ice spells hit them, the more immobile they become, until they come to a complete standstill. Fire, on the other hand, can infect enemies, causing them to take damage over time or making them more susceptible to subsequent spells.

Class Mechanics

As a special class mechanic, the sorceress is free to use active skills as enchantments as well. In addition to the six skill slots for active skills, the sorceress also has three enchantment slots. Any spell can be used in these slots. This means that the spell is no longer available to the sorceress for active use, but instead becomes a passive bonus. For example, a meteor then becomes a hail of smaller rocks that hit irregularly around the sorceress.

Weapons

• Wands
• Focuses

Which class do you like best so far? Tell us in the comments who you’d like to protect Sanctuary from evil with!