Diablo 4 (Image: Blizzard Entertainment)
A new Warlock-style class that serves as a dark rival to the Paladin appears to be Diablo 4′s latest class, according to datamined files from the game’s Lord of Hatred expansion. This leak came right before Blizzard’s Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight, where the next class is officially set to be revealed. Fans are guessing this could be Diablo 4‘s most menacing character to date.
References to a Warlock class and new art were found in Diablo 4‘s Season 12 public test realm files, which a known dataminer shared on Reddit. The fresh art features a holy Paladin and a darker spellcaster on opposite sides, heavily reinforcing the “light vs. dark” theme. Then again, none of this is actually confirmed by Blizzard, so nothing has been made official just yet.
The visual leak suggests a melee-leaning spellcaster holding a sword, while channeling blood-red magic and summoning a demonic hand. Fans are speculating that the class has everything to do with blood magic, demonology and dark powers to oppose the Paladin’s holy toolkit. Some fans have thought the new class could be a Blood Knight, but the file names and art direct more to a Warlock class.
As we saw with the introduction of Spiritborn, a jungle-shapeshifting Spiritborn, last year’s Vessel of Hatred expansion was a classic example of a thematic class pair. Now, as we’ve seen with the testing of archetypes like Tempest for Diablo Immortal, Lord of Hatred is just another iteration in this cycle of light versus darkness in Sanctuary’s never-ending battle against Mephisto.
Now everyone will be watching to see if Blizzard confirms the Warlock (whatever they decide to name it), along with other details about the Vessel of Hatred expansion, including the revamped skill tree and the new end-game content at their February 11th Anniversary Stream. If the Warlock leak is accurate, Diablo 4 players will get to use a class that resembles the Paladin’s complete opposite in gameplay.
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