In the interview with Rod Fergusson, the head of the Diablo franchise, we learned a lot about the future of Diablo 4. He provided us with information about the upcoming seasons and features. In one sentence, he also spoke about missing classes, which fans have been speculating about for ages.
At the gamescom 2023, Michael Graf from GameStar Talk was able to ask Diablo head Rod Fergusson and Associate Production Director Chris Wilson a few questions. We from MeinMMO, along with our colleague Maurice Weber and the editorial teams from GameStar and GamePro, contributed to these questions.
The interview mainly focuses on the current state of Diablo 4 and what the immediate future holds. Just shortly before the interview, Blizzard announced Season 2 for Diablo 4. Unfortunately, new information on this is still scarce.
However, Fergusson did provide an answer regarding classes that reveals more than just the straightforward statement.
We summarize the most important details from the interview for you. You can watch the entire interview, which is about 30 minutes long, on the YouTube channel of GameStar Talk or directly here in the embed:
“It’s not just about favorites, but about dominant play styles”
Diablo 4 launched with 5 classes, with the Necromancer being announced last. With the Druid, even a fan-favorite from part 2 returned, whom many missed in Diablo 3.
Since then, there have been considerations about which class will come into the game next. The fact that this will happen has been evident since release. The most likely candidates are the Paladin or Crusader, which most of you wish for.
This is precisely the class that Fergusson has more or less confirmed with his statement:
When we talked about the 5 classes, it wasn’t just about fan favorites from the past, but also about what the dominant play styles are. […] You look at what the different play styles are and how people want to experience them.
A lot of thoughts go into that. When you then look at the matrix, we see which styles we still don’t have and which areas are still missing.
Rod Fergusson
Of all the known and established play styles in Diablo, only classes that work with holy powers and those with heavy armor and shield remain. Specifically, these would be: Monks and Paladins or Crusaders, and only the latter combine both play styles.
If Blizzard does not already completely take different paths than Diablo veterans know, the Paladin should therefore be set as a new class. However, it is also possible that Blizzard surprises us with something completely new, as the head has more ideas.
Fergusson himself would like to see something new, like the Blood Knight from Diablo Immortal. Clues on a jug already point to an Occultist or Dark Summoner. Michael Graf also seems very interested in the discarded Bard class from Diablo 1.
Shortly before the interview, Blizzard introduced Season 2:
Season 2 is supposed to be better than Season 1
After the rather mixed opinions on Season 1, the mood in the community is rather low. However, the heads explain that the upcoming Season 2 brings numerous improvements and can build on what was still expandable in Season 1:
- Vampire powers come as a new mechanic and turn you into “Daywalkers” like from Blade
- Story missions will continue to be a part of upcoming seasons
- 5 new bosses will ensure that you can farm uniques and the controversial Uber Uniques specifically
- Reputation will not just be partially but completely carried over, reducing much of the annoying grind
- Certain season mechanics will be directly incorporated into the Eternal Realm to also provide new content for MMO players
Finally, the heads spoke about the problem of too many affixes on items. This is something that quickly intimidates inexperienced players because they don’t know how to improve.
According to Wilson and Fergusson, you shouldn’t worry about that when leveling. Until around level 50, it’s best to just play and have fun: take what looks cool and experiment. It will only become important to build proper builds at World Tier 4.
However, Fergusson himself has enjoyed building a build for the endgame just by himself, without a guide and at his own discretion. He also knows that this only goes to a certain point – eventually, one must start min-maxing:
