This article contains spoilers for Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred's ending.
A huge part of the draw for Diablo 4's expansions is the new class that comes with them. As Vessel of Hatred demonstrated, a new Diablo 4 class can shake up gameplay more so than any other addition. With the next expansion not releasing until 2026 at the earliest, there is plenty of time for Blizzard to explore options that make the most sense for such a game-changing feature.
Vessel of Hatred's Spiritborn class marked a brand-new class never before seen in the Diablo franchise. While elements of past classes clearly influenced the design of the Spiritborn, it made sense for Diablo 4's first expansion to feature a unique new class. However, the game's second expansion may need to play it a bit safer with the content it adds after the mixed reception of Vessel of Hatred, and bringing back two classes from Diablo 3 could be a winning strategy.
For Diablo 4's Next Expansion to Succeed, It Might Be Time to Bring Out the Big Guns
After the delay of Diablo 4's next expansion, Blizzard may benefit by going all out with the game's next big batch of content.
Diablo 4's Next Expansion Should Look At Diablo 3's Monk and Crusader Classes for Inspiration
After Vessel of Hatred, Diablo 4's Next Expansion Will Likely Focus on the Church of Light
The ending of Vessel of Hatred's story leaves Mephisto as arguably a greater threat to Sanctuary than he was when the expansion's story started. After Akarat sacrifices his immortal soul so that the player can defeat Mephisto, the Prime Evil escapes death by possessing the body of the fallen Zakarum prophet. With a resurrected Mephisto in Akarat's body, the cliffhanger the expansion ends on opens an obvious door for its follow-up to expand on.
With Akarat being a holy figure within the Church of Light, it seems likely that the next Diablo 4 expansion will focus on the conflict between the Church and its prophet, now desecrated by the soul of Mephisto. As such, it makes sense that the new class added in this expansion would relate to the Church in some way, just as the Spiritborn connected to the lore of Vessel of Hatred's Nahantu setting. While a Paladin-type class has been on many Diablo 4 fans' wish lists for some time, a two-for-one of returning Diablo 3 classes could satisfy this craving and then some.
Diablo 3's Monk and Crusader Are the Perfect Holy Warrior Classes for a Church of Light-Themed Expansion
While both Diablo 3's Crusader and Monk classes are notable for their dedication to their faith in the Light, they hail from opposing religious factions that could play into the story of Diablo 4's next expansion. Diablo 3's Monk is part of the Saphtev faith of Ivgorod, who historically have clashed with the Zakarum of which the Crusader is a member. Bringing both of these Diablo 3 classes back for a Diablo 4 expansion could reignite this conflict, while also making for the perfect excuse for the region of Ivogorod to be added as the expansion's main setting.
From a gameplay perspective, the Monk is a Diablo 3 base game class that is fast and agile, with an emphasis on physical, holy, and fire-based skills. In contrast, the Crusader is a much tankier class originating from Diablo 3's Reaper of Souls expansion that can deal heavy physical damage, cast mid-range Holy, Fire, and Lightning magic, and wield shields. Adapting both of these classes for Diablo 4 could kill two birds with one stone by filling in two missing archetypes within the game while also serving as a callback to the days of Diablo 3.
The Monk has appeared in other games beyond Diablo 3, including Diablo 1's Hellfire expansion and Diablo Immortal. Meanwhile, the Crusader has appeared in Diablo 3, Diablo Immortal, and currently as NPCs in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
