Diablo 4 Dev Was “Nervous” Introducing New Classes But Hears The Cries For Paladin Support

Diablo 4 wowed its fandom during Xbox’s Summer Game Fest showcase with a jaw-dropping cinematic trailer for the Vessel of Hatred DLC – and many onlookers were asking for a feature-length horror movie. The expansion will focus on another new class, the Spiritborn, and the franchise’s boss feels good about exploring new classes despite players’ call for more sword and board Paladin experiences.

Vessel of Hatred will explore the brand-new region of Nahantu, made up of thriving jungle flora and fauna situated south of Kehjistan in Sanctuary. Described as the “apex predator of the jungle”, the Spiritborn class seems to be exclusive to this region, and if fans thought the trailer was brilliantly gory, the devs are teasing a lot more to come.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ during Summer Game Fest, franchise head Rod Fergusson discussed the addition of Diablo Immortal’s Blood Knight. The class was added around a year ago and was the first new class to be introduced to the franchise in 10 years, followed by the Tempest’s addition, which inspired the devs to add the Spiritborn to Diablo 4.

Fergusson admitted he was “more nervous when we did the Blood Knight for Immortal” considering this was the first new class to be brought into the franchise in a decade. However, the boss let out a sigh of relief “when I saw how the Blood Knight went over, I was like, ‘Oh, Ok. People are open to new ideas and new ways of doing this, and then we released the Tempest, and the Tempest was hugely successful, too.”

The positive reception to both classes left Fergusson and the team “feeling good about bringing something that’s not instantly understood as a classic archetype of the D&D world” and they were grateful to have the opportunity to explore “stuff that’s a little bit more nuanced in terms of what you’re doing, but it’s new and fresh.”

Blizzard Is Listening To The Call For More Paladin Experiences

Despite Diablo’s new classes going down a treat with players, and in turn, inspiring more creativity on the devs’ end, the community is also asking Blizzard not to forget about the sword and board Paladin.

Excited about the arrival of the Spiritborn class, Fergusson also reassured fans that the devs “hear very loudly the board and sword Paladin, Crusader fantasy that we are not currently fulfilling” and explained this backseat was in favor of building “something that was based within the region we were adding. We want to do something new that was creatively interesting and just bring a new experience.”

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is scheduled to be released on October 8, 2024.

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