Diablo’s Warlock is coming to Diablo 4 as part of the Lord of Hatred expansion in April, and the new demon-summoner class will look and feel very different from the version that debuted in Diablo 2: Resurrected in February. On Thursday, Blizzard Entertainment offered a deep dive into the Warlock, which Polygon got to play back in January at the company’s headquarters.
Blizzard describes the Warlock’s identity as “rooted in rebellion” and influenced by heavy metal music. The class’ gameplay is chaotic, filling the battlefield with flesh, blood, and fire. The Warlock’s look and feel is designed to embody the physical toll of wielding Hell’s energy, Blizzard says. The Warlock should feel like a person who’s been to Hell, survived, and fought their way out.
The Warlock is a dual-resourced class, using Wrath to unleash destruction and Dominance to summon powerful demons. Players can define their personal Warlock in one of four defined ways — Legion, Vanguard, Mastermind, and Ritualist — through Soul Shards. Each shard offers a play style passive and binds a specific demon pet to the Warlock. Players can further specialize their Warlock with fragment sub-options to choose passive skills, resources, and abilities.
During my hands-on time with Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, I was pleasantly surprised by how different the variations on the Warlock played. I gravitated toward the Legion, with its army of demonic cannon fodder, and the Ritualist, which traps enemies in sigils and blows them up real nice.
The Warlock in Diablo 4
While the Warlock in Diablo 2: Resurrected offered fun new variations on the summoner play style, its incarnation in Diablo 4 was much more diverse and exceedingly over the top. Blizzard had four pre-built Warlocks builds in a playable version of Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, which offered a sneak peek at the breadth and depth of play styles:
