The announcement of Diablo 4 has been positively received so far, and we have now been shown a gameplay trailer for three of the five classes to be included at the launch of the game. The Barbarian, Sorceress, and Druid make their way through Sanctuary, and their initial gameplay speaks to their character design.

The Barbarian And His Mighty Weapons

The Barbarian class looks right at home in this darker, more primal environment, and his moves look familiar as well: a Seismic Slam generates a cone of damage outwards and in front of him, Leap thrusts him forward and onto an unsuspecting opponent, and he appears to swap between a flurry of one-handed attacks seamlessly to the use of a two-handed mighty weapon.

This second part may simply the animation of a special attack, of part of the new arsenal system. During the Diablo 4 panel following the game reveal, this was described to allow the Barbarian class to equip four weapons at a time and easily move between them. This is by far the most interesting part of the gameplay reveal, as it brings up so many questions about potential shifts in class design and how players will be able to customize their individual skills.

The arsenal system appears similar to what exists in The Elder Scrolls Online, where players can equip two sets of weapons, and swapping between the two is instantaneous and shifts the skill and ability bar entirely. One can go from a two-handed melee build to a ranged mode of attack, making playstyles versatile for difficult encounters. Since it appears that only the Barbarian is receiving this special ability to wield up to four weapons at once, it is unlikely that this will be the case for all classes. For now, we have so little information that anything is possible.

The Sorceress Replaces The Wizard

The least interesting character revealed so far is without a doubt the Sorceress. This isn't to say she will not be an enjoyable character to play, but little about the gameplay trailer revealed anything new or special for her in Diablo 4. Blizzards, Meteors, and Electrical discharges were used to hammer foes, while she also appeared able to transform into a current of electricity and move quickly around a space, hitting enemies as she moved.

Only the arcane was missing from her toolkit in the gameplay trailer, and perhaps that is being replaced with a greater emphasis on electrical elemental attacks. As always, the Sorceress looks like a glass canon that can destroy her opponents from a distance, which will compliment the playstyle of either Barbarian or Druid nicely.

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The Return Of The Druid

The Druid class is back, and the early gameplay video reveals a few different playstyles right out of the gate. Game Director Luis Barriga mentioned often how a Druid can roam the world with his animal companions, and so a pet-heavy built with synergies between character and companion is likely in the works.

The question now is whether Blizzard will be looking to innovate on pet builds from Diablo 3, where the Necromancer and Witch Doctor often had swarms of minions fighting in the form of skeletons, fetishes, and more. Perhaps a pet-heavy Druid will be similar to the Demon Hunter’s 6-piece Marauder set instead, where various companions are present on screen, but they serve to buff the nephalem and provide active bonuses on skill use rather than be an imposing force themselves.

The gameplay trailer also showed a solo Druid, surrounded by a swarm of undead enemies, with a focus on the elements and shapeshifting. With his two-handed weapon the Druid strikes down one opponent at a time with a large electrical surge activating on each hit. The elemental Druid would be expected to harness these elements through nature, as opposed to the Sorceress.

Finally, the Druid would not be complete without his shapeshifting abilities. The trailer showed that the switch to a massive, imposing bear was instantaneous, and provides a bit of breathing room through an area-of-effect pushback coupled with a mighty roar. Smashing the ground in a frontal cone, several undead crumpled at once before the Druid shifted back out of its animal form.

A major point addressed by Barriga was that players will have the option to play in bear form permanently if they so choose, so there is clearly going to be a focus on gear and skills that provide for a broad range of Druid playstyles.

Finally, initiating combat through class-specific dismounts and attacks was highlighted during the presentation at BlizzCon as well, but it appears to be little more than cosmetic as opposed to a fundamental component of clearing endgame and the most difficult content. Right now one could consider the animation as a more elegant dismount to what exists in Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm, where characters use mounts to move across the map, but dismounting into an attack simply has the companion vanish, while this looks more cinematic and action oriented.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment

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