Diablo 4’s Paladin class owes a lot to Zelda and Lord of the Rings

Before Diablo 4 even released, the cry from the Diablo community was loud: give us Paladins! The legendary holy warrior class of Diablo 2 has been the most requested addition to Blizzard’s action role-playing game of 2023. But players had to wait two and a half years to get their wish. Paladins are available now, released early as one of two classes included in April Lord of Hate expansion, and it’s going to be a storm.

Why didn’t Blizzard pull the trigger sooner? Zaven Haroutunian, game director Lord of Hateexplained in a recent group video interview that Paladins didn’t fit the theme of the first expansion Container of Hatewhich is about exploring the spirit world and the Nahantu forest. Also, Diablo 4 had launched with some familiar classes, like Barbarian, Rogue, and Necromancer, and the feeling at Blizzard was that players wanted something new. Hence, Spiritborn.

But now it’s time for the pendulum to swing again. “You should never underestimate nostalgia,” says Dominick Sileo, Paladin’s premier class designer. “You always want to try something new, and you have to try something new, because if you don’t, you’re going to disappoint your audience, period. But everything gets popular and liked over time for a reason.”

Regarding Paladins, the reasons are twofold. This class goes deep into the most basic fantasy archetype: the righteous warrior with a sword and shield. But it also gives the archetype a twist that works really well with Diablo’s fire-and-brimstone world of angels and demons.

Haroutunian said the class’ roots go back to its origins DiabloWarrior class. “The Warrior is our sword-and-board character. It’s an iconic thing to take on since Diablo became Diablo. I’m sure most people, when they first load it up, the first thing they pick is the Warrior. The thing that looks most comfortable in a medieval gothic world is a guy holding a sword and a shield.”

There are benefits to explaining these basic patterns, says Sileo. “One of our design pillars [at Blizzard] is to utilize common folklore, or utilize something relevant. Swords and shields, to me, are very relevant across a lot of different game genres and media — if you think about Link from The Legend of Zelda, or Captain America, it’s that classic flavor that lets you know what you’re getting, versus things that might be more abstract.” Sileo also mentions chivalrous literary characters as anchor archetypes: King Arthur, or Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.

Sileo compared the positions of Warrior, Paladin, and Diablo 3Similar Crusaders in the Diablo roster have weapons like the greatswords in the Monster Hunter games; a relatable fantasy that helps produce a more mysterious feel. “Like, what exactly is a bug glaive? It’s awesome, the weapon is really cool – but the sword and board are something I don’t have to stretch mentally to understand what it does.”

Genius of Diablo 2Paladin will layer “narrative themes, tonal themes into the basic archetypes” of the series, Haroutunian said. Paladin is endowed Diablo‘s Warrior with holy power and deep religious fervor. “It’s a natural slot mechanic for the basics of the series, the fantasy core underneath, angels and demons and so on. It’s dark fantasy and Paladins is juxtaposed with that.”

Sometimes it’s as simple as invoking pure good and pure evil with force. “There is a fantasy, I want to be Captain America, I want to be Superman, I want to be a person who is straightforward and can attack anything that opposes me in a fairly simple way,” said Sileo.

What is not simple is carrying Diablo 2Paladin design moves forward Diablo 4. It would be easier to move the Crusaders, but there are many reasons why the Paladin order rose again in the Diablo 4‘s fiction — and, while Crusader is great, it’s not what classy players ask for. The two classes are very close, but they are different, and, Haroutunian said, the players are pretty clear about the differences between the two.

Some of the Crusader’s skills managed to accomplish this Diablo 4Paladins, like Blessed Shield, throw shields at enemies. Some don’t, like Steed Charge, which sends the warrior crashing into hordes of enemies atop a holy horse. (Sileo: “Diablo 4 had a mount, everyone had a horse.) The team was eager to bring back some Diablo 2 Paladin skills that don’t exist on the Crusader, such as Zeal, which launches a series of attacks, but all need to be modernized.

The biggest challenge is Aura. “The number one most recognizable thing about Paladin — I think a lot of people would say Blessed Hammer — but for me personally, it’s Aura,” Sileo said. Diablo 2His skill tree is so deep that his Paladin has around 20 powerful, long-lasting buffs to choose from and layer on top of each other, but Diablo 4class building doesn’t work that way. “We have 24 skills on our skill tree, so we can’t just make anything but Aura on a Paladin and call it a day,” Sileo said. Ultimately, teams should choose the Aura they feel is most important and key to their playing style, and offer “three choices, not 20,” so as not to overwhelm players. However, additional modifications can be made to add the effects of some rejected Auras, “like a delicious Aura sandwich.”

Diablo 4Paladins are easy guys; he plays so naturally that it’s easy to underestimate the effort that went into bringing this universal archetype to life. You wonder if Blizzard will balance it out with something wild Lord of Hatesecond new class, or choose one of the other old and familiar flavors. We’ll probably find out during Blizzard’s Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight on February 11.