The Classes of the Diablo series are an array of types, one of which is selected by the player for use in the game world. Each class is unique in the sense that they have proprietary graphics, skills, and voices.

Diablo I

In Diablo I, each class had much more in common than in subsequent games. Each only had one unique skill, but provided many differences in graphics, attribute distribution, and voice-overs.

• Warrior - The staple melee fighter had the maximum strength out of the three and could repair his own items.
• Rogue - The fast and deadly ranged fighter, she could lay siege to her enemies from a distance, and also disarm traps in the labyrinth.
• Sorcerer - The magic user, the perfect candidate to learn all the spells in the game, with maximum magic and the ability to recharge his staves.

Diablo: Hellfire

In Diablo: Hellfire, only one class was added, the Monk. But soon, two more unfinished classes were found in the game files. Only the Monk's official artwork can be seen here.

• Monk - The master of hand-to-hand combat, and has the ability to see things that were out of reach or too well blended in with the environment.
• Barbarian - A more powerful version of the Warrior, he gave up whatever magical ability he had in order to excel in all kinds of physical weapons.
• Bard - A jack-of-many-trades who can dual-wield weapons.

Note: The Barbarian and the Bard are test classes. They are only made available by editing certain game files.

Lore

Canonically, the Warrior, Sorcerer, and Rogue have been given the names of Aidan, Jazreth, and Moreina respectively.^[1] All three worked together to defeat Diablo, while it was Aidan specifically who plunged Diablo's soulstone into his forehead.^[2] The three heroes appeared in Diablo II under the monikers of the Dark Wanderer,^[3] the Summoner,^[4] and Blood Raven^[5] respectively.

Development

This page contains obsolete content This article contains information that is no longer relevant to gameplay.

At least two conceptions of the game's class system existed prior to the final version that was implemented in the game.

In the original design document, the player would be presented with a choice of class and race. 5-6 human races would be offered (hill people, forest people, etc.), each with advantages and disadvantages. The player would then have a choice of class, namely fighter, thief, or magician. All the characters would be able to use weapons and cast spells, but advantages would exist based on the nature of the class—the fighter would gain more attacks, the thief would move faster and have stealth advantages, and the magician would be able to cast more powerful spells. The magician would be able to choose from one of four schools of magic. After making the choice, the game would provide the character with basic statistics in the form of strength, magical aptitude, dexterity, and vitality. The player could also choose a pre-set character, skipping the character creation process. The idea of sub-classes was also mentioned.^[6]

A different take on the characters also existed prior to the game's release. It has been stated that it was originally intended that the game would only have a single class (represented by the warrior), where players could distribute attributes to their liking and thus take the character in whatever direction they wanted. The division of the character into the warrior, rogue, and sorcerer archetypes occurred late during development.^[7]

In the original design document for the game, the player character had a set backstory. In this version, the hero lost his family and home to raiders. With nothing left save vengeance, the hero would track them to a crypt with a labyrinth beneath it before descending into the depths.^[6]

Diablo II

In Diablo II, each class was made unique complete with unique skillsets for each class as well as many new gameplay options.

• Amazon - Skilled with the spear, and bow, she is a very versatile fighter.
• Sorceress - She has mastered the Elemental Magics -- Fire, Lightning, and Ice.
• Necromancer - Summoning undead minions and cursing his enemies are his specialties.
• Paladin - He is a natural party leader, Holy man, and Blessed Warrior.
• Barbarian - He is unequaled in close-quarters combat, and mastery of weapons.

Expansion Classes

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction added two new classes complete with new ways to customize your old ones with Class-specific Items.

• Druid - Commanding the forces of nature, he summons wild beasts and raging storms to his side.
• Assassin - Schooled in the martial arts, her mind and body are deadly weapons.

The character pack Reign of the Warlock added the Warlock as a playable class.

Lore

Canonically, all seven heroes partook in the events of the game. The five heroes of the original game were working together by the time Deckard Cain was rescued, but the Druid and Assassin characters had joined them by the game's fifth act.^[2] In the aftermath, it is known that the Necromancer, identified as Xul, took an apprentice^[8]. The Sorceress has been identified as Isendra, who trained Li-Ming. The Paladin, identified as Carthas, went to seal the body of Mephisto's host, as it was tainted by the demon's corruption, and was infecting its surroundings. He was eventually corrupted, and killed by a group of hero(es). The Amazon, identified as Cassia, returned to Skovos and became the war-matron. It has been speculated by the game's developers that the rest of the heroes also passed their skills on to the next generation. As of December 2013, Blizzard Entertainment was looking into the possibility of exploring the Diablo II classes in further short stories.^[9]

Natalya was retroactively confirmed to be the canonical Assassin character in a 2021 tweet.^[10]

Development

This page contains obsolete content This article contains information that is no longer relevant to gameplay.

The idea of five classes was hammered out over several months.^[11] During development of the game, it was originally intended that the classes be archetypes^[7] (albeit with slight differences from standard RPG classes)^[12] that boiled down to the roles of fighter, rogue, and spell caster, based on a sub-class principle. The rogue would branch out into sisters of the Sightless Eye order and hunters/rangers. The fighter would branch into a templar/paladin or berserker, and the spell caster into the sorceress or necromancer. Blizzard North decided against the idea because multiple genders would mean animating a total of 10 models, that, combined with the game's component system, would make the task too large to undertake.^[7] The game's skill trees were effectively a way to formalize class pathways/builds, and make it easier for players to specialize their character. Development of the classes was carried out on the fly;balance concerns were addressed at the end of development.^[12]

The Cleric was intended to be implemented in the game's second expansion.^[13]

As part of the development for the Necromancer of Diablo III, Team 3 looked at the classes of Diablo II, paying special attention to the parts of classes that might not have been as fleshed out thematically as they could have been.^[14]

Diablo Immortal

In Diablo Immortal, the classes' appearances can be customized to an extent;^[15] each class can choose their gender, and has access to the following options:

• Face (four options)
• Skin tone
• Hairstyle
• Hair color
• Forehead
• Eye makeup

After choosing the class's appearance, players can customize their class through Yaira, an NPC located in Westmarch.

The following classes are currently playable:

• Barbarian — A savage wanderer. Survivors of the disaster that struck Mount Arreat, Barbarians use brutal attacks to crush any opposition.
• Blood Knight — A monstrous protector. Cursed vampiric powers flow through a Blood Knight as they devour the lifeblood of their foes and keep them at bay with knightly polearms.
• Crusader — A wrathful zealot. Armed with their faith, Crusaders vanquish evil wherever they go, dominating the battlefield through sheer purpose.
• Druid - Primal guardians who transform into beasts, call fierce ammal companions, and summon nature's fury.
• Demon Hunter — A vengeful stalker. Relentless vigilantes that assault from afar, Demon Hunters strike undeterred until their prey is at their mercy.
• Monk — A master of martial arts. Lightning-fast strikes that pummel enemies with a dizzying array of blows and mobility are the Monk's specialty.
• Necromancer — A manipulator of life and death. The Priests of Rathma use their powers over life and death to preserve balance in Sanctuary.
• Tempest — A master of wind and wave. Tempests channel the rage of the storm from their twin blades and carve through foes with the speed of a hurricane.
• Wizard — A living conduit of Arcane Power. Wizards manipulate arcane forces to strike from a distance, disintegrating their enemies to oblivion.

Previous Rosters

Beta

Release

Blood Knight

Tempest

Druid

Classes have been added to the game post-launch.^[16] The Blood Knight was the first class introduced to the game post-launch in July 2023.^[17] A second class, the Tempest, was added in 2024.^[18] A third class, the Druid, was added in July, 2025.^[19] A fourth class, the Warlock, was revealed in February, 2026.^[20]

Other possibilities include the Assassin and Witch Doctor.^[21]

Both genders can be chosen for each class.

Class Change

Diablo Immortal features a class change feature. This is available through the Shifting Flames brazier in Westmarch. The system features the following:

• Becomes available from level 35.
• A player may change class once every 24 hours, and at no cost. There is a one-time option to immediately revert to the previous class, skipping the waiting period.
• When changing to each class for the first time, players may set the appearance of their character and receive a full reset of their Paragon tree.
• Upon changing to each class for the first time, the player will be granted placeholder gear. The placeholder gear will have an equivalent rank to the previously equipped gear of the player's last class.
• All Clan, Warband and other social group affiliations will carry over.
• Some class-specific cosmetics and gear will not carry over when changing classes. All gear equipped to the previous class will be available in the player's inventory. Any cosmetics owned for a class will be retained on that class and will be available upon changing back to it.^[22]
• Specific legendary properties will not transfer.^[23]

Lore

The player character of Immortal has been referred to in the singular, albeit allying with "other mortal champions."^[24] Comments from Lieutenant Dunn establish that many adventurers are active during the time frame of the game, though aren't aligned with the main hero(es). As the storyline progresses, the player character is referred to as "the Shard-seeker," in reference to them carrying Worldstone shards (or often, seeking them out from foes). The additional classes are implied to have joined the group along the way.

Development

When choosing the game's classes, the classes of Diablo II & III were looked at. Six were chosen from Diablo III as it was felt that they represented the franchise "very well."^[25] When designing a class, cohesive design and narrative are carried out before developing artwork.^[26]

History

Class change was introduced in the July 20, 2022 update.

The replacement of gear with equivalent gear for the new class was added in the July 13, 2023 update.

Originally, the waiting period between class changes was 7 days. This was shortened to 24 hours in the August 9, 2023 update.

Since the April 10, 2024 update, class change also updates any magic affixes on Legendary Items that affect specific skills.

In the May 23, 2024 update, the unlock condition of class change was changed from hitting level 35 to reaching Westmarch.

Diablo III

When Diablo III was initially released, it had five unique classes—like its predecessor. All five classes can be played as male or female characters.

• Barbarian - Brute force makes a successful return, the Barbarian devastates foes with mighty power.
• Demon Hunter - A stealthy warrior, specializes in crossbows and launching explosives with a focus mainly on ranged combat.
• Monk - A religious warrior of the light, they are masters of the martial arts and speed.
• Witch Doctor - Deemed the successor of the Necromancer. The Witch Doctor uses death, disease, curses and undead minions to swarm his would be opponents and drain their health and inflict impeding statuses on them.
• Wizard - Manipulating the primal forces of the storm, arcane and even time itself, the Wizard is not afraid to destroy all in the path to victory. Successor of the Sorceress and Sorcerer.

Expansion Classes

• Crusader - A middle-ranged melee class with a combat style centered around shields, flails, and spells (introduced in Reaper of Souls).
• Necromancer - A re-imagining of the class from Diablo II, available with the Rise of the Necromancer pack.

Joke Classes

• Archivist - A fake class that was a 2009 April Fool's joke by Blizzard but makes an appearance as a unique monster in the full game.
• Necruid - A joke "leaked" class, a 2014 April Fool's joke, rumored to appear in the second expansion, a hybrid of Necromancer and Druid. Ironically, the Witch Doctor became that hybrid, fulfilling the same role in game.

Lore

The hero(es) of Diablo III is/are referred to as "the Nephalem". Details such as gender and class have been left ambiguous,^[1][27] though various characters are canonical representations of the game's playable classes in a narrative sense.

Development

This page contains obsolete content This article contains information that is no longer relevant to gameplay.

Blizzard North's version of Diablo III had at least three playable classes—the Crusader, the Ranger, and the Warlock.^[28] The Crusader made it into Blizzard South's version of the game, and the Ranger provided part of the inspiration for the Demon Hunter. However, no Warlock or Warlock equivalent appeared in the final product.^[29]

For Blizzard Entertainment's version of Diablo III, the designers intended that each class correspond to a classical fantasy archetype.^[30] Each class took a year to finish.^[31]

Blizzard wanted to do new classes as much as possible, or at least, do new twists on former archtypes. The Barbarian was the first class developed, and served as the baseline against which all future classes would be compared.^[32] Class skills and sets were designed before their lore, thus deciding which classes were added to the game was primarily a gameplay-based choice.^[33] The class design intended that there be 3-5 iconic skills for each class.^[34] Angels will not be playable classes in the game due to them not being nephalem.^[35] It was decided that the classes be actual individuals with backstories, whereas the previous games had depicted archetypes rather than actual characters.^[36]

During development, it was originally intended that the Barbarian be the same individual as the one from Diablo II.^[37] This led to issues in the game in that things had to be explained differently to the other characters (newcomers) as opposed to an experienced character.^[38] It was later decided that the Diablo III heroes should be unique to the game itself, and thus the characters were made separate.^[37]

The Amazon and Druid were considered for inclusion in the game per the 'hero pack' model, but were passed over in favor of the Necromancer.^[39]

Diablo IV

Like the previous installments, Diablo IV launched with five classes:

• Barbarian - Brutal and resourceful, these warriors are always prepared with an arsenal fit for any situation.
• Necromancer - Custodians of balance, they will do anything to keep life and death in order.
• Sorcerer - Masters of the Elements.
• Rogue - Both agile and resourceful, Rogues use whatever tools available to get the job done.
• Druid - Whether through the use of earth magic or by transforming into a Werebear, druids harness the power of nature to protect life.

The Blood Knight from Diablo Immortal will not be implemented as a class.^[40]

Expansion Classes

• Spiritborn - Apex predator of the jungle, battle-hardened with mystical synergies that could only be awakened deep within the jungles of Nahantu.
• Paladin
• Warlock

Lore

The player character of Diablo IV is "The Wanderer." Within the story, the Wanderer is always referred to in the singular. However, it has been implied that canonically, all the classes are working together, and that the characters are newcomers.^[41]

Customization

Players can choose a pre-set character design,^[42] or can customize the appearance of their character.^[43] There are over 8 trillion appearance combinations..^[44]

Customizable elements include the following:

• Gender^[45]
• Eyes^[46]
• Face^[46]
• Hairstyle^[46]
• Facial hair (beards, eyebrows)^[46]
• Jewelry^[46] (includes earrings and nose rings)^[42]
• Makeup^[46]
• Body markings (e.g. tattoos, body paint)^[46]
• Name

The color of the character's skin, eyes, hair/facial hair, and body markings can be adjusted. Some elements will be class specific, to support the classes’ unique backgrounds.^[46] For instance, each class has a unique hairstyle available to them.^[47] However, many customization elements will be shared between classes allowing more possibilities to mix and match.^[46] Despite the customization, the silouettes of the characters remains constant. For instance, a player can't create a skinny Barbarian, or a muscular Sorcerer. This extends to armor pieces; classes can use the same armor, but the armor's appearance will always correspond to the class, not the other way round.^[42]

References