Diablo 4 has a couple glaring vacancies in its class roster that it still hasn’t filled nearly a year after it was announced. Perhaps one of the most obvious missing classes that a lot of players might be waiting on is the Crusader class. In a game that’s all about slaughtering demons en masse and purging unholy monsters, classes like Paladins and Crusaders seem like shoe-ins, as the classic fantasy standard of monster slaying heroes favored with heavenly might. In the war against Lilith, a Crusader’s powers would probably go a long way. However, players shouldn’t count on it.
There’s a really significant piece of lore that makes it uncertain if there’s much hope for Crusaders in Diablo 4. While there’s as much need for them as ever, the world may be short of them. In Diablo 3, Diablo himself led a terrible assault on the High Heavens that resulted in his eventual defeat, but not before the realm of angels was ravaged and corrupted. Heaven remains in disrepair after the assault, and it may not have the strength to supply the world with mortal heroes that can do battle with demonkind. It might be up to more terrestrial or even dark heroes to put an end to Lilith’s schemes.
When Diablo was slain in Diablo 3, the Black Soulstone was left behind in heaven; that stone exerted a terrible power that threatened to corrupt it. In fact, after Diablo’s fall, the stone was used by the murderous angel Malthael as a part of his plan to exterminate humanity. Malthael slew many angels in his dark quest, a tremendous blow dealt to a Heaven that was already weak after the siege laid by Diablo’s forces. All in all, the High Heavens are in ruins right now, and they’re likely more invested in healing and rebuilding than in interfering with mortal affairs.
That means there’s a good chance that there won’t be a Crusader class in this game. It would be symbolic, in a sense — now that Heaven can’t be counted on as an ally in this war, there aren’t very many holy warriors running around. Instead it’s up to mortals who have gained skill and power by their own means to challenge these villainous forces. It’s a good piece of storytelling, but a little disappointing from a gameplay perspective. Diablo games are already short on classes that are good healers, and it’s uncertain some other class will emerge that can offer what a Crusader does in terms of magic, heavy armor, and good crowd control.
As disappointing as that is to consider, fans of the Crusader playstyle shouldn’t totally give up hope. It would be a bit of a surprise if Blizzard didn’t offer some class that would allow players to be a heavily armored super tank in the Crusader’s place. It’ll just take a little bit of creative design to come up with something new to fill its shoes. For instance, there could be a more mundane Knight class, or perhaps something in contrast to a Crusader like a Death Knight. If Crusaders have lost their connection to the Heavens of late, it would be narratively compelling to demonstrate Crusaders who have turned to dark magic to maintain the strength they need to fight evil.
If Crusaders really don’t appear for this reason, players should expect the corruption of Heaven to be of importance in the story. Considering how weak it is right now, Diablo 3 might not be the only time that demons lay siege to the plane of angels. Until Blizzard proves it, though, there’s still a little bit of hope that there’s Crusaders out there fighting for the late. There’s clearly dark times ahead in the world of Diablo, so when the world needs Crusaders most, it’s an intimidating thought that they might not be able to help.
Diablo 4 is in development.
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