Diablo 2 getting DLC 25 years after the fact is not something I was expecting any time soon. More interestingly was the class they decided to add; the Warlock. While I haven't played it myself (given that Blizzard has lost basically all good will), I think the general design of the class is interesting as it really does attempt to fit into an archetype not present in base Diablo 2. But how true is that, really? This got me thinking about "Classes" in games, the fantasies of playing these characters, and the "spread" of fantasy archetypes and fiction each class can possibly represent.
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Diablo 2 LOD is already pretty hard to beat in a full spread of all classic fantasy archetypes. Not just from the base classes; but with their expansive possibilities within their skill trees. The Barbarian is probably one of the least "open" of all the archetypes, but does a good job representing the classic barbarian. Notably absent from the lineup is the standard fantasy fighter; which is kinda soaked up by Barb, Paladin (who covers the heavily armored Knight archetype), and Amazon. Amazons are probably stretched the most thin; trying to cover the dex fighter, archer, gladiator, and "lancer" type characters. The Assassin kinda covers the Rogue archetype, as well as Monk with martial arts, and even crosses into Artificer a bit with the traps; but that's more of a support or setting feature with its focus on finding magical gear and the Hoardric cube kinda making everyone the "magic crafter artifact hunting" guy.
As for magic; Sorcerer covers the basic blaster and elementalist Mage, the Druid is just a druid but does a good job of covering the beastmaster hunter type, nature magic, and shapeshifting types all in one. Necro is interesting is as he covers the classic Necromancer with minions fantasy (rare before this game in my memory; and not outdone often since!) but also has curses, poison, cold, and "bone" magic making a nice witch-like kind of archetype to go with it. My own extremely small nitpick? I thought it was interesting has Diablo 3 kind of intentionally got rid of the Necro in exchange for a more flavorful and specific Witch Doctor "voodoo shaman" type archetype; still having the minion summoning, curses, and offensive magic especially playing with corpses. Then they went and added Necro to Diablo 3 anyway as DLC for nostalgia bucks. Oh well.
While somewhat broad, this spread of classes is really solid. It covers pretty much all of the fantasy archetypes you could want in a game or world to explore; while a few obvious omissions exist like the classic arcane magic Wizard, that's folded into some other archetypes (Sorceress, Paladin) and no we aren't saying the Sorc represents a Sorcerer and Wizard is distinctly different; I hate that shit. As said above, it also is missing a bit of the classic fantasy sneak-thief Rogue type, but is mostly covered by Amazon and Assassin.
Naturally in a game like Diablo; a demonologist is a bit of a dark class and not usually something you'd think of as being playable. I distinctly remember thinking how mature and dark Diablo 2 was letting you PLAY a Necro in the first place, always feeling a sort of rebellious glee playing on instead of the more noble Paladin or other classes. However; the Warlock's skill trees do fill a sort of role the other classes don't. The more "occult" and arcane magic caster compared to the elemental Sorc, the conjuration/summoner archetype independent of necromancy or beast summoning, AND it covers the "melee fighter using magic to enhance their attacks" bit you see in high fantasy from time to time. Battlemages or the Pathfinger Magus is an interesting though niche archetype not really present in Diablo 2; minus Enchant on Sorc and maybe Amazon or Paladin with their buffs, but that's a bit different then a guy levitating a sword. Interestingly; the blasting magic is still more fire or poison related; not non-elemental just "magic" damage, which is think is one of the few archetypes still not well served by a single class but instead splashed around in a spattering of all the classes.
But speaking of which; I had the thought to include a bunch of fantasy archetypes and classes and wanted to see what's missing from Diablo 2. I'm sure there's ten thousand pages on all the possible fantasy archetypes you could do; I'm just gonna go with my gut for this one and try to hit the high notes and say if I'd add them or not to D2R as some kind of armchair setting-agnostic game designer. If they want to make Diablo 2 a updated live service "forever game" then here are some possible additions.
Classes already in Diablo franchise;
Witch-Doctor- Gonna be a "no" from me. As above, already overlaps strongly with the Necromancer, now even moreso with the Warlock inclusion covering both ends of the dark magic spectrum.
Demon Hunter- I'm honestly surprised this wasn't the new class added to D2R if they were going to add anything. I'm not familiar with how they work really; but I know they're a sort of Van Helsing monster-hunter type character. Depending on the implementation and skill trees; this could be a big yes from me and probably the thematically strongest class you could add that doesn't step on the others too much. Closest parallels are Amazon (which you could honestly sidestep a lot by just making the Witch Hunter a male), Paladin (who is more holy magic then monster hunter with silver bullets and witcher sword-oils), and Barb as a generalist non-magic fighter. I'd actually really like this class but if they go with the "default" look being the two crossbows thing it might be a little bit too "Renaissancey" and steampunky for Diablo 2. Mostly I think another kinda-sorta Ranger themed class with a bunch of monster hunting skills, maybe powerful single target marks/curses and some alchemy & traps as a support tree would be a good fit that doesn't overlap with the other classes too much.
Monk- Gonna be a "no" again, once again, overlaps with Assassin. I want to quickly note that there's a tradeoff here thematically: Diablo 2 especially gives me a sort of medieval fantasy D&D-esque vibe that the newer games lack, but it's also a very multicultural sort of "globe trotting" type of game; where you go to the desert where all the paladin holy knight brown people are from, and you have the Asian-esque Assassin ladies. It's not unthinkable to imagining a Wushu monk chi fighter type; but at the same time including it takes away somewhat from the sort of sword and sorcery kind of vibe. Also I think Diablo especially (ARPG hack & slash loot grinding gmae) doesn't gel with an unarmed combat master type. You either have to give them fist weapons or have some alternate forms of advancement to make the gearing meaningful and interesting; which is something the Assassin already solves. Hence, a No.
Rogue- Diablo 4 and 1 both had one, just D2 skipped it. This one I'm more on the fence about. I said above we really don't have one in the game that's covered by the other classes; but it's also thematically weaker then the classes that pick up its slack (Assassin, Amazon, maybe Witch-Hunter if that gets added in our hypothetical example) so I'll give a cautious maybe.
Crusader/Wizard- Gonna be a no, just different names for already present classes in D2.
Blood Knight/Tempest- As much as I want to just totally ignore and write off the Diablo Immortal classes; Blood Knight is extremely thematically cool, but too similar to its opposite (Paladin) and Necro in my opinion; and especially overlapped now with the Warlock. Very close to a good class though. I don't even know what a "Tempest" is and I don't care.
Spiritborn- Lol no. Even if it was retyped as a Shaman; it's thematically too similar to a Druid just in aesthetics to make the cut. If it's too weapon and combat focused, then it's a lot like a Barb, and too occult then it's too much like a Witch-Doctor and overlaps the Necromancer and/or Druid again. Even Amazon could cover this class if you focus more on the gifted natural huntress/dex warrior type of thing. Pass on this one.
Now, let's talk about possible archetypes missing from Diablo 2.
Ranger- Bit of a rough start. Rangers I think are really thematically cool; especially given the possibility of an animal companion summon which they can only get one of but keep throughout their journey; perhaps a bit like an Iron golem (but they enslave a beast? the same way a warlock enslaves a demon?) and once again we lack a lot of bow-focused classes imho. But the problem is the Amazon. The Amazon really thematically overlaps with the Ranger in most ways; the huntress, a little magical but not really, and a dex-based fighter kind of look. The only thing missing is the animal companion which is an unfortunate sacrifice, but it'll be a no from me.
Scout/Hunter/Archer/Elf etc.- I'm adding this here to not make the Ranger paragraph too long. Basically Rangers are weird; you have the sort of archetype of Aragon (with his cloak up only), a bit of nature magic, a bit of the WoW Hunter, and the animal thing. These archetypes I feel are too similar to the Amazon once again, it's just a gendered version of these. I do think adding an Elf & Dwarf class like we're playing OD&D after 25 years of Diablo's worldbuilding would be extremely funny however.
Witch- I really like a good witch. PoE's Witch is a decent enough version of this type of class, but kinda only works in that game's schema with its three pure/three hybrid stat system. The problem is the overlap with Necromancer (curses & dark magic), Warlock (even more dark magic) and Sorceress (for all other kinds of magic). Even trying to got the more Satanic Wicker-Man type magic user now you start stepping on the Druid. It's also harder to squeeze given its gendered name; if Diablo 2's Sorc was a generic male fantasy Wizard, I think you could maybe stomach this, but as its stands it just has too much overlap unfortunately.
Rogue/Thief/Acrobat- Same issues as the Rogue labelled above. Really thematically cool, and kinda missing from the D2 Roster, but we have overlap with the Amazon, the Assassin, and the Demon Hunter/Witch Hunter if we decide to add that too. Keep it as an easter-egg continuation of one of the Diablo 1 classes fallen from heroism, one of the legendary "proto-classes", but not one of this game's slightly more flavorful but not too culturally specific so it has wide appeal sort of archetypes.
Artificer/Gunslinger- As stated above; Artificer is an in-between and possible support class that kinda falls flat when it comes to this setting. Given everyone uses and has magic items, everyone sockets their own runes and makes their own potions and the like, and the Horadric cube is a thing, this class kinda isn't as thematically interesting. While you could justify this class having any role or using any spell with magitech; I think it doesn't fit well with Diablo's gothic fantasy artstyle and vibe. While it doesn't overlap with any other classes in a bad way other then maybe Sorceress (high fantasy wizard) and Warlock (dark occult wizard); I don't like this here for personal taste and we have a better one just below. Assassin traps are about as far as we should go down the magitech line, so no steampunk or magic guns either.
Alchemist- This is one of the big ones. Alchemist is a hugely thematic class that doesn't fit any of the other archetypes. If the Warlock wasn't in Diablo 2 now as the arcane/occult magic user; I would say it's even stronger as a sort of general "magic" class that doesn't rely on Elemental magic, dark magic, or nature magic; even more thematically unique if Trap-Assassin didn't exist. The only issue with this class, the large amount of potions present in the game already as standard healing and plot-relevant items; could easily be smoothed over by simply naming these types of potions as something else. The Alchemist just makes short term "concoctions" and "tonics" instead of regular "Potions" anyone can pick up and use and make in the Horadric cube. You even have some possibility for group wide buffs NOT from a Paladin's aura here, which I think would be extremely cool as a secondary sort of "support" class. If Necro didn't have golems they would also be a shoe-in for a summon tree here too; Iron Golem is like a perfect Alchemist theme'd summon. Otherwise I think a class who maybe has a meta element (like consuming gems or runes for powerful temporary buffs) would be unique, and can specialize in those otherwise useless throwing potions people use in Act 1 normal before they have a build that does anything would also be cool.
Adventurer/Grave Robber- This is where we're getting really close to something viable. A sort of low to non-magical fighting generic "adventuring" jack of all trades class, but not as thematically potent or specific as the Amazon. Lacks setting-specific elements so can kinda insert your own ideas and personality into the fantasy, but has wide enough gameplay implications to be made into a whole class. It's just ever-so slightly beaten out by a slightly more thematic barb (being the "Fighter" version), and our ever-reliable Amazon. We also have a slight bit of a disadvantage making this class unique given Diablo 2 kinda already relegated the role of a scrappy resourceful class that "finds extra items" to the Barbarians scavenging abilities (find potion, find item, etc.) so we kinda have to surrender this one. But we're getting close.
Bard/Jester- Now THIS is a new archetype. Follows the sort of dex fighter/rogueish thing we don't have much of in Diablo 2, but with a magical twist. Similar to our alchemist idea above; could be an interesting secondary support class to expand that role from the Paladin. Musical spells that grant short term but strong buffs are interesting, though essentially the same thing as battle cries. Maybe they could have an instrument off-hand weapon that appears on their back. Character wise I think this would be really cool but am in two minds about it. On the one hand; a good aligned, happy-go-lucky wise cracking bard type would be really unique for Diablo 2 as most of the characters there are really serious and dour. The whole setting has a dark fantasy/gothic sort of tone, so you'd have to use the bard's humor or whimsy sparingly. On the flip side, theming this more as a slightly crazy quiet masked Jester type is almost exactly in line for Diablo's setting; but this starts to creep into the Assassin's zone if you focus too much on the illusions, stealthy assassination, or lethal attacker type archetypes. Bards do have some overlap with the other classes mechanically; specifically Paladin & Barb for support, Amazon for general weapons or ranged/dexterity focus, and Assassin for some possible skill inspiration, but I think a generalist "adventurer" type class flavored as a bard could really pop. I'd give it a unique class identity by giving him a town portal & identify spell you can get early on, meaning you can clear up inventory space for charms which I think thematically fits for a Bard. However one issue you have with these types of classes is without an obvious source of minions to summon to support, supportive or aura builds seem kind of pointless outside of multiplayer. As a fix and another unique class feature; maybe let this be the class that can have two mercenaries instead of one. I know that's a huge change that probably wouldn't fly given everything else, but given Diablo 2 being a bit more "oldschool" in game design and experimental, allowing these things to put forth the class fantasy, I think it'd be a really interesting gimmick to try and design around as essentially being the most charismatic and "personal" summoner class; the summoner just getting two hirelings instead of one.
Cleric/Priest/Oracle- Don't write this one off immediately. While it's easy to say "yeah that's a Paladin" there is a few small differences between them that could be interesting. More caster focused maybe even with holy minions; but now we get into the inherent issues with Diablo's worldbuilding and tone where being able to summon Angels who always seemed to be the most powerful, coolest, and untouchable NPCs would likely ruin their mystique a bit. Plus Paladin does most of the supportive roles that a Cleric could have; but a White Mage type holy magic or spiritual healer does have some potential; it just overlaps a little bit too much with the Paladin, Druid, and other classes. Diablo does kinda let you play classes as multiple archetypes on a spectrum; so your Paladin can be more of a Cleric wizard/fighter hybrid with magic or pure fighting prowess. If we have the Bard idea included above, then this one is surely dead in the water as all its possible outlets are covered.
Wizard/Magus/Battlemage/Illusionist/Enchanter- Covered by Sorceresses, Paladin, Amazon to an extent, and Bard if we include it. I would say there is a small potential here before; but once again with the inclusion of the Warlock, we kinda have our battle magic caster. Most dark wizard types besides Necromancer we already have covered well. Specifically for illusionists; while enchanting/mind controlling magic in this regard is somewhat unique, it's a bit too limited for a full class with multiple skill trees and once again overtaken by Sorceress and Warlock (and Bard). Magic archer is also straight out with Amazon.
Ronin/Samurai/Duelist- Unfortunately overlapped too much; at least in gameplay. While a serious katana wielding fighter from a far away land is kinda open in this class setup; it's gameplay of highly mobile dex fighter is covered by Amazon and the eastern influence is covered by Assassin. Barb covers the more traditional Fighter role. This one is unfortunate because be kinda don't have a light sword wielding archetype; besides Paladin with shield. Obviously multiple classes can use swords, but it's more sword & shield with European style longswords less katanas parrying and slashing through enemies with precision. We're going to have to just leave this archetype behind imo
Knight/Juggernaut/Pure Tank- Regrettably, a heavy armored warrior is already covered both Paladin & Barbarian in both directions. It's pure fighter again; but this time its more of an artstyle thing. One of my favorite things about classic Diablo 2 in this regard is how it did the graphics for classes as you equipped heavier and heavier armor. So a Sorceress remains kinda sleek and magical-y despite wearing super heavy plate mail. This is also because of the game's own individual eccentricities; with so many pieces of equipment not being class locked means you really can just use swords or the best armor on any character you want, even characters usually locked behind class restrictions. As such, this archetype is more of an aesthetic one and not belonging as a class.
Abomination/Beast/Monster Race Class- Another regrettable one; the possibility behind a "good" demon being playable is interesting but I think would sabotage the overall vibe of human heroes overcoming the forces of Hell which is so core to Diablo's theme. Plus the gameplay of raging warrior is covered by Barbarian, the Druid's shapeshifting form, and thematically by Necro & Warlock being the "bad guys fighting for good". I do think if we included the Alchemist in the above example I'd wanna give them a "turn into a Gargantuan" shapeshifting form like a Druid; not only gives some fun possible class overlap but thematically hits the beat of inhuman monster that's not an animal. I also really like Gargantuans as they are one of Diablo's "weird" monsters, like Quill rats, that are very memorable and setting specific. So this one gets a pass too, with some caveats.
With the Rise of the Warlock DLC, there is an opportunity for Diablo 2 to get more classes and possibly cover all the big and popular fantasy class archetypes missing from its lineup. But how many of these archetypes are actually missing? Only a few; and even those are nitpicks. Still, I think in a perfect world, we'd only get a few more that are thematically very distinct from the others, and preferably keeping the number odd so the Barbarian can stay in the middle right above the campfire. It's tradition at this point.
So my dream classes added to D2R in the future? Just the Warlock and then the Bard. These would be the strongest ideals that don't overlap with the class-fantasy of the existing classes too much while being distinct and having the most gameplay opportunities and make the classes a nice solid 9 as an odd number. If we absolutely had to make it ten, throw on the Alchemist. Any more then that and we've gone too far and will start to dilute the other classes too much. This is just my opinion, and who knows what Blizzard will do. My only prediction is they will continue to charge 25 dollars for each lmao
