Character classes
[edit]
The Barbarian, Sorcerer, and Druid classes in the game's demo
Six classes have been announced. The Barbarian, Sorcerer, and Druid were
announced at BlizzCon 2019,[17] while a fourth, the Rogue, was announced at BlizzCon
2021. A fifth class, the Necromancer, was announced in 2022. A sixth class, the
Spiritborn, comes with the expansion pack, Vessel of Hatred, which was released in
2024.
The Barbarian, which appears in Diablo II and Diablo III, has the ability to switch between
weapons while in combat.
The Sorcerer, returning from the first game and Diablo II, is an elemental mage-type
character wielding fire, ice, and lightning magic.
The Druid, returning from Diablo II, can shapeshift between human, werewolf, and werebear
forms, and possesses earthen and storm magic.
The Rogue, returning from the first game, is a quick-moving combatant that alternates
between bladed melee or ranged combat with a bow.
The Necromancer, returning from Diablo II and Diablo III, utilizes dark magic for summoning
and attacks.[18]
The Spiritborn, an entirely new class, calls upon the unique strengths of four spirit guardians
(the centipede, eagle, gorilla, and jaguar).
Character appearance is customizable rather than being tied to a class. These include
choosing a character portrait and the skin color of their character.[19] Mount appearances
can also be customized.[19] Skill trees exist, allowing for ability customization.[20]
Environment
[edit]
Players are able to traverse through six regions within the Diablo series' world of
Sanctuary.[21]
The Fractured Peaks are snowy mountains that have deep cave systems.[20]
Scosglen is a forested coastal area, home to druids, werewolves, and drowned-type
enemies.[20]
The Dry Steppes consist of withered plains so harsh that the inhabitants have turned to
cannibalism.[6]
Kehjistan is a war-ravaged desert wasteland containing the ruins of a once-prosperous
civilization.[20]
Hawezar is home to witches, and has a swamp-type setting.[22]
Nahantu encompasses verdant jungles teeming with dangerous wildlife.
Hell is also a playable area.[23] Procedurally generated dungeons are included, and
consist of random layouts of interior and exterior environments.[21] Dungeons are
separately instanced, therefore non-party players will not appear.[24] Sanctuary is a fixed
area, therefore it does not have the procedurally-generated maps seen in the game's
dungeon.[22][better source needed]
The game world is an open world setting; traveling between different regions or
dungeons has no loading screens.[25] Additionally, each region can be completed in any
order as decided by the player. In order to support these new changes, enemies are
scaled to the player (or the party leader in multiplayer) and the story is non-linear.
[26]
Hardcore mode is present in the game.[27] Select areas within each region have player
interactions restricted until sufficient milestones in the story are reached, and such
progress will be synced to that of the party leader.[26] Over-world areas have non-party
player interactions such as PVP, and boss events that passing players can join.[28]
[29]
Player population in the world will shift depending on the area. Large settlements will
display large populations, and to enforce a sense of desolation, more wild zones will
change the number of players shown to others.[21]
When questioned about Diablo IV's atmosphere, ex-game director Luis Barriga stated:
"We want users to feel like they're in a medieval city."[30] For the first time in the series,
all assets are standard 3D game assets and terrain has elevation. This allows for in-
game cinematics, and environment interaction.[31]
