Poll: What classes would you like to see return in Diablo 3?

by Ross Miller { Jun 29th 2008 at 5:00AM }

Along with finally confirming Diablo 3's existence, Blizzard also revealed two of the five (or perhaps more) classes, the Witch Doctor and the Barbarian. Although we imagine any returning characters would see a massive overhaul from their previous renditions -- that's assuming the remaining three aren't entirely original -- we want to know who you'd like to see make it into the third game.

Gallery: Diablo III

(Note: All classes in the game have both male and female options, hence voting D1's sorcerer is the same as voting for D2's sorceress.)

Tags: blizzard, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Monkeydog @ Jun 29th 2008 5:06AM

aww, no love for the hidden Bard in Hellfire?

I could really care less who returns, whoever gets in is going to be fantastic.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 29th 2008 6:47AM

Bard? In Diabolo? As main character - not supporting one?

That would be interesting ;)

dark_inchworm @ Jun 29th 2008 12:54PM

You're thinking of the monk, which they did include, much to my surprise.

Ghen @ Jun 29th 2008 1:08PM

What about the bard from april fools with a guitar hero interface :P

dark_inchworm @ Jun 29th 2008 1:54PM

Wait, no... -500 for me... you're talking about those two hidden "classes" with the stat changes but unchanged aesthetics, right?

Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 2:08PM

Wow that will bring me a trip down memory lane.

Come closer mortal,I smell your terror and I hunger!

Zarim @ Jun 29th 2008 5:08AM

I remember having an assassin that would die in only two or three hits but I could run into a group of enemies, drop 10 traps, run away and come back 10 seconds later to a screen of dead bodies and loot.

Rip Tatermen @ Jun 29th 2008 5:29AM

Sandwich Artist.

Zsavior @ Jun 29th 2008 5:41AM

Never played this game before, looking to check it out when it finally drops. I heard paladins were good there, Just glad paladins were good somewhere in the blizz world. :(

Tiptup300 @ Jun 29th 2008 1:06PM

Yeah, I never got to try the Diablo series either. I figure this game will be a good start.

TehAdz @ Jun 29th 2008 5:23PM

I had never played a Diablo game before I saw all the hype Diablo III was getting, so I got Diablo II, and I have to say, it's freaking awesome.

Definatly gonna get Diablo III, pretty hyped myself now.

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 5:47AM

Too bad witch doctor already has skills pertaining to necromancer, druid, and assassin, making their comeback unlikely, or vastly altered..

Necromancer: Wall of zombie is distinctively associated with wall of bone, and with the witch doctor supposedly poison-based..

Druid: Mongul is essentially an improved summon wolf. Pestilence is an improved version of plague bite.

Assassin: Throw bomb. 100% identical.

Not to mention necromancers seems more conspired into the new story, if I correctly understood the additional info given. (Diablo II had the excuse of being more demon based, but there's just a little too much in-depth description of undeads this round.)

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 29th 2008 6:55AM

> witch doctor

Demo looked in that aspect really suspicious.

They demoed first barbarian - the most primitive class. And then threw in witch doctor which by all it look seems to be a prestige class. And above all mixed as you stated above.

And since the guys in demo were well leveled up, game looked like piece of cake. But otherwise, as with any mixed class, in real game that would be a hell of problem to accomplish anything with such prestige mixed classes.

SugarDaddy @ Jun 30th 2008 11:58AM

I think necro is out. There will probably be some kind of sorcerer with the typical magical abilities. I won't speculate on the rest though. I can see Paladin coming back and maybe the Druid. Paladin is kind of a mix sorcerer and Barbarian. Druid is mix Witch Doc and Barbarian -- loosely.

@Ihar: Barbarian character primitive? I don't think primitive is the right word there. Familiar is probably what you meant. Because as far as what people are used to, the Barbarian is that typical warrior class. Primitive though? Hardly. He's using the same types of advanced skills and crazy weaponry as everyone else. It's not like he's some dumb shit caveman clubbing bitches.

Xoviet chiK @ Jun 29th 2008 5:54AM

Definitely Assassin. Only class I've used since the LoD, before that I was privy to the Necromancer. I haven't played Hellfire (No Mac Version), so I've never played as a Monk... or seen one being played for that matter.

A lot of my friends loved the Paladin, never played a full game as one myself.

Arttemis @ Jun 29th 2008 10:19PM

I loved any melee specced Assassin class (never was fond of trapassins or hammerdins) but a Monk or Rogue could easily take their place.

I'd be very interested to see something other than a straight port of the D2 classes, especially when a stealth-based Rogue could be so interesting.

Polack @ Jun 30th 2008 2:27PM

@ Arttemis:

I think that you are mixing up the WoW Rogue with the Diablo 1 Rogue... WoW Rogue is a stealthy melee class and Diablo Rogue is an archer

Omega2k3 @ Jun 29th 2008 6:08AM

Seriously, Necromancer is the top one? You guys know that Witch Doctor is basically the same thing, right?

driven2sin @ Jun 29th 2008 10:35AM

thats the problem..necro fans always felt jilted so i think people would rather have the witch doctor be something itself and bring back the necro

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 10:50AM

Except for wall of zombies, which is the ONLY similarity showcased, there's no move taken from necromancer. (though they did mention he's supposed to be a poison caster) But part of the whole fun of necromancers is having a large army of undeads: until witch doctors get that, it's nothing like the traditional necromancer.

On a side note though, since we already know that there's only 5 starting classes (assuming the FAQ is correct), we can probably already make guesses on what are the last 3, by process of obviousness:

A) Sorcerer (or some other pure caster class): Because there should be a caster class.
B) Cleric/Paladin (or some other holy/healing class): Because healing is an obvious factor. Monk could also possibly fit in, with some adjustments.
C) Valkarye (or some other ranged class): Because there should be a ranged class. It is possibly though that they may choose to combine caster and ranged into a single class.
D) Cleric/Paladin/Warrior (or some other shield weilding class): Because someone has to be the guy which lets people whack on them without breaking a sweat. It is possible that some other class may be adjusted to be able to handle shields though.
F) Monk/Assassin (or some other single target heavy damage class): Because being able to dish out obscene damage on a singe target is fun as well. (though granted that wasn't until the expansion)
G) Bard/Paladin (or some other support class): Because auras are fun to play around with. Especially that freeze aura...

7 catagories, with some overlap, for just 3 slots... Any takers to suggest what will the final choices be?

Intentless @ Jun 29th 2008 10:59AM

If you go to blizzard.com and read the description for the witch doctor has disease based spells and summons the undead... He is the necro...

Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 2:02PM

According to my fellow Diablo fans the Necro is way much cooler than the Witch Doctor ,that's why.

The Witch doctor spells don't suit a witch doctor, they are more of necromancer spells, and probably the original design but I'm okay with it I mean it’s aspect is original.

I really like the Amazon skills, using impalement was pretty cool. The Assassin was awesome as well but the druid kind of suck.

Zertoss @ Jun 30th 2008 12:41PM

I'll be happy with the witch doctor if I can build an army of undead chickens.

Arise, chicken!

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 29th 2008 6:41AM

Most of the listed classes are "standard" to RPG. I can't imaging they would release a game without warrior or sorcerer.

On other side, monk (what I have voted) is pretty much exotic class.

Real question is: for which class the game would be tuned? Most traditional RPGs are tuned for warrior and trying game with most other classes would prove to be very tough or even impossible experience.

I have tried NWN1 two times with Monk and both times I have failed: some mages and dragons cannot be defeated by Monk. Plain and simple.

After all, it's not Fallout we are speaking here where you can avoid literally all battles and use other skills to accomplish quests...

Mr.ESC @ Jun 29th 2008 2:19PM

We have the Barbarian already; do we really need a Vanilla Warrior?

I think we need a Cleric but one that is actually fun to play like in Never winter nights that can fight as a spell caster, support more combat damage than the mage and heal depending on the situation. Healers in games like Guildwars are boring, necessary, but most of the times you will stand away from the fight watching how other people play.

Sorceress and mages are natural nukers so is ‘kay.

cjshrader @ Jun 30th 2008 10:39AM

Am I being crazy here? I got through Neverwinter Nights 1 with a monk no problem. Honestly I even felt a little overpowered, it was pretty easy.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 30th 2008 11:28AM

@cjshrader

I wonder how they you have defeated the dragons in the game. I definitely remember that I did stuck both times at same dragon: monk simply doesn't do enough damage to make any damage to him at all. Only first hit in turn when it was critical did few points of damage.

Probably with some companion one can defeat him, but monk alone isn't sufficient.

To put it is simply, monk doesn't level up in NWN1 after 12th or so level: there are simply no fitting items for him to play on same level as other npcs later in game. Warrior and other popular classes do get many boosts with different items - but definitely not monk.

Varone @ Jun 29th 2008 8:08AM

Where is the 'All of them' option?

I can't think of any class I didn't get thorough enjoyment out of. Each had their own unique strengths and weaknesses and when kitted out equally were quite balanced in both PvE and PvP.

Foetoid @ Jun 29th 2008 8:48AM

I got 0 enjoyment out of using the Assassin for sure. In LOD i have all 5 original classes at levels ranging from 75-82. The Sorceress is the biggest, only because Frozen Orb is great for clearing out mass enemies and leveling. All 5 of them have finished the game on Hell difficulty. If i had to pit them against each other, i would have to say the Sorceress would probably win, second only to the Paladin. I voted for Paladin, i had a huge amount of fun with him, tho i've had 3 different Barbarian characters. We know barbarian is back, so i voted for Paladin.

driven2sin @ Jun 29th 2008 10:37AM

noob

mitch @ Jun 29th 2008 9:54AM

I'm sure I'm not the first to mention this, but the concept art trailer shows what looks, pretty definitively, to be a female druid (at about 1:21, right before all the witch doctor art).

eldee @ Jun 29th 2008 10:15AM

Paladin, without a doubt. Although I would request they incorporate a lot of paladin-esque skills from WoW.

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 10:54AM

I sincerely hope not.... since the D2 paladin is insanely better than the WoW paladin.

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 10:55AM

I sincerely hope not.... since the D2 paladin is insanely better than the WoW paladin.

eldee @ Jun 29th 2008 12:44PM

I'm not saying 'replace the D2 paladin with the WoW paladin'.. I'm just talking about some key spells/skills that would enhance it.

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 10:48AM

Psaakyrn @ Jun 29th 2008 10:51AM

Also, reply system is broken, this was a reply to Omega2k3...

snarfoogle @ Jun 29th 2008 10:58AM

I'd love to see the Nec return but I don't think it's likely due to the necromancy the Witch Doctor is using.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 29th 2008 11:20AM

I don't care what they put in, as long as they don't then nerf it later. When they nerfed corpse explosion, I quit playing D2 multiplayer. My character was just unable to kill more than very basic monsters in a multiplayer game because the monsters health went up as more players came in and the damage dealt by corpse explosion didn't.

A 4-player game with 4 necros working together should have worked the same as one necro working alone in a 1-player game. But instead, you'd just run out of corpses before you could kill the monster you needed dead. They should have just made corpse explosion take more mana as you add players instead of (effectively) cutting down the damage. Then the 4 necros would have had to all use their mana to get the job done, instead of it being impossible to do what you need.

blkmasta @ Jun 29th 2008 11:25AM

I'd love to have a sorcerer/ess provided they get a major buff it terms of survivability. I tried playing one in D2 and died roughly every 3 minutes. Not fun.

mister_d @ Jun 29th 2008 11:32AM

Considering they've stated that there will be 5 classes, it seems likely they'll stick fairly close to Diablo II's original 5 classes. Witch Doctor seems like it will be Necromancer with hints of Druid and Assassin so I would expect the other three classes to be Paladin/Warrior, Sorcerer and Amazon/Rogue.

I'm wondering how they're going to handle the Witch Doctor & the gender variants of former classes story wise though. The cutscenes released at WWI showed that the Barbarian was one of the Diablo II heroes. Will they just pretend any new classes were also there? How will they explain any classes that don't return such as the Necromancer?
I liked how they made the player character from Diablo into the Dark Wanderer in Diablo II, so it'll be nice to see if they come up with some other interesting explanations.

flameofdoom666 @ Jun 29th 2008 12:20PM

Maybe the classes who don't make the cut- can be mercs, like in Diablo 2.

I wish every class would return, with a few new ones though..

But from the video, it seems like there is 5 skill trees- not 3.

zombienutz @ Jun 29th 2008 12:23PM

I really want to have the monk back.

Kunikos @ Jun 30th 2008 4:56PM

This is the only real answer, and not having the choice on the poll shows TEH BIAS OF JOYSTIQS

Bigfoot @ Jun 29th 2008 12:58PM

We're definitely going to see a bow user, so the Rogue/Amazon is probably definitely going to make a come back.

We need the Sorcerer class because what fantasy game is without your typical elemental nuker?

dark_inchworm @ Jun 29th 2008 1:18PM

Wait, no... -500 for me... you're talking about those two hidden "classes" with the stat changes but unchanged aesthetics, right?

dark_inchworm @ Jun 29th 2008 1:55PM

Misplaced comment is made of fail.

Todd @ Jun 29th 2008 1:22PM

If you watch the art trailer there are some boats that look suspiciously like pirate ships. That said, I think a buccaneer or pirate would be pretty sweet--maybe throw in some loot bonuses and you would have a pretty entertaining class.

Or Maybe that or a finesse fighter like a fencer/Spaniard.