I’ve created characters of every class in Diablo 4, and I’ve enjoyed them all for different reasons, like their unique abilities, Aspects, and gameplay styles. But I cannot honestly say any of them have become my “ride or die” or made me want to sell my soul to Lilith to play—that was, until today.
In the Diablo 4 dev livestream on July 6, Blizzard Entertainment revealed an entirely new class for Diablo Immortal: Blood Knight.
While this may have been the only time the devs could promote the mobile game on a stream to a large audience because, let’s face it, who really plays Diablo Immortal anymore, it wasn’t the most well-received portion of the stream. But that’s not even the worst thing about it. My biggest issue with this class announcement is that Blood Knight is totally as epic as it looks and sounds on paper.
I hate that because I want it in Diablo 4 so badly.
The Blood Knight looks versatile and fun and offers a unique gameplay style we desperately need in Diablo 4 as the launch hype begins to fade away. For the life of me, I don’t know why this isn’t a new playable class.
Blood Knight is the Blade of Diablo—and I’m here for it
If it’s not obvious, I enjoy the villain perspectives in games, anime, and comics. I mean, who doesn’t love Venom or Deadpool?
One of the big selling points of Diablo is its gameplay, customization, and lore, which is gritty, dark and shows the reality that not everything is as black and white as it seems. It dishes up villains like Lilith who really do have a reason for being the way they are, warts and all—and not just because they’re demons.
What I love about the Blood Knight is it’s dark and offers a unique take on vampire slaying. The Blood Knight may kill vampires, but they also have abilities and traits associated with vampires. The dark side and the light, all in one.
They can feed on enemies’ lives, entrap them with shadows, and become an unholy abomination that offers nothing but power, yet causes you to vie for control of your humanity.
This reminds me so much of Blade, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Hellsing, and I would pay good money for armor sets themed after these.
Adding Blood Knight would change Diablo 4, literally
The Blood Knight combines the best aspects of Sorcerer, Barbarian, Necromancer, and Rogue, and most likely a bit of their downsides.
This new class uses a mid-ranged weapon to fight and can switch between melee and ranged, like the Rogue. They can swirl their polearm around themselves with Whirling Strike, which is similar to the Barbarian ability, Whirlwind. And they also have a tendril ability that damages enemies, like Necromancers. To boot, the new class even boasts a strong, chain-like ability similar to the Sorcerer’s Chain Lightning.
Combining these, you have such a unique, mechanically intense character. You’ll need to switch between melee and ranged attacks and the Dark Knight certainly looks mana hungry. These cons would be interesting, as would the vast potential of its Diablo abilities—mobility, DPS, crowd-control, healing, and defense.
With an unmatched kit, hardcore lore, balance, and versatility, the Blood Knight would do much better in Diablo 4 than in handheld Immortal.
It would be the key to keeping fans by providing something we don’t have—a balance between fun and functional—and a way to kick the waning Diablo 4 meta to the curb.
Published: Jul 7, 2023 01:35 am