Paladin is finally playable in Diablo 4, and after a weekend with the ARPG’s newest class, it’s clear the holy-magic wielding warrior is a force to be reckoned with and more than just a copycat of its Diablo 2 counterpart, even if I personally wished it leaned into its namesake a little more.
After two and a half years of waiting, Blizzard shadowdropped Paladin for Diablo 4 during a reveal for the game’s new Lord of Hatred expansion at The Game Awards. Preordering the expansion grants early access to the Paladin, with the full expansion also set to add a second, still unannounced class.
Diablo 4’s Paladin is a fascinating mix of old and new. While the class bears the Paladin name from Diablo 2, it arguably shares just as much, if not more, in common with the Crusader from Diablo 3, with a number of similar abilities and over-the-top holy magic. Taken all together, the Diablo 4 Paladin is a new concotion combining two different flavors of light-slinging, with a splash of originality tossed in for good measusre.
Though I would have loved it if the class embraced its Diablo 2 inspirations a bit more, but there is still plenty here to enjoy for old-school Paladin fans. You can, of course, make a Hammerdin, warping around the battlefield and wiping out packs of demons with dozens of swirling hammers. Zeal is back as well, as are powerful auras, a defining feature of the class from Diablo 2. There are four main ways to build the Paladin in Diablo 4, each represented by the class’s unique Oaths mechanic.
- The Zealot Oath focuses on unrelenting offense based around the iconic Zeal ability from Diablo 2, encouraging players to stack attack speed and crit chance.
- For those looking to stand their ground and become a fortress unto themselves, the Juggernaut Oath allows for a tank playstyle that focuses on shield-based abilities and overwhelming defense.
- The flashiest of the bunch, the Judicator Oath revolves around huge area-of-effect holy damage, applying Judgement to enemies and detonating those marks to huge effect.
- Last but not least, the Disciple Oath sees players temporarily transform into an angelic Arbiter, granting special buffs and dealing damage to nearby enemies. Those who choose this oath will seek to stay in Arbiter form for as long as possible to take advantage of its various buffs and enhanced mobility.
I’m sure there will be creative builds that combine a number of different skills and philosophies that don’t strictly fit into one of the four playstyles above, but that’s a general overview of the class. Like I said before, I wished the Paladin had a little more Diablo 2-flavor. Many of its abilities, particularly its various shield-based abilities like Shield Charge, Blessed Shield, Shield Bash, as well as skills like Condemn and Consecration, are all straight from Crusader.
In many ways, Diablo 4’s Paladin feels like two classes in one. For those who wish to relive the days of Diablo 2, the Zealot Oath and abilities like Fanaticism Aura and Zeal feel like the most direct throughline between the two games. The Judicator playstyle also brings in some Diablo 2 flavor with Blessed Hammers and its Holy Light aura (which can be converted into fire damage with a new Unique item, essentially turning it into Diablo 2’s Holy Fire aura).
The other two Oath playstyles, however, are more Crusader-coded. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Crusader itself shares a significant amount of Paladin DNA. In Diablo 4, the shield-focused Juggernaut Oath, as well as some of the class’ more over-the-top holy abilities, feel the most like Crusader.
Disciple skills are in some ways the odd-ones-out. While some Disciple skills are taken directly from Diablo 3, like Condemn and Falling Star (very similar to the Crusader’s Falling Sword), the class’ Arbiter transformation is functionally fairly different from its closest Crusader comparison, Akarat’s Champion. Of the four playstyles, the Disciple Oath is the one that feels the most original to this particular version of sword-and-board-wielding holy knight, even if it does feature a number of abilities directly inspired by Crusader.
Regardless of which playstyle you go with, you can rest assured that Diablo 4’s Paladin does kick some serious ass. Its synergies are easy to understand and take advantage of, and that more straightforward nature (especially compared to the more complicated previous new class, Spiritborn) makes Paladin a great class for those diving into Diablo 4 for the first time or returning after a long hiatus. Every ability looks and feels powerful, and Blizzard has done a fantastic job delivering on that holy-knight-in-shining-armor fantasy that was so desperately missing from Diablo 4 up until this point.
Diablo 4’s second expansion, Lord of Hatred, releases April 28. We recently sat down with Blizzard to learn more about how Lord of Hatred will bring back fan-favorite characters like Lorath and everyone’s favorite “hot mom”(aka Lilith), as well as what players can expect from the expansion’s new region of Skovos. Lord of Hatred will be the first time a Diablo game has ever received two expansions, and Blizzard looks to be celebrating with a second, still-to-be-revealed class. Alongside new classes, the expansion will rework skill trees for all of the game’s classes, introduce a loot filter, overhaul its endgame, and bring back the franchise’s iconic Horadric Cube.