'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Blizzcon has officially kicked off, and we spoke to Diablo 4’s Adam Jackson during the event. Adam is the Lead Class Designer for the most recent Action RPG from Blizzard Entertainment, and it was a pleasure to take the time to chat with him alongside many other journalists. Though our time was brief, I learned a great deal about class balance and design from an experienced game developer.
Unfortunately, I only had a few of my questions answered, but that was to be expected. We all learned a great deal about what’s to come in Diablo 4. While nobody managed to sneak out the name of the expansion’s upcoming class, we did learn that it will be something Diablo players have never seen before.
Here’s what we learned during our chat with Adam Jackson, Diablo 4’s Lead Class Designer, during Blizzcon 2023.
Diablo 4’s Adam Jackson discusses class design and bringing in familiar archetypes
The Diablo franchise has a long history of really fascinating class designs. However, each game really felt like it had its own identity when it came to the classes players pick up. Whether it’s Diablo 4 or Diablo 1, each game feels unique. One of the things I really wanted to ask Adam Jackson about was how he and his team have grown over the years.
There are plenty of lessons you can learn while developing games, especially in the ARPG space. You don’t want to do the same things over and over, but doing too many unique things can burn players out. It could also lead to either running out of ideas or making things just not feel fun. So one of the topics we broached with Adam Jackson, lead class designer of Diablo 4, is the various lessons he’s learned while working on this game:
Q. What lessons have you learned about class design and inclusion from previous games in the Diablo franchise? While Hellfire was unofficial for Diablo 1, it added fresh new classes to shake things up. At the same time, Diablo 2 saw the inclusion of lore and mechanic innovation with the Druid and Assassin. Any plans for similar additions to Diablo 4?
That’s interesting. We’ve had a lot of class learnings over the years, in D2, even D1, honestly, until now. We even revamped the Rogue from Diablo 1 for our game. It’s kind of a reimagined, a very different version - The classic, kind of updated modern take on the games. I’d say we’ve learned a lot of things, even Diablo 4. Someone mentioned just now in the chat talking about clear speed and if power is measured by speed. So one thing I think we’ve taken away in D4 is that players really want to “zoom” or go fast. They want to clear things fast, they want to move fast, they want to do things quickly.
One of the kind of key challenges there is when you’re making a class. A lot of the way that these kinds of games feel good is by having a progression of your character. When you first log in, you want the character to feel pretty good, but you also need to leave room for that character to grow and get better and cooler over time.
So we’re kind of fighting ourselves in a way - we want to make you cool right when you log in. Because if it’s not cool, you’ll just bounce off and leave. But we also can’t make it too cool because if we go too far, we don’t have any room, like a goal for you to set for yourself that’s awesome. So we’ve learned a few things about pacing, about how we deliver rewards, about how we grow the characters. One of the things we’ve mentioned going back to the Necromancer is sometimes, there’s importance about class fantasy - where every class needs to feel different from one another.
But if we go too far in that realm, for example - the Necromancer, one of our goals was to make the Necromancer feel different from the other classes, but one of the downsides is a Necromancer doesn’t get access to a ton of move speed, or teleports, because that’s the Rogue’s fantasy and a little bit of the Sorcerer with Teleport. So those classes stand out and are special because they can move really fast.
But if we don’t give the Necromancer any move speed or anything at all, they can actually go too far and feel like a slog compared to other classes. So I think we’ve learned that we need them to be different, but there are things they all need to be able to do to a certain level. If they don’t meet the minimum bar, we need to make them meet that, whether it’s move speed, clear speed, or AOE versus Single-target.
There are a lot of different ways that a class needs to function at a fundamental level. Or survivability - we ran into that with Sorcerer at launch. They weren’t able to survive as long as other classes. So I think that’s one of the lessons we learned: They need to perform at a minimum level at all of these things, or they kind of fall apart.
Even if it makes them a little bit samey, we get them to that level, and then everything else we try to make as different as possible.
The Blood Knight from Diablo Immortal fits the Season of Blood perfectly. It’s almost like the class was meant to be introduced in Diablo 4’s season 2 but wasn’t. Instead, it went to the other game. I was certainly curious about this - could the class come to the game in the future as a new addition, and has there been any discussion on bringing in Diablo Immortal classes or things like that?
While it doesn’t seem likely, Adam Jackson, Diablo 4’s Lead Class Designer, didn’t exactly shoot it down. He didn’t feel like there would be any difficulty bringing it in, but that’s not exactly the focus. There has to be a balance between doing something new and doing something familiar and fun:
Q. Diablo Immortal received a new class this year in the form of the Blood Knight. One could argue that it fits the Season 2 content particularly well. Has there been any discussion about porting that class into Diablo 4, or would it simply not work the way you want it to?
Without giving anything away in the future, we don’t want to promise things like that, but I don’t think there would be any - I personally, just me speaking for myself - I don’t see a hurdle to bringing the Blood Knight or anything new that Diablo Immortal or other Diablo games make into D4.
We’re definitely focused on making the things that fit our game, our narrative, and the world. I kind of put those into the same bucket as bringing back a D3 or D2 class that people love. We could do the same thing, or we could do something new. I think there’s a good place and time to do something different and a good place and time to bring back something people want.
It is very much a matter of, like people talking in the chat about, if we decide one thing, then that means we don’t do something else. It’s a very important and fraught decision that has no complete winning side, there. We have to choose very carefully - when is the right time to bring back something people want, and when is the right time to really challenge the norms of even the ARPG space, to push the genre forward with something new? I think our game really needs to do both to do really well.
Diablo 4’s new expansion has been revealed, Vessel of Hatred. While not much is known now other than leaks, we’ll learn more about the game in 2024. This expansion will take players to Nahantu to explore jungles and take part in a thrilling new story.
Make sure to stay tuned to Sportskeeda for all the biggest news to come out of Blizzcon 2023, whether Diablo 4 or World of Warcraft.
