The Diablo franchise is legendary in many respects - but its latest installment (Diablo 3) has left a lot to be desired and, in earnest, has made a lot of people fall out of love with the franchise. Not to mention, more modern games are also vying for the top spot as the ultimate asymmetric action roleplaying game which has made the Diablo team’s decisions regarding the modern iteration of the franchise seem even more ludicrous and out-of-touch. However, if you are interested in trying out the new free entry in the franchise, you can pre-register for the release on your iOS / Android device (or even PC) on Blizzard’s website. 

The clumsy start for Diablo’s biggest game yet - “Do you guys not have phones?”

Back in 2018 when Blizzard hit the stage to announce their newest games, including a seemingly “huge reveal” from the Diablo team. Fans were stoked, to say the least, however, they were in for a disappointing Blizzcon reveal. The developers hit the stage and announced that the next big franchise from the Diablo team would be a game developed solely for mobile devices on android and iOS systems. 

Fans were NOT happy about it - in the Q&A section of the show, a man in a red shirt came up to the microphone and asked in a dry tone: “Is this an April’s Fools joke?” followed by applause from the audience. The team responded with: “What’s wrong? Do you guys not have phones?” which became a meme of its own and helped prove to the fans that they were correct in their assumption that Blizzard were becoming increasingly detached from the player base. The general consensus from the fans seems to have made Blizzard flip the script a bit by announcing a PC port to the mobile game the other day. In the following sections we will go over what you can expect from Diablo: Immortal once it releases on June 2.

Choose your preferred class from a selection of Sanctuary’s strongest champions

Diablo: Immortal launches with six of the classes found in the third installment of the game (only lacking the iconic Witch Doctor class). We can only guess whether or not more classes are bound to come to the world of Sanctuary. But with the upcoming Diablo 4 release sometime in the future (and which features other classes such as the druid and the rogue), players might see new classes coming to the mobile universe. The six classes are the following: 

• 1) Barbarian → These savage warriors managed to survive the devastations that hit Mount Arreat, the Barbarians’ place of residence which used to hold the Worldstone before disaster struck.
• 2) Crusader → The Crusader is a fierce fighter who uses the power of holy magic to blind and smite their enemies and heal themselves and their teammates. They are zealots; devoted to their faith and the law, both of which they strive to uphold no matter what it takes. 
• 3) Demon Hunter → Demon Hunters are hunters skilled at hunting down the most terrifying prey that the Burning Hells have to offer. They lurk in the shadows and attack with crossbows after stalking their enemy. The Demon Hunters lead their lives with a mantra of no mercy and with a deep need to avenge the victims of Hell’s spawn.

• 4) Monk → Monks are masters of martial arts - they use an ethereal bond to the spiritual realm in order to overpower the enemy. They strike with an immense swiftness and can move at such high speed that one might mistake their punches as coming from multiple different individuals at the same time. 
• 5) Necromancer → The Necromancer walks the fine line between the living and the dead, being able to animate skeletons and fleshy abominations to do their bidding. These individuals are part of the cult of Rathma (also known as the Priests of Rathma); a mage clan which devotes itself to obtaining the ultimate power, even reaching into forbidden arts as long as the magic used is non-corruptive to the wielder. 
• 6) Wizard → The wizards wield arcane magics and have perfected spellslinging. Their manipulation of the natural forces of the world as well as the arcane makes them incredibly deadly. As glass cannons, these spellcasters are forces to be reckoned with, managing to both boil the flesh of their enemies, freeze the blood and hearts of those nearby or completely disintegrating and deleting any who oppose them with arcane forces. 

Old enemies rethought and remastered

Diablo: Immortal will have players face both old and iconic enemies as well as enemies that are completely new to the franchise. Two of the most portrayed creatures in trailers and other diablo-related media for the upcoming game are the Skeleton King and the Countess. 

The Skeleton King is a copy of the mad king from Diablo 3, named Leoric, who was corrupted by the Lord of Terror, Diablo himself. Leoric committed heinous crimes against humanity during his reign - and his horrific nature would only continue and evolve further in death, leading to him getting the title of the Skeleton King. 

The Countess is a vampiric force of destruction first encountered in Diablo 2 during the Forgotten Tower quest line. In Diablo: Immortal, players will be acquainted with the countess and the tragic story that led to her becoming the malignant ruler of Khanduras. Forced to grow up in complete isolation, the Countess now strives to retain her youth - and she has chosen to use ancient blood magic in order to do so. However, her use of blood magic has seemingly made her unkillable, and she has now been locked in the castle’s tower where she awaits her next (un)willing subject whom she can siphon life force from. 

Following the release of Diablo 2: Resurrected, players will also be able to meet the final boss of the second game in the mobile version, considering the iconic status of this Prime Evil: Baal.  Considering that the story in Immortal is about finding parts of the original Worldstone and putting them back together, it makes sense that the Lord of Destruction who originally corrupted the worldstone, should return as an ultimate enemy in this iteration. 

Upgrade your gear and the stats of your character

One of the most interesting elements of the upcoming Diablo game is that of visual progression in your character. Blizzard has already announced that the new game will be free to play but that it will feature a Battle Pass. The Battle Pass will be tied to the cosmetic progression of your character (after all, other modern games have been able to profit greatly from premium battle passes based solely on cosmetic rewards). 

In some of the early art for the game, the player characters can be seen wearing gear sets that reflect their current class. The gear will be able to evolve along with your character, meaning that as you play more and unlock more varieties, the starting gear can look very different from its final results. The gear can also drastically change the way your character looks as was shown with the Ghosts of Ashwold cosmetic set for necromancers. 

Whether or not this new Diablo game will be a success is something we can only ponder upon for now. However, the team’s choice to include PC crossplay instead of focusing solely on mobile devices shows that the team at least listens to the community’s feedback - but is simultaneously not a guarantee that the team will continue to comply with the players’ general desires.