
Diablo 4’s game director Luis Barriga answered this head-on in the June 2020 quarterly update saying, “We find that the game stops feeling like Diablo and the world feels less dangerous when you see other players too often or in too high numbers.The release of Diablo 4 has finally arrived, and to slightly complicate matters, there are two release dates to contend with. You can't play Diablo 4 offline and you are in a shared world with other players, and yet, the game is not a true MMO. The Drowned, for example, features five distinct archetypes: “bruiser, ranged combat, melee combat, swarmer, and dungeon boss.” Obviously, each of these will require players to utilize varying strategies of their own to contend with the different methods of attack, so identifying which monster family is attacking you isn’t enough to determine how to respond. Other families have a wider variety of attacks. The Cannibal family is entirely melee-based, featuring “supernatural swiftness” and they will “close the gap by leaping over obstacles and would-be competitors,” which should make for some extremely fast-paced and close-quarters battles. The rogue in Diablo 4 will be able to take on the ranged attack focus of the original, but different build options will be possible that push it more towards the Assasin class of Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction or the Demon Hunter of Diablo 3.

Rogue makes an even more distant return from the dead, missing since the very first Diablo game. The druid will also have the ability to summon two wolves to assist in combat. He is a shape-shifter that can transform into a bear and wolf form depending on whether speed or power is the answer to the current battle. We also have the triumphant return of the druid, a fan favorite from the Diablo 2 expansion that was missing from Diablo 3. When cornered by enemies, she can transform herself into a ball of lightning, making herself temporarily invincible and dealing area of effect damage in her immediate vicinity. Sorceress naturally gravitates to more ranged attacks with a variety of magic to hurl at enemies, including ice bolts, fireballs and lighting.
