A first look at playing the Warlock in Diablo 4

Warlocks are the second new class in Diablo 4’s next expansion, Lord of Hatred, and now Blizzard has given us an in-depth look at the class for the first time. Until now, all we knew was that they were a caster class that summons demons, but now we’ve seen the class in action, gotten a look at their ability tree, and have learned about their class mechanic, Soul Shards. Because meddling with Soulstones and their ilk has never gone wrong in the Diablo universe before…

But forget that for a moment, because what’s better than summoning demons to fight demons? Crushing their souls into fine powder that you imbue to supercharge your own ability. And that, in a nutshell, is the Diablo 4 Warlock.

The story behind Diablo 4’s Warlocks

The Diablo 2 Warlock has a somewhat unintuitive backstory, in that they were wealthy denizens of Sanctuary who used their wealth and power to study forbidden Vizjerei magic. But why take that extra step? The Diablo 4 Warlocks are simply followers of the original demon summoners, the Vizjeri Mage Clan. the Diablo 4 Warlocks were from the Vizjerei Mage Clan, one of the oldest, and most dominant of the Mage clans during The Sin War. Way back in the year -1992 Nirvana’s Nevermind came out a rather unremarkable sorcerer named Jere Harash did the impossible and managed to summon a demon, thinking it was just a spirit, not knowing that the act of doing so introduced Sanctuary’s existence to the Burning Hells (oops), which led to The Sin War. The Vizjerei Clan hunted down these mages, and suppressed their knowledge.

Now it’s fifteen centuries later, and Warlocks still exist; a few shelter in underground enclaves, but most nowadays are born with the cursed gift that allows them to summon demons. But whether Warlocks are driven by a lust for powerful ancient magic, or are just driven to push the boundaries of magic by summoning the forbidden, one thing is certain: once a Warlock tears the veil between worlds, there is no stopping. The draw of power and the hunger for purpose, is too much for a Warlock to fight against; it is their one driving force above all.

Playing a Warlock in Diablo 4

Sure, sure, all that lore stuff is well and good, but how does this new class play? I’m going to give you a high level overview, but if you want the nitty-gritty details, you should read Blizzard’s official post about the Diablo 4 Warlock for the full details. Here are the core features of the Diablo 4 Warlock.

Warlock class resource: Warlocks use a dual resource system, balancing Wrath for skills, and Dominance for summoning demons and using their abilities. It’s reminiscent of the Demon Hunters from Diablo 3, even though these two classes have very different aims.

New Warlock-specific keywords: There are several new keywords specifically for Warlocks, which are affixes you’ll find tied to Warlock abilities. Here’s what each of these new keyword do:

• Hex: Increases Abyss skill damage taken against enemies, based on their missing Life. Stacks up to 3 times.
• Eviscerate: Eviscerated enemies instantly lose a portion of their Bleeding Life and then Bleed for additional damage.
• Shadowform: Shadowform grants Unhindered and any movement grants Stealth but consumes stacks.
• Demonform: Increases your Maximum Life. While active, kills increase the damage of Demonology Skills.
• Volatility: Randomly Empowers Hellfire Skills when you attack with them. Empowered skills deal increased damage on their next cast.

Blizzard has a full list of abilities, covering all of the basic abilities, skills, and ultimates. (The ultimates in particular are super cool and I honestly don’t know which one is more metal looking, but Fiend of Abbadon is for sure in the running).

Warlock class mechanic: Soul Shards. At level 30 you’ll unlock Soul Shards. Warlocks in Diablo 4 infuse themselves with the power of one of four Soul Shards, which binds a specific demon to you and significantly changes the core gameplay loop. Your choice here really defines your Warlock, whether you want to surround yourself with demonic minions or harvest their power for your own. These are the four Soul Shards you can choose:

Legion Shard

• Casting a Greater Demon Skill increases Lesser Demon Skill Cast Speed and Cooldown Rate temporarily. After many of your Lesser Demons die, your next Greater Demon Skill Cast has no Resource Cost.
• Summoned Greater Demon: Ae’gron
  • Summon Ae’grom, the Demon of Legions. Ae’grom cleaves its enemies for damage. While summoned, this skill becomes Command Ae’grom. Command Ae’grom causes Ae’grom to summon a swarm of Vile Child Lesser Demons to fight for you.
  • Passive: Ae’grom has a Claw attack that deals damage. Vile Child demons have a claw attack dealing a portion of that damage.
• Soul Shard Fragment Bonuses:
  • Spawn: Ae’grom now spawns a Vile Child Demon passively. Summoning a Greater Demon increases this spawn rate temporarily, up to a maximum. Additional stacks do not refresh this duration. Command Ae’grom no longer spews Vile Children and instead causes all of your Lesser Demons to explode, dealing damage.
  • Sacrificial: You are Unstoppable as long as you have active Lesser Demons. When you would become Crowd Controlled, 1 of your Lesser Demons is Sacrificed to prevent it.
  • Evisceration: While an enemy is Eviscerated, your Summoned Demons prioritize them and gain increased Movement Speed. Demonology Skills gain a chance to Eviscerate enemies that are already Eviscerated.

Vanguard Shard

• Summoned Greater Demon: Abodian
  • While in Demonform, Casting Archfiend Skills additionally Summons the Archfiend Demon:
    • Rampage summons a brute for that temporarily follows you and swipes at enemies, dealing damage.
    • Infernal Breath summons a demonic head that temporarily orbits you and spews flames, dealing damage.
    • Tyrant’s Grasp summons additional demon hands that each deal damage.
    • Profane Sentinel summons an additional eye that temporarily follows you and blasts enemies, dealing damage.
• Soul Shard Fragment Bonuses:
  • Hellguard: Abodian gains increased Cast Speed and Movement Speed and cleaves on its attacks. Abodian erupts Brimstone during Command Abodian, launching them periodically while moving and when dismounting. Each Brimstone deals damage.
  • Warden: While in Demonform, lose Dominance per second Close Summons Greater Demon to extend their durations. Demonform also increases the damage of Hellfire Demonology Skills.
  • Inferno: While you are Volatile in Demonform, Hellfire Skill damage causes you to emanate fire temporarily, dealing some of that damage to Close enemies periodically over a duration.

Mastermind Shard

• Summoned Greater Demon: Laalish
  • Recast Skills no longer break Shadowform Stealth at the cost of a few stacks of Shadowform per Cast. While you have Shadowform, Abyss skills deal increased damage, and you gain increased Movement Speed per stack.
• Soul Shard Fragment Bonuses:
  • Unfathomable: Laalish also Weakens enemies. Laalish deals increased damage and Executes enemies. When an enemy is Executed, the Cooldown of Command Laalish is reduced.
  • Blasphemous: Recast Skills Hex enemies on hit and increase the damage they take from your Abyss Demonology Skills.
  • Subjugation: Summoning a non-Soul Shard, Abyss Great Demon consumes all Dominance increasing its damage per Dominance consumed. Losing stacks of Shadowform grants Dominance.

Ritualist Shard

• Summoned Greater Demon: Vollach
  • Summon Vollach, the fallen one. With Vollach active, siphon it’s lifeforce to increase your maximum Overpower. With several stacks of Overpower, Occult Abyss skills apply additional Hex to enemies on hit, and Occult Hellfire Skills have a chance to grant Volatility temporarily when Cast. Occult skills deal increased damage per stacks of Overpower and gain increased Size.
• Soul Shard Fragment Bonuses
  • Abyssal: Hex Stacks up to a maximum. When a target gains stacks, a portion of the damage dealt to the target echoes after a short duration and removes all stacks of Hex. Command Vollach also causes Occult Abyss skills to apply 1 additional stack of Hex to enemies while you’ve siphoned its power.
  • Scorching: Occult Hellfire Skills are always empowered and consume a portion of your Maximum Life. Volatility can now stack up to a maximum, increasing the damage of empowered Skills and the Life they consume by per stack. Command Vollach also siphons its life to Fortify you for a portion of your Maximum Life and causes Vollach to pay a portion of Life Costs instead while you’ve Siphoned its power.
  • Twisted: Occult Hellfire Skills consumes stacks of Hex on targets hit to increase its damage against the target by a portion. Occult Abyss skills can be empowered by Volatility and cause explosions, dealing damage when hitting an enemy for the first time.

There’s an awful lot to chew on here, but with this many different playstyles, it feels like we’ll always be able to find something powerful and fun, no matter what the current state of the game is. I’m thinking — without being able to see the actual skill tree in game, mind you — that a very popular build for the Warlock is going to be one that drops Dark Prison to chain enemies together, then hits them with Doom (to Hex them) and Hell Fracture (though Dread Claws and Blazing Scream might work here), or with really big groups using Sigil of Chaos to hope that the small minions explode and take out the rest. Explosions for days! I haven’t even considered what Ultimate to use (Terror Swarm for this example, maybe!) or what Soul Shard I’d want (Ritualist might work well, though Legion is another choice that might work), and admittedly I am no theorycrafter. That all said, Warlock is looking awfully intriguing, with a diverse set of new skills that feels part Witch Doctor, part Necromancer, but with a unique twist.

But it’s up to Blizzard to make us love it almost as much as Necromancer.

Though Diablo 4’s new Paladin class is available to play right now if you pre-order the expansion, Warlock is not. You won’t be able to start your journey as a Warlock until Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred launches on April 28.