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The Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight finally put a name to the rumors: Warlock is coming to Diablo IV with the Lord of Hatred expansion on April 28, 2026, and I'm already thinking about how it'll reshape gearing and trading for Diablo 4 Items the minute it lands. What surprised me more is that Blizzard isn't stopping at one class—Paladin is confirmed for the same expansion. Two classes at once feels old-school in a good way. Like they're trying to bring back that "expansion changes everything" energy instead of drip-feeding a single new toy.
People kept saying "it'll just be Sorc with a different coat of paint" or "Necro without the pets." After that cinematic, I'm not buying it. The Warlock vibe is rougher. Chains, scorch marks, and magic that looks like it hurts to cast. Blizzard's calling it a frontline caster, and that phrase matters. You're not meant to hover at the edge of the screen. You push in, you risk it, you turn hellish power back on itself. Put that next to a Paladin's holy toolkit and the contrast basically writes the expansion's mood on its own.
The release plan is kind of wild. Warlock isn't just a Diablo IV hype bullet point; it's being shipped across the whole ecosystem. Diablo II: Resurrected players can play it now through the "Reign of the Warlock" DLC, which is honestly nuts for a remaster built on a 25-year-old foundation. Then Diablo Immortal gets the class in June 2026, which means Blizzard's trying to keep the conversation shared, not split. If you bounce between games, you'll be learning the same fantasy in different forms, and that's a clever way to keep everyone talking.
We still don't have Diablo IV's full skill trees, so right now it's all about clues and educated guesses. In D2R, the branches lean into Chaos and Eldritch—burning hellfire on one side, punchy telekinetic pressure on the other. If D4 keeps anything like the binding-style control, it could end up feeling less like "freeze-but-darker" and more like its own lane. The lore hook is also a deep cut: tying Warlocks to the Vizjerei mage slayer order separates them from Rathma's Necromancers in a way that actually matters. This isn't priestly discipline—it's risky bargains and volatile power that can go sideways fast.
Blizzard says the real details are coming in the developer update on March 5, 2026, and that's where we'll learn what the class lives on—Mana, some kind of Corruption meter, or something new entirely. That choice alone will decide whether Warlock is a steady damage engine or a high-risk burst monster. Until then, plenty of us are going to mess around with the D2R version just to get our hands used to the rhythm, then carry that mindset into launch week—especially if you're prepping upgrades and mapping out what you'll need to D4 items buy once the expansion hits and the whole endgame starts shifting.
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