Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Chris Liao, the lead UX designer, and Ryan Quinn, the senior narrative designer, of Diablo Immortal. Our exclusive conversation took an interesting turn when I found myself confusing the Blood Knight class with the Death Knight and Blood Death Knight classes from WoW Wrath of the Lich King Classic. Intrigued, I asked Liao and Quinn if the demon-slaying bruiser in Diablo Immortal had any connection to Arthas’ corruption or if it was an entirely unique entity.
The Blood Knight first made its appearance in the original Diablo as one of the toughest melee enemies you could encounter. However, this is the first time players can choose to play as this class. Curious about the decision to introduce a new class instead of bringing back familiar ones like the Amazon or Witch Doctor, I asked Quinn for an explanation.
“There’s always a delicate balance between catering to what players are familiar with and crave, and introducing new elements to keep the game fresh,” Quinn explained. “When we launched Diablo Immortal, we started with the six iconic classes that Diablo veterans were already familiar with. We love them, and we’ve been playing them for years – I’ve been a Barbarian main since high school! But the opportunity to create something completely new and unique for Diablo Immortal’s identity, to explore a different kind of darkness compared to previous classes like the Necromancer and Demon Hunter, was too enticing to pass up.”
The Blood Knight in Diablo Immortal is a mid-range melee fighter, which immediately reminded me of its counterpart in WoW. As someone who played a Blood Death Knight Draenei in WoW WotLK Classic and referred to our WoW WotLK Death Knight guide for build ideas, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons with the emphasis on life leeching and skirmish combat.
I asked Quinn if they drew any inspiration from Arthas’ undead legions, to which he responded, “That’s a great question. In terms of class identity – such as blood manipulation – there are visual and somatic similarities. However, in terms of ability design, we took a slightly different approach.
“Death Knights in WoW are generally associated with a tanky, defensive archetype. While we wanted to incorporate some deliberate movement and tactical thinking, our aim with the Blood Knight was to focus more on pure aggression. When you use their close-range polearm attacks, you’ll find that they’re actually quite fast. It may take a moment to get in position, but once they start swinging, the windup is quick.”
As someone who enjoys playing monk characters with a bruiser playstyle, the Blood Knight class sounds incredibly exciting to me. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and try out one of the top Diablo Immortal Blood Knight builds when it officially launches. In the meantime, I recommend checking out our comprehensive list of the best Diablo Immortal builds for all classes. There’s still time to level up your Monks and Demon Hunters, after all.
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Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
