The Paladin Returns to Sanctuary
After twenty five years away from the spotlight, the Paladin is finally coming back to Diablo in the Lord of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4. First introduced in Diablo 2, the class has always been a fan favorite thanks to its holy magic, sturdy defenses and iconic hammer builds. Now Blizzard is reimagining the Paladin for Diablo 4 and giving players a chance to jump in early.
The Lord of Hatred expansion is due early next year, but if you pre order it you can start playing the Paladin right away. The expansion will also launch with one more completely new class that Blizzard has not revealed yet, but for now the focus is on this holy knight and how it fits into Diablo 4’s evolving meta.
Blizzard describes the Paladin as the knight and holy warrior of Diablo 4. It is a sword and shield focused class that draws power from unwavering faith, bringing a mix of heavy armor, strong defenses and spectacular light based abilities that really stand out on screen.
Oaths, Playstyles and Signature Skills
The Diablo 4 Paladin is not just a copy and paste from earlier games. The design team set out to blend the classic Diablo 2 Paladin with the Diablo 3 Crusader while still making something that feels distinct. To do that, they introduced a new system built around oaths. These oaths define your playstyle and let you lean into different strengths depending on how you like to fight.
The four main Paladin oaths are:
- Juggernaut This path is all about stacking defenses and turning that toughness into raw power. You soak up hits, convert that durability into big payoffs and feel like an unstoppable frontline tank that can still hit very hard.
- Zealot Focused on aggressive melee combat, zealots strike enemies fast and trigger repeating hits automatically. If you love up close attacks and watching combos chain off your first hit, this oath will be your go to.
- Judicator This oath lets you mark enemies and then detonate them in holy explosions. It adds more area control and burst damage, letting you set up packs of demons and blow them apart in a flash of light.
- Disciple The most fantasy heavy oath, disciple Paladins can transform into an angelic arbiter form. In this state they gain unique moves that are not available in their normal form, including abilities like an angelic leap that lets you crash into the fight from above.
Visually the Paladin is one of the loudest classes in the game. Abilities send out amber and gold flashes across the battlefield and enemies ignite with holy fire when struck. The class is designed to feel like a walking beacon of light in dark dungeons, and it makes other classes look subtle by comparison.
Blizzard is also bringing back some of the most iconic Paladin skills from earlier games. Fan favorites like Blessed Hammer and Blessed Shield return, backed up by new abilities that help differentiate this version from the Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 takes. That classic hammer focused playstyle, often called the hammerdin, is absolutely on the table for players who want to relive that swirling hammer chaos in Diablo 4.
How Paladin Compares and What the Expansion Brings
One of the biggest challenges for the team was separating the Paladin from the Crusader, which already existed as a holy knight style class in Diablo 3. According to Blizzard’s class designers, the Crusader leaned more toward a purely physical knight fantasy, while the Diablo 4 Paladin leans all in on faith and divine power.
The Disciple oath and the angelic form grew out of this design problem. By pushing hard into the idea of divine transformation and holy magic, the team could make the Paladin feel different from a standard armored fighter. The result is a class that can play like a bulky shield user, a fast melee zealot, a holy demolitions expert or a literal angel of judgment depending on how you build it.
For returning players, this makes the Paladin a flexible option. You can chase the nostalgia of a classic hammer build or try out newer styles that revolve around marking enemies and detonating them or bouncing between mortal and angelic forms during a fight.
The launch of the Paladin is tied to more than just a new class. Blizzard is rolling out Season of Divine Intervention which arrives ahead of the full Lord of Hatred expansion. Alongside the Paladin’s early access release for pre orders, the season introduces a major overhaul to itemization and crafting. The developers are using this season as a bridge to the expansion, tuning how gear works and how players chase power so that builds like Paladin hammerdins and angelic disciples have more interesting loot paths and upgrade options.
When Lord of Hatred officially launches on April 28, the Paladin will be fully integrated into the endgame with the rest of the classes. By then the new item and crafting systems from Season of Divine Intervention should be in place, giving players a smoother ramp into endgame builds and a better reason to experiment with different oaths and gear combinations.
Blizzard is also keeping at least one surprise in its pocket. The expansion will ship with one additional new class that has not been revealed yet. Between that mystery class, the returning Paladin, and sweeping systems changes, Lord of Hatred is shaping up to be a significant update for Diablo 4 players on PC and consoles.
If you love tanky melee characters, glowing holy spells or simply want to relive your Diablo 2 hammerdin days with modern visuals and systems, the Paladin is likely to be one of the standout reasons to revisit Diablo 4 in the upcoming months.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4s-highly-anticipated-paladin-class-is-playable-today-before-its-second-expansion-launches-next-year/
