Speaking during the BlizzCon 2019 panel for Diablo 4, game director Luis Barriga revealed that the Druid initially didn’t make the cut. When the Diablo 4 development team initially made a line-up of classes that it planned to work on, the Druid wasn’t included in the conversation. That quickly changed, however, as Barriga says that a single piece of concept art from an unnamed artist changed the team’s mind. “We went to … ‘No, we’re making a Druid 100% starting tomorrow. Right now, " after seeing the piece of art.
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While the piece of art in question wasn’t directly pointed out, Blizzard did share some Druid concept art. One piece of art showed the Druid in three different sets of gear, themed after natural elements. One set featured gear covered in feathers, with a beaked mask. A second featured a fanged predator’s skull as a mask, armor lined with horns, claws, and teeth. The third featured gnarled branches spread across forearms, shoulders, and head, like the armor was grown. It’s easy to see why Blizzard grew immediately enamored with the class concept.
Ultimately the Diablo 4 Druid is a completely new design compared to its Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction predecessor. While Diablo 4’s design is clearly heavily inspired by the original two Diablo games, when it comes to gameplay the team at Blizzard isn’t holding itself back with legacy gameplay design. The new Druid will focus on quick shapeshifting between forms, as well as a mix of lightning and wind abilities.
Diablo 4 is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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Source: ComicBook
