That means there’s a good chance that there won’t be a Crusader class in this game. It would be symbolic, in a sense — now that Heaven can’t be counted on as an ally in this war D2R Items, there aren’t very many holy warriors running around. Instead it’s up to mortals who have gained skill and power by their own means to challenge these villainous forces.

It’s a good piece of storytelling, but a little disappointing from a gameplay perspective. Diablo games are already short on classes that are good healers, and it’s uncertain some other class will emerge that can offer what a Crusader does in terms of magic, heavy armor, and good crowd control.

As disappointing as that is to consider, fans of the Crusader playstyle shouldn’t totally give up hope. It would be a bit of a surprise if Blizzard didn’t offer some class that would allow players to be a heavily armored super tank in the Crusader’s place. It’ll just take a little bit of creative design to come up with something new to fill its shoes.

For instance, there could be a more mundane Knight class, or perhaps something in contrast to a Crusader like a Death Knight. If Crusaders have lost their connection to the Heavens of late, it would be narratively compelling to demonstrate Crusaders who have turned to dark magic to maintain the strength they need to fight evil.

If Crusaders really don’t appear for this reason, players should expect the corruption of Heaven to be of importance in the story. Considering how weak it is right now cheap D2R ladder items, Diablo 3 might not be the only time that demons lay siege to the plane of angels.