Diablo’s first new class in nearly a decade, the Blood Knight, is coming soon

Blizzard is introducing a new class to the world of Diablo on July 13, with the Blood Knight Diablo Immortalconfirmed the developer during a Thursday developer update live stream. The Blood Knight enters the seventh playable class Diablo Immortal, who joins the Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, and Wizard. It’s the first new class for the Diablo series in nearly a decade, following the introduction of the Crusader in Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls.

Diablo Immortal developers described the Blood Knight as a melee hybrid class that uses polearms for close combat. The Blood Knight may feel a bit sluggish at first, the developers said, but can also transform into a powerful monster, known as an Abomination, and unleash powerful hand-to-hand attacks against hordes of enemies.

The Blood Knight’s lore is based on Diablo’s version of vampires. Vampires are like a “living plague” in Diablo’s world, the developers said, and their victims sometimes turn into Thralls (lesser vampiric creatures) after being bitten. Blood Knights are humans who have been bitten by vampires, but through an ancient ritual stop the curse of Thralldom. Blood Knights are doomed to succumb to the Thrall Curse at some point, but use a memento that maintains their bond with humanity and keeps the darkness at bay. When Blood Knights transform into Abominations, they temporarily “release the curse a bit,” according to the developers.

The developers haven’t said if the Blood Knight will eventually make its way Diablo 4but Blizzard could use it Diablo Immortal as a testbed to gauge interest in the new class. Existing Immortal players will be able to change their current class to Blood Knight when it goes live, as Blizzard allows a free class change every week. Access to the Blood Knight class is free.

Diablo Immortal is available on Android and iOS mobile devices, as well as Windows PC. The free-to-play game was released in June 2022 and was downloaded over 30 million times in its first month.