The Warlock and Paladin are a reminder of simpler times in Diablo 4 - at least for a minute

Back in Diablo 3, I had a general philosophy: I’ll level with my own build, then swap to something better once I reach the endgame. It felt like a good middle ground for me, someone who is picky about their skills but isn’t hardcore enough to come up with a fully optimized, min/maxed, expert approved build on their own.

With Diablo 4, playing my own style for even a moment felt almost impossible, due to the sheer complexity of the game’s various systems. And so my biggest frustration with the game has long been the need to stop and check a guide every step of the way. My dream quality of life feature was (and still is) the ability to pre-purchase Paragon nodes so I don’t have to pull MaxRoll.gg up on my phone every 20 minutes to dump some points in.

But with the surprise release of the Paladin last year, there were no guides for a few days. There was no theory crafting, no best practices. It was just me and an absolutely busted OP class. I spent my time with Diablo 4’s Paladin last December just reading skills and trying builds on my own. I was creating my own paths and actually imagining new synergies. 

Delightfully, the Warlock follows the same pattern, and I was able to do the same while playing it during the review phase of Lord of Hatred.