Diablo 5 panel reveals first details: Plague Knight class, revamped loot

• News

The Diablo 5: Forging the Next Era panel at BlizzCon 2026 offered some first insight into what to expect from the series' upcoming next chapter.

Ozzie Mejia September 12, 2026 8:50 PM Blizzard Entertainment 1

Among the most exciting announcements to come out of BlizzCon 2026 was the early tease for a new entry into the Diablo series. Diablo 5 may be a long way from seeing the light of day, but Blizzard did want to reveal some first details during its latest convention. On Saturday, a panel titled "Diablo 5: Forging the Next Era," led by Blizzard President Johanna Faries, offered some early insights into what to expect from this next chapter of the long-running saga.

The story of Diablo 5 finds humanity at its lowest point. Diablo has conquered Sanctuary and now sits atop the throne of Westmarch. Those who remain are nothing more than his playthings to be used in the Eternal Conflict. Diablo is no longer a looming threat. He is here, he has taken over, and he has won. Whatever path the player takes at the start of the story will go through Diablo. That's because players take on the role of the Heir to Westmarch, who has a mysterious connection to Diablo that will become clearer as the story progresses. Through that link, the Heir will prove to be Diablo's greatest threat, but also make him susceptible to the fiend's influence.

So far, three classes have been revealed for Diablo 5. The classic Demon Hunter and Monk classes return, but they're joined by an all-new class. The Plague Knight is said to one of the first of many new classes to join the game. Additional ones will be revealed at a later date. In fact, Senior Game Director Joe Shely notes that Diablo 5 will ship with more classes than any Diablo game before it.

"[Plague Knight] is a heavily armored class," Senior Game Director Joe Shely said during the panel. "It's a walking death. You're going to be roaming around the battlefield spreading disease and then consuming it for power."

Another key point of discussion was the Diablo 5 loot system. Panel attendees got to see early concept art of the game's inventory screen. Shely made some comparisons to Diablo 2, in terms of the way that items will start off simple and grow alongside the player over the course of their journey. Inventory management is said to be made easy with Shely noting that it will be particularly easy for players using controllers, though no specifics were mentioned. Gear-based sets are also making a comeback in Diablo 5 with Shely noting that the team is working to ensure that they lead to greater character build possibilities. One last thing to note is that the team is currently experimenting with items that hold stat requirements, though this concept is subject to change.

Diablo 5 is early in development, as clearly indicated by its current 2029 release window. However, Blizzard hopes to keep players frequently updated on the game's progress. Expect to receive regular updates, via blog posts and features, on Diablo 5 starting in 2027. In the meantime, look for Diablo 4 updates to come regularly with the Season of Hell launching this Tuesday, alongside the game's new Nintendo Switch 2 version.

Shacknews staff does not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their content. Shacknews strictly prohibits the use of its content for AI training or to generate text, including text in the style or format used for this publication. Shacknews reserves all rights to this work.

Ozzie Mejia Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

Filed Under

Login / Register