Melee class with a shield, why don't you exist in diablo 4?

PC General Discussion
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I’ve been struggling to understand why Diablo 4 doesn’t have a melee class that uses a shield.
It’s arguably one of the most iconic archetypes in fantasy and dark fantasy games, yet we can’t play one here.

We see enemies wielding shields all the time.
Even our companion has a shield… and let’s be honest, he’s basically a Paladin.
So why can’t we have that too?

In nearly every RPG I’ve played, whether it’s WoW, Diablo 2, or Diablo 3, I’ve gravitated toward a character with a shield.
Without one, I just feel exposed and disconnected from the playstyle I enjoy.

To be brutally honest, none of the current classes in D4 really speak to me.
The closest is the Barbarian, mainly because I loved the classic Whirlwind build from D3.
But in D4, Whirlwind isn’t the same.
It’s heavily tied to bleeds or earthquakes, far far from the pure shout-and-spin fantasy that made it so fun for me in D3.
What else should i choose?
A spiritborn? …my firends call it “the mexican gardner class”.
A rogue? …not my style.
A bear druid? …maybe, but its not the same as a class with a shield…
Necromancer? …just no.
Sorcerer? …i can’t understand anything about the builds, its sooo not for me…

I came back to the game in Season 7, wrapped up Season 8, and while I finished all the seasonal objectives, I just don’t feel motivated to keep going.
And it’s not the seasonal theme, or the seasonl powers, they are ok imo.
Picking another class feels more like a chore than a choice, because they simply don’t fit the style I enjoy.

I genuinely hope Blizzard considers adding a DLC class that fits this shield-class fantasy (Paladin, Crusader, Templar, Warrior, or whatever you want to call it).
Something with a shield, tanky and melee, that feels like the classic holy or disciplined warrior (not the necromancer with a shield…that’s an abomination).

And just like the Necromancer DLC for D3, we don’t need to wait until the next expansion in 2026 (or 2027… or later).
It could easily be a mid-expansion content drop and would bring back a lot of players, i’m sure of that.

Anyone else feeling the same?
Would love to hear if others are waiting for that classic shield class too.

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instead, they made barbarians fire lasers.

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Been waiting on a holy warrior with sword/shield since before this new expansion lol

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Try clicking on the NECROMANCER!

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I would just take the bloodwave meta build and use doombringer and a shield for style.

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…abomination…no thank you!

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Because the game is some bizarre mash up of MMO and ARPG but instead of bringing actual dps/tank/healer combos to the mix they went with “everyone’s dps now”. Shield archetypes are about defense and defense is largely a joke in D4. With enough stacked health, fortify, and shield effects a rogue in their jammies has more defense than an iron clad tank could ever hope to provide.

Look what happened with Crusaders in D3. Their two reliably effective builds are from playing a wizard casting lighting while on horse back or a summoner calling up minions. Their actual “shield bearer of light” build – Seeker – is the weakest build in the class, maybe the entire game.

Without a real need for true support classes and the fact solo play is supposed to be able to clear all content “sword and board” style builds are always going to suffer. The game literally isn’t designed for them. Which is a shame because it is a great archetype.

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I noticed over the time that shield cosmetics are the ones I am most interested in. I dont play much Necromancer but the class fantasy of being a bulwark has great appeal and is arguably one of the more believable roles for the game setting. So yeah, next class having shields wouldnt be so bad.

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They were all but explicit about it: they were working on something like a Paladin when they decided to pause & come out with the Spiritborn first. ‘Paladin’ is probably next, in the next expansion.

But D4 sucks at conveying the feel of melee… its all whooshing & casting mid-range spells that may as well use a wand. So when Paladin does come out it’ll likely be a sad caster, like Cru-SAD-er. :disappointed:

Barbarian usually feels like a weird caster… so of course they’re not going to respect melee in Paladin unless a random producer is pointing & jeering at their builds right now, when there’s still time.
…

This is as good a summary as any. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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What is the purpose of shield other than cosmetic？D4 is a game about kill this boss 100 times for RNG loot or delete the mobs before he can touch you. Higher the DPS you get the job done faster. No one tank in D4, shield will not be used even introduced.

If you want tank, just swap the chest with Tyrael Might. It is more tanky than any shield in the game.

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Not only you my friend.

When i started D4 i was curios to see what the “walking arsenal” (as they call the barb) was able to do as new tricks. Just to realise he was significantly less “skilled” then in D3.

No shilds. No frenzy with all weapons. No throwing weapons. No Dual wielding 2 Handed swords.

The barb in D4 is realy a shadow of its predecessor.

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Melee class with a shield, why don’t you exist in diablo 4?

Maybe with the next expansion a Templar in Khanduras.

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There are actually zero melee classes in D4. Closest is the TB rogue. Honestly

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Sword and board class is coming

fear not tiny dancer

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Not adding paladin in an expansion that’s about their nemesis and is set in the birthplace of the paladin class is the biggest L in a series of Ls in this game. Like, genuinely mindbogglingly bad.

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This be also as true a summary as any.

Sad. There’s no easier way to sucker me into buying 2 expansions, than to put delicious, visceral, “thunky” melee combat into this game for the first time ever (HotA was sus)… even if the rest of the game sucks. I’m that easy. With a shield ofc, plus a spell that transforms the shield. (Practically) take my money.

Won’t happen.

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If I remember right as some point during development I think they said that pally was being worked on so I think it was a case of it just not being ready in time and then it didn’t really fit with the jungle expansion so It just got put on the back burner we prob will see it when we go to the other continent

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I too want a thunky heavy hitting melee class. I mean a few skills try to do that? As mentioned a TB or flurry rogue? Maaaaaybe bash barb? Whirlwind is a far stretch?
But in reality thats grasping at straws. None are true melee.

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Odd choice not to be able to make a sword and board Barb or use a shield on Sorc that could really use it. Yet, Necro can use shield but rarely does.

Maybe this is their way of setting themselves apart from previous Diablo releases. Mr. Mediocrity came out and said a classic Diablo game would not be successful now. Maybe this is too classic for him.

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When they invited streamers to the first SB play test last summer, one of the devs said as much: they were (probably) working on “holy knight archetype” and decided to take a different route in order to do something “new” first. It’s not clear if they were sketching both classes at the same time & decided which one to put on hold, or if they paused one before starting on the other.

Idr who it was - might’ve been Gibson (current director). That Twitch VoD may have been deleted, but maybe YT has it.

That makes sense - though Akarat is a natural link to the Paladin orders, so they really could’ve inserted him in various ways, and Nahantu could’ve been pushed to “later”. It was up to them.

It’s possible the last-minute rearrangement (maybe less than a year before VoH) helps explain how awkward the VoH arc seemed.