Paid Warlock class broke the balance in Diablo 2, and the community is split on what to do about it
It's been about a week since the surprise release of the first new class in Diablo 2 in years, and initial reactions to the Warlock have been broadly positive. Now, though, the community is divided over one pressing question: is the class too powerful?
The emerging consensus seems to be yes – absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt. But the debate has quickly grown into something bigger: should overpowered classes and builds be nerfed at all? Blizzard faces a familiar dilemma – nerf the Warlock, bring the other classes up to match, or leave everything alone and let players sort it out. It's a situation reminiscent of the Spiritborn controversy in Diablo 4.
One of the most discussed posts on the Diablo 2 subreddit this past week is a thread titled "Don't nerf Warlock!" featuring an image of the character holding up a sign with the same demand. The post racked up over a thousand upvotes and more than 600 comments. The top comment, with 508 upvotes, agrees with the sentiment but offers one tweak: "Sign needs to be floating with a purple aura" – a reference to the glow that activates with various Warlock skills and abilities. Predictably, someone quickly edited the image to make it so.
One Reddit user pointed to a video from streamer Coooley titled "Oops... I broke the Warlock," in which the well-known Diablo build-breaker showcases "the most powerful build I have ever seen in Diablo 2." The key requirement is leveling Demonic Mastery to 10, which unlocks the ability to summon two demons. Coooley then stacks several damage multipliers – including consuming an additional demon – to push Echoing Strike's output to "asinine numbers." He proceeds to solo-clear the entire game with eight players on the server, meaning monsters are scaled to their absolute hardest.
Opinions in the comments range wildly, from "'But it's fun!!'" to "this Spiritborn-esque level of OP is completely unacceptable for D2." Some players argued that new classes shouldn't be anywhere near this strong, and that the whole situation reeks of "buy the new DLC to be competitive" thinking.
A nerf seems inevitable. Buffing every other class to match the Warlock would make the game feel like Diablo 3, which nobody wants. But leaving things as they are means the Warlock remains the objectively best class in the game – and that can't stand.
The price tag adds an extra edge to the controversy: the Reign of the Warlock expansion for Diablo 2: Resurrected costs $25, and combined with the class's obvious dominance over everything else, it gives the whole situation an unmistakable pay-to-win aftertaste.
