Diablo Immortal’s Blood Knight is the First New Diablo Class Since the Crusader

The Blood Knight is the first new class in the Diablo universe in almost 10 years, and it’s headed to Diablo Immortal on July 13 in a free update. The last class addition was in 2014 with the Crusader, introduced in the Reaper of Souls expansion for Diablo 3. The Blood Knight reveal came alongside a trailer showing the class in action during a recent developer live stream that also detailed Diablo 4‘s Season of the Malignant.

Diablo Immortal Blood Knight Class Explained

We learned quite a bit about the new class from the trailer and developer stream. The Blood Knight was first afflicted in the city of Gea Kul, and though a ritual saved the life of a soldier, it only suppressed the vampire’s curse from fully turning him into a thrall. Having to complete the Ritual to retain humanity, the Blood Knight wages a constant war against itself and features two forms: human and the vampire killing Abomination.

Blood Knight Attacks and Skills

Blizzard confirmed that the Blood Knight is a mid-range class that can deal damage with a polearm, siphon blood from enemies, and throw spears of darkness. The class comes with its own Legendary items and the Spiteful Blood Legendary Gem. Here’s a more in-depth look at the Blood Knight’s attacks and skills per Blizzard.

Blood Knight Primary Attacks

• Ravage: Unleash a barrage of polearm thrusts and sweeps, dealing damage to an enemy and 25% as much to all other enemies.
• Annihilation (Ultimate of Ravage): Enhance Ravage for 12 seconds, gaining an additional polearm in your off hand that increases your range and causes the final attack to knockback enemies. While empowered, Annihilation deals increased damage. You also gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 20% of your maximum Life for 3 seconds.
• Shadow’s Edge (Unlocked at Level 34): Wield a blade of pure shadow energy that can be used to slash at nearby enemies, dealing damage. If there are no nearby enemies, the blade will be thrown a short distance, dealing damage.
• Shadow’s Embrace (Ultimate of Shadow’s Edge): Enhance Shadow’s Edge for 12 seconds, throwing a volley of 5 shadow blades that penetrate enemies, dealing damage for each blade that strikes an enemy. You also gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 20% of your maximum Life for 3 seconds.

Blood Knight Skills

• Spear Flurry (Unlocked at Level 1): Channel a flurry of polearm attacks, dealing damage to enemies in front of you. Upon activation, if no enemies are nearby, you will dash forward a short distance before the onslaught begins. Using Spear Flurry slowly consumes its energy, which recovers while Spear Flurry is not in use.
• Wave of Blood (Level 1): Expel a wave of blood that knocks back enemies, dealing damage. Maximum 2 charges.
• Tendrils of Blood (Level 3): Shoot bloody tendrils into nearby enemies, dealing damage. Activate again to pull all afflicted enemies to you, dealing additional damage.
• Siphon of Blood (Level 8): Continually siphon blood from the prey around you, dealing damage to all nearby enemies while also healing yourself for 15% of the damage done. Using Siphon Blood slowly consumes its energy, which recovers while Siphon Blood is not in use.
• Sanguinate (Level 15): Liquefy into a bloody form for 2.5 seconds, increasing your Movement Speed by 50%. Activate again to coagulate your being and rush forward, dealing damage to enemies you pass through.
• Umbral Lance (Level 20): Hurl a lance of pure darkness that penetrates through enemies, dealing damage. Charging longer increases range and damage.
• Swarm of Bats (Level 28): Call a cloud of bats to attack enemies for 8 seconds, continually dealing damage. The cloud of bats will pursue enemies and can be redirected by activating this skill again.
• Whirling Strike (Level 38): Whirl your polearm around you multiple times, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Maximum 2 charges.
• Mephitic Cloud (Level 44): Release a toxic cloud around you for 6 seconds that confuses enemies, causing monsters to attack each other and restricts targeting for players.
• Skewer (Level 44): Skewer an enemy with your polearm and then slam the enemy into the ground, dealing damage to all other nearby enemies and Stunning them for 3 seconds.
• Shroud of Night (Level 47): Shroud yourself and nearby allies in darkness for 8 seconds, causing shadowy apparitions of yourselves to emerge every 1.5 seconds to unleash a Primary Attack against your enemies.
• Abomination (Level 50): Consume all your Anger to transform into an unholy abomination for 15 seconds, increasing your damage done and replacing your skills with Blood Rush and Shattering Fists. Generate Anger each time you damage an enemy with your Primary Attack or use a Skill.
• Blood Rush: Shed your mortal flesh and move forward a short distance, dealing damage to enemies in your path.
• Shattering Fists: Unleash a series of massive blows, dealing damage to all nearby enemies, with every third attack causing a knockback.
• Transfusion (Level 53): Fortify yourself or an ally with enriched blood, granting a shield for 3 seconds that absorbs damage. Additionally, harmful effects will be removed from the target player, and they will become immune to harmful effects for the duration of the shield. Targeting an ally with Transfusion causes you to rush to their aid and cast Transfusion on both of you. Transfusion can be activated again one additional time within 5 seconds of the first cast.

When Will the Blood Knight be Available in Diablo Immortal?

The Blood Knight class will be available as a free update starting on July 13.

How to Play as the Blood Knight in Diablo Immortal

Once the Blood Knight becomes available in Diablo Immortal, you can change your current character via Class Change. There’s no cooldown for three weeks following the class’ release, so you can change back to your original class without consequence if you don’t like the vampiric thrall.

The Crimson Plane event will come alongside the Blood Knight, where all participants can play as the class to get a feel for it. During the event, you’ll be able to earn its Legendary items and cosmetic. Previous in-game cosmetics will not be made available to the Blood Knight retroactively, but all new cosmetics will apply to it.

For more background on the Blood Knight, check out the official Diablo Immortal blog post.