Which class saved the world in the events of D2?

[andreasdr]

Hello there. I have been reading around these forums for a few days now, and just decided to register after thinking of the following plot-related question.

I have read theories on the forums that the now quite old-looking barbarian supposedly is the same barbarian as the one playable in D2. I have also read theories about the necromancer being absent from the line-up of playable characters in D3 (hinted perhaps by the fact that the Witchdoctor has some D2-necromancer-like abilities) because of necromancers being accused of being the cause of the evil invading Sanctuary for the third time.

This made me think of an important question:
In the plot of Diablo 3, what character is supposed to have been the hero of the occurences in Diablo 2, defeating Mephisto, Diablo, Baal and so on?
If Blizzard really mean the older D3-barbarian to be the barbarian from D2, then that implies that the barbarian must be the hero (otherwise the barbarian in D3, being "the barbarian from D2" would just be some random barbarian standing around while the world was being saved by some other hero).
If the necromancer is the hero, then why is he absent in D3, being accused of betraying mankind (if the above theory is correct)?

In Diablo 2, it was made clear that the hero of Tristram was male, which narrowed it down to the warrior and the sorcerer, obviously. How do you think Blizzard will handle it this time? Will they keep the hero totally anonymous and sexless in all references to him/her or will they select a specific class?

If the answer is already in print somewhere and I've missed it, please enlighten me! Otherwise, we can only theorize :).

/Andreas

[P2blr]

I certainly hope that the necro isn't gone. to me the necromancer was what kept wow not being an upgraded d2.
i would instead hope that the witch doctor was the druid's replacement, seeing as he can summon a few creatures at a time from nothing but mana.

[Deuterium]

Creature summon? Zombie wall? Affecting your opponent's mindset (curses)? Corpse explosion (OK technically summon explosion but same mechanic)? Especially considering there will most likely be only 5 classes at release, that would be a lot of overlap unless there was a huge overhaul of the Necro.

To the OP I'm pretty sure it was known that the D2 wanderer was the Warrior from D1, as to how they're going to continue the story in reference to D2's hero - anyone's guess ;)

[5zigen]

I certainly hope that the necro isn't gone. to me the necromancer was what kept wow not being an upgraded d2.
i would instead hope that the witch doctor was the druid's replacement, seeing as he can summon a few creatures at a time from nothing but mana.

Even though they're undead creatures and he also has curses?

The barbarian was the "hero" from D2 imo. I Think they will play it that way, either Barb or Barb and sorceress (the 2 classes I think will be returning).

[minicow]

My opinion:
Barbarian is made of... muscles
Witch Doctor is made of: Necromancer + Druid + Sorceress
So the I guess they will add one or a slight chance of 15% to add two of the Amazon, Paladin and Assassin classes.

[5zigen]

My opinion:
Barbarian is made of... muscles
Witch Doctor is made of: Necromancer + Druid + Sorceress
So the I guess they will add one or a slight chance of 15% to add two of the Amazon, Paladin and Assassin classes.

Where do you get sorceress in the witch doctor?

Where do you get druid for that matter?

[SnickerSnack]

As noted above, there could have been 2 or more heroes in the storyline. Perhaps a party of a barbarian, a paladin and a sorceress defeated the three.

[andreasdr]

I am very interested to see what other classes blizzard will come up with. The barbarian is not a very original character, pretty much however they design him. The witchdoctor seems like an example of a genuine desire to mix it up a bit, though.

As noted above, there could have been 2 or more heroes in the storyline. Perhaps a party of a barbarian, a paladin and a sorceress defeated the three.

Good point. Maybe a whole bunch of heroes will be considered to be the ones having defeated the different bosses of D2, so that the older barbarian will be just one of the many that made a contribution somewhere back in the day.

[SnickerSnack]

Read Cain's journal on Blizzard's site

We are too late. My companions followed the trail of the Dark Wanderer to the tomb of Tal Rasha, only to be confronted by the demon Duriel.

[andreasdr]

Problem solved :)
The idea of a multitude of characters being the heroes of the events in D2 seems reasonable. D1 seemed like more of a "lone hero"-game than D2.

[SmittySixTen]

I'd say the intention all along was for all seven classes to aided in some way, shape or form. It's really up to Blizzard to determine in what capacity each class helped, but I'm pretty sure there was no one single "hero" this time around. With any luck, we'll get some nice cut scenes in DIII that show us a little of what actually took place.

[Grawner]

i hope that they're all heroes in some way.
it would be kinda wrong of blizzard, to pick out their favourite imo.

[Thirty-Thirty]

Glad to see the likely answer to the OP's question has been answered. Cain's Journal repeatedly refers to a group ("we" and "us" and all that) when referring to events of D2.

Though the class speculation is a bit OT, I'm just going to kick back and wait for whatever Blizzard come up with. This is like us sitting back and trying to liken the D2 classes to combinations of the D1 classes.

[Gamekk]

The way I see it is that every class saved the world in both Diablo I and II.

In Diablo I you can imagin them as defeating Diablo as a team. The warrior becomes Diablo and then other characters too are corrupted (Rogue because Blood Raven and the mage becomes the Summoner).

In Diablo II it will probably be the same thing, we will see the barbarian taking part in the story and we might even see other classes laying around anywhere in the game, corrupted or not ;)

[AlexanderM]

My opinion:
Barbarian is made of... muscles
Witch Doctor is made of: Necromancer + Druid + Sorceress
So the I guess they will add one or a slight chance of 15% to add two of the Amazon, Paladin and Assassin classes.

I like this, it's like a weather forecast for D3. On Thursday we have a mostly druid day, with a 20% chance of old set items returning. I think I heard that two of the old classes are returning, and the others will be "new" (probably fill the same roles though).

[Grawner]

well, if you stay a while and listen, you'll might hear about the weather for the next 3 years.

[Apocalypse]

i think the barb is back cause he failed at being the d2 hero. while the other 6 were off fighting baal he ran around yelling at corpses looking for loot.

[Grawner]

haha, i'm so following you :b

[Boqu]

i guess the Barb returned cos the last act of LoD was in Barbs home. they defeated Baal there. 20 years later the people who were part of the battle were all dead or went insane... so the story should have a fresh start.