This is a style comparison between the classes from vanilla D2 and D3. I'll be comparing the ones that have similar roles. Witch Doctor - Necromancer. Demon Hunter - Amazon. Wizard - Sorceress. Monk - Paladin. Barbarians.
Although I love the idea behind the Necromancer, and loved the blue flames animation that happened when you selected him (there are even skulls hidden in there) I'm going to favour the Witch Doctor. I've grown fond of him lately and feel that the African culture is fresh and new in Sanctuary. He's definitely the most interesting looking out of all the classes, and he invokes a sense of fear with his creepy masks.
The Demon Hunter doesn't do much for me. I just find the concept bland and unoriginal. We get it she hunts demons and she's wears hoods because she's all mysterious and stuff. I'm hoping she has a really good backstory to make me like the concept. As it stands, I would rather a redone Amazon or a Rogue. The new Amazon/Rogue could be a lot of different from the old one, because a lot's happened since the Worldstone was destroyed. The original graphics are nice but I'd like to see what the current team could have done.
I liked the Sorceress' Middle-Eastern look, but I feel the introduction of the Asian culture to Sanctuary is needed. I like the Wizard's backstory, she's interesting enough to look at, and gameplay-wise I think she will kick ass.
The Monk and the Paladin. I will miss the holy knight in full plate mail class, but I think it would feel stale to rehash the Paladin. It could have been done, but he would have to be radically different. However then we wouldn't have the Monk which I find more interesting. Like the Wizard he's based on an Asian culture but Asia is a vast place and there's room for more than one Asian culture in D3.
The new Barbarian just looks better than the old - he's more natural, grizzled, experienced. Exactly how you would expect a Barbarian to look. The shaggy grey hair is so much better than the pony tail he had in D2. He's needs all the masculinity he can get.
I decided not to explore gameplay elements too much because we don't know all the skills and we haven't played D3 yet.
I shall miss the Paladin as hell but on the other hand, i also really like the whole monk's idea. There is still a lot left to see though.
But anyway, i agree that the new Barb looks way better than the old one. But then again i shall miss the old Amazon. They didn't even replace the class properly with the new demon hunter (if that's the way it was actually supposed to be).
The wizards and the witch doctor look really fresh. Especially the witch doctor. Its appearance and its description both terrify me.
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''May the Gods give you the strength and power to bear the madness which flows through our minds.''
''Zubin, I've always imagined you as a crazy raver. The kinda guy that spends all night dancing to trance music while waving glow sticks and popping ecstasy.'' - Murderface
My style-based comparison would be:
WD - Necromancer: I agree the WD rise a sense of fear, but the necro always gave me an "unknown/arcane power" feeling, like something more lay beyond. I'll go with necro, but witch doctor will be may first character in D3.
Wizard/Sorceress: I definetly like the wizard more, she gives me a sense of mischief.
Demon Hunter/Amazon: I prefer the DH: she is shadowy and almost borders with evil. I didn't like the amazon much, too plain.
Monk/Paladin: I like the whole monk idea, but don't much like the male version. The paladin had a better "aura" ( so to speak :P), guess I'd read too much books on knights. I'd go with the paladin.
Barbarian: they are really similar, so i'd say I prefer the barbarian! I
I was kind of let down by most melee characters in D3 -- especially as I dig the whole Warrior/Knight/Paladin theme, and neither the Monk, nor the Barbarian (whom I intend to play eventually) cut it for me.
I was also looking forward to the Demon Hunter, hoping he'll be more of a rogue-type character, but I am not really interested in him now.
The new spell-casters are great, but they are just not my cup of tea.
So on this whole versus new thing:
Amazon/Demon Hunter - new (although it is fair to say that Demon Hunter takes a lot more after the Assassin from D2X and perhaps the Rogue from D1)
Necromancer/Witch Doctor - new (although again WD is based also on the Druid from D2X)
Barbarian - new
Sorceress/Wizard - new (more interesting skills and mechanics, I guess)
Paladin/Monk - old (mixing the Paladin with the Assassin wasn't a smart move tbh)
What he said. My point exactly. But I must say I'm beginning to think that absence of 100% pleasing class leads to a more balanced assortment however. I don't like any of given D3 classes too much as directions I used to choose are now non-existent (knight/warrior/paladin in full plate armor). So I guess it's correct to say now that I like all classes equally which is a good thing for variety. Now on the old-vs-new topic... I don't think it's ok to compare D3 classes to those of vanilla D2. Expansion classes must be included in comparison as well IMO.
Barbarian = Barbarian
I prefere the new version due to more brutal flavor and better balance of skills. He is like one of the ancients now in a way. New version feels better all in all.
Demon Hunter = Assassin + Amazon
And I must admit I prefere DH here. Assassin's traps were nearly useless but interesting utility. Now they are remade and make gamplay far more diverse and fresh. Ranged aspect of Amazon is a good complement to it making a fine and balanced class gameplay-wise. Will miss Amazon's spear-based skills a little.
Monk = Assassin
I don't see much of a Paladin here. Monk is a holy version of Assassin to me, with the fist weapons and three-strike-queue attacks but without traps. Female version with claws even looks exactly like a recolored Assassin from D2. I liked Paladin more then Monk. But I generally like Monk more then Assassin.
Wizard = Sorceress
Like new version more. A lot more I must admit. Never liked to play as a sorceror inn RPG games, but seriously consider to start a Wizard as my second character in D3. She feels somehow different, lighter, more fresh. New design feels better. Melee aspect is a great addition as well.
Witch Doctor = Druid
I can't see him as a replacement of Necromancer just as I don't picture Monk to be a new Paladin. He is just too different. Lots of beast summons, nature magic and tribal feel... It's what Druid used to be for me aside from shapeshifting. No bone magic, nor mass-curses, not even a golem. What Witch Doctor and Necromancer have in common is just the dark feel, like Monk and Paladin only share the holyness. And I prefere Witch Doctor to a Druid.
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It is told that Buddha, going out to look on life, was greatly daunted by death. "They all eat one another!" he cried, and called it evil. This process I examined, changed the verb, said, "They all feed one another." and called it good.
I really don't like the DH right now. I'm familiar with that archetype and I've seen it in a few games and I don't particularly mind it, but I feel it has place in an expansion class. Nor do I appreciate the dual crossbow thing. I generally gravitate towards the archer in my games and the DH doesn't really feel like an archer to me, so that position is unfilled for me. It just doesn't replace the Amazon at all IMO.
Witch Doctor seems very cool and I'll probably play him at some point. I liked the necromancer but I felt his builds were very awkward and too maximized, I would think WD is freer to build and offers more variety than "spam minions" or "spam bone spear/poison nova".
I never liked the Sorc so I'm fine with the Wizard. Mages are not really my thing anyway, but I like that it's not a 1/2 element Sorc but a full-magic Wizard now.
As for Monk-Paladin, Paladin was my favorite class in DII. I like the sword and board classes. Monk doesn't really fill that, it seems to have been transferred to the Barb. I'm looking forward to playing the Monk but he's not the paladin in any way and I don't treat him as such.
Thanks for that video popo_joe, I had forgotten the demon arm concept. To make the Demon Hunter more interesting I like to pretend that she was one of the corrupted Rogues from D2, which came back to the light after Andariel was killed. This would explain her hatred for demons and how she might know a few of their skills. She also has a lot of Rogue type skills (we don't really have a good representation of Rogue skills from D1 and D2) but traps, bow and knife skills fit well. Crossbows are something she picked up along the journey.
My comparisons between the Monk and the Paladin are made because there are no other classes to compare. I decided not to look into the expansion classes simply because they didn't ship with the first game. So this was meant to be a direct comparison between the classes of D2 classic and D3 and whether the team made better choices.
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Although I love the idea behind the Necromancer, and loved the blue flames animation that happened when you selected him (there are even skulls hidden in there) I'm going to favour the Witch Doctor. I've grown fond of him lately and feel that the African culture is fresh and new in Sanctuary. He's definitely the most interesting looking out of all the classes, and he invokes a sense of fear with his creepy masks.
The Demon Hunter doesn't do much for me. I just find the concept bland and unoriginal. We get it she hunts demons and she's wears hoods because she's all mysterious and stuff. I'm hoping she has a really good backstory to make me like the concept. As it stands, I would rather a redone Amazon or a Rogue. The new Amazon/Rogue could be a lot of different from the old one, because a lot's happened since the Worldstone was destroyed. The original graphics are nice but I'd like to see what the current team could have done.
I liked the Sorceress' Middle-Eastern look, but I feel the introduction of the Asian culture to Sanctuary is needed. I like the Wizard's backstory, she's interesting enough to look at, and gameplay-wise I think she will kick ass.
The Monk and the Paladin. I will miss the holy knight in full plate mail class, but I think it would feel stale to rehash the Paladin. It could have been done, but he would have to be radically different. However then we wouldn't have the Monk which I find more interesting. Like the Wizard he's based on an Asian culture but Asia is a vast place and there's room for more than one Asian culture in D3.
The new Barbarian just looks better than the old - he's more natural, grizzled, experienced. Exactly how you would expect a Barbarian to look. The shaggy grey hair is so much better than the pony tail he had in D2. He's needs all the masculinity he can get.
I decided not to explore gameplay elements too much because we don't know all the skills and we haven't played D3 yet.
But anyway, i agree that the new Barb looks way better than the old one. But then again i shall miss the old Amazon. They didn't even replace the class properly with the new demon hunter (if that's the way it was actually supposed to be).
The wizards and the witch doctor look really fresh. Especially the witch doctor. Its appearance and its description both terrify me.
''Zubin, I've always imagined you as a crazy raver. The kinda guy that spends all night dancing to trance music while waving glow sticks and popping ecstasy.'' - Murderface
WD - Necromancer: I agree the WD rise a sense of fear, but the necro always gave me an "unknown/arcane power" feeling, like something more lay beyond. I'll go with necro, but witch doctor will be may first character in D3.
Wizard/Sorceress: I definetly like the wizard more, she gives me a sense of mischief.
Demon Hunter/Amazon: I prefer the DH: she is shadowy and almost borders with evil. I didn't like the amazon much, too plain.
Monk/Paladin: I like the whole monk idea, but don't much like the male version. The paladin had a better "aura" ( so to speak :P), guess I'd read too much books on knights. I'd go with the paladin.
Barbarian: they are really similar, so i'd say I prefer the barbarian! I
Barbarian = Barbarian
I prefere the new version due to more brutal flavor and better balance of skills. He is like one of the ancients now in a way. New version feels better all in all.
Demon Hunter = Assassin + Amazon
And I must admit I prefere DH here. Assassin's traps were nearly useless but interesting utility. Now they are remade and make gamplay far more diverse and fresh. Ranged aspect of Amazon is a good complement to it making a fine and balanced class gameplay-wise. Will miss Amazon's spear-based skills a little.
Monk = Assassin
I don't see much of a Paladin here. Monk is a holy version of Assassin to me, with the fist weapons and three-strike-queue attacks but without traps. Female version with claws even looks exactly like a recolored Assassin from D2. I liked Paladin more then Monk. But I generally like Monk more then Assassin.
Wizard = Sorceress
Like new version more. A lot more I must admit. Never liked to play as a sorceror inn RPG games, but seriously consider to start a Wizard as my second character in D3. She feels somehow different, lighter, more fresh. New design feels better. Melee aspect is a great addition as well.
Witch Doctor = Druid
I can't see him as a replacement of Necromancer just as I don't picture Monk to be a new Paladin. He is just too different. Lots of beast summons, nature magic and tribal feel... It's what Druid used to be for me aside from shapeshifting. No bone magic, nor mass-curses, not even a golem. What Witch Doctor and Necromancer have in common is just the dark feel, like Monk and Paladin only share the holyness. And I prefere Witch Doctor to a Druid.
Witch Doctor seems very cool and I'll probably play him at some point. I liked the necromancer but I felt his builds were very awkward and too maximized, I would think WD is freer to build and offers more variety than "spam minions" or "spam bone spear/poison nova".
I never liked the Sorc so I'm fine with the Wizard. Mages are not really my thing anyway, but I like that it's not a 1/2 element Sorc but a full-magic Wizard now.
As for Monk-Paladin, Paladin was my favorite class in DII. I like the sword and board classes. Monk doesn't really fill that, it seems to have been transferred to the Barb. I'm looking forward to playing the Monk but he's not the paladin in any way and I don't treat him as such.
My comparisons between the Monk and the Paladin are made because there are no other classes to compare. I decided not to look into the expansion classes simply because they didn't ship with the first game. So this was meant to be a direct comparison between the classes of D2 classic and D3 and whether the team made better choices.