All seven Prime Evils will feature as bosses
Duriel is already confirmed to make an appearance via pre-release gameplay footage. Diablo himself will most likely make an appearance since... the series is named after him.With a campaign that's being promoted as being non-linear taking approximately 35 hours to complete, it's safe to assume that there's easily more than enough room to feature all 7 prime evils as bosses.
- Jossed.
The man who made the priest complete the summoning didn't replace the fourth adventurer
Whoever he was, he knew that he needed three others to summon Lilith, including someone who could read the inscriptions. He took the guise of a fellow adventurer and tempted the other three down there. That's why he both insisted on helping the badly injured priest and volunteered to hold off the monsters: he needed all three of the others to survive long enough to enter the chamber.- Supported. The one-eyed swordsman is Elias, aka the Pale Man, and the mastermind to summon Lilith into Sanctuary.
Diablo will become the ACTUAL Tethamet this time
In the last game, Diablo's master plan was to absorb the souls of his siblings, reclaiming the power of their father, the ultimate evil Tethamet. It worked; he took on Heaven and almost won. Fortunately, he overestimated his power and was defeated by one Nephalem because he was playing with his food. This time, he knows that to defeat the latest army of Nephalem, he'll need to absorb Hell itself - using Lilith somehow to absorb all of Hell, causing him to turn into the actual, seven-headed, planet-sized dragon that killed the ultimate good Anu.- Or it will backfire on Diablo, bringing back Tethamet in both body and soul, which will lead into a final boss battle against Tethamet.
- Jossed. As revealed at Blizzcon 2019, Mephisto, Baal and the Lesser Evils all managed to free themselves from Diablo in the time between III and IV, with Duriel confirmed as an enemy in IV.
Low-tech guns will be available as ranged weapons
With the enhanced intelligence of the Nephalem, some geniuses will eventually realize they can enchant a small parcel to explode, stuff it in a barrel with a tiny shard of sword, and watch it blink into the enemy like a crossbow bolt that cannot be dodged. Most of the guns will be rudimentary modified crossbows, combined with the Demon Hunters' crossbow enchantments. And guns still won't be enough against the demon hordes, but they'll help.- Unfortunately Jossed. Maybe in the grand finale...
Lilith will be actually an ally
Even though he's not named, the cinematic files called the summoner, Rathma, and after summoning Lilith, he asked her to "save us" meaning, presumably mankind, but from what? the other demons? angels?- Seems to be jossed as of the beta. Not only does Lilith act as an antagonistic force, but we find Rathma's actual body at the end of the beta. The summoner is a completely different person.
- Jossed. While she does want to save Sanctuary, she makes it very clear that she is no friend to the weak, tossing most mortals aside to be feasted on by her armies.
There will be a boss rush.
It will be in a level unlocked after finishing the game and will involve fighting the Seven Prime Evils one after another. The final boss fight will be against Diablo and Lilith.
Lilith is the main antagonist, but the since this is the the Diablo series, Diablo still needs to be featured. So Diablo returns, forced to support Lilith.- Jossed
Lilith won't be the final threat to the heroes or the Big Bad
In the promotional material and even in the beta, she is positioned as the Big Bad of the game the heroes must stop. However, she will ultimately be one of the major bosses the heroes defeats as more powerful and manipulative figures make themselves known. Like past Diablo games, ultimately we will once again see that Humans Are the Real Monsters, and somehow Diablo will return in a Hijacked by Ganon way.- Lilith is the final boss of the main story, but the epilogue makes it clear that her father Mephisto is the true threat.
Inarius is using a Glamour to hide his mutilation
An angel's body, comprised of hardened 'light and sound', is partly dependent on their state of mind. The Fallen were twisted into corporeal forms by their newfound urge for genocide and use of blasphemous torture weapons. Inarius hasn't recovered from Mephisto's millennia of mutilation mentally, so don't think he truly recovered physically. Rathma's prophecy isn't about Lilith, it's about Mephisto.
The prophecy Inarius has bastardized into the tale of his redemption and return to the High Heavens refers to the path to Hell being opened, a spear of light that will pierce the heart of Hatred and free one bound in chains. But the prophecy never mentions a specific name. While Lilith is the Daughter of Hatred, she is of Sanctuary and the Void, she abandoned the Burning Hells. The prophecy tells of a conflict against Mephisto, Lord of Hatred. And the one freed from their chains is most likely not Inarius, but any other Sealed Evil in a Can. Following the prophecy and striking down Mephisto is going to release something terrible into Sanctuary and beyond.- Forced to choose between trusting Mephisto or risk playing into a reverse psychology scheme, Neyrelle decides on the latter and stabs him with a soulstone. Time will tell whose freedom this is.
Future DLC Speculation
Diablo II had the Lord of Destruction DLC and Diablo III had the Reaper of Souls DLC. Following the trend, Diablo IV will get an expansion that gives us a new Big Bad to close the chapter on the current age of Sanctuary and a few new playable classes. Listed below are some potential elements added in DLC.Big Bad candidates:
- Diablo: It isn't a Diablo game without the Lord of Terror. After all that's transpired on Sanctuary, Diablo would try to take the opportunity to escape Hell once again and work towards finishing the job of destroying the High Heavens.
- Arcangel Imperius: There were plans in Diablo III for Imperius to become a Fallen Angel like Maltheal that never came to be. Fifty years later, with the High Heavens closed off and corrupted by Diablo's attack, Imperius finally falls and becomes the Angel of Wrath. Consumed by his anger, Imperius will finally ignore the council's judgement and seek to destroy Sanctuary and mankind once and for all.
Bosses candidates:
- Prava: she hates the player, is apparently mad and still leads the Cathedral. It is almost sure she will be fought.
- Tyrael: he vanished from Horadric vault and everything went to Hell. He may become like Malthael and go mad.
New Playable Classes:
- Crusader/Paladin: The holy warriors are at their weakest now with the Heavens closed off and the Church of Light's oppressive rule, but some few keepers of true faith remain, and the word of Lilith's return to Sanctuary has brought them out of hiding to protect the true Light.
- Beastmaster: As there's already two classes that are The Minion Master, think of a "Beastmaster" as somewhat of a rogue mixed with a necromancer or a druid. Maybe they have things like a pet beast that's more durable, a cat that deals damage, a vulture that drains life, thorn beasts that inflict Damage Over Time... They use axes, bows, and spears. Their class gimmick is the pet that they got out - or to go flat out lone wolf for a flat DPS increase. (However they're also squishy)
- Monk: Like Diablo 3. And because the area of the world they're from may be somewhat like the area it is. Some abilities would have them use weapons, others would have them just punch. Weapons are cestuses but they can also use staves and spears. One potential thought could be to put in a Stance System - or that's their class gimmick. They use different stances.
- Bard: Diablo intended to have a Bard class.
- Inquisitor: Think like a sorcerer mixed with a White Mage or a Crusader / Paladin focused more on using holy magic.
- Witch/Warlock: Somewhat like Aneta actually - unless this is too similar to "Necromancer".
Returning Characters:
- Tyreal: It's been mentioned that he went mia between games, so we might meet him here, or at the very least learn of what he's been up to via second hand means (dialogue with other characters, journal entries, etc.).
Plot:
- The ending will be a reversal of the previous game; Diablo 3 ended on a happy note whilst it's dlc ended on a sombre note. Ergo, since 4 ended on a sombre note, it's dlc will have a relatively happier note.
- Prava and the church are going to get called out by either Tyrael or a representative of the Angelis Council over their actions. Time will tell if their words stick, or if they'll double down and turn against Heaven as much as Hell.
