News April 23, 2026

Diablo 4's upcoming Lord of Hatred expansion brings significant reworks to two classes that haven't seen major updates since the game's launch. Necromancers and druids each receive substantial changes to their core mechanics, with necromancers gaining the ability to command up to 28 skeleton minions simultaneously while druids can now use their skills without ever transforming into a bear.

The expansion, launching April 27 (April 28 for some regions), introduces these class overhauls alongside the new warlock class and updates to all seven character trees. According to PC Gamer's review coverage, the changes represent Blizzard's effort to ensure these mechanically unique classes can fully leverage the expansion's new loot, crafting, and skill systems.

What Changed

Druid skills are no longer tied to specific shapeshifting forms. Players can now select which form they want their skills to transform them into directly in the skill tree, at no additional cost. This allows druids to play as purely human characters for storm and earth skills while still accessing transformative abilities when desired. The change particularly benefits builds centered around items that grant bonuses for staying in a single form.

Necromancers receive the most dramatic overhaul. Blizzard has promoted them to "undead generals" with enhanced minion command capabilities. Key changes include: directable skeleton attacks, the ability to summon up to 28 skeletons with the right equipment, skeletal mages now summoned using essence (the necromancer's version of mana), passive skeletal warrior summoning when monster corpses are nearby, and golem abilities now residing in the skill tree.

The Book of the Dead, necromancer's unique class mechanic, has been reworked. Players can still sacrifice minions for powerful stat bonuses while simultaneously summoning weaker versions of those minions in combat. This allows minion-focused builds to use summons as pure tanks or to trigger specific gear effects without losing damage output.

What This Means for Players

Necromancer players will notice significantly reduced summoning spam during boss encounters where minions frequently die. The ability to command up to 28 skeletons opens up new build possibilities centered around overwhelming minion counts. The Book of the Dead rework means players no longer must choose between powerful sacrifice bonuses and having minions present—both can now coexist.

Druid players who prefer not to play as bears will find the new form selection system transformative. The free-form approach makes it viable to run pure human druid builds focused on storm and earth skills, something that was largely impractical before. Players chasing one-form item bonuses now have a much easier time maintaining their preferred transformation.

What's Next

The Lord of Hatred expansion arrives April 27 in most regions and April 28 elsewhere. All class changes—including the new warlock skill tree—will be available from the moment players start the new campaign. Players should expect to spend significant time in the skill tree at launch, particularly necromancers exploring the expanded minion command system and druids experimenting with form selection for their preferred build archetypes.