I have read the Diablo series written by Richard A. Knaac and mentioned a lot throught the books are the Priests of Zakarum. In fact, one of the main characters in the second book is a Priest of Zakarum.
And also the game itself, Diablo 2; You can find the Zakarum Church in Lut Golein.
Basically what i'm trying to point out is that the Priests of Zakarum seem to play an important role in the story of Diablo.
And so a thought struck me. I considered it was possiable that one of the classes in Diablo 3 could be a Priest of Zakarum.
Blizzard already said that only 2 of the classes from Diablo 2 would be returning, the Barbarian as one of them. As for the other.. if it happens to NOT be the Paladin, then it would make sense that the PoZ would fill in for the holy class.
Anyways, just a thought.
wow that name sounds familiar, it really does.. *glares over @ my age of conan collecting dust* lol. uhm it would certainly be an interesting class but i remember reading, they're not going with the 'role' classes or w/e.. healers/tanks/dps etc..
They could put some kind of class that are bounded to the church of Zanakarum. However I guess the game have enough spell casters (2 of 5). So the class would have to follow a different line of the paladin and of a usual priest.
I actually had an idea for a priest class, that i posted about a year ago. It could still have a place in the current state of Diablo 3 (with the exception of the slow spell)
Class: Priest
History: During the catastrophe of the rampant corruption of the Zakarum church, the Zakarum Paladins were thought to be the only group left unscathed by Mephisto's dark powers, turning the righteous into the very servants of Mephisto. But there was another small cathedral left entirely untouched by Mephisto's corruption. This cathedral was a holy place, and the destination of many a pilgrimage of the Zakarum. What made this particular catherdral so divine, was the small spring that ran behind it. These waters sprung up from the earth, forming a small basin in the rock behind the cathedral, then trickling back down into the ground. This stream is believed to be the site of the very first piece of sanctuary to be created by Inarius. The powerful magic waters of the stream are said to burn and kill any demon prescence that so much as comes to contact with it, many Palidins even blessing their maces in the stream, giving their new, more powerful maces the name 'holy water sprinkler'. The high priests of this cathedral, or simply priests, for short, have devoted their lives to safeguarding this holy place, but once danger threatens, they will have to venture into the world, to make sure any demonic presence doesn't get the opportunity to make it to their holy place.
Class specific item: Holy Crossbow. The priest, being a holy spellcaster, does not like get too close to the demonic taint, remembering the corruption of their other zakarum brethren. Because of this, they favor the Crossbow, because of its ease of use, and the holy shape that they represent. Because of the cross shape of the Holy crossbow, they are blessed by the priests, and can give spell bonuses, similar to a necromancer's wand or sorcerers staff.
Skill trees:
Crossbow Skills:
This tree deals with spells that allow the Priest to channel his holy energy through his crossbow, making the weapon a deadly conduit of divine energies.
Last Defense- Sometimes, when surrounded by foes, the priest no longer has the benefit of attacking his enemies from a distance. When this happens, the priest must channel his fury into the core of the weapon, making the cross of the crossbow glow, and he will swing the weapon with all his might. The magical force of the weapon will knock back any enemies it hits, giving the priest more room to attack with.
Piercing Shot- The Priest will bless the of his crossbow, making it take on unearthly properties, unaffected by normal laws of sanctuary. This bolt will shoot from the crossbow, piercing enemies in its path, yet not even slowing, cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.
Bolt of love- Different from other crossbow skills, this skill allows the Priest to channel heavenly forgiveness and love through his weapon. Using this skill, the priest shoots an ally, causing normal weapon damage, yet for X seconds it will cause Y monsters to become infatuated, and stop attacking the target, even defending them from from harm in certain situations.
Flashbolt- The priest fires a brightly illuminated bolt, and it deals extra damage to its target, because of the holy energies, the explodes in a flash of light, blind all enemies nearby.
Purifying Water:
This tree involves the Priest's connection to the holy spring, calling upon its holy waters, wherever the priest may be, to aid the Priest. All offensive spells in this tree can also heal the priest's party member, or the priest himself in some cases. This makes the priest the first true healer, but this does NOT make the priest any less formidable an opponent, as many demons have underestimated the priest, only to be stricken down by their divine vengeance.
example spell: cleansing rain- Calls down holy water from the heavens, causing it to rain the very waters of the holy spring. This causes X dmg a sec to anyone who would seek to do harm to the priest, in a certain radius around the priest, as well as healing friendly party members in the radius for Y Health/second.
Wave(could probably get a better name)- creates a large wave of water, knocking enemies over/down as it moves its way along, crashing. Causes holy dmg/physical dmg. Knocks allies over if hit, yet heals them a large amount.
Divine Stream: Creates a concentrated stream of pure holy water, constantly spraying at the target, causeing X dmg/healing per second (similar to inferno, but with longer range).
Geyser: A torrent of divine water bursts forth from the earth, knocking the enemy up into the air, dealing damage while the enemy is being held there.
Flood- It is believed that during the time of Inarius' rule over much of the population of sanctuary, Inarius wanted to cleanse sanctuary of all non-believers. Inarius' plan to do this was to create a massive flood, drowning all those but his devout followers, being kept safe in his holy cathedral. The creation of a holy flood is one of the last abilities that the Priest can master. Flood calls upon vast amounts of holy water, slowly rising in a large area. As the water rises, enemies take greater holy damage, and all allies or enemies' movement speed is decreased while in the water, with the decrease being greater the more water there is, it also heals allies more, the deeper they are in the water. One common tactics for priests is to trap an enemy in a protection bubble, then to flood it, trapping the enemy inside with the rising water, rising even quicker since it is in a confined space. Once the bubble fills completely, all enemies inside take the full holy damage from being surrounded by holy water, and take additional physical damage as well, from drowning in it.
Protection:
This tree deals with the priest calling upon divine intervention to prevent damage to himself or allies, as well as other useful spells.
Divine intervention- Creates a holy barrier around the Priest, causing any projectiles that enter the barrier to fall to the ground, harmlessly.
Personal Sheild- Creates a small barrier around the target, protecting them from X dmg before shattering. While in the bubble, they cannot move until it is gone. Targeting enemies in the bubble will make them immoble, trapping them, and they take Y dmg per second from the searing light of the sheild around them, but they will not take damage from other sources.
Slow: Creates a medium sized bubble at the target of this spell, and anything in the radius (enemies, allies, or projectiles) are slowed down, from the priest using the bubble he has created as a magnification of his divine will to manipulate the flow of time inside of it.
Bless Sheild: Blesses target's shield, making a magical barrier around it, increasing the block rate by X, DOES stack with palidins divine shield spell.
Reflection- The Priest targets one ally with this, coating them in their personal protection field. This field deflects any physical damage back at the attack, preventing the physical damage entirely, which includes launching back physical projectiles, such as arrows.
And also the game itself, Diablo 2; You can find the Zakarum Church in Lut Golein.
Basically what i'm trying to point out is that the Priests of Zakarum seem to play an important role in the story of Diablo.
And so a thought struck me. I considered it was possiable that one of the classes in Diablo 3 could be a Priest of Zakarum.
Blizzard already said that only 2 of the classes from Diablo 2 would be returning, the Barbarian as one of them. As for the other.. if it happens to NOT be the Paladin, then it would make sense that the PoZ would fill in for the holy class.
Anyways, just a thought.
Fuck you, I'm a dragon.
Class: Priest
History: During the catastrophe of the rampant corruption of the Zakarum church, the Zakarum Paladins were thought to be the only group left unscathed by Mephisto's dark powers, turning the righteous into the very servants of Mephisto. But there was another small cathedral left entirely untouched by Mephisto's corruption. This cathedral was a holy place, and the destination of many a pilgrimage of the Zakarum. What made this particular catherdral so divine, was the small spring that ran behind it. These waters sprung up from the earth, forming a small basin in the rock behind the cathedral, then trickling back down into the ground. This stream is believed to be the site of the very first piece of sanctuary to be created by Inarius. The powerful magic waters of the stream are said to burn and kill any demon prescence that so much as comes to contact with it, many Palidins even blessing their maces in the stream, giving their new, more powerful maces the name 'holy water sprinkler'. The high priests of this cathedral, or simply priests, for short, have devoted their lives to safeguarding this holy place, but once danger threatens, they will have to venture into the world, to make sure any demonic presence doesn't get the opportunity to make it to their holy place.
Class specific item: Holy Crossbow. The priest, being a holy spellcaster, does not like get too close to the demonic taint, remembering the corruption of their other zakarum brethren. Because of this, they favor the Crossbow, because of its ease of use, and the holy shape that they represent. Because of the cross shape of the Holy crossbow, they are blessed by the priests, and can give spell bonuses, similar to a necromancer's wand or sorcerers staff.
Skill trees:
Crossbow Skills:
This tree deals with spells that allow the Priest to channel his holy energy through his crossbow, making the weapon a deadly conduit of divine energies.
Last Defense- Sometimes, when surrounded by foes, the priest no longer has the benefit of attacking his enemies from a distance. When this happens, the priest must channel his fury into the core of the weapon, making the cross of the crossbow glow, and he will swing the weapon with all his might. The magical force of the weapon will knock back any enemies it hits, giving the priest more room to attack with.
Piercing Shot- The Priest will bless the of his crossbow, making it take on unearthly properties, unaffected by normal laws of sanctuary. This bolt will shoot from the crossbow, piercing enemies in its path, yet not even slowing, cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.
Bolt of love- Different from other crossbow skills, this skill allows the Priest to channel heavenly forgiveness and love through his weapon. Using this skill, the priest shoots an ally, causing normal weapon damage, yet for X seconds it will cause Y monsters to become infatuated, and stop attacking the target, even defending them from from harm in certain situations.
Flashbolt- The priest fires a brightly illuminated bolt, and it deals extra damage to its target, because of the holy energies, the explodes in a flash of light, blind all enemies nearby.
Purifying Water:
This tree involves the Priest's connection to the holy spring, calling upon its holy waters, wherever the priest may be, to aid the Priest. All offensive spells in this tree can also heal the priest's party member, or the priest himself in some cases. This makes the priest the first true healer, but this does NOT make the priest any less formidable an opponent, as many demons have underestimated the priest, only to be stricken down by their divine vengeance.
example spell: cleansing rain- Calls down holy water from the heavens, causing it to rain the very waters of the holy spring. This causes X dmg a sec to anyone who would seek to do harm to the priest, in a certain radius around the priest, as well as healing friendly party members in the radius for Y Health/second.
Wave(could probably get a better name)- creates a large wave of water, knocking enemies over/down as it moves its way along, crashing. Causes holy dmg/physical dmg. Knocks allies over if hit, yet heals them a large amount.
Divine Stream: Creates a concentrated stream of pure holy water, constantly spraying at the target, causeing X dmg/healing per second (similar to inferno, but with longer range).
Geyser: A torrent of divine water bursts forth from the earth, knocking the enemy up into the air, dealing damage while the enemy is being held there.
Flood- It is believed that during the time of Inarius' rule over much of the population of sanctuary, Inarius wanted to cleanse sanctuary of all non-believers. Inarius' plan to do this was to create a massive flood, drowning all those but his devout followers, being kept safe in his holy cathedral. The creation of a holy flood is one of the last abilities that the Priest can master. Flood calls upon vast amounts of holy water, slowly rising in a large area. As the water rises, enemies take greater holy damage, and all allies or enemies' movement speed is decreased while in the water, with the decrease being greater the more water there is, it also heals allies more, the deeper they are in the water. One common tactics for priests is to trap an enemy in a protection bubble, then to flood it, trapping the enemy inside with the rising water, rising even quicker since it is in a confined space. Once the bubble fills completely, all enemies inside take the full holy damage from being surrounded by holy water, and take additional physical damage as well, from drowning in it.
Protection:
This tree deals with the priest calling upon divine intervention to prevent damage to himself or allies, as well as other useful spells.
Divine intervention- Creates a holy barrier around the Priest, causing any projectiles that enter the barrier to fall to the ground, harmlessly.
Personal Sheild- Creates a small barrier around the target, protecting them from X dmg before shattering. While in the bubble, they cannot move until it is gone. Targeting enemies in the bubble will make them immoble, trapping them, and they take Y dmg per second from the searing light of the sheild around them, but they will not take damage from other sources.
Slow: Creates a medium sized bubble at the target of this spell, and anything in the radius (enemies, allies, or projectiles) are slowed down, from the priest using the bubble he has created as a magnification of his divine will to manipulate the flow of time inside of it.
Bless Sheild: Blesses target's shield, making a magical barrier around it, increasing the block rate by X, DOES stack with palidins divine shield spell.
Reflection- The Priest targets one ally with this, coating them in their personal protection field. This field deflects any physical damage back at the attack, preventing the physical damage entirely, which includes launching back physical projectiles, such as arrows.
I realize its a lot to read, but here it is