With Diablo 2: Resurrected and Diablo 4 on the horizon, fans of the franchise have a lot to look forward to. While Diablo 2 has often been championed as the best of the best, there's no doubt Diablo 3 had its merits too, and for many players, one of those was the Demon Hunter class. Filling the niche of the Dex-based class, the cool design, gameplay, and more made it immediately stand out as Diablo 3's "wildcard" class. It was something mostly unique, as the Barbarian and Wizard were classics, the Witch Doctor was the Necromancer's follow-up, and the Monk appeared in Diablo 1's Hellfire expansion.
Diablo 2 also followed this pattern, though only slightly. It contained a slew of standard RPG classes, even though they were mostly all new for the time (except the Barbarian), but the Necromancer truly stood out as Diablo 2's wildcard and would be iterated on again and again. Fortunately, while Demon Hunter fans are unlikely to see the class appear in Diablo 4, those aspects of its wildcard nature could still be there.
Diablo 4's Rogue and The Relationship with Demon Hunter
First, Diablo 4's Rogue walks a tightwire with its influences. Obviously, the class is being brought back from the first game, but the Assassin was also a new iteration of the Rogue in Diablo 2's Lords of Destruction DLC. However, in this mixture to create a strong Dex-based character for the upcoming entry, Blizzard looked at the Demon Hunter too.
Specifically, it has been said that the Rogue intended to mimic the gameplay of Diablo 2's Assassin and Diablo 3's Demon Hunter, creating a perfect union of the two in one character. Rogues can use crossbows, imbue arrows with special properties, and much more that all scream Demon Hunter, making it the prime iteration of the class. While the Rogue may not be a Demon Hunter in name, it stands to reason that many of the traits found in the latter will draw fans to the former. As such, even though little is known and its release is far away, Demon Hunter fans probably can't go wrong for the Rogue in terms of gameplay.
Diablo 4 Classes: New vs. Familiar
Of course, the high Dex-based gameplay was only one reason fans were drawn to the Demon Hunter. The other came from the sheer "rule of cool" factor that the Demon Hunter inherently has; as the "wildcard" class of Diablo 3, it drew eyes as a less traditional Diablo or RPG class. Combined with the lore built around it, and it was a win-win scenario. Notably, Blizzard could and should go for the same surprise appeal in its final Diablo 4 class reveal.
Right now, every class in Diablo 4 has been taken from others: the mainstay Barbarian, the magical Druids and Sorceresses, and the iteration of the Rogue. But if it were to introduce a wildcard class, even though it's unlikely to be Dex-based, it could catch the "new" that drew many fans to the Demon Hunter in the first place. A heavy tank-based class makes sense, so perhaps instead of going with a Holy Warrior like Paladin or Crusader, it would be interesting if Diablo 4 added a Blackguard/Fallen Paladin (but, of course, this is just speculation).
Either way, while it may not be the Demon Hunter proper, Diablo 4 fans who want all the ranged mastery or who want that sheer "new" vibe of a wildcard class may just get what they want in the next game.
Diablo 4 is in development, with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.