Tempest

"In a time of ever-growing danger for the world of Sanctuary, mysterious wanderers have sailed from the frigid mists of the north to push back the darkness that surrounds us. These agile, dual blade-wielding warriors harness the fury of the storm, and crash upon their enemies with wind and waves. Will you become one of them? Or will you fight alongside them?"

- Class description^(src)

A Tempest

The Tempest is a class for Diablo Immortal. It became playable as part of a free update in May, 2024.

Lore

"Uncontrolled power is the doom of the soul; power gripped tight the doom of the world."

- The Tempest's mantra^(src)

Tempests in battle

Tempests are warrior-priests based in the Cold Isles. Chosen from among the pure of heart, Tempests are raised to protect their people.

Abilities

Tempests wear waterproof, lightweight armor. They train in fighting upon the waves, and excel in blade-dancing, wavewalking, and seafaring. They harness movement and elemental powers as they unleash twin edges; wind and water blades of immense power that harness the elements of air and water. Tempests can move and morph like water to both maneuver around the battlefield and damage enemies.

Tempests can also conjure Zephyrs;temporary shades that mirror the Tempest's movements to distract and taunt enemies, leaving their foes open for the kill.

The purest and bravest of the Tempests are sent on dangerous voyages to breathe in the mists of the Spiral. To hear the whispering voices of an earlier age, and grow in knowledge and power to command sea and sky as Empress Mehrwen did. The Tempests who are purest of heart and will drink the mists in daily, ultimately trading their material thoughts and bodies for greater power over wave and wind. Symptoms preclude this stage, which are visible in a Tempest's reflection.

History

"We should have died that night. Sanctuary's evil had been unleashed upon us. Our captain, the rest of the crew...slaughtered. We thought that night would be our last. We could never have imagined Tempests. Ancient history come to life. Standing against demons and death. We will never forget what we saw on that ship. The two were masters of wind and water, fighting with elemental fury. They saved us, but I will never forget their warning—'the armies of Hell are coming for us all, and we will meet them with the perfect storm.'"

- A sailor^(src)

Tempests during the time of the Pelghain empire

The history of Tempests goes back thousands of years, and their attire has remained the same throughout their history. Their origins stem back to Pelghain—after the empire's collapse, the empire's once proud people turned to the Tempests for protection. They sailed as far south as the Northern Steppes to hunt the beasts that ravaged their shores. However, storms continued to batter the Cold Isles for centuries, and more Tempests were needed to curb them each year. With each beast the Tempests slew, two more lurked below. However, the rulers of the Isles refused to abandon their homeland.

A Tempest sets sail

Over time, a number of Tempests have strayed from their home. Indeed, some Tempests voyage widely, and have beheld a world just as embatted as their homeland. This has led some Tempests to reject their society and refuse to lose their humanity to the mists. Those who abandon the Cold Isles are made pariahs, in order to deter others from following their example, but for these Tempests, their calling is to use their talents to protect the lives of mainlanders at all costs. They claim their perspective is greater than that of the mist-addled Unmoored, and lament their strongest wasting their lives; delaying the inevitable, never stopping it. Some believe their home will be doomed forever.

c. 1273, a small group of Tempests voyaged to the mainland to confront its evils. They cut down demons with blade and water, and sought to preserve any lives they could. But when they spoke, it was always as exiles—with the chill of the wind and the voices of centuries gone. If their home was doomed despite all their people had sacrificed, what would it cost them to save Sanctuary?

Gameplay

Tempests are based around dual-wielding blades. Their abilities are themed around water and wind. This allows them to lash enemies with water whips, swirl around to target enemies and trap monsters to dash through them for increased damage. They are a Strength-based class.

When playing as the Tempest, players have access to an exclusive quest, "The Relentless Tide." This depicts the backstory of the Tempest class and takes place 2-3 years before Immortal begins. However, the quest can be skipped if the player so chooses. The Tempest class also has a trial dungeon which has pre-builds meant to allow players to test out various styles.

Abilities

Passive

• Mist-Touched

Primary Attack

• Wind Edge
  • Piercing Gale
• Wave Edge
  • Power of the Deeps

Skills

• Blade Dance
• Breaker
• Cascade
• Crosswinds
• Flowing Strike
• Riptide
• Rolling Surf
• Squall
• Stormfury
• Tidal Rush
• Vortex
• Wind Walk
• Zephyr Surge

Quotes

Level Up

• "As my power grows, so does my responsibility."
• "By the wind I swore."
• "Cast out the darkness, only purity remains."
• "Mehrwen's breath renews me."
• "My fate is mine to decide."
• "The mists call, but my purpose is greater."
• "The storm within me grows strong."
• "The whispers have never led me wrong."
• "The wisdom of generations flows through me."
• "To master the elements, first master yourself."

Battle Taunt

• "A worthy foe?"
• "I have a thousand ways to end you."
• "I serve a purpose, and you are in my way."'

Massacre

• "I will cleanse the world of your impurity."
• "It doesn't take vision to see your undoing."
• "Not even the mists will remember you!"
• "The people will sing of your demise."
• "Washed away, like the tide."

Health Potion

• "Breath returns to me."
• "I am healed."
• "Mehrwen's voice urges me on."
• "My wounds are mending."

Low Health

• "Huh... breath... escapes me."
• "I will not yield... need to finish my purpose."

Full Inventory

• "And where do I put that?"
• "I am overburdened."
• "Weighed down by worldly possessions, how disappointing."

Development

"From a narrative perspective, but also a gameplay fuel perspective, I think when we were kicking around some early ideas for a wind and wave class, we had some concepts like the Sage, or the Siren. We had sort of an illusionist type of character, but they felt a little bit softer in impact. They were cool. But then we looked at the way that you play Immortal - which is, a large volume of monsters surrounding you, and you're trying to play Whack-A-Mole with as many of them as you can, as fast as you can. We aligned there on using elemental force, using this sort of hurricane force, all the fury of the wind and waves, and letting that kind of guide us as the chief venue of how the class interacts with enemies."

- Ryan Quinn^(src)

Concept art

Development on the Tempest began after the release of the Blood Knight. Early on, the developers were toying with early ideas for a wind and wave class. Concepts existed for classes such as the Sage and Siren. There was also an illusionist-type character.

One of the key ideas that the designers had for the Tempest was to create a narrative surrounding the class from the beginning of development. They used that narrative to drive the design, rather than creating the class first. The idea of the Cold Isles and Pelghain was developed first, which drove the idea for the class to be characterized by the elements of wind and water. The idea for this came from looking at the Frozen Sea and asking what was up there. As of 2023, there was little material that depicted the area.

It was decided that the Tempest was going to be movement-based, and control water and wind. To accentuate the water and wind elements, the developers took inspiration from telltale patterns and art nouveau due to the style's use of curvy lines that further accentuate the theme and their movement overall. It was decided to use a cooler color palette for the Tempest, making it visually distinct from other classes within the game.

Earlier in production, the Tempest was going to look completely different from its final version. At some point, it was going to look like a sea creature, akin to a half-human, half sea creature. When the theme of the Tempest was discussed, the developers had a chart where they looked at the other classes of the franchise. They saw that they didn't have much of a light-based, light-themed class that is not holy or angelic. The developers wanted something that was life-based to contrast with the Blood Knight. Thus, the visuals were changed to make the Tempest more human. The Tempest's color scheme is primarily white and teal, setting it apart from other classes. The white and teal colors stemmed from the idea of a class with a brighter color palette. Furthermore, the colors sync with the Tempest's fluidity, lightweight gear, and the chaos of storms.

Nephalem lore inspired the design of the Tempest.

Visually, one of the key differences that sets the Tempest apart from other is the main weapon that they use, namely swords where the blade can separate from the hilt and turn into a water whip.

During development, it was considered making the Tempest a summons-based class, akin to the Necromancer. This only went as far as the Zephyr, and it was designed to make the Zephyr feel like a mimic of the Tempest as opposed to a summoned creature.

The Tempest was first hinted at in March, 2024, where it was announced that a new class would be released for the game, and would not be a pre-existing class. The class was formally revealed in May of the same year.

Images

Cinematic

Artwork

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