Blizzard announced today at Gamescom 2013 the new expansion for Diablo III. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls tells the story of how Malthael, the fallen Archangel of Wisdom, returns to the Diablo universe as the Angel of Death. He’s after the Black Soulstone, which contains the essence of the Prime Evil, so players will obviously have to put a stop to his endeavour and bring him down.

The expansion will feature a new class: The Crusader. This tanky new avatar wears heavy armour and wields lots of different weapons, and can use magic to strengthen allies and weaken foes.

The level cap is being raised to 70, and those players who want to hop back onto their characters from the original game can expect to see new skills unlocked as they progress to level 70, so it should provide the perfect excuse to dive back into the world of Sanctuary when the game eventually launches. According to the official press release, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls will also place a “greater emphasis” on randomised environments, and also claims to provide “substantial updates to the loot experience”. 

The game is playable at Gamescom on the show floor, and Blizzard will showing more of the game at their BlizzCon convention in November.

Blizzard also showed off a gameplay trailer featuring the new Crusader class:

Will you be picking up the expansion? Let us know what you think in the comments below.