Say hello to the monk, the recently revealed Diablo III class who rather than sitting cross-legged in a hill-top monastery, is far more likely to slap you 100 times in a second before appearing behind you and kicking you in the arse. That’s his trick, and he sidles up to the three revealed classes – the Barbarian, Witch Doctor and Wizard – filling the fourth slot on the Diablo III character selection screen and shuffling next to the question mark obscuring the yet-to-be unveiled fifth guy.

The quest on show during our hands-on involved finding a path to the doomed city of Alcarnus, through a desert with menacing location names like The Howling Plateau and The Scything Winds. The ambiguously titled Fallen formed the desert’s cannon fodder enemy, small impish creatures wielding clubs and short swords who’d attack in packs of around 12. Occasionally they’d be led by a mage who’d attempt to resurrect fallen Fallen, but these creatures are little more than the area’s XP bubblewrap. The real menaces are the dune dervishes, whose whirling blades force you into a hasty retreat. There was also something big that tore us to bits far too quickly for us to notice what it was.

The monk is a melee combat specialist, less lumbering than the rippling mass of twitching muscle that’s the barbarian, but more physically able than the other two spellcasters, and potentially gorier than the rest combined. His main attack (at level 12 at least, the point at which we were allowed take up the reins) is the Exploding Palm, which we will now discuss in excruciating detail because honestly, we haven’t played anything like Diablo since completing Divine Divinity and, when it comes to clicking on things to make them dead, we’re feeling a little underqualified.

Exploding Palm is a three-part attack: the first part landing a blow to the tune of 40% of your weapon’s maximum damage. Part two does the same, but at 60% of your maximum damage. Part three is where things get interesting, causing bleeding on your chosen target and, if they succumb to your onslaught, they explode in a rapidly expanding hemisphere of globulous blood, stringy, burnt flesh and bony shrapnel.

Absurdly, that’s the third click of one of your most basic attacks – a move that makes enemies disintegrate with explosive force, taking out bystanders and leaving a wide, bloody smear across the floor. The sort of spectacle usually reserved for a high-end, mana-sapping superpower in other games happens pretty much on every third click of the left mouse button in Diablo III, and needless to say, you’ll be seeing a lot of it.

Driving our monk onwards, we happen upon a quest from Poltahr the treasure hunter. This would lead us into some underground ruins to retrieve the idol of Rygnar with the cheering, blood-thirsty Poltahr in tow. Loot spewed from downed enemies. Unidentified skullcaps and magical swords (unequippable by the monk class, who uses two-handed staffs) were left littering the dungeon floor. We weren’t interested in vendor junk, given the time we had, but sifting through the detritus threw up some nice finds. Our Monster Clutches gloves gave us a 13% increased chance of finding magical items, while our “Amulet of Devouring” awarded us one life point per hit.

The monk’s defensive abilities are highlighted in the class’s cinematic introduction. His Impenetrable Defense skill protects him from damage for three seconds while he spins his staff about in all directions. This is replaced later by Inner Sanctuary, which paints a ring around the monk into which enemies can’t enter, creating breathing space while you dish out area-of-effect attacks without fear of retribution.

Retrieving the idol of Rygnar and completing the quest leveled us up – an event that carries with it a shockwave that lops limbs from enemies – and we dropped our new skill point into Way of the Hundred Fists. Similar to the monk’s basic attack, this is made up of three parts: a dash, six rapid-fire hits (not 100, the lying bastards) and then a radial attack hitting all nearby enemies for 80 percent weapon damage. Use this inside your Inner Sanctuary and, if you’re anything like us, you’ll feel pleased that you’ve managed to thread two abilities together.