There are a lot of class-specific weapons in Diablo 3. There are more types of items than in Diablo 2, but a lot of them are limited to one character type, or exclude some character types. Full details have not yet been determined, but the general theory is that characters can only use items that they would normally be able to use. Barbarians can't use magical items, mage characters can't use axes, and so forth.

Bashiok spoke on this issue, from a design standpoint, in July 2009.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/bashiok-on-class-specific-items/]

::Because I can see the conclusions being jumped to RIGHT NOW in my old cranium - let me state that weapon types do not dictate stats. At least not wholly (barbarians can’t use staves so there’s no point in allowing fury related stats on them). We understand that the game is about variation, customization, and experimentation in class builds. We’re not World of Warcraft, we’re not looking to make weapon stats “optimal” for the types and classes that will use them. Which is to say, we’re not going to put specific stats in specific amounts on each weapon of a specific type because we’re making assumptions about what each class wants out of their stats. We want variation, and experimentation, and all that good stuff. These restrictions don’t affect those goals, it really just means you probably won’t see a wizard lugging around a two-handed axe. Kind of a bummer, but then think about what it affords us to work on with more and better looking skills, a more robust rune-skill system, etc. We want to spend our time and effort on what makes sense to making the game better.

::The list of what weapon types are or aren’t allowed for each class aren’t final and could change. They’re fairly logical choices and what is most commonly seen as closely tied to the hero archetypes. In our current game the wizard can’t wield a two-handed sword for instance, but can still use a one handed sword and shield if so desired.

===Class Specific Armor===