Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mistress of Pain - another Boss in Diablo 3?

The Mistress of Pain is a Diablo III monster that likely is a Boss of some sort. She is likely a Demon type monster.

The Minstress of Pain is a candidate to be a Boss type monster because of the fact that the concept art released shows diagrams of several of her abilities; far more than any normal monster would have. 


She looks extraordinarily horrible as some perverted hybrid between humanoid and spider demon. The legs look like human female thighs that are crammed down into some metal shoes (claws), and two "Frontal Blades" sticking out of her crotch. Most of these parts are uncovered by armour protection. The hind section is a soft abdomen creating two products: Sticky Slick, that impedes player movement, and Explosive Projectiles that disperse in a cluster around the player. Around this soft abdomen is a hard bone exoskeleton "ribcage".



In another concept artwork, she's found hanging by her legs in chains, with manacles attached to the legs themselves. She's more dressed, wearing a "dress-like" attire, with hints of her two Frontal Blades hidden underneath. Her face is also significantly more serene than the mad ghoul-like one she has in the shot with notes on it. Considering her appearance, it's likely that she'll be accompanied with some sort of spider-monsters or spider-inspired ones. 


What type of significance these chains have, we'll have to wait and see...

Friday, April 24, 2009

The work on Diablo 2 will not affect the Diablo 3 release

Recently, in view of the imminent release of patch 1.13, and for some months, many users have been concerned about the legitimacy of a Diablo II patch since many are wanting only Diablo III, thinking that any work on Diablo II would push off the release of Diablo III. Bashiok (The Blizzard announcer) noted that the legacy team behind patching and working on Diablo II is separate from Diablo III and will not affect the latter's release.

The Wizard and Mana

Bashiok recently chimed in on one Battle.net user's comments regarding the shortage of mana with Sorceress in Diablo 2:

"Obviously it's just too early to say the wizard does or does not have mana issues, that all comes down to balancing and fine tuning, and ideally of course the goal is that each class is very playable and not frustrating. Especially at early levels.

Mana orbs are actually the product of a passive skill in the wizard's arcane tree. Since we can't guarantee people will get that skill I don't think it can ever really become the deciding factor in mana regen. It is an early skill in that tree though, easy to pick up, and sure to be helpful."


Monday, April 20, 2009

Rumor: Diablo II Patch 1.13 Release - Just around the Corner

The Diablo 2 Patch 1.13 is just around the corner - reason why Blizzard reset ladder now.

According to internal sources the Diablo 2 patch should be available for download before end of April. After release of the patch it should be immediately available for download.

The huge Diablo 2 content patch (1.13) will likely be the last big patch for Diablo 2 before the release of its sequel Diablo 3.

Bashiok wrote following confirmation:

We’re preparing for a Diablo II ladder reset to coincide with the release of the 1.13 patch that’s currently in development. We don’t have a final release date for the patch yet, but we’re providing early warning as a reset could occur as early as the end of April. We’ll be providing updates with more certain dates once the patch is closer to release.

 Please be aware that with a ladder reset all ladder characters are moved to non-ladder. This means that your characters will still be accessible but will no longer have access to ladder-only features and games. In order to play in the new ladder season after the reset you will need to make new ladder characters.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Diablo 3 isn`t Diablo enough

It’s not just the fans anymore. Bill Roper is complaining also that Diablo 3 isn’t Diablo enough.

Bill Roper is the producer of the original Diablo and Diablo II and he thinks that Diablo is a Gothic fantasy. He thinks the clowns at Blizzard have took the game over and have repainted the graphics in their favorite cartoony colors.

I think that one of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn’t necessarily get. I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can’t say that I dislike it. I didn’t look at it and go, oh my God that’s horrible. But I looked at it and went, it’s not really… to me as a player it just didn’t really ring with Diablo.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

None of the old characters will appear in Diablo III

The Diablo 3 Team has confirmed that the Barbarian will be the only recurring character class from Diablo II, of the original 5 Diablo III characters. More classes could be added in expansion(s) and some may be revisions of earlier character types. It`s also known that the Diablo III dev team at once though about making a Dervish class, but no information if that idea is completely shelved. It seems highly unlikely that the Dervish would appear though, as Blizzard have avoided talking about upcoming classes, and they would be unlikely to mention the class in passing if that is one class that will make the game. 

The Barbarian is the only Diablo II character to make it into Diablo III release. He's quite updated in style and use. 

The Witch Doctor is a new character, similar in use to the Necromancer. 

The Wizard is the third announced class, filling the archetypal magic user role previously occupied by the Sorceress.

The following characters have been confirmed to NOT appear: 

The Amazon will not appear in Diablo III. The Assassin will not appear in Diablo III. 
The Druid will not appear in Diablo III. 
The Necromancer will not appear in Diablo III. 
The Paladin will not appear in Diablo III. 
The Sorceress will not appear in Diablo III.

Some of these seem likely to join in on an upcoming expansion, that has been hinted about...

Jay Wilson said the following in an interview:

The Barbarian is the only returning class. Originally we actually planned to have no returning classes, but as we developed the barbarian, it essentially ended up turning into a barbarian. We sort of got to the point where we went – because we actually had a different name for him originally - I think were going to call it this other name and everyone else is just going to call it the barbarian, so maybe we should just call it the barbarian. 
One of the things we really did not want to do – it's why we set that initial goal to not repeat classes – was, we didn't just want a rehash; we wanted to make the sequel and the sequel has new gameplay and new experiences. I know a lot of people really love the classes in Diablo 2 and it's not my desire to intentionally arc those people – I like those classes to; I love the Necromancer, he's my favorite class from Diablo 2 – but as our goal we really wanted to provide new experiences; that was our focus.


Wizard

The Wizard is the third character class in Diablo III. As Blizzard had said earlier, the Wizard is very similar to an earlier class, in fact it is very similar to one of the earliest classes too. Only the female version of the Wizard was playable at Blizzcon 2008 along with both versions of the Barbarian and Witch Doctor.

Story

Only the female Wizard's backstory has been revealed until now. She has her origins in the Island nation of Xiansai confirming that Xiansai is indeed an Asian civilization by her striking Asian features. The male Wizard's concept art depicts him as wearing some sort of middle-eastern desert attire, which may suggest that he has originated from the sands of Aranoch, the ancestral home of both of his predecessors and the great Vizjerei mage clan. 

The female Wizard has been depicted as an uncouth and rebellious figure, always wanting to learn more, be it in ways best left to those that are considered nefarious. She is headstrong and will go to any means to get what she wants. But she does not speak unknowingly, she knows that her innate powers can decimate the opposition, even providing a tough challenge to the Vizjerei Premier, Valthek, who found her in the Ancient Repositories beneath the Yshari Sanctum, the ancient and arcane library of the Mage Clans. She delved deeper into the arcane ways, wielding powers that were not supposed to be wielded, like Arcane magics and Temporal distortion along with the mage favorites of Ice and Lightning with equal ease. 


Her upstart nature and rebelliousness has enticed the youth of Caldeum to join her and choose their own path, these young upstarts, mostly female, may explain the existence of more than one female Wizard while the lore entry describes only one. The one described in the lore entry can be assumed to be the player character but it is more probable that she will be met by players in the game world.

Video


Witch Doctor

"Many believe that the Witch Doctors of the Umbaru to be legend, though their abilities suggest otherwise. They dispatch their opponents with terrifying precision, assaulting a victim's mind and body with elixirs and powders that evoke fires, explosions and poisonous spirits. In addition, the Witch Doctors have the ability to summon undead creatures from the Netherworld to do their bidding. The tribes of the Umbaru define themselves by their belief in the Mbwiru Eikura, which roughly translates to "The Unformed Land." This belief holds that the true, sacred reality is veiled behind the physical one normally experienced. Their vitally important public ceremonies are centered upon sacrifices to the life force that flows from their gods, who inhabit the Unformed Land, into this lesser physical realm. The Witch Doctors are finely attuned to this Unformed Land and are able to train their minds to perceive this reality through a combination of rituals and the use of selected roots and herbs found in the jungles. They call the state in which they interact with this other world the Ghost Trance."
- Abd al-Hazir

The Witch Doctor is one of the new character classes for the upcoming  Diablo 3. The Witch Doctor possesses several elements of previous Diablo II character classes, namely the Sorceress, Druid and especially the Necromancer.

He seems loosely based on the real-world Voodoo practitioners. The males are depicted as frail old men having a hunched back and always shaking their head due to their physical weakness. 

However, they possess great spiritual and manipulative powers as seen in the gameplay video. They can be seen easily controlling the minds of their enemies, raising the dead without the use of corpses and lobbing alchemical projectiles at unwary victims. 

The Witch Doctor is also the first shown character showing the new elemental damage type, Arcane. In keeping with his purple color-scheme, he is shown holding a sword imbued with Arcane damage glowing in a purplish glow. 


Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The Barbarian

The Diablo 3 Barbarian is an evolutionary improvement on the Diablo II Barbarian. He has some of the same abilities, such as Whirlwind and Leap Attack, but has a variety of new skills to unleash on her enemies and seems to play with a more violent crushing style exuding power and devastation with her every movement. 

The Barbarian is back, and he is bigger and better! There's a great emphasis on power and destruction; on wanting every movement to look massive and devastating.

This is actually the same hero from Diablo 2. He's aged twenty years, and he's got a personality in this game. Look at his gear; his armor has points on which he could impale himself. It's extra protection for the harsh environment, but it's also dangerous to him. The day to day life characters lead in this world is very hard. 

 
Story


In his personal history the Barbarian defeated Baal, only to learn from Tyrael that the Worldstone was corrupted and would have to be destroyed. The destruction of the Worldstone blasted Mount Arreat to rubble, destroying the remainder of Baal's army and saving the Barbarian lands from their invasion. Twenty years later, when Diablo III takes place, the Barbarian lands are largely deserted, and the only remains of Mt. Arreat, formerly the symbol of the lands and the source of the Barbarians' spiritual strength, is a huge crater. 

More than the physical damage, the events detailed in Act Five of Diablo II devastated the Barbarian culture. The Barbarians gained their identity and cultural pride from protecting the Worldstone within Mount Arreat. To see it defiled by Baal and his minions, and then destroyed, tore out the heart of these proud people. They abandoned their homeland and became nomadic, wandering the lands of Sanctuary and pitching themselves into battle after battle in an effort to forget the pain of their shattered homeland. 

Abd al-Hazir visited the Barbarian lands and wrote about his experiences and observation in the 25th entry of his writings. It sets the stage for the story we'll learn when playing the game. 
The Barbarians consider it their sworn duty to protect Mount Arreat and the mysterious object within. They believe that if they fail to uphold their duty to the great mount, or are not given a proper burial upon its slopes, they will be denied a true warrior's death, and their spirits shall roam the land without honor for all eternity. 
If there are any barbarians left alive, they must truly be without hope. Perhaps this is the genesis of the rumors of monstrous things reported to resemble the barbarians in size and ferocity, but that are in reality nothing more than unreasoning, inhuman beasts. Could the destruction of not only their home but also their very beliefs have actually brought this magnificent race so low? 

 
Why Repeat the Character?


The Barbarian was not intended to come over from Diablo II originally. A character with similar appearance and skills was planned, but everyone in the dev team started calling it Barbarian, and so they decided to call it that. Jay Wilson quote:
 
The barbarian is the only returning class. Originally we actually planned to have no returning classes, but as we developed the barbarian, it essentially ended up turning into a barbarian. We sort of got to the point where we went – because we actually had a different name for him originally - I think were going to call it this other name and everyone else is just going to call it the barbarian, so maybe we should just call it the barbarian. 
One of the things we really did not want to do – it's why we set that initial goal to not repeat classes – was, we didn't just want a rehash; we wanted to make the sequel and the sequel has new gameplay and new experiences. I know a lot of people really love the classes in Diablo 2 and it's not my desire to intentionally arc those people – I like those classes to; I love the necromancer, he's my favourite class from Diablo 2 – but as our goal we really wanted to provide new experiences; that was our focus. 

 
History


It is said that when the world was very young the tribes of the Northern Steppes were given sacred charge. Somewhere deep within the great mountain Arreat, lies a source of great power, crucial to the well-being of all humanity. The tribes act as guardians of this artifact, and through this sacred duty, have shaped their way of life in observance of this power. 

Steeped in mystery and tradition, these people refer to themselves as the Children of Bul-Kathos, the great and ancient king. To better protect their lands from outside forces they adopted a nomadic lifestyle, frequently moving within the confines of the Steppes and maintaining few permanent settlements. Isolating themselves from the world outside their territories, they eschew the use of magic and complex machinery, as they believe these things can only weaken the resolve developed over so many years. 

The Children of Bul-Kathos have developed a kinship with the land and have learned to harness the primal energies in nature to enhance their own substantial physical prowess. Because of this, and their freedom from the trappings of the outside world, the Western Kingdoms has historically referred to these tribes as barbarians, an epithet that belies the rich cultural and spiritual history these people possess. Although some trade with these curious folk, they do so only along the outmost borders of their lands. All intrusions into the territory surrounding Mount Arreat are forbidden, and warriors from the northern tribes are quick to thwart any incursions. 

Every attempt at conquest has always been met with fierce and decisive resistance in an account of one skirmish, hordes of Barbarian tribesmen silently appeared where none had been but moments before. Their bodies painted in mysterious designs, the tribesmen descended on the invaders, howling as the charged like the fierce mountain winds. Fully half of the trespassing soldiers immediately dropped their weapons and fled, the remainder were set upon by the Northmen with a fervor that none of the battle-hardened invaders had ever witnessed. No quarter was asked and none was given, but in the end, when the outlanders sounded a full retreat, no chase was given either . . . at least none that could be observed. 

It is interesting that recently, since news of Diablo's re-emergence has spread, a small number of Barbarian warriors has been seen roving the lands outside the Steppes, prepared for war and seeking information regarding the recent activities of the Prime Evils. 

Quests in Diablo 3

There isn`t a lot of information about quests and quest mechanics for Diablo 3. There will be quests of course, which will be essential for the main plot.

The amount of quests will be much larger than Diablo 1 or Diablo 2, because Blizzard tries to include more roleplaying features without losing the “hack ‘n slay” style.

If it will be possible to ignore some of these quests, and still be able to advance in the game, or not, like the Quest “Bloodraven” in Diablo 2 is yet unknown.

Various randomized quests will ensure the possibility to play the game over and over again, as we are accustomed from all games from the Diablo series.
Scripted adventures will be generated random all over the world, e.g. like a caravan, that needs escort, or monstercamps, which are always led by a bossmob. Such quests are often  seen in World Of Warcraft.

A new quest related feature are the mentioned character specific quests. How they will work, or in which way they are focused on the special skills of each character, is also not yet revealed.

It could be possible that some quests can only be solved by certain characters.

For example a barbarian could help a NPC, who is trapped over a gaping canyon.
Other classes will not be able to solve this quest, because they don’t have the needed abilities, but the barbarian could leap over the canyon to rescue the NPC.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Archivist - the Blizzard's 2009 April Fool's joke

Blizzard made a funny April Fool`s joke, which misled many fans :)

The following text appeared on the Archivist page at the official Diablo III website: 


In my writings, I have recounted stories of the barbarians and their endless battles with the demons of the frozen north, and devoted pages to the wizards of Caldeum who harness the primal forces of reality. But the might of these heroes is nothing compared to the power of the archivists of Westmarch. These brave souls wade into battle wielding tome and quill, armored not in ensorcelled plate or links of chain, but in the knowledge of generations past. These archivists fight not only for our future, but for our past as well. 

I first encountered an archivist in the ruins of the great city of Travincal. While exploring one of the long-abandoned temples, I was drawn by the flickering of faint torchlight through a distant doorway, and then, as I crept nearer, by the sound of a voice. There was a feeling in the air of danger near at hand, an electricity that made the hairs on my neck rise. I inched forward, breath caught in my throat, grateful for the safety of the hallway's long shadows. Then I saw him. 

He was surrounded, the looming shapes of his foes bearing down upon him. His hair was unkempt and frazzled, his calloused hands cut and stained. But he had an air of supreme confidence, of a submerged violence that threatened to explode into being. He leapt forward, his hands grabbing for the leather bindings of his nearest enemy. 

The archivist's eyes searched for an opening, a weakness. His hands wrenched suddenly about his adversary and a sickening crack pierced the still air. Its spine broken, the book lay unmoving in the archivist's now gentle grip. As he lifted its lifeless form into the dim light, the pages of the ancient tome fell open, the secrets of the text laid bare. I remember the words he read, the religious fervor of his voice: "Here begins the first chronicle of the life of holy Akarat, prophet of Zakarum...." And on the shelves that stood all around him, tome after tome waited. 

I have the utmost respect for the archivists, these warriors of myth and legend. We know their names: Alimet Two Quills, master of illumination with both left and right hand; Morienne the Scrivener, a midwife whose poetry stole the hearts of kings and brought tyrants to tears; and Salazar Cid, the Master Transcriber of Gea Kul, whose bombastic penmanship is known in all the lands of the Twin Seas and beyond. But these are only a chosen few. The members of their honored fraternity are many, and their numbers grow every day. 

In the dark days that I fear are yet to come, much will be decided by sword and axe, with steel and spell, but I believe that in scroll and tome our survival lies.

Video:

The mad King Leoric - Boss in Diablo 3?

Leoric the Skeleton King returns in Diablo 3! His undead bones have been reanimated, and once again he's raised an army of the undead and awaits any hero who might dare bring the warmth of life into his tomb, in the catacombs beneath Tristram. Leoric is one of the first quest bosses a new character encounters, and defeating him brought an end to the Blizzcon demo, the first playable version of Diablo III ever seen by the public.  
 
Leoric is found on a throne at the end of a scripted level. The player must fight through several blockades and traps to reach Leoric's room. Along the way, Leoric's ghostly form is encountered, during which he taunts you before blowing back through the floor and vanishing, just as a great number of undead emerge from all sides of a large room. 

Once you do reach Leoric's throne, a bridge crumbles behind you leaving no escape; you must defeat Leoric to survive. Leoric's giant bones are found on a throne, and they remain motionless until a player produces The Crown of the Skeleton King, a quest item found in the dungeon above. The crown restores Leoric to life, and he rises up, taunting the player wielding a massive two-handed maul. As soon as Leoric is activated squads of all types of skeletons come from the sides of the screen, and more are found throughout Leoric's throne room, if the player retreats from the dais on which Leoric's throne sits. 

Leoric deals substantial damage with his massive club, but only swings once every few seconds, giving a player plenty of time to score hits on him between swings. It's a good idea to try to stay just out of range so you can dodge the attack, since it deals considerable damage. 

He also retains his ability to summon skeletons, and will do so during the fight, if given the opportunity. Most players at Blizzcon would fight Leoric for a moment, then run off and kill some of the skeletons he summoned to get a health globe or two, then return to the battle with Leoric. 

Leoric dropped 4-6 rare items when killed in the Blizzcon build. We can`t predict how valuable he`ll be in the final game yet, because Diablo 3 is far from completion.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Tyrael turns Evil?

The Official Diablo 3 website got a graphic update, where Tyrael wings started glowing and there is new sound added to the page. Rumours have occured that he is corrupted and maybe he turned evil and possible the final boss in Diablo 3. The one thing we know is, that Tyrael has been expelled from the Angel Council, when he helped the mortals. That could be a motive for betrayal.

Diablo 3 website with Tyrael Before:

The new Tyrael:

Look at his wings. They are loosing their shape and changing. Into what - we don`t know. Does the symbol of The Light in Diablo becomes Evil, we`ll find out soon!

Check out this Tyrael video.

Diablo 3 runes

There are going to be runes in Diablo 3, but the are going to be different from those in Diablo 2. The runes will still drop from monsters,  however, they will be used in a different way...

OK, let’s see how runes worked in Diablo 2. There are 33 runes that drop from monsters. Some of them drop often while others drop extremely (e.g. Zod rune). Also, there are items with sockets that are able to take runes (or jewels). Some rune combinations (called runewords) create Runic Items, which are among the most powerful items in the game.

For example, socketing the runes Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn gives your monarch shield a whole bunch of additional stats and it also adds the label “Spirit”.

So what are the changes to the runes in Diablo 3? Runes will still be used to customize your character, however, runes no longer modify items. Instead they’ll be added to skills (each skill has a single rune slot). It looks like the profession "Inscription" in World Of Warcraft.

Also, to make runes easier to use, rune names will be changed to reflect their effect, e.g. Rune of Multistriking. How does this affect gameplay?

For example, a Minor Multistrike Rune attached to the Skull of Flame will make projectile skip along the ground once , but higher quality Runes like the Major Multistrike Rune may raise the amount of bounces and the distance traveled by the projectile. 

Jay Wilson, Diablo 3 Lead designer, expressed his strong desire to make each skill customizable while at the same time retaining the uniqueness of each class. In other words, he doesn’t want the Barbarian to be able to mimic the Wizard by adding certain runes to skills.

Diablo 3 - general information



Diablo 3 is an action role-playing game similar in style to its predecessor, Diablo II. The proprietary engine will incorporate Havok physics and feature destructible environments with an in-game damage effect. The developers are aiming to make the game run on a wide range of systems, and have stated that DirectX 10 will not be required. Diablo 3 will use a custom 3D game engine in order to present an overhead view to the player, in a somewhat similar way to the isometric view used in previous games in the series; players may zoom in for a tighter shot of their character, though. Enemies will utilize the 3D environment as well, in ways such as crawling up the side of a wall from the depths into the combat area. Every creature model will each have thirty-five unique death animations.

As in Diablo II, multiplayer games will be possible using Blizzard's Battle.net service, with many of the new features being developed for StarCraft II also available in Diablo III. Players will be able to drop in and out of sessions of co-operative play with others.

An enhanced quest system, a random level generator, and a random encounter generator are slated for use in order to ensure the game provides different experiences when replayed. Overall, the game will include both static and randomly generated levels. Additionally, there will be class-specific quests to go along with the main storyline quests. For the first time in the series, in-engine cutscenes will be employed during key moments. A new inventory system similar to World of Warcraft will be implemented, rather than the "Tetris" block inventory system of previous games.

Unlike previous iterations, gold can be picked up by merely touching it, rather than having to manually pick it up. Sidekicks, unlike Diablo II, are now finite in-game NPCs who join you, rather than countless hires. One of the new features intended to speed gameplay are health orbs that drop from enemies, replacing the need to have a potion bar, which itself is replaced by a skill bar that allows a player to assign quick bar buttons to skills and spells; previously, players could only assign two skills (one for each mouse button) and had to swap skills with the function keys. Players can still assign specific attacks to mouse buttons.

System requirements:
PC: Windows XP/Vista, 1.4Ghz proc., 1GB RAM, DirectX 9 video card, 4-8GB HD space
Mac: MacOS X 10.3, 1.6Ghz proc., 1GB RAM (DDR recommended), 128MB nVidia/ATI video card, 4-8GB HD space