If you are a fan of Blizzard Studios games, especially Diablo, then you’ve probably heard of the portal Wowhead. Recently, the portal had the opportunity to conduct a group interview with Rod Fergusson, the franchise director for Diablo, and Joe Sheli, the game director for Diablo 4. The interview shed some light on various aspects of the highly anticipated game, including the seasons, leaderboards, sets, and more. Here are some of the highlights:
SEASONS
One of the key features of Diablo 4 is its seasonal play. Fans of the franchise will be pleased to know that the philosophy behind seasons in Diablo 4 is the same as in Diablo 3. This means that every season, players get a fresh start with a level playing field. However, some systems will be tied to your account, and in some cases, they will carry over between seasons. So, there’s no need to worry about losing all your progress when a new season starts.
LEADERBOARDS
The leaderboards are a great tool for tracking the progress of competing players. However, they can also pose serious problems in terms of encouraging bots or exploits, depending on how they’re implemented. To avoid such problems, Blizzard wants to make sure they use the leaderboards correctly. For this reason, the leaderboards will be included in the game after launch (that is, not at the start of the game). Additionally, they will be related to competitive activity, not general activity, to ensure that they are fair and well maintained. Players tend to copy the leaders and their builds, so it’s important that the leaderboard reflects the true competitive activity.
SETS
Sets are also an important part of Diablo 4, and fans of the franchise will be pleased to know that there will be a wide variety of sets available in the game. While some sets will be tied to the seasonal play, others will be available throughout the game. Players will have to work hard to get these sets, but the rewards will be worth it.
COSMETICS
Cosmetics have always been an important part of Diablo, and Diablo 4 is no exception. While the game will have a grim and moody world at launch, Blizzard has promised to lighten things up a bit over time. Fans can expect a wide variety of cosmetic items, including more items after launch.
WILL DIABLO IV HAVE BIG MULTIPLIERS FOR UNIQUE ITEMS LIKE DIABLO III?
If you’re a Diablo fan, you might be wondering if Diablo IV will have the same big multipliers for unique items that Diablo III had. According to Joe Shealy, the answer is no. The development team wants to reduce the overall scale multipliers and the amount of damage in combat in Diablo IV. Instead, they’re focusing on introducing legendary abilities to create new builds or make players change their builds.
LESS EMPHASIS ON SET ITEMS
Joe Shealy added that sets can be useful for creating a cohesive look and are great for new players who don’t want to create their own builds. But sets can also have the negative effect of simplifying interesting builds by taking up a lot of slots for items. That’s why the philosophy of reducing overall scale multipliers applies to legendary abilities, unique abilities, as well as sets (in the future, so set items will be).
RARE ITEMS AND ENDGAME BUILDS
Regarding rarity items for endgame characters, Joe Shealy explained that they don’t expect regular or magic items by themselves to be powerful in endgame builds. The developers are interested in making sure that these items can be used for more than just recycling. Rare items will be important in endgame builds, in part because of their use as the basis for upgrading to Legendary in the Occultist.
As you unlock Ancestor Items and Sacred Items at higher levels of the world, ordinary and magical items become more powerful. Therefore, they become relevant in the early stages of these world levels.
MEETING THE EXPECTATIONS OF DIABLO FANS
It was a challenge for the developers to meet the expectations of Diablo fans while still doing what they wanted to do with Diablo IV, especially given the 11-year gap between Diablo III and Diablo IV. But according to Rod Fergusson, they managed to strike the right balance. “We want Diablo IV to be your favorite Diablo, and if you’ve never played (a game in the franchise) before, we want it to be your first. Diablo IV has the grim tone of the original Diablo, plus the constant development of Diablo II, plus the intuitive combat of Diablo III, plus the innovation of freedom of choice and a shared open world,” he said.
THE BEST STORY THE DIABLO GAME HAS EVER HAD
“I feel like our story is the new high point for Diablo. I think it’s the best story the Diablo game has ever had,” added Rod Fergusson.
FEEDBACK FROM BETA TESTING
After receiving feedback from beta testing, the development team is focusing on server infrastructure, class balance, and difficulty balance. There are some things that can be addressed between beta and release, but the user interface will not change dramatically in that time period simply because there is not enough time to do so. Joe Shealy added that they want the user interface to be understandable for all players, and they have a lot to think about.
