The rumours have been confirmed: Blizzard is releasing an expansion for Diablo III. With a new class, increased level cap to 70 and brand new Act, Reaper of Souls picks up from the end of the original game. But more than that, the expansion also addresses fan concerns in a significant and meaningful way.
It was already announced at the Playstation 4 reveal that Diablo III would be coming to next-gen consoles. Last week however, it was announced that the title would also be releasing on the current-gen consoles this September.
We don't mess around here at ZAM, when we make a site for you to get the most out of your favorite games we deliver.
With that in mind, we are very pleased to announce the full relaunch of D3DB with new tools and features to help make your Diablo III gaming experience all you could hope for.
Along with its massive item database, D3DB also allows you to check out the most popular builds on our Build Leaderboard.
When Jay Wilson announced last week that he was stepping down as game director for Blizzard's Diablo III, it didn't take long for the internet to do its thing. Gamers responded strongly with their opinions in the long thread resulting from Wilson's post -- so strongly that Blizzard Chief Creative Officer Rob Pardo felt it was time to step in.
"I’m the only person in this thread who has actually worked with Jay," Pardo reminds the Battle.net posters. "I hired Jay to head up the Diablo project and had the pleasure of getting to work with him, both in building the team and designing the game."
Diablo III is slated to recieve some much-demanded changes in 1.0.7, as detailed by the patch preview posted earlier.
Most notably, they have finally added dueling to the game. Talk with Nek the Brawler in New Tristram, and he'll whisk you to the Scorched Chapel, a new zone for PVP that supports 1v1, and 3- or 4-man free for all. Additionally, there's extensive overhauls to the item system, including recipe changes, a new tier of gems, tweaks to monster power and buffs to the Monk and Wizard.
The new patch will be on the test realm very soon!
Julian "Mirai" Williams
Diablo III's newest patch is adding the Monster Power program, a new adjustable difficulty system. PC Gamer has an interview with Blizzard employees Jay Wilson and Wyatt Cheng about the system, including the levels involved, and how it's unlocked for everyone. But they are especially quick to explain what the Monster Power system isn't, as in this notable quote.
Are there any new achievements planned for, like, the guy who beats Inferno by himself on Monster Power eight? Or anything like that?
WC: No, and I’m super glad that you asked. Because part of the messaging we’re trying to get out to people – and this is a challenge on our side, of how we communicate this – is we don’t want Monster Power to feel like a mountain you have to climb. And we feel like if we had an achievement for it, people would be like, “Oh, I like to collect achievements, I guess I have to go and do this thing.”
-----
JW: Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I think is really interesting- let’s say that you start the game off and you turn Monster Power all the way down, but you kind of wish the drop rates were a little higher pre-1.05. Because we’ve certainly seen that comment from some people. The thing is, you’re going to be killing a lot faster now. And killing faster is the equivalent of higher drop rates.
And for some people, killing faster is way more fun. I have friends who say, “You know, I really like taking my Act 3 Inferno into late Hell difficulty, because I just get to stomp stuff and it’s really fun. But it doesn’t give me good rewards.” Well, now you can go to a place that gives you good rewards and get to stomp stuff. And if you prefer something a little more challenging, you crank it up.
Blizzard is trying to make the Monster Power system more for the player, not for the challenge. Monster Power is not for making the game harder - it's for adjusting the game more to your playstyle. And that's awesome.
Julian "Mirai" Williams
Remember back in the old Everquest days when they implimented Alternate Advancements? This feels like a natural progression of that - Diablo III will be adding Paragon levels to the game with the 1.0.4 patch.
How Paragon works is, once any character reaches level 60, all experience gained after that point from monsters will add to Paragon levels, with a cap of 100. Every Paragon level rewards with core stats (Str, Dex, Int, Vit) and 3% Magic and Gold Find. The portrait will also reflect the Paragon levels earned with a new, stacking border. Though it's not level 61, getting a first Paragon level will require about as much work as 59-60, and will get harder from there. You are going to be in it for the long haul if you want to get maximum Paragon. To compensate, Gold/Magic Find are being capped at 300% by level 100, meaning you can drop the Find items by the time you don't need it anymore.
Further questions are answered at the Diablo III blog, including a diagram of what Paragon levels will look like to players.
Julian "Mirai" Williams
David Brevik's critique of Diablo III isn't taken well by developers of the current game.
The 1.0.4 patch is on its way, and Blizzard has been spending a lot of their time explaining all of the upcoming changes planned. So far, they've covered the Legendary Items (making them all feel more unique, encourage build diversity, and make them feel powerful), the Barbarian (improving Bash and Cleave, and make damaging Fury abilities more alluring), the Wizard (buffing everything rather than nerfing Venom Hydra), the Monk (improving pending Spirit similar to spending Fury), the Demon Hunter (revamping Hatred, upping damage on Rain of Vengance and Sentry), and the Witch Doctor (adjusting pets, fixing Vision Quest mana issues). Behind each of the links is the full breakdowns, and there will be more updates as the patch progresses.
- Julian "Mirai" Williams
Well it was kind of inevitable, given it's been the brunt of jokes for going on over a decade - South Korea has banned both the use of farming bots and the trade of digital goods. The law doesn't take effect until next month, but the Korean Times have stated it's an effort to get students to waste less time. I'm not going to get into the messy politics behind their government's definition of "wasting time", but I will acknowledge that it's a serious social issue in Korea, and we should be respectful when discussing it.
