Diablo IV Announcement Discussion

General Discussion
704

Okay sooo,
-No more Ancients, thats good.
-Rare Items are viable as legendaries, thats great.
-The primary affixes are attack, defense, angel, demon and ancient, and Angel controls resist… thats awful.

Like im not against having these 3 powers if they impact the gameplay and Chatacter maybe being darker, lighter or more “nephalem” and it impacting skills, but tying damage and resist is absurd and it seems like a workaround so you can keep attack and defense as ultra simplified stats.
I hate diablo 3s stat system, but it has some use here because it already shows those attack defense arrows for people, so why not just keep everything complex and put in the ez mode ui (attack and defense green/red arrows) for those that just want to play ez mode and problem solved, then leave str, dext, int, char, and whatever else to drive that for those that want a deep engaging character system.

The main issue I have, maybe less focus on “accessible” as the philosophy… take a page out of the deadpool book focus on quality and the people will find a way to access it.

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705

Replying to : System Design in Diablo IV (Part II)

I like the post and think your team is moving in the right direction. As with all things balance in Angelic/Demonic/Ancient (referenced as A/D/A from this point in) power system will determine how successful it can be. But the idea is solid. A couple of points to make on the system as it was expressed in the post.

  1. Players should be able to obtain enough A/D/A to actually have significant game play choices from a couple sets of powers.

  2. My main issue about the A/D/A system as described is the effects tied to each power set. Angelic can’t be all self benefits or it will be boring. As a blatant example that really speaks to a flaw in this generic of a description :Life leech is not a very angelic power but it is a fun way to build in EHP on a character. Life leech is an easy example of a power that sounds demonic but adds a character beneficial effect. There are plenty of nasty demonic ways to buff yourself and labeling as such would help to fulfill that fantasy. Having to play an angelic life leeching corpse consuming character comes across as odd to me. Maybe think more along the lines of Angelic- powers which make you stronger via self and area buffs, Demonic powers that make you stronger via negative effects to things around you, and Ancient powers make you stronger via a mix of both given our duality in existence. If a character is built fully Angelic is it supposed to just be a buff bot that deals no dmg? That would be a feels bad man. If it helps think of this in the context of a partially Demonic werewolf spec’d Druid using “Ravens with blood leech” to regen hp from corpses around itself.

  3. A/D/A shouldn’t just come from items this can be tied to certain skill ranks as well that fit the theme. An example of that given the boots you linked would be that Devastation would give +10~ demonic power for each rank above 4 or something along those lines. The idea being the skill point system now ties into the A/D/A system and vice versa. If this piece grants you a rank of devastation high enough to trigger that D point bonus then that may unlock a different item with a higher D point req you couldn’t already use. But it doesn’t make that much overlapping necessary.

  4. In the developer posts so far crafting hasn’t been discussed and I think it needs to be when dealing with itemization. Please cover crafting in the next post if you can because that will help you to express value in the lower tier items, if they are to have any.

  5. On the note of “the unnamed consumable item” this is a great system idea to replace Ancient items. Full stop. Please make sure this makes it into the game. I look forward to messing around with this system.

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706

There are several types of energy that flow through our being here on earth as spiritual creations.

Diving Energy - this comes from God and can only be accessed if you possess a divinity towards the light, towards love

Rage/Berserker/Anger - this energy comes from the spiritual desire to be free and grow as spirit.

Evil/Demonic - this energy comes from evil spirits, through possession of the host

Love - the divine light, not to be confused with divine energy, this is the healing energy that permeates all space and time

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707

While they definitely don’t look like they are from '99 it doesn’t really match what some other gaming titles are pushing out. NPC animations looked horrendous and disappointing in the live streams. Cataclysm looked amazing!

708

I hope they include an option to stop enemies from lighting up when they take damage. It looks stupid and looked really dumb on that world boss.

709

I really like the idea of being able to craft stats onto lesser items. Just having an item that’s not legendary or unique but can still buff your character because of specific choices made in their progression is oddly satisfying. I’ve always felt it adds some sort of cool factor when equipped with gear like that. So if you say we can take all that seemingly dull equipment to the workman’s bench and shape them into our most trusted and valued tools, I could truly offer both applause and gratitude for the opportunity.

One step further and we’re at that bench able to shape the look of our equipment as well. But that’s where things maybe get too complicated what with various material and how they would affect an items appearance blah blah etc. In any case, looking forward to the game keep up the good work.

710

Please! Please! Please! - D4 Neeeds to have an attribute point system that also allows Players to Manually assign the points. Attribute point systems is one of my favorite things about action rpg games and I Hate how its done in D3. In D3, the points are automatically added to the character sheet every time you level up. The Player NEEEDS to be the one putting in the points. Doesn’t matter if an Attribute point system may suck in a certain game, what matters is the *Fun of being able to choose where you want to put points every time you level up.

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711

I definitely would like to see this again as well. Also, piggybacking a bit, maybe even points to spec into ancestral/demonic/angelic power. I’m not a big fan of the idea of getting it from gear, but like the idea of having affixes in items that would require choosing between/min maxing your points between the three.

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712

Just my 2 cent’s on the latest system design part II post by David Kim.

I wanted to voice my opinion on one of the statement made on this topic regarding that the dev’s do not want to make another diablo II or diablo III game, heavens for bid make it anything like d3. I think the community defiantly want something NEW. But what we also want is what made Diablo and Diablo II so great that people fell in love with the franchise…with that said i believe there nothing to be wrong with utilizing those past games core mechanics improvising and making it better or anew and implanting that into D4.

You cannot go wrong by using diablo II as a foundation while still creating a sequel making it feel new but yet still give people that nostalgic feeling they crave so much in the past diablo world.

1 Like
713

Replying to : System Design in Diablo IV (Part II)

My only concern related to the treatment of yellow items as “more usable” is that I feel Diablo 3 tried that in the beginning and was an absolutely fail. The best items in Diablo 3 were yellows when it released. It was really sad to see one by one the yellow items, just for a minimum of improvement.
If they are going to be more usable the amount of dropped yellow items should totally decrease.

714

I hope that the Skull gems return in D4 in some collecting form. Love collecting skulls, lol

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715

How come the Druid looks like another barbarian? Can you make Druid more attractive instead of a barbarian looking thing? It’s like dev is too lazy to create another model so they just used barbarian model and put some random stuff over it and call it another class lol!!! :rofl:

From the pre-register video on App Store I see classes on d3 that’s available on d4 but hopefully classes won’t be gender locked because that’d really suck… especially mage or summon classes better not be female ONLY… I’m very excited about the Druid class but the barbarian look is such a turn off… even the d2 redhead Druid looks way better than the new Druid…

716

In regards to upgrading rares with legendary affixes:

My concern is that finding and using legendary items wont feel very special since an upgraded rare will be superior. It is much easier to find a rare with the ideal stats over a perfectly rolled legendary. End game builds would not have a use for legendary items at all. Makes legendary items as obsolete as rares were in d3 :frowning:

Legendary items should be legendary. Keep the item to give legendary affix to rares, but make the actual legendary item much rarer, but a little stronger. Gives them the “wow” factor they used to have in old Diablo games where even seeing any legendary at all drop was a rare pleasure. Still allows upgraded rares value by letting players mimic the true legendary with less oomph.

Result:

Rares have value because well rolled rares can get a legendary affix and can be strong.

Legendary would be really special and hard to find and valuable. While much much rarer than a upgraded rare, it would be stronger.

Functionally an upgraded rare would be akin to a legendary in d3. The actual legendary item itself would be akin to the ancient version.

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717

Hi Blizzard,

I really to do love you taking time and effort to share key components of D4 so early and getting the community involved.

I have read the itemization p2 blog.

I love D4 ancient items are removed. I don't like the ancient and primal system in D3 either.
I don't like the ranges of affixes either. So please refrain from that too in D4.

The attack / defense changes make so much more sense. In D3, the must have for cc / cd is a pain as well. In D4 we can use jewelry for other nice and important things :).

So please, make sure there's room on weapons and armor for other things, fun things, than power.

Adding an legendary affix to rare items sounds like fun. As does obtaining power not just from items, but from multiple sources.

The three new stats sound interesting. Although I am quite concerned about survavability when you need to stack demonic power. Sounds like you'd need to waste something (an affix, item slot, skil slot etc) to counter those negative effects.

Creating a need to stack a negative thing to use a nice affix also creates the need to counter that negative effect. Or at the very least yoy'll need to balance the game around it, decreasing the "value" of such negative stat.

Having stat requirements in order to use an item or an affix makes sense. However, not meeting the requirements should make the item unequipable.

Look at the D3 necromancer, using life / hp for effects requiring you to load up gaining life skills, stats effects etc.
In the end not being significantly more more or less powerful than any other comparable build of any character.

So please do not make a negative stat at all.

I don't think its feasible, but maybe you can try some ideas out in D3. The PTR, for example? See what happens. Or make an early D4 PTR.

With great items comes great responsibility. Uhm should come great storage.
Especially since there is gonna be so much build diversity, I'd be trying several builds for each character.
So please allow us to store a lot.

Thank you and please keep communicating.

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718

I’ve been away for a while and noticed that Diablo IV has been announced. I decided to play D3 again. (It’s been years) I was instantly reminded of why I was one of the voices against the “constant internet connection” that Blizzard introduced with D3. Multiplayer… sure. Single Players… WHY? Why should I experience even the slightest lag when I’m only playing against the machine? Especially if I have a pc that is more than capable of running the game at high settings? Those who play single player know what I’m talking about. Jitters, hitches, glitching, and lagging all because of the crowding of servers and the insistence on the “constant internet connection”! If I bought it, let me play it. When I check in to battle net, it could then swap info and update my profile, but if I have slow or no internet connection, please let me play the software I payed for.

Offline Option for Single Player!!!

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719

I love the cinematic, and because of it I’ve come back to Diablo 3 after some time (2 years). The Skill Talents looks awesome and i hope it give a more space to construct unique builds.
My concerns are of lore and development of story. No more bosses like Magda please! Make things more subtle and give space to players to figure out the plot. Not like the bosses in Diablo 3 that talk a lot with the player. I know people play the Diablo series because of gameplay, but the single player campaign is very important (at least to me).
What I miss is the randomization in Diablo 2. Every new game is unique. I just wish this could be make in Diablo 4.
And please make every season unique with more nice rewards to players in the top tiers.

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720

(1) more storage for my many builds

(2) a place to trade rare items with other character

(3) legendaries that are actually legendary, i wouldnt care if they were super rare but incredibly powerfull. Imagine finding any legendary, doesnt matter what it is and everyone wants it because its so awesome. Something you wouldnt want to salvage ever.

(4) more nudity, were all adults here.

(5) more swearing, if im being over run by demons id be screaming all kinds of profanities

(6) i loved the auction house, bring it back.

(7) its more fun killing 10 demons that you have to dodge and think about killing rather then spamming the same buttons and plowing through 300 demons. Its not fun when you do it for a few hundred hours.

(8)no safe spaces , make it offensive in every way. Weed the sooks from the community, they are poison anyway.

(9) release it soon so i can play it already​:kissing_heart::kissing_heart::kissing_heart::kissing_heart::kissing_heart::kissing_heart:

(10) remember that custimisation is key for fun character development. Do it with runes or crystals that give you certain traits and abilities. Let us socket everything. (At a price and fair trade off of course)

(11) have fun reading through the mountain of demands. Blame us for ruining it. We dont know what we want.

2 Likes
721

I would be really disappointed if Diablo 4 end up having similar damage reduction mechanics as we see in Diablo 3.

I don’t know of a single build in current Diablo 3 state that can do level 100+ GRifts without resorting to specific legendaries which boost damage reduction for a short time based on pre-determined conditions such as using an skill, attacking with a mana generator ability, having pets (!!?), being hit, etc.

Balance the game based on the toughness players can achieve by stats on the character + gear + class specific skills (auras, passives, buffs) so that your thoughness actually mean something and you don’t have to resort to use a skill every x seconds just to stay alive. Thats not fun at all. And pointless

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722

What he meant by '99 is that it looks rendered with a ray tracer from '99, much like PoE does. Sharp shadows, no GI, and no painterly effects like in D3.

723

Dear Blizzard,
After watching the trailer, cinematics, youtube videos. Im very excited also for D4! After playing from '99 up until now for Diablo 2, I sincerely hope the gameplay will be dark enough, like in D2, for me the gameplay of D3 felt a little like happy fluffy killing this, and allot of things moving and flying around. So im very much hoping for good graphics, and not an ‘overkill’ of skill effects, just a good core. Also hoping for a good addictiveness like we all once knew from D2. This for me has much to do with fun item routes and bosses to farm, like Mephisto, you never knew what you were going to get, but if something like Shako dropped, it just made your day!

Kind Regards

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