Diablo IV Quarterly Update - Q1 February 2020

You basically want no restriction on skill slots at all - what’s the fun in that (if one can use every skill of his arsenal)? No sacrifice is no fun. You have to fall in sub-optimal situations or otherwise every battle will be the same. :upside_down_face::gloves::star_struck::meat_on_bone::bone:

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Howdy!

Please do a technical update that focuses on the game’s engine, DirectX Raytracing? HDR support? 4k? Ultrawide support 21:9 or 32:10(Forgot this last one).

Please consider the Necromancer class and add a shotgun!

Thank you so much for the updates I really like the idea of family trees. I do want to recommend adding elemental effects to them based off region or weather or daynight/cycle.

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Why must there be a restriction? Its just a balance matter, what you are asking is just lowering player actions which is terrible design for an ARPG.
Most of all other ARPGs offer this.
If they are saying they are offering flexibility then why should this restriction be just copy pasted from D3?
They should take a look at Torchlight, PoE and Grim Dawn in skill flexibility of use

FWIW my above comment kind of goes for other options between the platforms/play styles as well - choose different defaults, keep the options, and don’t necessarily limit one over the other due to assumptions.

Probably your normal assumptions:

  • Gaming PC on a desk with a monitor.
  • Consoles in various rooms hooked up to TVs that are a considerable viewing distance away - ala living room/bedroom

Probably outside your normal assumptions but still fairly common:

  • Consoles hooked up in game room, sitting a few feet in front of dedicated 4k TVs w/either keyboard/mouse or controller
  • Gaming PCs hooked up in game room, sitting a few feet in front of dedicated 4k TVs w/either keyboard/mouse or controller
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I would really appreciate it, if you make it, so that we can have 7 active skills instead of 6.

As to the interface, why not just make it a toggle option between left and middle?

Other than that, things look really nice so far.

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This isn’t actually an effect in the game. This was purely used as an illustrative effect to show where the human eye tracks when reading between combat abilities and the lower left-hand screen.

Apologies if this was confusing, but felt it was important to clarify!

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8 skills in the skillbar should be minimum, or add a second anytime switchable skillbar by a keybind like in PoE or like Grim Dawn

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8 might end up being too much.
I’d ask for 7, since that’s how D3 was originally meant to be. 6 in D3 sometimes feels too low (depending on the spec).

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I dont see the problem of choice to use a lot of weaker but utility skills or the option to combo some skills with others like with the mongrel/zombie dogs and adding them locus swarm and then sacrificing them to explode like they showed in D3 trailer.
All they have to do is just not making able to master all skills with skillpoints but have a limit of spent skillpoints for balance reasons.
Spellcaster classes will feel again inferior, take the necromancer for example.
How many different curses you could cast in D2 to D3.

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Next Quarterly Update I would like to see Itemization, Talent trees, Runes, Runewords, Charms, Gems, Jewels, and Customization to your character.

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This update made me so excited for Diablo 4! It’s really happening.

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I’ve seen others say this too but the first showing of the game had 6 skill slots. Where does this 7 come from?

Thanks for the update. It is looking good. Can’t way to learn more on mechanics. Hope the loot gets done right that leads to meaningful drops. The updates though are very much appreciated. I am glad you went with a more open world though to me it just makes sense and gives a better feel for the world. Music score would be nice if the Violin song at end or ROS could make it into this game. Thought it was the best soundtrack in ROS. D2 the whole thing is great. Anyways keep up the hard work and love the updates.

I been playing Diablo since the very first, I think that so far D3 brought the best of Diablo series together, granted I miss the amazon character, and I do think the ambience could use a little tweaking, but the core idea of the game remained intact.

seeing D4 of course I got excited untill I saw how the gear is drawn. I really think that looks cheap.

I read about the dungeons but I really was hoping for rifts, mainly because D3 for me is a game that you can play as much or as little as your time dictates and you can get something done.

I read briefly on the whole online offline thing, I think there should be both modes, sometimes, specially during winter, some people might have problems accessing the net, an offline mode , even if only for story and a separate league of sorts, would be a great thing imo.

Despite my long term passion for D4 and ho exultant I was regarding the cinematics, seeing the game so far dampened my hype.

When you are talking about a franchise , you should be very very careful about what you change, there is a sense of identity that is tied to it.

Diablo always been the 3/4 top down , not many buttons to press, quick pick up quick kill that resembled more a casual game but that hooked you in due to the story and ambience.

The globes on the corner of the screen are part of that identity (sure , you can maybe make options if people want to change) The killing of massive hordes of enemies and colorful awesome looking loot was always there in a way or another.

IMHO instead of reinventing the wheel, I would keep with D3 overall strong points and improve on its weak spots .

in D3 is common people powerleveling other players, sharing loot, doing GR together.

As far as Blizz goes, WoW is the one that demands time and commitment to get things done and is great, but for Diablo I expect something more casual that keeps you playing because of the story and ambience and ofc the colorful loot piñata, not something that demands the same level of commitment as an MMORPG.

As it is right now, Diablo hardly looks like diablo in some small but very important detail.

Again, the inventory/gear looks really cheap :frowning:

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Thanks for all your efforts, introducing new monsters families is a great addition and it provide depth and a meaningful approach when we encounter them in game.

That been said I would appreciate if it’s possible to emphasize more on upcoming updates about the monsters combat mechanics as you manage to explain some of the route of monsters attack behavior which is nice but yet I think it’s not showing when those monsters turn to be elites and what type of damage they are going to perform and how visually It will be demonstrated.

The UI concept is neat and the inventory looks in concept really nice.

Hope with upcoming future updates you can spot light the route or the concept for the itemization and how the player’s progress will be determined. Once again thanks for sharing this update and involve us in the process of making D4.

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Hey there!

So after reading the blog post and all the comments here up until this point my first line should be thanks for sharing! It serves its own end but it’s cool that you’re keeping us on par. After that introductory note, on to the subject shall we?

Firstly, the UI. Giving the player options here is always a good point. I feel you’ve arrived at two good templates that should satisfy a lot of people. If they’re available on all versions to choose from. However, more choice, like in so many other cases, seems like an even better step. By this I mean a whole lot more UI costumization options would be a good direction. I’m not talking full UI overksin ability like in other games, via add-ons and such, but simpler things like scale, opacity, position and maybe color schemes. Sure the later won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but something like making the globes smaller or changing their screen position might be a good addition. As for the items and inventory, I really like the icons, although in the screenshot that was provided, the background seems to overwhelm them. Also the fact that we seemingly won’t be doing inventory tetris is very positive. It would mean a time sink that I never felt added anything. I do agree, however, with the notion that some have expressed that items should carry weight, not as in the character’s carrying capacity but as items themselves. I kinda see a big shield being more visually impressive when compared to a pair of boots. But I also think that the issue can be resolved through artwork alone and as you have mentioned that is the last step on the iteration process. Another mention as the UI goes, some of it seems to have been split into tabs. That’s an OK concept, as it allows for more room to use in each individual category, but it should be noted that altho the categories seem to make sense from what we know, if one needs to compare, check or use items from one tab with another, it will create a flow of back and forth that might harm the end user experience. The thought specifically came to mind when looking at the consumables and reagents tabs. One final mention as to the UI, although it is really minor, have you toyed with the idea of different backgrounds for the character model? At this point it might seem like a nitpick, since the frame is rather small but I kind thought of it as another level in character costumization. One that you might earn through the campaign or through specific challenges but that need not be the only thing gained and should be optional ofc, since for some people it might ruin immersion.

Secondly, as regarding monster families, I love the concept, both in of itself and artwise. If they work as I think, in coordination between different units and rather distinctively between themselves they should provide an awesome additional element to a more tactical and slow paced combat, whilst still allowing us to mow hordes of monsters. However it raises a few questions. For example, in how much of a disadvantage is the player at while tackling, say the cannibal family, because he picked a ranged character, since their theme seems to be centered around higher mobility and robbing the player from theirs via cc? I don’t mind specializing my character for being a cannibal slayer. I also don’t mind having a really hard time against one family versus having a less hard challenge against another, as a trade off of my build or class choice. If there is enough choice to do so. By that I mean that the number of monster families should be somewhat high and maybe even have special interactions when they are found together in some places. Otherwise, if you have one family per region, on an endgame perspective, one player of a given specc might never revisit that region again and that might feel constraining or limiting. That is also ofc assuming that the various endgame activities will be spread out across the world, but I suppose we’ll get more on that over the next few blog posts :slight_smile:

As a final remark, and since some one mentioned potions above, I’d like to go on a tangent here. You’ve mentioned that chugging potions isn’t really what you’re going for and that the d3 model with the cooldown isn’t really satisfying either. I’d like to propose something in between as a system. Tentatively I’d call it blood poisoning. It’s centered around the concept that, like most medication, your body can only process a certain amount of it in a given time span, at which point it becomes toxic. In game it would remove the cooldown on potions entirely, but add a stacking debuff to the player that would increase severely with each use. This debuff would reduce the efficiency of additional potion uses. For example, let’s say a healing potion heals for a flat 100 hp. You drink it and gain minor blood poisoning, which reduces potion efficiency, by say 20%, and lasts for 30 seconds. Once you drink the second one, the debuff would scale to mild blood poisoning. That would cut the efficiency of the next potion by 50% and last a full minute. And so on, until the next potion does nothing. Of course the values are merely illustrative, off the top of my head and could be worked with. But a system like this would allow for balancing encounters, while also allowing players to choose how to manage that resource. You might even introduce other kinds of consumables, like resource potions to be factored into this, increasing complexity and player choice in how they approach encounters with a finite resource that is still available in quantity if needed. Or in desperation.

If you managed to make it this far, thank you for reading my thoughts, on both this topic and the blog post. :slight_smile: can’t wait for the next one!

Edit: Grammar

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I am strongly against the reduction of player equipment slots. More slots means more opportunities to make conscious decisions on how I want to shape my character and play to their strengths.

Reducing the number of equipment slots means less build diversity and fewer opportunities to customize the characters I play. Not a good direction to move in.

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I’m pretty sure he’s talking about how the monsters blink white when hit, and not the green circle thing.

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This was a wonderful update to read. So much juicy information. Honestly, I love that they’re including us in this process it has to be the greatest part about D4, just that inclusion on knowing what is going on.
That being said, I got the lucky opportunity to play the demo at Blizzcon and it was amazingly fun, nothing could describe that. Looking at the UI is just fun, I love how fresh and clean it looks for the inventory screen especially. Those armor icons too, also very nice. The only thing I’d say otherwise in this field is that I loved having my bars on the left so I hope that we can choose where we want the bar to go and it is not constantly in the center(for clarity I did read that it will move based on bigger encounters and such).
Reading about the new lore on the Cannibals was the best part of my day today, these guys sound truly designed to strike fear while I am exploring the world. I can’t wait to encounter them in the future. The art direction I think has been perfectly executed for this game.
My final thoughts is just that, obviously we all want MORE information if not constant and consistent information. I hope the next update is just as large and provides even more details. I know I myself wouldn’t mind hearing that early music track, or seeing more ability descriptions. Also the 4th and 5th classes would be nice to see too, but I know its early on in development. I think the Diablo team is doing a great job so far and I really can’t wait for the next one. Thank you for being so OPEN with us.

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D4 had the same amount of gear slots as D2. Would you say you could customize your character in more ways in D3 over D2?

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