I realize there are plenty of feedback posts already started but I didn’t overly want to read through all the hate threads and comments to find the right one to add to or just have everything get lost in the shuffle. So i decided to just make one on the tiny chance that Blizzard reads this exact one, but even if they dont, its a beta so why not add feedback. My experience is hopping around between Barb, Rogue, and Druid. I didnt really do the campaign. Once I got the main town I just ran around doing dungeons to get a feel for things.
Overall Pros:
Firstly its a Diablo game, so it played like I expected. A blend of story and dialogue with monster mashing. I like the overall systems. I enjoy the skill line system a fair bit. Lots of choice while still having a simple pathing for gradual unlocks. I like the change of health globs working with potions and having multiple charges to manage. I love being able to customize my character and that transmog doesnt have a gold sink unless you build outfits. It took an adjustment to get used to the fixed open world maps rather than them changing each time due to the multi-player nature, but I actually found the shared world to be a positive. I like seeing others.
Overall Cons:
Wait times were a large problem but I expected that given it was a full open beta. Hopefully you all prepare for actually launch more heavily. I didnt have that much lag in game but I didnt play at “peak” much. I had some rubber banding, especially in the main city. Only real lag I noticed in combat was sometimes abilities double activating and wasting resources. I am not a huge fan of inventory aspects from legendaries being one use only, but they are very powerful so perhaps that’s fair. Time will tell. When it comes to the skill tree its less a negative and more a concern about the accessibility of passives and/or picking spells rank leveling with limited points. My only complaints about character customization are that it would be nice to change hair color/style at the wardrobe and if we could have gotten mult body sizes for each class. IE barbarian body for Druid, etc. I am not a giant fan of my only druid option being chonk or my only necro option being starved.
Classes
I wont do a pros and cons for each of the 3 classes I spent time on. They all were enjoyable in their own ways and its too late in the cycle to make massive changes I imagine, though I dont think any of them I played need massive changes. I will, however, point out some things that stuck with me as issues while playing them.
Barb: Barb and Druid resource plays exactly the same, only that Barb’s decays. I understand why that is but it can be frustrating. My biggest issue with Barb is feeling like you really only had one way to play to get much done in terms of offense. Upheaval was a fair bit ahead when I was playing and usually with Flurry as the builder. The other abilities focused on rage gen and survival for me. No ranged access at all and the healing orb changes could make for some challenges. I dont think barb should be immortal, but I found myself kiting far more than I think a Barb should to stay alive.
Rogue: Rogue is fine honestly. Bow focus feels a bit weak until u get traps and I havent found a hybrid version that feels good personally. But having 2 distinct playstyles that u can focus or switch between as needed is great and I love the mobility to counter its weaker defenses
Druid: People are hating on druid hard and I will admit that I felt that way at first too but I grew to love it to the point I might main it at launch. Unlike Rogue, Hybrid is the way to go here. I found focusing nature spells, or one of the forms was subpar which is a shame. Side note I found your hair particles in general could be a bit rough on things like beards and very much so on druid forms. Druid definitely feels forced into the melee storm builder, but it feels good to use. Tornados tended to do well when they werent bugging in areas, and then pulverize worked. Using a hybrid set up I survived fine and was able to fight bosses. Once I got the pulverize leggo things just opened up. Turning pulverize into upheaval was just amazing.
Thats all that is coming to me right now. I think D4 is off to a great start, just some things to work on in terms of number balance and some lag. I didnt spend hours and hours and hours so I may have missed some stuff that is obvious to others. I dont understand the hatred but thats the forums, ppl rage.