Sorceror Feedback From the Open Beta

PC General Discussion
1

I’m an old-timey Diablo player. Got into the series with Diablo 2 when I was 11 years old, bought the Battle Chest with LOD and D1 a few years later, and eventually played Diablo 3 on both PC and Switch. By this point in my life (I’m 35 now), I’ve probably put thousands of hours in across Diablos 1, 2, and 3 over the course of several years.

Sorceror/Wizard have always been my class of choice, followed closely by Necromancer and Amazon/Demon Hunter. I’m mentioning all of this so the dev team understands what sort of player profile to associate this feedback with. Hopefully some of it is helpful.

Sorceror feedback from the Diablo 4 open beta (Mar 24-27):

  • The class feels a little too similar to the Sorceress/Wizard from Diablo 2 and 3.
  • The skills the game presents upfront (Fireball, Hydra, Frozen Orb, Chain Lightning etc.) all encourage a very similar playstyle to the prior games.
  • All these years later, my first instinct is still to erect a Hydra and then spam Frozen Orb or Blizzard, with Spark as my basic Mana regeneration skill.
  • After playing the beta for several hours over the weekend, I wanted to try branching out and seeing if there were any new builds that folks had come up with.
  • Looking online, a lot of the common suggestions were the same play styles I was used to in the prior games. Erect a Fire Wall and Spam Frozen Orb. Erect a Hydra and Spam Frozen Orb. Generate Ice Blades and mow enemies down with Incinerate.
  • As someone that has played every prior Diablo, it doesn’t feel as though the Sorceror skill tree affords one the opportunity to come up with new and interesting play styles.
  • The skill tree also lacks the customisability of the Runes from Diablo 3. By the time I played D3, I’d already put hundreds of hours into D1 and D2, and welcomed the opportunity to play a “non-elemental” mage. My Hydra was arcane. Slow Time with the Stretch Time rune made me feel like I was some sort of time mage. Disintegrate felt like it didn’t lean toward any of usual elements (Fire/Ice/Lightning) in particular. Thanks to the Runes, D3 afforded the Wizard the opportunity to feel familiar, but new.
  • D4, in contrast, appears to have relatively little customisability and also doesn’t seem to encourage the player to come up with new and interesting ways to approach the game. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not some expert min-maxing fiend, and it’s entirely possible that I’m missing some sort of crucial mechanic, but at present I wish the Sorceror felt more fresh and different.

I understand that Diablo, like a new Pokemon generation, is the sort of game that is discovered by a whole new audience of players each time it comes out. That having been said, Blizzard clearly wants us old fogeys to partake in the fun as well, and I wish there was something new and fun for me to discover in D4 with regard to my favourite class.

Just so this doesn’t come off like an old man rant, there’s a lot I enjoy about the refinements in D4. Being able to respect at a moment’s notice is wonderful and something I’ve been doing frequently to make certain bosses easier to deal with. The gear looks gorgeous and I had a blast customising my Sorc with a bunch of Transmogs from the outset. I just wish my skill set didn’t feel quite so predictable.

2

Well you have finite spells and want to remain at range so of course the actions are going to always lead to the same result, try to prevent mobs from getting closer and pelting them from a safe distance. So I’m not sure what you are really asking for here.

3

I suppose I’m asking for new ranged skills that look and feel different from the ones I’m already used to. Functionally, they could serve the same purpose, but with smaller visual and mechanical changes that make them feel more fresh. Sorceror is a ranged class, yes, but there’s a ton of interesting things you can do with a ranged/magic class in a game like this.

4

As someone who has played every prior Diablo, I can’t stop coming up with new and interesting playstyles. ESPECIALLY with the Sorceror.

Did you see those passives? Lawd haf Mercy. Fire Wall + Fire Bolt = Major mana regen to fund whatever. Face Tanking with Incinerate. Fire Wall, Meteor, Fire Bolt, Fire Bolt Enchant for major burn, then finish it off with Fire Ball.

Fire Wall and spam Frozen Orb? Why? Fire skills have ways to immobilize now. Stack the burn.

People have played Diablo 2 to death and are just assuming the same skills make the same builds they did in D2.

5

I think part of the issue for me is that a lot of these changes are under the hood. They don’t really represent new moment-to-moment actions on my part as a player. I’d have appreciated some of the spells being physically and visually different from their old counterparts and needing me to rethink how I approach ranged battle as a magic class to some degree.

A good example would be Disintegrate from D3. It was something new, both visually and mechanically, in that it was a continuous beam of damage. As a player, that inherently changes how you approach skirmishes, where you position yourself, and what other skills you use to complement your beam. Ditto Slow Time.

In D4, I’m just not seeing anything of the sort. The vast majority of the skill pool is the skills we all know and love, and while there are a couple of new ones I don’t feel as though they really offer new approaches to combat. Just as an example, the Ultimate skill looks incredibly cool… but it feels like a slower, less effective Hydra in practice.