Diablo III - It's official

[Pottsey]

so basically every character will be exactly the same, or potentially be the same based on what skills they have active?

We should see as many types of setups as before. It's more that everyone unlocks all the skills but you can only swap so many into active slots at a time. Then the skills in the active slots get sub stats which massively change the way the skill works.

I try and think of it as having all skills in all 3 skill tree's unlocked in Diablo 2 but you can only pick x amount of skills at a time. But you are free to change the skill set in town. try out the Diablo 3 skill planer on the main Diablo 3 site. It will make more sence about skill sets and runes.

 

[itsmydamnation]

so can i still get a level 40 fireball ( figuratively speaking)

 

[Silent_Buddha]

so can i still get a level 40 fireball ( figuratively speaking)

Spell damage is based almost entirely on your stats and weapon.

Weapon = base damage.
Attack stat = % boost to damage.
Precision stat = % chance to crit.

So Fireball (if it existed) is almost entirely dependant on gear. Runes change the behavior of a spell.

So pretty much every single person on the server that is the same level will do the exact same damage with any given spell if they have the same rune when naked unlike D2 where not only is the spell damage modified by how many skill points you put into it, but also where you allocated your stats. But since there is no stat allocation and there are no skill levels, everyone that sockets an obsidian rune into Magic Missle, for example, will do the exact same damage and have the exact same effect as anyone else that does it if you have no gear on.

So again, everything in D3 is gear dependant. There is no other way to build or customize your character. Also this means that most gear is generic. IE - you won't find class specific stats or boosters on almost all armor that isn't "set armor" for the most part. Same goes for weapons. Each class seems to have 1 piece of armor that is class specific (headpiece for monk, belt for barbarian, cloak for demon hunter, etc.) and 1 or 2 sets of weapons that are class specific (fist weapons and bo staffs for monk, sickle for barbarian, crossbows and quivers for demon hunter, etc.).

Also, this may only apply to the BETA since it is limited to a very small section of the game, but crafting is absurdly powerful. Since the game is so heavily gear dependant, being able to continue crafting something over and over again until it has the stats you want is incredibly powerful.

Regards,
SB

 

[Silent_Buddha]

And a new reply for something I find interesting.

D3 is apparently setup with all gameplay being run on a dedicated server, like Guild Wars. Or like an MMO. So all items, all enemy AI routines, all combat, everything is resolved on Blizzards servers and then the results are sent back to your computer.

So, unlike SC2 which just did online ownership verification, D3 is going the MMO route with everything handled by the Blizzard servers with your client just serving as a graphics front end.

That has quite a few implications.

1. Pirating is going to be extremely difficult if not impossible for quite a while. Not only do the pirating groups have to come up with a login emulator, they have to come up with the server emulator, the AI routines, the combat routines, the loot routines (items, stats, drop rate, etc.), basically everything. Presumably since the AI routines aren't exposed to the internet, the pirate groups will have to code their own AI routines. Likewise with anything else the requires computation to resolve (like combat and skill use).

2. It's impossible to play the game without an internet connection unlike SC2 (which validated your ownership then you could play however you want for a certain amount of time until it pinged the server again for validation which also made it easier for piraters to crack) until a dedicated server emu is released.

3. If you have a bad internet connection (WiFi in an area with lots of wireless traffic is one good example) then you'll have a highly variable gaming experience. Anyone that plays MMO's (or Guild Wars) will already be familiar with this phenomena. But people that have limited experience with those types of games may be in for a bit of a surprise.

Going to be interesting to see how this developes.

Regards,
SB

 

[hoho]

Hasn't the always-online requirement been discussed to death already?

Anyway, I don't think it'll be that much of a problem. There are millions of people playing MMO's and they generally don't complain all that much. People that actually remember and have played D2 are probably the only one that could complain a bit but anyone else shouldn't be all that surprised to see that requirement.

 

[Dresden]

Blizzard needs to shut up and take my damn money, already. I'm upgrading my pre-order to the collector's edition.

I spent almost this entire weekend playing the D3 beta, and regardless of the fact it's rife with connection issues, it's amazing. Co op is like...unbelievable. Mobs scale with the more party members you have, becoming increasingly more difficult. I had a party of three the other day and it was intense. I can't wait to play through it on Inferno difficulty with a party of four. I also discovered the wizard is my new favorite class. Period. I played through the first time with a Barb, and for single targets, the DPS is insane. Almost EVERY spell the wizard casts is an AOE. I can't even imagine how powerful they'll be with runes. Plus, arcane power regenerates so fast, it's incredible. No longer relying on mana is something beautiful.

 

[John Reynolds]

Blizzard needs to shut up and take my damn money, already. I'm upgrading my pre-order to the collector's edition.

I spent almost this entire weekend playing the D3 beta, and regardless of the fact it's rife with connection issues, it's amazing. Co op is like...unbelievable. Mobs scale with the more party members you have, becoming increasingly more difficult. I had a party of three the other day and it was intense. I can't wait to play through it on Inferno difficulty with a party of four. I also discovered the wizard is my new favorite class. Period. I played through the first time with a Barb, and for single targets, the DPS is insane. Almost EVERY spell the wizard casts is an AOE. I can't even imagine how powerful they'll be with runes. Plus, arcane power regenerates so fast, it's incredible. No longer relying on mana is something beautiful.

I thought I was going to go with a barbarian for my first play through once the game itself launches but the wizard is my new favorite. Though I suspect the mana mgmt issue is going to get tweaked, even the witch doctor runs out of power fairly quickly whereas the wizard can essentially spam electrocute across entire rooms and hallways (at least up to 12th level).

 

[Malo]

Only played through with the monk so far and as usual you can see Blizzards amazing artwork and detail put in this game. Very visceral feel to the fighting with excellent audio. I think I'm going to have to finally upgrade to some Klipsch or something for D3 as my cheapies just won't cut it for this. Great animations on the Monk and there's a few combinations of skills depending on play style and whether solo or not.

Think I'll try out Barb next to finish melee style play then try the other classes.

Oh and I absolutely love all the debris, breakable scenery and corpses flying everywhere from your attacks.

 

[KKRT]

@Silent_Buddha
I understand what You mean with that skill streamlining, but its not like Diablo 2 was so better in that regard.
There are like only 5-7 playable builds per class in D2, stats points were useless for the most part, it was mostly to cover item requirements with strenght/dex, cover block change with dex [if You use one] and then put all points into vitality/strenght/dex depending what class are You playing [high energy was used only for build based on energy shield] and many builds were also heavy item depended.

I actually like stats in D3 and that weapon gives damage to spells, but i also think there should be limited skill selection [dunno, maybe free respect in normal and expensive/limited on higher difficulty levels] and that they should bring back Traits.

Runes should be just droppable in final form, why make it random? Just drop them as they are and leave rest to community trading.

Oh and there shouldnt be char limit. 10 per account is a joke and scam! And much bigger stash too.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

@Silent_Buddha
I understand what You mean with that skill streamlining, but its not like Diablo 2 was so better in that regard.
There are like only 5-7 playable builds per class in D2, stats points were useless for the most part, it was mostly to cover item requirements with strenght/dex, cover block change with dex [if You use one] and then put all points into vitality/strenght/dex depending what class are You playing [high energy was used only for build based on energy shield] and many builds were also heavy item depended.

Sure if you were going for the optimal build. But sometimes it's just "fun" to play a non min/max build that was less than optimal. I must have well over 40 or so characters that I've made in D2. Many of which never made it past level 30. But all of which were extremely fun to play for me. Going full plate necromancer for example in the early game wasn't exact fast or necessarily even very good, but it was still fun.

There's none of that possible in D3. There is no real min/maxing. There is no really goofball builds. You can't really deliberately gimp youself, well other than using the non-skill weapon attack only. And even that still scales up just like skills with attack, precision and gear.

Anyway, I think I'm going to be starting my play through with the Monk just as I was planning. It does as much damage as the Barbarian with far more mobility (dash isn't on CD like leap attack). Each attack hits for slightly less, but you also attack faster when using skills. As well, all of your first 3 attacks feature AE of some sort. And there's a lot of utility. It's the most well rounded class with the ability to be support, DPS, or tank.

The overdone physics reactions to Barbarian strikes is what makes him "seem" more powerful. But the fact that you can get the modifer of +X health for each point of spirit used, means that you can heal quite a bit everytime you use a spirity spender. On my level 13 monk, he gets 6 HP/spirit point spent. So a Dash = 90 point heal. Lashing tail kick = 180 point heal. And Lethal Decoy = a massive 450 point heal combined with 330% AE damage. Although 2x Decoys and I'm all out of spirit.

I just really really REALLY wish there was appropriate martial arts animations for weapons. At least for the Staff and Swords if nothing else.

For second playthrough I think I'm going Wizard. Was going to do Witch Doctor, but he just looks too goofy.

Regards,
SB

 

[KKRT]

Sure if you were going for the optimal build. But sometimes it's just "fun" to play a non min/max build that was less than optimal. I must have well over 40 or so characters that I've made in D2. Many of which never made it past level 30. But all of which were extremely fun to play for me. Going full plate necromancer for example in the early game wasn't exact fast or necessarily even very good, but it was still fun.

There's none of that possible in D3. There is no real min/maxing. There is no really goofball builds. You can't really deliberately gimp youself, well other than using the non-skill weapon attack only. And even that still scales up just like skills with attack, precision and gear.

Oh yes, i was talking about builds that can playthrough Hell

Yep, there will be less minmaxing, but i think that skills + runes + gear gives more variety in terms of gameplay. Sure You wont make 'stupid/fun' build, but skills are very different from each other.
If You want minmaxing and funny builds You should just play Path of Exile, its designed for that ;p

What a pity though that they wont allow mods ;\ D3 is better type for games than Starcraft 2, it should get same treatment Skyrim has.

I dont know what class i'll start maybe Monk, maybe Wizard, it really depends of 'day' it release and class my friends will play ;] Probably Monk, because most of my friend will be playing Wizards.

Damn, beyond3D is really laggy today.

 

[Aeoniss]

Tying spell damage to % of weapon damage makes alot of sense, as this ensures appropriate scaling of damage the further you progress into the game.

It's a far more flexible and dynamic solution to keeping skills relevant then, say, the old method of static figures determining spell damage based on how many points are in it... Which they might (will) have to repatch a thousand times once they realize that your poor skeletons don't do poop for damage in Hell mode even with Amp damage.. And of course they'd need to tweak ALL the dmg stats for most characters all over again if they adjusted the enemies\difficulty levels.

/D2 dilemmas as a Necromancer. Still I love D2 though! Hundreds of hours spent..

Basically this does the same thing but better and spares everyone involved alot of head ache.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Bleh, I just noticed yet another thing they "dumbed down" for D3.

There are no resistances in the game anymore. It's ALL rolled into one value. The defense stat controls resistances to ALL types of damage. /sigh.

I had been wondering why I never saw resistance modifiers on armor. Still a fun game, but oh so disappointed.

That means it's also unlikely we'll have mobs that are immune to certain types of damage. Which means no more memorable "OH SHITE!" moments when you run into a physical immune mob as a melee and there goes all your life steal. <more general sighing>

Regards,
SB

 

[KKRT]

Bleh, I just noticed yet another thing they "dumbed down" for D3.

There are no resistances in the game anymore. It's ALL rolled into one value. The defense stat controls resistances to ALL types of damage. /sigh.

No, defense only applies to physical resistance, other resistances are just placed near it, but You need gear/skill to increase them

 

[Grall]

There are no resistances in the game anymore.

They said at Blizzcon that there is, only it won't drop on normal difficulty since it doesn't really make sense there. Well, maybe towards the very end of the last act, who knows.

 

[KKRT]

They said at Blizzcon that there is, only it won't drop on normal difficulty since it doesn't really make sense there. Well, maybe towards the very end of the last act, who knows.

It makes, because normal looks to be ultra easy ;\
Beta was easy with only medicore weapon, but today i've crafted simple lvl 6 items and it boost my to 550 hp, from 180 ... I couldnt die earlier and now i'm immortal.
Oh well, i'll need to rush to nightmare as fast as i can.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

No, defense only applies to physical resistance, other resistances are just placed near it, but You need gear/skill to increase them

That's reassuring but it's either changed or they need to fix the tooltip for the Defense stat. It says all resistances, not just physical. As well, increasing your Defense stat does reduce elemental and poison damage quite significantly even now. This is most noticeable when you fight mini bosses that do non-physical damage when they die (poison cloud, fire bombs, charged bolt orbs, etc. on death).

It makes, because normal looks to be ultra easy ;\
Beta was easy with only medicore weapon, but today i've crafted simple lvl 6 items and it boost my to 550 hp, from 180 ... I couldnt die earlier and now i'm immortal.
Oh well, i'll need to rush to nightmare as fast as i can.

Yeah, normal in D3 is way easier than normal in D2. Act 1, part 1 in D2 was a fair bit harder. Blood Raven in D2 was significantly more difficult than the Skeletal King in D3, IMO. Especially with all her adds (far more than the Skeletal King).

Also there's quite a few more bosses in D2. You run into Corpsefire almost immediately in the Den of Evil, for example. I suppose the head Wretched Mother or Haedrigs wife could be considered similar "bosses" but if so they are a joke in comparison.

[edit] NM, I seem to have forgotten the Captain in Leah's mothers cellar as well as the templar you kill later. Although these both seem easier than even Corpsefire.

Regards,
SB

 

[John Reynolds]

It's pretty impressive how much impact gear has on the game. My 6th level monk, which I wasn't enjoying at all, went from a frustrating class to one I thoroughly enjoy after I dumped my shared crafting materials her way and made better weapons and armor. She went from taking 5-6 clicks to kill one nondescript enemy to wiping out entire groups of mobs in 2-3 clicks (using the exact same skills).

 

[Malo]

Yeah I noticed that. As soon as I got the first upgrade for the blacksmith (which is a fantastic addition to the game btw) and made a full set of the Monk armor/weapons, there was a huge improvement. I quite often got 6-8 kills in one blow.

 

[John Reynolds]

I really like the pooling of crafting materials and gold on the same account, and the fact that you use the same smith. Upgrade him playing a wizard, create a new character, and you don't have to waste crafting materials upgrading him again for the new toon.