System Concepts in Diablo IV

David Kim, Lead Developer at the Diablo IV design team has been discussing how he has been drawing from the Diablo player community when designing and developing Diablo IV. In a recent post, he discussing how the latest version is progressing.

Diablo IV Itemization

Lee says he's still going through the feedback he's received on Itemization but he's been busy working out ways to add more depth and complexity to base items, including Rares) and methods to add more variation to item affixes to add a little more spice to these powers and make the choices more meaningful. At the same time the team has been looking at giving players more options on customizing items, so that we can enjoy trying out a wider range of effective Diablo opportunities rather than looking online for the optimal build.

In a Part I article, Lee promises to go into more detail regarding Itemization , but did update on other topics in the meantime.

Elective Mode in Diablo IV

Many people who saw the BlizzCon demo interface think that Diablo IV will lock skills to specific slots. Like a lot of features in the demo, the UI is not final and Lee promises to support Elective Mode-style skill selection. Lee promises that skill selection and assignment will always be completely open for all players.

Ancient Items

Everyone at Blizzard is backing the community view that Ancients as they are now don't fit in with Diablo IV and need more work. Lee thinks that Blizzard could have communicated the new role of Ancient Items in Diablo IV better. He argues that he was only sharing first draft features, but is revisiting Diablo IV designs with player feedback in mind and is confident he will be able to share more details of Ancient Items in the next update.

Diablo IV Endgame Progression System

Blizzard hasn't decided on a choice the option of character leveling and experience system and whether it should be finite or infinite, and are still reaching out for feedback. Lee acknowledged some concerns around "infinite being worse because it will eventually overshadow all the power granted by other sources". At the end of the day though, players can control for themselved how much power each system gives and whether it's infinite or finite.

Lee also points out that power increase doesn't need to be linear throughout the ranks as it can slow down as players reach higher levels. For the Diablo IV design team, the more important question is what experience feels best for players, and the team can test Endgame variatons and etsablish the power curve that makes the most sense.

We have a couple reasons for having a different experience system in addition to a level cap. A level cap gives us the ability to grant players a sense of completion. But for players who want to go deeper into the game, a second experience system allows us to capture the fun of achieving those really difficult endgame goals and ranks. We can also introduce additional depth through this system, because players will be more experienced with the game at this point. Ultimately, our goal is to create a meaningful system that provides clear choices depending on your preferred playstyle in the endgame. 

Diablo IV Sources of Power

After player feedback on player sources and the design team are reevaluating how much power comes from each source at any given time.

In a strong statement, Leee explained that in Diablo IV, power doesn't come mainly from items. The team wants to have a strong blend of power sources: characters naturally get stronger as they increase their levels, skills have ranks that increase power, talents provide specific playstyle choices and additional character power, and of course items grant power and meaningful choices as well.

Another to bear in mind is that Legendary powers are just one part of an item's power, and that they don't invalidate all other Affixes due to how powerful they are. For example, two to three normal Affixes are currently equivalent in power to a Legendary power on most items.

Diablo IV Keyed Dungeons

A key question that came up in player feedback was exactly how the new Keyed Dungeons in Diablo IV are different from Rifts. Keyed Dungeons will introduce greater challenges as their tiers increase through Dungeon Affixes. The majority of dungeons are real places in the world, and players will learn some information about them including what types of monsters, events, and layouts to expect. With this information, as well as the specific Dungeon Affixes being displayed on the key, players will be able to strategize their strategy before going into the dungeon. Blizzard believes this is the biggest change from Diablo III Rifts: the added planning and strategizing that takes place before you decide to run a Keyed Dungeon.

Diablo Patch 2.6.7a Launched

Blizzard have launched a patch update, Patch 2.6.7a. Here are the details.

Patch 2.6.7a Table of Contents:

• Items
• Bug Fixes

Note: PLease note that the changes listed here apply to all versions of Diablo III, including PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC unless otherwise indicated.

Items Updates

• Lamentation
  • This now increases the damage of Rend by [100-150%]
  • Developer's Note: Blizzard have acknowledged in a number of forum posts, that they overshot on Lamentation's original implementation during the 2.6.7 PTR. At the same time they also feel they undershot the overall balance of Rend/Whirlwind's adjustments by removing this bonus completely. After player feedback and completing their own internal testing, they've settled on a middle ground of 100 to 150% that they believe reaches the balance level we were shooting for.
• Shield of Fury
  • The benefit of this item is now capped at 20
  • Developer's Note: As many noted after the Diabli 2.6.7 update, Blizzard have also overshot on Crusader with the live patch. Blizzard hope that Crusader will perform much better with it's new set, and this cap should rein in damage to a more reasonable level

Patch 2.6.7 Bugs

• Wizard
  • Wave of Force (Arcane Attunement)
    • Stacks of Arcane Attunement are now removed upon entering a Greater Rift (PC Only)
    • Note: This change will be coming to Console in a future patch.
• Patterns of Justice
  • The patch update fixes an issue where the Tempest Rush Flurry rune attack did not benefit from the 6-Piece bonus when cancelling Tempest Rush (PC Only)
    • Developer's Note: Blizzard were unable to resolve this for 2.6.7a for Console; however, it is slated to be fixed on Console in a future patch.
• Fjord Cutter
  • This patch fixes an issue where Fjord Cutter was increasing all damage to slowed or chilled enemies instead of just Seismic Slam damage
• Won Khim Lau
  • Here a bug has been fixed where Epiphany would trigger teleporting while channeling Tempest Rush (Electric Field) when Won Khim Lau was equipped

Patch 2.6.7 - The Full Rundown

Patch 2.6.7 Notes

Here are the the patch notes for the most recent update for Diablo III, Patch 2.6.7. Changes from the PTR have been highlighted in RED.

PATCH 2.6.7 Table of Contents:

• General
• Seasons
• Items
• Monsters
• Bug Fixes

NB: These updates apply to all versions of Diablo III, including PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC except where indicated. Please note that PTR is only available for PC and Mac users.

General

• Greater Rift Keystones are now subject to vacuum pick-up
• A note regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has been added to the Options -> Privacy menu, clearly stating Blizzard do not sell account information. For more information regarding the CCPA, please see here (Console Only).

Seasons

• Developer Note:According to Blizzard, one of the hottest pieces of feedback from Season 18's buff was that the Triune bonus didn't stick with your character while you moved around. With Season 19, Blizzard have altered course as well as upped the ante by experimenting with new mechanics to add an element of both chaos and power to the battlefield. It should feel a bit like Pandemonium, and it may be a consideration whether or not you want to reset your total kill streak for a particular killstreak bonus versus continuously maintain the overall effect (especially as the highest level killstreak rewards will be harder to leverage in situations like Greater Rifts). Killstreaks with higher kill count requirements are more powerful, and we're looking forward to seeing what players think of and do with them!
• The buff for Season 19, the Season of Eternal Conflict, has been added
  • Pandemonium
    • For the duration of the Season, all players will have a stacking buff that that persists as long as you have hit or killed a monster within the last 5 seconds
    • Each stack gives .05 movement speed and .1% bonus damage. This bonus caps at 50% movement and 100% damage (1000 stacks)
    • In addition, after reaching a certain number of kills in a row, a power is unleashed, dealing an amount of scaling damage based on player level and difficulty or Greater Rift level. Here are the powers that are released as you make more kills:
      • 15 Kills: Exploding Chickens seek and destroy
      • 30 Kills: A wide Frost Nova freezes enemies
      • 50 Kills: Corpses rain from the sky
      • 100 Kills: Five massive energy twisters are unleashed
      • 150 Kills: Dark Geysers form beneath enemies
      • 200 Kills: Treasure chests fall from the sky
      • 300 Kills: A ring of fire engulfs everything
      • 400 Kills: Meteors hail from above
      • 500 Kills: Angels descend upon the battlefield to fight for your cause
        • Angels should no longer one-shot Rift Guardians.
      • 1000 Kills: Guess???
    • Powers are tracked at a group level; this means only one power can be active in play at a time, regardless of the number of players in a group
• Two new Seasonal rewards are available for players who fully complete the Season 19 Journey: the Valor Portrait Frame and the Angelic Treasure Goblin pet
• Lilith's Embrace: This exclusive pair of cosmetic wings are now available for all players who purchased a Virtual Ticket. Hail Lilith. (PC Only)

Patch 2.6.7 Items

• Developer Note: With Patch 2.6.7, Blizzard is beginning to roll out new class sets for every class in Diablo III. For the Season of Valor, Blizzard is focusing on the two classes that embody the Light and wield some form of Holy elemental damage: Crusader and Monk. You'll also find a handful of retuned or newly added Legendary powers intended to synergize with the new class sets. Blizzard reached out to the Diablo community to find out which skills were most requested by players as well as most underrepresented in current builds, and Blizzard hopes you're as excited as they are for these new gameplay options. The other class sets will be coming in later patches, so if your class isn't represented this time around, fret not—they're coming in a future patch!
• You'll also notice a significant number of Barbarian item changes in this patch. While the Barbarian class set will be coming at a later date, Blizzard has very much heard the War Cry from our dedicated Barbarian community and implemented a number of changes heavily inspired by extremely thorough feedback. While not every suggestion has been taken at a 1:1 parity, the thoughtful analysis helped guide Blizzard to changes that could be implemented in this patch. Blizzard has expressed thanks to the community members who expressed their concerns in a respectful, constructive manner.
• New Crusader Set: Aegis of Valor
  • 2-Piece Bonus: The charged bolts from Fist of the Heavens has a chance to cast another Fist of the Heavens Attacking with Fist of the Heavens empowers you, allowing Heaven's Fury to deal 100% increased damage for 5 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times (multiplicative).
  • 4-Piece Bonus: Hitting with Fist of the Heavens generates 5 Wrath and reduces damage taken by 1% for 5 seconds. Stacks up to 50 times
  • 6-Piece Bonus: Increase the damage of Fist of the Heavens and Heaven's Fury by 10,000% 20,000%
• New Monk Set: Patterns of Justice
  • 2-Piece Bonus: Sweeping Wind gains the effect of every rune and movement speed is increased by 5% for each stack of Sweeping Wind.
  • 4-Piece Bonus: Each enemy within Sweeping Wind increases your movement speed by 5%. Stacks up to 10 times. Attacking with Tempest Rush reduces your damage taken by 50% and increases Spirit Regeneration by 50.
  • 6-Piece Bonus: Hitting with Tempest Rush while Sweeping Wind is active will temporarily increase the size of Sweeping Wind after hitting over 30 times within a short period. Sweeping Wind damage is increased by 10,000% 15,000%
• Darklight
  • Fist of the Heavens has a [45-60%] 100% chance to be cast twice.
  • Additional Legendary Power: Increases the damage of Fist of the Heavens by [200-250%][800-1000%].
• Eye of the Storm
  • New Legendary Power: When Sweeping Wind hits exactly 1 enemy, its damage is increased by 100%.
  • Developer's Note: With the redesign of Patterns of Justice, there was less need for this item's introduction. We've removed it for now and may consider adding it (or possibly a different Legendary power) at a later date.
• Vengeful Wind
  • Increases the maximum stack count of Sweeping Wind by [6-7] 10
  • Additional Legendary Power: Increases the damage of Sweeping Wind by [250-300%] [600-800%].
• Won Khim Lau
  • New Legendary Power: Hitting with Tempest Rush will activate Cyclone Strike, and both skills deal [500-600%] increased damage.
• Chantodo's Resolve
  • The scaled attack speed damage bonus to Wave of Destruction has been reduced
• Wrath of the Wastes
  • 6-Piece Bonus: The damage bonus now also applies to Rend
• Lamentation
  • Additional Legendary Power: Increases the damage of Rend by [150-200%]
• Ambo's Pride
  • New Legendary Power: Attacking with Whirlwind also applies Rend and the total damage of Rend is dealt over 1 second
• Remorseless
  • Hammer of the Ancients has a [25-30%] chance to summon an Ancient for 20 seconds
  • New Legendary Power: While both Wrath of the Berserker and Call of the Ancients are active, Hammer of the Ancients deals [200-250%] more damage.
• Fjord Cutter
  • You are surrounded by a Chilling Aura when attacking.
  • New Legendary Power: Seismic Slam attacks 50% faster and also deals 100-150% increased damage against Slowed or Chilled enemies
• Bracers of Destruction
  • Seismic Slam deals [400-500%] increased damage to the first 5 10 enemies it hits.
• Fury of the Ancients
  • Call of the Ancients gains the effect of the Ancients' Fury rune and your Ancients attack 100% faster
• Bone Ringer
  • Now has a cap of 60 stacks.
• Legacy of Dreams
  • This gem is now more likely to drop from a Greater Rift Guardian

Monsters

• Blighter
  • Blighter's Poison Tentacles' Area of Effect now hits less frequently, but at higher damage, when attacking players

Bug Fixes

• Wizard
  • Archon
    • Fixed an issue where certain item bonuses (such as from the item Deathwish) would persist between changing forms to/from Archon
• Spite
  • Fixed an issue where casting Restless Giant would cause the 200% physical bonus damage to fail to apply when the Gargantuan enraged
• Squirt's Necklace
  • Fixed an issue where some ground effects were causing the Squirt's Necklace buff to fall off despite being shielded

Season 19: The Season of Eternal Conflict Begins Nov 22

Diablo 3 Season 19 is scheduled for release on November 22, simultaneously with the next Diablo III patch 2.6.7. Find out more about the brand-new Season of Eternal Conflict buff, two divinely inspired new class sets, and a number of old and new item reworks coming in Patch 2.6.7!

Season 19 Table of Contents

• Season 19 Theme
• Season 19 Cosmetic Rewards
• Season Journey Rewards
• Seasonal Conquests
• Haedrig's Gift
• FAQ

New Season 19 Theme

Season 19 is the Season of Eternal Conflict and with it come an awesome array of killstreak rewards! This Season is inspired by the war waged between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, you'll earn increasingly powerful effects as you unleash destruction upon your enemies. So keep racking up those kills and clear the battlefields in the name of Sanctuary!

All Diablo players will benefit from the Pandemonium buff during Season 19. For each stack of this buff, you'll receive a small boost to movement speed and bonus damage, ultimately capping out at 50% movement speed and 100% damage at 1000 stacks. In addition, reaching certain killstreak goals will trigger a special effect and cause even more mayhem on the battlefield. Here's a list of the speciall effects you can achieve per number of kills:

In Season 19, we're taking action on the great feedback Blizzard received from the community about Season 18's Triune buff. With the killstreak mechanic, they will make sure the benefit is always traveling with you and something you won't have to constantly reposition for. There's still more room for exploration and innovation in the future, and in the meantime, you will be challenged to push these killstreaks to their limits and discover its ultimate reward! Blizzard are confident you'll find it devilishly delightful.

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Season 19 Cosmetic Rewards

Beginning with Season 17, Blizzard started to re-introduce previous Seasonal rewards to make them available to players who may have missed them the first time around. For Season 19, this means awards originally available from Season 7 are returning to the Season Journey.

However, Blizzard knows it's nice to have something new to aim for if you've participated in previous Seasons. With this in mind, Blizzard is bringing back End of Journey rewards as introduced in Season 17, with not one, but two new cosmetic rewards for those who complete the entirety of the Season journey. Feast your eyes upon the Valor Portrait Frame and Angelic Treasure Goblin pet!

In addition to the Helm and Shoulders slots of the exclusive Conqueror Set, you'll be able to earn a series of portrait frames that embody the snowy, foreboding aura of the Eternal Woods. If you need a warm little pal to keep you cozy through your cold journeys, the Dream of Piers fiery nature should do the trick—when he's not instilling night terrors in the local fauna.

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Season 19 Journey Rewards

If you've been diligently slaying demons for the past few Seasons and reached Conqueror in the Season Journey each time, you've surely accrued a few extra stash tabs. You'll earn one additional tab each Season by finishing the Conqueror tier, up to a maximum of five:

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55
• All I Do IS Win: Complete two Conquests this Season
• Kill You: Kill Ghom at level 70 in under 30 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty
• Money Ain't A Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai's Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai's Cube to reforge a Legendary item

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Seasonal 19 Conquests

Want to prepare your Conquest plan for Season 19? Here are the challenges you'll face!

Returning for Season 19 is Sprinter/Speed Racer, where you're challenged to complete the entire Diablo III campaign from Act I to Act V at level 70 in under 1 hour! Next is Avarice/Avaritia, where all that glitters is gold—that is, if you can complete a 50 million gold streak outside of The Vault or its Inner Sanctum. On a Good Day/I Can't Stop encourages you to upgrade your Legendary Gems; level three Legendary Gems to 65 to complete this challenge! Push your way to Greater Rift level 75 to complete Divinity/Lionhearted. Lastly, a fan-favorite for those who enjoy unconventional builds, The Thrill/Superhuman requires completion of a Greater Rift level 45—solo and without any Set items equipped.

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Haedrig's Gift

Finally, the Class Sets rewarded for completing certain chapters in the Season Journey courtesy of Haedrig's Gift have rotated once more. We've listed the available Sets below. For those new to Seasons, here's how it works:

Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig's Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!

The set you receive depends on the class of the character you're playing when you open each Haedrig's Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you'll need to open all three on the same character.

Here are the sets granted by Haedrig's Gift in Season 19:

• Barbarian – Wrath of the Wastes
• Crusader – Roland's Legacy
• Demon Hunter – Unhallowed Essence
• Monk – Raiment of a Thousand Storms
• Necromancer – Bones of Rathma
• Witch Doctor – Helltooth Harness
• Wizard – Tal Rasha's Elements

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FAQ

Q: When does Season 19 start?

A: Season 19 begins Friday, November 22 at 5:00 p.m. PST in North America, 5:00 p.m. CET in Europe, and 5:00 p.m. KST in Asia. For time zone conversions, see this site.

Q: When do Seasons go live for players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch?

A: Seasons go live for all console players globally Friday, November 22 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, regardless of which regional version of the game you may have. Please note that Seasonal Leaderboards for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch are still separate by hardware platform.

Q: When will Season 19 end?

A: Blizzard are no longer providing anticipated end dates for Seasons. However, they say they are committed to keeping Seasons roughly three months in length (give or take a few weeks based on development needs) and will continue to provide a minimum of two weeks advance notice for when the Season will be ending.

Q: When are the non-Seasonal Leaderboards being wiped?

A: Non-Seasonal Leaderboards are tied to what Blizzard calls “Eras,” each of which lasts about 6–12 months. The most recent era began November 12. For more information on Eras, please see this post.

Q: What will happen to older Seasonal and Era records?

A: Starting with Season 10, Blizzard have removed old personal bests from Season 1. When Season 19 arrives, Blizzard will remove old personal bests from Season 10, and so on. They will be doing the same for personal bests from the previous Era when the next one goes live.

Seasonal Leaderboard records are not being cleared and will remain archived both in game and on Blizzard's website.

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Themed Seasons are continuing to evolve as Blizzard looks to the future, and they are quite excited to see where this one leads. Are you looking forward to the Season of Eternal Conflict? Are you going to try one of the two new Class Sets? Gear up and get ready for Season 19; the Season of Eternal Conflict!

Note: In the coming weeks, comments on Diablo III blog entries will be disabled. This is part of Blizzard's website migration for GDPR compliance. Blizzard have said that they apologize for the inconvenience; check out the discussion over at Season 19.

Diablo IV Preview

Blizzard have released a preview of Diablo IV. This phase of the game occurs after the destruction of the Black Soulstone, the defeat of the Prime Evil, and the fall of Malthael, Angel of Death. Countless lives have been lost and the people of Sanctuary find themselves struggling through the darkest of ages. Years have passed and, as some semblance of regular life starts rebuilding, a threat as old as the land itself begins to manifest.

Diablo IV is the latest in the saga of the genre-defining ARPG Diablohub fans players have fallen for. Hellish new features, brutal challenges, and an unavoidable return to darkness lie at the heart of this game. Get a preview of the terror that is in store:

Diablo IV - A Bleak Future

Diablo IV takes place many years after the events of Diablo III; after millions have been slaughtered by the actions of the High Heavens and Burning Hells alike. In the power vacuum left behind, a legendary name resurfaces;Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, the whispered progenitor of humanity. Her hold on Sanctuary cuts deep into the hearts of men and women alike, cultivating the worst in its citizens and leaving the world a dark and hopeless place.

An Open Sanctuary to Explore

With Diablo IV, Blizzard are opening up the campaign approach to broaden Sanctuary in a way that's not been tried before. With a fully open world, players will be able to adventure across five distinctively dangerous regions in any order, all seamlessly connected for uninterrupted journeys.

Mount up and roam from zone to zone completing public events with others or explore populated town social hubs to party up and trade. Challenge a world boss or even other players for treasure and glory! The world, along with its deadly inhabitants, awaits.

While it’s probably suicidal to go alone, you might prefer to try going through Sanctuary solo. Players can explore the campaign at their own pace, plumb randomized dungeons for rare loot, and find any item without joining a group. Keyed dungeons will offer a new endgame experience available to individual players as well as groups of up to four!

Preview of the Classes of Diablo IV

Players will be able to choose between five different, unique classes on launch. These three will be revealed by Blizzard at BlizzCon 2019:

The Barbarian:
Crush enemies and wade through combat with reckless abandon.

The Sorceress:
Freeze, scorch, or shock your foes with immeasurable arcane power.

The Druid:
With the Druid, you can shift between primal forms while commanding the fury of nature itself.