Diablo 3 Blog Guide

Here is some Diablo 3 Wizard footage:

May 20, 2012 Edit: Notice: This page is out dated. For an updated fact sheet and information on Diablo 3, please refer to the Diablo 3 Information FAQ.

Also check out the rest of the site while you're at it! Thanks for reading.

We all know by now that some people went as far as to make a petition for Blizzard to change the graphics, even only after 3 days of seeing the very first screenshots of Diablo 3. Why did Blizard choose a different art style for Diablo 3 than the previous games in the series? When asked, lead Diablo 3 producer Keith Lee, stated that in Diablo 2, and 1, they featured darker landscapes and dungeons which fit great with the whole theme of the games. Since the very first screenshots were released, people have blamed them to look a lot like World of Warcraft, and complained that they were too bright and colorful for a Diablo game.

Keith Lee stated the following about this: “One of the things that we considered when we were working on the visuals for ‘Diablo III’ is the fact that color is your friend. We feel that color actually helps to create a lot of highlights in the game so that there is contrast. A great analogy is like in ‘Lord of the Rings’ — not everything is dark. It allows you to see what a creepy dungeon can be like but if everything is dark it doesn’t allow you to have a lot of contrast. Diablo I and Diablo II are darker, and I think that the one of the main reasons why is the fact that in ‘Diablo I,’ you’re basically in a dungeon the whole time. And in contrast to ‘Diablo III,’ you’ll be exploring outdoors, you’ll be in dungeons, you’ll be experiencing so many different areas."


"We want to bring as much variety as we can when you’re playing the game so that you’re excited to check out new environments. We don’t want everything to look the same and that’s really what we’re trying to aim for. What we also tried to do is create very clean textures so that you can really focus on them. It’s a stylized feel and in that sense, it’s very sort of a Blizzard philosophy. It’s just really pushing the envelope in terms of the visuals so that everyone is excited about how everything looks. We think that ‘Diablo III’ is going to be better in so many different ways. We’re just building and improving upon the the first and second ‘Diablo’ games.”

Kieth also stated, "We’re very involved, because everyone’s very passionate about our games. Blizzard employees spend a lot of time actually iterating on [the game], and so in terms of the next phase, what we’ll try to do is a proof on concept on lot of different gameplay aspects. And we really want to get as much feedback as possible so that we can improve on the game and ensure that we meet Blizzard quality for our fans and for ourselves as players.”

So I want to apologize in advance for my "graphics" post. I was just outraged that people did not appreciate just the fact Diablo 3 was announced, and instead complained. It seems as Blizzard will be listening and making the graphics as the people want them to be. Which is good to hear, but at the same time, I would still love to see them done by a professional, and not only by what some people want them to do.

But really, this is great news, as it means that Diablo 3 will feature both great colors for some areas, that will include waterfalls, and other vibrant textures, but in other parts of the game, such as dungeons, caves, etc. the game will bring back the dark and shadowy Diablo 2 feel that the series is so used to.

2012 Edit: Obviously there is no Paladin in Diablo 3...yet. Maybe some day Blizzard will add one though!

On the official Blizzard site, in cains journal, there are many concept art pictures. One of them was this one, that is seen on the left of this post (click the picture to see the full image). Now, is it me, or does this look like a Paladin?

On page 13 of Cain's Journal which can be found here: Deckard Cains Journal, there is a knight which is dual wielding two swords. This makes me think that there is a Paladin in Diablo 3 and that he or she will be able to dual wield weapons, unlike in Diablo 2.

As we can see from the concept image, it does not look that similar to the Barbarian:



Which leads me to think that this has to be a Paladin in Diablo 2 that can dual wield.

This was posted on the World of Warcraft forums, by Bashiok, an official at Blizzard:

We're - in general - not big fans of griefing for any game. It's really only "fun" for one person, and that definition of fun isn't generally something we're going to want to encourage. It's far more positive to encourage and support meaningful and skillful options and systems within a game, than a mechanic for people to instantly turn against one another for no meaningful gameplay reasons.

I definitely remember running with my friends, and someone toggles it, and bam everyone is dead and your one friend is laughing. Ok, ok, good joke I guess, and then you run back and *bam*, you've toggled it to get them back. After a while everyone usually agrees to a truce because it's just a waste of time. But I also remember running with random players and losing extremely nice items because of it, not cool. I'm sure that it was a feature that was right up some people's alleys, I won't deny there are some that would enjoy nothing more than to see others frustrated, but is that truly something that should be encouraged through design - if not directly opposed?

We have a large focus on cooperative play for Diablo III, and the mechanics and design decisions related to multiplayer are likely going to be based on supporting and encouraging it as much as possible, and not breaking it down.

That doesn't mean that PvP won't have its own focus, but those are details and features we aren't yet discussing.

In my opinion, this is a great move by blizzard. This will allow for more fair PVP and less killing sprees by those people just trying to ruin the game for others. The PVP system of Diablo 2 was good, but after this many years, and World of Warcraft, I think it was time for it to get an upgrade. And here we can see that that is exactly what hey are doing. Games should always mainly be about fun, and this new change is all about keeping that fun, and keeping the annoying people who toggled PVP just to kill you for no reason.

Frustration has no place in video games. Game designers work night and day to make sure it stays out of their games, mainly in todays competitive games. With this new PVP system, hopefully that will change. Blizzard should release some more information about this in the coming weeks, and we will update you on it as soon as it is available.

Notice: This page is out dated (written in 2008) and was created when Diablo 3 was first announced. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Welcome to the Diablo 3 User Interface information page. Here you will find all the latest information about the Diablo 3 UI, and many little details that we now know. This FAQ will be updated over time, so your feedback is much appreciated.

Table of Contents:

1. Mana and Frenzy Bars


2. Buffs


3. Monster Targeting/Combat Log


4. Comparing Equipment


5. The Inventory


6. Item Drops


7. Mini-Map

Mana Bar

Let's start with the mana and frenzy bars. In Diablo 3, instead of everyone having a mana bar, the fighter classes, or at least the barbarian will use a different bar than the mage classes. As you can see here, the mage classes, such as the Witch Doctor, use this mana bar.

Frenzy Bar
On the other hand, melee classes, will use this new bar, called a Frenzy Bar. I imagine that the Frenzy Bar probably regenerates faster than the Mana bar, and has much different mechanics. Such as the energy bars and mana bars in World of Warcraft.



Buffs Buffs in Diablo 3 will appear on the bottom left side of the screen as you can see in this image (Barbarian's Battle Cry Buff Can Be Seen):





Monster Targeting and Mini Combat Log
In Diablo 3, when you attack an enemy, the damage you do will appear above the enemies head. This is a great change from the past, where you could not see the damage you were doing to an enemy during the fight (only if you checked your character page. which was of course distracting while in a fight), or any other important information that helps you during a fight. Here are some examples:







Equipment Comparing

In Diablo 3, when selecting a weapon, to make it easier to choose a new weapon for yourself, you will be able to see the weapon you currently have equipped, next to the weapon you are looking at. Whether this is the same with all equipment, it is not confirmed, but I am sure that this is the logical case.



On Weapon Speed: In D3, weapon speed will be shown as "Attack per Second". Also there will be a calculated result for "Damage per Second" based on the damage and speed. With lightning damage having it's damage points ranging from 1 - x.


The Inventory

In the gameplay videos, and the inventory pictures, we can see room for 30 items. The new inventory system will be a bit similar to World of Warcraft where you will be able to carry variable sizes of bags. (There will be 4 grayed out slots for bags.)
Items will take one inventory slot regardless of their size, and some of the items will be stackable. This will allow you to carry a lot more of the same item. Adding bags also allows you to carry many more items than ever before.



(Note: Some gear icons do not look like they would on the actual player character.)

Gear Slots:

- Head
- Shoulders
- Neck
- Hands
- Chest
- Leggings

- Waist
- Feet
- Finger R
- Finger L
- Weapon 1
- Weapon 2



Item Drops
- Runes will be included, but will have a different system than Diablo 2.
- Gems, and Scrolls of Identify are back.
- The item rarity system of Diablo 2 is making a comeback as well.
- Throwing knives are back.
- Elixrs are also in the game.
- Bags are included. Allowing you to store more items in each one, and carry up to 4 bags.
- Orbs that drop after enemies are defeated than replenish your health will be acompanied by potions.
- Gold will now be picked up automatically.







Mini-Map

The mini-map will be on the top right side of the screen, along with the name of the area that you are currently in right above it.






Legend:

Yellow Dot - Hero
Purple Dot - Heros Mercenary, pet, and allies.
Orange Dot - NPCs (Like Deckard Cain, etc.)

NPC Portraits located top left of the UI:

Edit: This article was old and outdated and therefore removed. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Note: This article is from 2008 and very outdated, but I will keep it up here just for fun.

This shot was taken from one of the developer videos. It looks like a druid with a spear! It could also be an old witch doctor concept. Thought they probably would not show a concept in their announcement video of the gameplay. Not sure.

Some other ideas are that this could be a druid/summoner combo, which would be very interesting. Also, it could be a Hunter class. Or even a druid/amazon combo.

But all signs honestly point to druid. Main reason is because if you look at it's helmet, it is a wolf type helmet, and as we know, this is the same type of helmet that druids used in Diablo 2. Any ideas on which class this might be?

There are many many reasons why Diablo 3 is great, here some of them.

Note: This is an old article from 2008, I apologize for the old screenshots.


Graphics.
Let's start with the graphics. They have been upgraded to fully 3D from the older sprites. We now have a fast 3D rendering engine, that gives us great graphics, at great frames per second. With the new graphics engine, come great new visual effects. From the moves, to the enemies, everything looks much better, and more visually satisfying. Especially when you are hacking away at many many enemies, it is very gory, as we have seen from the gameplay footage.



Interactive Environments.

Diablo 3 features interactive environments that can either help or do harm to your character. In some parts of the game for example, you can use the environment to your advantage by smashing a part of the environment, and having the parts of it fall on all of the enemies standing directly next to it. Killing them instantly. Though in some parts, the environment can work against you. In one example we were shown, as many of you have seen, there will be chests that will instead of giving you loot, activate a device which makes enemies come out of nowhere, and attack you.


Amazing Skill Effects.
I know this should go into graphics, but it deserves it's own part. The visual effects on the skills are great. From what we have seen, it will be very satisfying using all of the skills, and we have only seen a few. There are still many more, as well as other classes to see. Each with their own unique look, this was a great move by Blizzard. Giving all of the skills great, unique effects. Sort of like in Diablo 2, but improved, a lot. Even the enemies use skills with amazing visuals.



The Improved User Interface
Diablo 2 had a great user interface, but Diablo 2 is also many years old. Blizzard took the original interface and upgraded the heck out of it. And I think they did a great job. It is just as before, when it comes to the health and mana bars, but a few things were changed to make it easier for you to play. As stated by the developers, the potions belt was replaced by a skill bar, allowing you to use your skills quickly and easily.


Customized Gear for Each Class
Each piece of gear is custom designed for each class. Barbarians put on demonic style garb, with devil horns. The other classes will have awesome gear that will make them stand out, and look unique.



Unique Looking Enemies..everywhere!

As you can see from our monsters page, the monsters in Diablo 3 are very unique looking. They range from ghost type creatures, to weird blobs, and even more bizarre creations, you won't ever get bored of slaying countless of these monsters.


Huge Bosses!

If you thought the bosses in Diablo 2 were big, you will love the bosses in Diablo 3. They are stated to be six or seven times larger than the player character. This makes all of the boss battles that much more epic, and challenging. As well as satisfying, when you finally beat them and visually.


Scripted and Random Events

As stated earlier, scripted events can occur at random so as you go through the game multiple times you don't see the same thing. This along with all the other random systems such as items, dungeons, maps, etc. make for a incredibly repayable game. If you thought Diablo 2 had replay value, you will love Diablo 3. They took the random system from Diablo 2 and improved a lot on it. Random items, random monsters, and random adventures. This allows Blizzard to place random scripted events almost anywhere, and it keeps the game fresh every time you play.


The Witch Doctor!
The Witch Doctor is a new class type in Diablo 3, it can cast out locus swarm, which spreads between targets and deals damage. It can also summon mongrel things that it can cast locust swarm on. Locust swarm buffs their damage. The Witch Doctor can also use a fire bomb spell. Can summon a wall of zombies that stays stationary, but the zombies in the wall flail their arms and do damage to their opponents. This has to be one of the coolest ideas for a skill, ever.


There are many other great things about Diablo 3, but I hope I covered at least some of the great ones. If you have some other things you would like to add, please post a comment. Thanks for reading!

Here are some pictures comparing Diablo 2 to early Diablo 3. Click each one to see the full size.

Many people want to know when Diablo 3 will be released. Here, we have gathered information on as to when that might be.

Let's look at this for a second:

On a certain gaming site, a release date is shown as 12/31/08.

Now as much as we would love to believe that it is true, we don't know. The thing is, this gaming site has release dates wrong for many games. So how can we trust that? We can't.

Now let's have a look at this.

On a certain game shopping site, they say that there is 150 days until release.

Let's do some math here, in 150 days it will be November 28th, 2008.

Now this date is close to the gamespot date, so this is very interesting. But still, not confirmed at all.

Blizzard has not yet told us when the game will be released, or even hinted to a release date.

A theory is that Blizzard will release Diablo 3 at around the same time as Starcraft 2 and Wrath of the Lich king, for a triple attack. How true this theory is, we are not sure.

Now we would love to hear some of your thoughts on this. When do you think Diablo 3 will be released? What is the most logical release date for Blizzard, and how long do you guys think it SHOULD take to release Diablo 3?

Thank you for any and all comments. Also thank you for visiting our blog. We are here to keep you updated on any and all new information for Diablo 3.

We were here on day one, when it was announced, and will be here throughout this annoying wait for Diablo 3.

Please post your thoughts.

Edit: I apologize but this page is outdated and was created when Diablo 3 was first announced.


Here is the Diablo 3 interface/(U.I.), zoomed up close and explained.

Click the interface image to see the full size.



Diablo 3 Empty Inventory Image



Lower quality Inventory Image

This monsters section is still under construction.

Barbarian Skills:




Witchdoctor Skills:



Furious Charge

Rank 1/1

Charge Directly at an enemy, smashing everything in the way.

Current Level: 1

Fury:20

Primary Damage: 110%

Scondary Damage: 100%

Range: 85 Feet



Hammer of the Ancients

Rank 4/5

A massive attack that has increased chance to critically hit.

Stamina: 16

Deals 225% weapon damage plus an additional 14 physical damage

+25% chance to critical hit



Whirlwind

Rank 1/20

Swirl in a cyclone, delivering attacks to everything in his path

Current Level: 1

Fury: 1

Hits for 25% of weapon damage

Next Level: 2

Fury: 1

Hits for 30% of weapon damage



Here is a list of KNOWN and confirmed Witch Doctor skills

Horrify

Rank 3/5

A spectral mask that horrifies all enemies in proximity, causing them to run in fear.

Mana Cost: 10

Radius: 20

Fear Duration: 1-2 seconds

Mask Duration: 5



Wall of Zombies

Rank 4/5

Zombies erupt from the earth to attack your enemies

Current Level: 4

Zombies attack for 15 damage.

Next Level: 5

Zombies attack for 15 damage.

Diablo 3 Developers talk about the game. A full one hour length video all about Diablo 3. More updates on the way.



Part 2 is here:

Part two

Click each screenshot to see a huge, full high resolution version.