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.