Diablo 4's development seems like it is continuing to progress smoothly despite the backlash Blizzard has received lately. This may be evident due to the recent alleged version number change in Diablo 4's development, though this could mean anything. Still, fans seem to be excited for Diablo 4 and what it has to offer to the ARPG community as the genre has become rather stale as of late. With Path of Exile's Expedition league launch doing poorly compared to past launches, and Diablo: Immortal getting pushed back to 2022 now, it seems like all fans have left to look forward to this year is Diablo 2: Resurrected.
One positive aspect of the long development window for Diablo 4 is that Blizzard tends to release quarterly blog updates to update the fans on the systems that have been implemented, the direction that is taken, and touching on fan feedback. This not only helps shape the game to be what fans are hoping for, but it allows Blizzard to mold their creative vision to better adapt to what players want. This is a great way for Blizzard to make sure that eager fans are being listened to, even if fans have years to wait since Diablo 4's initial reveal before they can finally get their hands on it.
First Look at Diablo 4
Since Diablo 4's announcement at Blizzcon 2019, fans have been treated with updates on the development of the project. Not only have Blizzard updated its fans on the progress, but systems and mechanics have even been reworked based on fan feedback which is a big plus. It was November 1st, 2019 that Diablo 4 had its first blog post, revealing Lilith to be the big boss and the 3 initial classes the Barbarian, Sorceress, and Druid. This blog post also mentions the new additions to the series such as player mounts, a fully open world with 5 seamlessly connected regions, and the option for players to challenge world bosses and other players.
On November 3rd, 2019, just two days after the initial reveal blog post for Diablo 4, another post was made going into detail on the 3 revealed classes and their roles and a talent tree that would later see a rework. This blog post also mentions some of the regions that players will encounter in this new open world. Of these, there is Scosglen home of the Druids, the snowy Fractured Peaks, Dry Steppes, the swampland of Hawezar, and Kejhistan. The player will be able to visit these locations seamlessly while encountering many of the regional monster families, groups of enemies that are specific to each region with unique characteristics.
Diablo 4 blog posts are usually quite in-depth with the information that is presented, and the blog post on November 3rd was no different. As players will be able to see each other in the open world to some degree, there will be public events that players can freely take part in such as World Bosses, giant monsters that may require more than a handful of players to see to completion. One topic that ended up changing down the road was the Itemization rarity, where items were listed as going from Common all the way to Mythic, though this was eventually changed to remove Mythic and replacing it with Unique items while keeping Mythic's random Legendary powers for Legendary items instead.
Blizzard's Response to Diablo Fans
On November 13th, 2019, a letter from Diablo 4's game director Luis Barriga was released noting that the team was indeed reading all fan comments and discussions over items and stats and that those systems were top priority in getting right. In a follow-up blog post on November 19th, 2019, certain questions that fans had were explained in more detail. Ancient Items admittedly served no purpose, the confirmation of an Elective Mode, the sources of power, and keyed dungeons. In a part 2 blog post that was posted 2 weeks later, Lead Systems Designer David Kim talks about affixes in Diablo 4, the introduction of new stats, attack and defense changes, the removal of Ancient Items, and appreciation for all the feedback received thus far.
These last few blog posts for Diablo 4's development prove that Blizzard is indeed listening to its fans, even going so far as to state that the fans are a valuable resource to draw upon when designing a game. The very next post in February of 2020 began the quarterly update that fans would become familiar with. This blog post shared the space for a couple of designers to talk about decisions made on systems for Diablo 4. This includes where the health globe and the action bar will sit for PC and Console versions, the ability to rebind the left-click key, the option to support controllers on PC, and Couch Co-op improvements. Monster families were showcased in more detail, with the Cannibals family taking center stage.
In June of 2020 fans saw a new blog post where fans learned that Diablo 4's storytelling will take the camera in closer to the characters involved, making it feel more immersive. Blizzard goes on to talk about the open-world aspect of Sanctuary, and how important it is for players to seamlessly continue the story or do side content at their leisure. One addition to Diablo 4 is camps, areas sprinkled throughout Sanctuary that players will need to clear so that they turn into safe havens for NPCs and players. This blog post shared with fans how its in-house playtest went, and the direction of decisions Blizzard will make as a result.
Latest Blog Updates for Diablo 4
Following the last Diablo 4 blog post, a new one was posted in September of 2020 detailing many of the character features and progression system reworks. In it fans learned about the newly reworked skill tree, a literally tree-shaped progression system that allows players to work their way upwards in the branches unlocking new ways to modify their skills. Among these skill branches are passive nodes that when unlocked, allow players to unlock passive abilities which are found in the roots of the skill tree towards the bottom. One major showcase unique to the Sorceress is its Enchantment System, which allows her to place skills in either the active slot or enchant slot for passive bonuses.
December 2020's blog post showcased new additions to Diablo 4's systems with how skill points will work. Each class can allocate points into the same 4 stats as each other, though each will function differently based on the class. A Barbarian will surely want lots of Strength, though they can also add points to Dexterity for more focus on their Critical Strike Chance. This also ties in with stat thresholds where skills will work differently in Diablo 4 whether a stat has met a certain threshold or not, adding even more creative control. Weapon types were also mentioned as being a big factor when it comes to how they function differently from one another, as well as the quality of each item within each rarity.
The Legendary items in Diablo 4 will carry on what Mythic items were originally going to have, and that is random Legendary affixes. This means Legendary items will no longer be identical to each other while Unique items make a return from Diablo 2 and are just that, Unique and centered around some theme. It was during Blizzonline 2021 that the Rogue class was announced for Diablo 4, with a hands-on look with the developers at more of the gameplay that players can expect. June 2021 was the last blog post update for Diablo 4 and its focus was on the art direction.
Though this might seem like a minor topic for Blizzard to delve into, it was revealed that for the first time in the Diablo series it will feature character creation for each of Diablo 4's classes. This will be a great new addition for fans who want to take their character to a new level of personalization and customization. The dye feature from Diablo 3 will also be returning although it will be reworked in some manner. Blizzard went on to talk about its Physically-Based Rendering system that will give Diablo 4 the grittier and realistic look that Diablo 3 sorely lacked. Despite many new things learned about Diablo 4 since its reveal, there are surely more surprises to be had and Diablo 4's next blog update might be in September if they follow last year's schedule.
Diablo 4Â is in development, with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.