Diablo 3!

[Aazealh]

^^^ Why are you mad, dog?

Because I love "Dark Knight"-type classes.

If they did do a deathknight/necromancer typish class, how would they set it apart from their other versions of said class from previous games? Would they try to tap into infrequently used abilities related to those classes? With the new Wizard type you have her using time stopping and other types of magic instead of your classic fire, ice, etc. So what could they do?

There's really a lot of possibilities. Basing themselves on the old Necro class and giving it a twist wouldn't be too hard I think. They could also go with the "Corrupted Paladin" angle.

Raising of the undead, aura's, summoning demonic forces to help you. I dont even know how I would go about giving it a twist to make it fresh.

Is that the main stuff the Death Knight does in WoW? I don't even know what its key abilities are. Can it instill fear into enemies? I assume it can drain life and mana, but then that's the archetype of the class. Anyway, keep in mind that the existing classes aren't fresh by any means in the first place. The Barbarian is straight from Diablo 2 and it's in about every game there is out there, same with the Wizard. The Witch Doctor is the only one that's really original, but even then if one wants to it can be compared to combinations of classes from other games. And I don't mean just WoW either (its classes having been lifted from other games themselves, Death Knight included). In the world of MMORPGs as you know there's hardly any class left that can be truly "original". And since Diablo III isn't a MMORPG, I believe they can do interesting things with a wide combination of classes.

 

[seppuku]

I really liked the rune idea that they showed at the last Blizzcon. I hope they make the runes as diverse as the weapons.

 

[Walter]

The fourth class in Diablo 3 COULD be a Monk, according to a Korean site:

http://kotaku.com/5342791/korean-diablo-iii-site-reveals-fourth-character-class

Can't say this makes me too excited, but I won't hate on it yet. We still know nothing about how the class will function, or even if this is legit yet.

 

[Aazealh]

Can't say this makes me too excited, but I won't hate on it yet. We still know nothing about how the class will function, or even if this is legit yet.

Hahaha, Ko Ninja will be happy I guess.

In general I'm not a huge fan of monks myself either, but who knows, if they make it into an ultra badass it might be interesting. So far my favorite class is still the Wizard. And now that we have a second melee class I guess we can scratch the idea of a Dark Knight for good. Too bad, maybe in Diablo 4.

Anyway, pretty diverse lineup so far. Missing a rogue maybe? Something with more finesse, unless they plan to play that angle with the Monk already.

 

[Walter]

We still know nothing about how the class will function, or even if this is legit yet.

It just got confirmed in the opening ceremony. A video showed the monk deflecting fireballs so, Im sure we'll learn more about how the class plays today.

 

[SaiyajinNoOuji]

Trailer for the monk class at Blizzcon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfWycR-dUjQ

Not going to lie, that shit be tight.

 

[Walter]

Trailer for the monk class at Blizzcon.

Thanks for posting it. I was waiting for Kotaku to hop to, but they failed.

Not going to lie, that shit be tight.

Trailer was ok, but the end really grabbed me -- HAND THROUGH CHEST.

 

[Griffith]

Oooh, another returner from Hellfire! Can the Bard be far behind?

Anyway, other than it being the return of the Monk class, it wasn't that interesting.

 

[Aazealh]

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/26070

Gameplay video.

 

[IncorrigibleThief]

Monk delivers.

I hope the last class is something that completely throws everyone off and entirely goes against the integrity of their creative decisions so far.
Candidates for the ruining D3:
Ninja
Beastmaster
Cavalier
A Furry
Pirate

 

[SaiyajinNoOuji]

Some more info about monks.

From some SA guy who is watching the live stream.

They made some of the animations for old classes niftier (spider totem, stoneskin, whirlwind) and monks are badass holy warrior dudes with lots of holy light and runes and 2d fighting animations that combo like fighting game characters. They look like eastern european guys but they're zen like asians. or something. You can combo a move into itself (each move has 'stages') or into other moves for various nifty effects.

So there is a combo of our holy warrior.

 

[Ko Ninja]

Hahaha, Ko Ninja will be happy I guess.

In general I'm not a huge fan of monks myself either, but who knows, if they make it into an ultra badass it might be interesting. So far my favorite class is still the Wizard. And now that we have a second melee class I guess we can scratch the idea of a Dark Knight for good. Too bad, maybe in Diablo 4.

Anyway, pretty diverse lineup so far. Missing a rogue maybe? Something with more finesse, unless they plan to play that angle with the Monk already.

Did someone say Monk? And yes, Dark Knight would be a very nice addition.

Really though, I love all kinds of classes but usually lean towards any Monk, Ninja, or Rogue in the end. It depends on how the game presents them. I won't lie, I didn't pay much attention to the Diablo III news being that I only have a Mac currently. I'm interested now. I'd almost say "Martial Artist" is more my style than the Monk here that also casts lots of spells. I like a full on brawler who can dish out the highest damage through speed and special attacks that wears no armor in exchange for not really having a spell list. Hopefully there's an interesting skill tree for this Monk. Er.. </end loser talk>

Question for you Diablo nuts: Do the characters always look like what they do in the start screen or can you customize your look through equipment/items?

 

[Scorpio]

Question for you Diablo nuts: Do the characters always look like what they do in the start screen or can you customize your look through equipment/items?

In the past, they all look the same in the beginning and diversity comes solely from the weapons and armor you wear, with different tiers having different looks and sometimes different colors depending on the attributes.

 

[Breed1Ghost]

After seeing the video I cant stop thinking about Fist of the North Star

 

[seppuku]

In addition to what Blizzard released on its website, I found

about 12 minutes of game play:

http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/714955/diablo-iii/videos/diablo3_blizz09_1a_082109.html
http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/714955/diablo-iii/videos/diablo3_blizz09_1_082109.html

and a roughly 45 minute panel on heroes, monsters, the development process, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDopEL4sPc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FCityhunter0505&feature=player_profilepage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y57OeWWEcY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FCityhunter0505&feature=player_profilepage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQBtkJ97Fbo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FCityhunter0505&feature=player_profilepage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx7ce3OdUd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guw9uOtcLEY

Is it just me or do these graphics look much, much better?

Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are probably the best hyped games in history. I'm just as excited, if not more excited, about each one today as I was when they first announced them. Blizzard never saturates you with information and their announcements just keep getting more interesting. Optimistically, Starcraft 2 will be released in 2010 and Diablo 3 in 2011 making the gap between their announcements and releases about 3 years and the gap between these games and their prequels 10 years or more. People shell out over $100 and plus airfare and hotel charges just to get more previews and glimpses before anyone else. Other people pay $40 for 18 hours of promotional events. Blizzard has created unfathomable expectations for their projects. Simply being good would cause a catastrophic disappointment.

 

[yesmilord]

Got to play through D3 a few times today.

Major chances from the last iteration, namely a huge drop in damage (though it's really hard to judge, since you're in such test tube settings) and a revamp of several class abilities. I tried the monk, and he's pretty awesome. High damage, but takes a lot of damage, plenty of defensive abilities, and decently good AoE ability as well (considering he plays something like an Assassin). Wizard was pretty much the same, though they gave the class an "arcane bomb" ability that detonates on impact. The Witch Doctor's AoE Fear ability now has startup and it seems like the damage from the fire bombs have been significantly reduced. The Barbarian's battleshout can be cast an infinite amount of times. Some abilities that he has, like Stomp, no longer require any rage but carry a fairly long cooldown (30 seconds). Still, without gear and access to full skills, the Barbarian was a chore to play, especially against monsters that could freeze or slow you down.

The stage I was playing on felt almost identical to Act II and Lut Gohlein. It looks pretty good, but they could definitely do better. The stuff that really looks good are the spell effects, like the Witch Doctor's fire bomb explosions (the figure of a lady briefly appears as the fires extinguish) and the monk's Seven-Sided Palm ability where he literally warps and hits things in a small area in seven directions.

A good experience overall - I'm waiting in anticipation for the last class.

 

[OmegaSeamaster]

It looks pretty good, but they could definitely do better.

Yeah, it looks like just a decent 3D action game. It's not the drastic graphical improvement I was expecting. Of course, it could just be because I'm watching small, tiny videos.

 

[yesmilord]

Yeah, it looks like just a decent 3D action game. It's not the drastic graphical improvement I was expecting. Of course, it could just be because I'm watching small, tiny videos.

No, it's not just because you're watching small, tiny videos. I suppose I'm spoiled by what next gen consoles have to offer in terms of graphical luster, so that may very well be it. When talking to a Blizzard employee about it however, they said that we shouldn't worry and to remember that the game still has probably two more years of development. That's a long time to clean things up and improve in areas where they may have cut corners on for the time being.

 

[Breed1Ghost]

Next class no doubt will be a ranged focused class hopefully it'll be good

 

[Walter]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177051

No Diablo III in 2010. Not surprising, but still kind of a bummer.

 

[Oburi]

What the hell man, yes i want a quality game and yes those clips looked great but in 1-2 more years I doubt it'll be as groundbreaking.

 

[SaiyajinNoOuji]

What the hell man, yes i want a quality game and yes those clips looked great but in 1-2 more years I doubt it'll be as groundbreaking.

Oh dont even try to deny your self, your going to gobble that shit up whole sale! DONT DENY YOUR TRUE DARK PASSIONS!

 

[Skeleton]

So the final class of Diablo III was revealed: The Demon Hunter. What are your thoughts, guys?

For me, it's a giant, unexcited "meh." The only thing that would've gotten me going is the Demon Hunter's

Spoiler

"bola" move because I love bolas and have always wanted to use them in a game.

But even that didn't get me excited after watching the gameplay footage of the skill being used. (I don't know if I needed to spoiler that, but I did just to be on the safe side.)

I know it's tough to come up with new, unique ideas (don't ask me to create a class for a fantasy game!), but a warrior that uses the powers of demons against them? Why do I feel like I've seen that before? I hate to say it, but I'm pretty bummed out/disillusioned by this new class. And I am was a hardcore fan of the series. But hey, at least I can still say "the game would've been better if the old Blizzard North guys were making it." That counts for something, right? Right?!

 

[Walter]

Anything short of a Dark Knight would have been a disappointment to me for the final class. But I don't have anything against the Demon Hunter particularly. They needed a ranged class, and this is a decent one by the sound of it.

As a result, none of the D3 classes stand out to me as a MUST PLAY. They all have some quality of "ehhhh" to me.

 

[Eluvei]

For me, it's a giant, unexcited "meh."

Same here. Did you see the in-game cutscene they released for her? That was really awful. Some cliched motivational dialogue about "choices" that has absolutely nothing to do with the series' atmosphere, at least as far as I could see, because I couldn't bear to see it until the end. It's in vein with the Jim Raynor cringe-worthy speeches of StarCraft 2. I won't be getting this for more than $19.99.