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[Hot5pur]

There's still a good 2 months left before the launch of Diablo 4, but more information will be trickling in about endgame systems fairly soon from the developers, in a new video update which covers endgame and beta feedback.

In the meantime I thought we could centralize all D4 information coming up to the launch, so I will start with a few tidbits.

There is a fairly good lore summary here:


News tidbits:
Full map, with the area we played in the beta highlighted. The rest of the game is absolutely massive (assuming similar density of content).

There is also the full map with markers that was leaked from the closed beta:
LINK
- Barbarian will be getting buffs
- Respect will not be prohibitively expensive in end game
- Developer stream in April

In the meantime...

 

[cormack12]

You all running solo or grouping on the discord etc?

 

[nightmare-slain]

that map is insane! i can't wait to explore it all.

i would love if they zoomed out the exploration camera. it feels too cramped. i get it if they want to sell cosmetics and in the hubs i dont mind a closer view but i hated it when fighting.

can't wait for the full release. i have preordered the ultimate edition. i've bought D2R to play until release of D:IV.

 

[Hot5pur]

that map is insane! i can't wait to explore it all.

i would love if they zoomed out the exploration camera. it feels too cramped. i get it if they want to sell cosmetics and in the hubs i dont mind a closer view but i hated it when fighting.

can't wait for the full release. i have preordered the ultimate edition. i've bought D2R to play until release of D:IV.

Apparently that's not even including the hell zones.
And, that big chunky space at the bottom, a good amount of room for the expansion, though I imagine they can also add content across the entire world for the expansion, like more dungeons and world events.

 

[Antwix]

You all running solo or grouping on the discord etc?

I'm probably gonna run through the first playthrough 100% solo. After that though, id group up with whoever's on

 

[PectacularOz]

Enemy scaling to level (and then gear score/level) is a mistake.

 

[jshackles]

Enjoyed playing barbarian in the beta, but tried necromancer in the second beta and wasn't feeling it (WAY too easy, even on "hard").

But still, the world was cool and the way that optional dungeons were everywhere has me excited to explore. The skill tree is... okay, but nowhere near PoE's glory - I could see a lot of samey builds.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to playing it in a couple of months - and then probably off and on for the next decade.

 

[Hot5pur]

Enemy scaling to level (and then gear score/level) is a mistake.

In some ways, yes, in other ways it makes a lot of things much easier.
For example, you can blast through the starting area or do every single side quest, and regardless of level, you won't out level the enemies.
Also if you ever want to come back to an area an do stuff, you can without again having the problem of outlieveling the zones. I think this avoids locking yourself out of content that you missed.

The other aspect is leveling becomes more of a puzzle. You immediately get weaker, but you are given more options to get stronger, just takes a bit more work to get there. Over time as I played I didn't feel I got particularly weaker (maybe a bit just after leveling) but overall the combat and feel of the game got more interesting.
I think it's a fine balance and they've tried to nail it as best they could.

 

[Little Mac]

There was a lot I didn’t like about the beta and I think Diablo 3’s beta was 100x better … yet I still miss it and can’t wait til launch. I hope they do another beta weekend.

 

[Poppyseed]

Enemy scaling to level (and then gear score/level) is a mistake.

The other way is what happened in e.g. Xenoblade 3 where I just did all the quests/side quests and ended up over leveled and it was boring as mud to plow through everything.

 

[Luipadre]

I cant wait to play this. Hopefully blizz will buff the druid early game

 

[Rentahamster]

You all running solo or grouping on the discord etc?

If you want to level the fastest, grouping is the best way.

 

[j0hnnix]

i ended up picking up Lost Epoch to tied me over, and playing on steam deck isnt too bad. Debating where I want to get D4.

 

[Rentahamster]

There was a lot I didn’t like about the beta and I think Diablo 3’s beta was 100x better … yet I still miss it and can’t wait til launch. I hope they do another beta weekend.

What did you like better about Diablo 3's beta? I don't really remember it that well, but I did have a good impression. That made me think the rest of the game was good, but when I got the retail game I was disappointed because Act 2 was a clusterfuck.

 

[Hot5pur]

i ended up picking up Lost Epoch to tied me over, and playing on steam deck isnt too bad. Debating where I want to get D4.

How is last epoch? How much content is missing? I am thinking to co-op it to tide me over as well. They've been taking forever to finish it, and feels like half the game has been updated to new animations and some stuff is still being worked on.

 

[j0hnnix]

How is last epoch? How much content is missing? I am thinking to co-op it to tide me over as well. They've been taking forever to finish it, and feels like half the game has been updated to new animations and some stuff is still being worked on.

for what I've played, some animations are still missing, minor glitches here and there, example, switching from werebear to human my character gets stuck and floats around until I commit an attack - pretty funny - lightning attack shows purple blocks most of the times. Overall It's been fun, already dropped a good 10 or so hours into it im at level 35. Story wise I have ignored most of it never grabbed me, its no naughty dog. On the deck I have it locked to 40fps with mostly high settings but do have occasional drop to 20-35FPS.

 

[Little Mac]

What did you like better about Diablo 3's beta? I don't really remember it that well, but I did have a good impression. That made me think the rest of the game was good, but when I got the retail game I was disappointed because Act 2 was a clusterfuck.

The first act of D3, where the beta took place was simply amazing. Tristram and the skeleton king was the focus and it really made a great first impression. The game kinda sucked after that imo and the “set item”endgame loop was terrible. I still somehow played it a fuckton and I’m embarrassed how many hours of my life it stole from me. Regardless, d4 beta didn’t make a great first impression imo but there is alot of potential there and I’d play it another weekend before launch if given the option.

 

[MikeM]

I’m going to get it- I just wish that the Series X bundle was a unique console. Would have been all over it.

 

[cormack12]

So I didn't watch any of the videos as gonna save them for release but what's the loose gist of the story? Lilith is diablos daughter and wants to kill us?

 

[Rentahamster]

Lilith is diablos daughter

Lilith is Mephisto's daughter. She and the angel Inarius are actually the creators of Sanctuary, the mortal realm. She was banished long ago for reasons, but she's back now.

and wants to kill us?

Unclear.

 

[docmindbender]

Have been getting all classes to 70 in D3. Something I never got around to despite the hours played. Will probably do similar in D2R afterwards.
Tried Last Epoch but some bugs are getting in the way, so am waiting for patch or full release.

 

[NT80]

Enemy scaling to level (and then gear score/level) is a mistake.

I hate this idea.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

The beta got me really excited for it, it will be a long two months, followed by chaos (this and ffxvi)

 

[Rentahamster]

Enemy scaling to level (and then gear score/level) is a mistake.

I hate this idea.

Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of level scaling due to the effects it has on the feeling of progression. From what I've played, however, this didn't feel overly terrible. I'm willing to give this particular implementation a chance.

 

[Luipadre]

New video about endgame. Sadly not much new stuff, only a recap. Pretty disappointing. Waiting for the endgame stream for more info

 

[Antwix]

Dev livestream :

Also, updated launch times :

 

[Bartski]

Dev livestream :

Also, updated launch times :

really looking forward to the update on balance tweaks. I think I've had the most fun building the rogue but it felt really hard as compared to just blasting through the chapter with the sorcerer or necromancer

 

[Agent_Nobody]

really looking forward to the update on balance tweaks. I think I've had the most fun building the rogue but it felt really hard as compared to just blasting through the chapter with the sorcerer or necromancer

I don’t expect huge tweaks from what we’ve seen, it’s likely going to be more balanced around endgame…well at least ’balanced’ by Blizzard standards

 

[funking giblet]

Dev livestream :

Also, updated launch times :

It ain't Diablo if I ain't hearing "Rhykker" is a deep, dulcet bassy voice.

 

[Dr. Claus]

They seriously need to raise the difficulty from the outset. THe beta was a monotonous slog because nothing was a challenge.

 

[Antwix]

They seriously need to raise the difficulty from the outset. THe beta was a monotonous slog because nothing was a challenge.

Hard to say if World Tier 4 will be challenging as it's different for everyone. However the beta was basically playing Act 1 normal. I mean.... Diablo 2 was pretty damn easy as well in Act 1 normal too so we'll have to see. I consider World Tier 1 as game journalist mode and World Tier 2 as "normal".

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

They seriously need to raise the difficulty from the outset. THe beta was a monotonous slog because nothing was a challenge.

In all arpgs the game is pretty much the tutorial. I've started wolcen to scratch the Diablo 4 itch, I'm just steam rolling everything, boring as hell

 

[Agent_Nobody]

They seriously need to raise the difficulty from the outset. THe beta was a monotonous slog because nothing was a challenge.

Hard to say if World Tier 4 will be challenging as it's different for everyone. However the beta was basically playing Act 1 normal. I mean.... Diablo 2 was pretty damn easy as well in Act 1 normal too so we'll have to see. I consider World Tier 1 as game journalist mode and World Tier 2 as "normal".

The other thing to note too is the the devs said the drop rate for legendaries was increased for the beta compared to what the final game will be.

https://gamerant.com/diablo-4-beta-increased-drop-rates/

 

[Hot5pur]

Awesome. Didn't know they would drop this today, did that trailer just show Andariel? Ooo

 

[Fools idol]

New video about endgame. Sadly not much new stuff, only a recap. Pretty disappointing. Waiting for the endgame stream for more info

They wont reveal anything before reease because people would cancel preorders.

Endgame has already been data mined for the most part and it sucks.

 

[funking giblet]

They seriously need to raise the difficulty from the outset. THe beta was a monotonous slog because nothing was a challenge.

The best builds in this prob hit crits in the single digit thousands. I think I hit some TRILLION damage crits in DIII.

 

[funking giblet]

They wont reveal anything before reease because people would cancel preorders.

Endgame has already been data mined for the most part and it sucks.

In fairness, compare the end game at launch of D3 to what it is now, it's a different game.

 

[Luipadre]

They wont reveal anything before reease because people would cancel preorders.

Endgame has already been data mined for the most part and it sucks.

Yeah it will probably suck for a year but whatever im in for the first time experience and for the seasonal updates.

 

[Spukc]

It ain't Diablo if I ain't hearing "Rhykker" is a deep, dulcet bassy voice.

This is Rhykkuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[PerfectDark]

Lets be honest about Diablo 4. The devs that made the game are Diablo 3 devs and World of Warcraft devs. You have allot of Diablo 3 and the loot and gear score is from the WoW team. This is basically World of Diablo 3.

I think the game looks great. The animations and skills are A+. The guts of the game are not good and lacking. The Skill tree is very lacking.You will get bored in a week. The Paragon system is beyond terrible and stupid. This will not help the lack of skill tree. The loot in the beta was generic and boring. The whole point of arpg's is to hunt loot, find something that makes you jump up and down. Finding game defining items that might not be for your class but are so great it makes you start a new class. You only find loot for your class which is a casual thing to add to a game.

Leveling scaling ruins every game it touches. There is nothing worse possible you could put into a game then level scaling and having mobs in zones scale to your level.

Lots of hype on this game. Diablo fans waited 10+ years for Diablo 3. It was terrible and we had to wait another 10 years for Diablo 4.

This game will be similar to current Diablo 3. A decent game but decent is not good enough for a Diablo game.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

The best builds in this prob hit crits in the single digit thousands. I think I hit some TRILLION damage crits in DIII.

I just hope it doesn’t overload like D3, where playing with a group everyone‘s connection craps out if a player has a late endgame build. My ’Hammerdin’ build in one of the seasons was just so stupid I had to nerf my equipment when farming to min/max my equipment when playing with any extra players; As soon as I hit the first major pack with the full load-out, everyone would freeze and start rubber-banding like mad with more intermittent freezing.

 

[Tg89]

Lets be honest about Diablo 4. The devs that made the game are Diablo 3 devs and World of Warcraft devs. You have allot of Diablo 3 and the loot and gear score is from the WoW team. This is basically World of Diablo 3.

I think the game looks great. The animations and skills are A+. The guts of the game are not good and lacking. The Skill tree is very lacking.You will get bored in a week. The Paragon system is beyond terrible and stupid. This will not help the lack of skill tree. The loot in the beta was generic and boring. The whole point of arpg's is to hunt loot, find something that makes you jump up and down. Finding game defining items that might not be for your class but are so great it makes you start a new class. You only find loot for your class which is a casual thing to add to a game.

Leveling scaling ruins every game it touches. There is nothing worse possible you could put into a game then level scaling and having mobs in zones scale to your level.

Lots of hype on this game. Diablo fans waited 10+ years for Diablo 3. It was terrible and we had to wait another 10 years for Diablo 4.

This game will be similar to current Diablo 3. A decent game but decent is not good enough for a Diablo game.

Yep.

At least we got D2R now.

 

[DavidGzz]

So 6/1 at 4pm instead of 6/2 for early access. Sweet!

 

[Hot5pur]

So 6/1 at 4pm instead of 6/2 for early access. Sweet!

Hopefully not queue and connection testing ...haha

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Hopefully not queue and connection testing ...haha

The name of the game is Diablo and the company hosting the servers have the same name as a pain in the ass weather event… I’m sure it will go swimmingly with no irony involved.

 

[DavidGzz]

Hopefully not queue and connection testing ...haha

It's fine, by midnight or later I'm hopeful I'll get in. Their can't be more people than the open beta weekend, can there? Doubt it since you need to spend 80+ for it, haha. Fingers crossed.

 

[MikeM]

Game is $94 CAD physical or $89.99 digital.

For those who want a “deal” and want a console- the Series X /diablo 4 combo is $659 CAD instead of $599 CAD for just the console ($29.99- $34 difference before our taxes).

 

[Hot5pur]

It's fine, by midnight or later I'm hopeful I'll get in. Their can't be more people than the open beta weekend, can there? Doubt it since you need to spend 80+ for it, haha. Fingers crossed.

Makes me think the premium editions were a win-win.
Get to ramp your servers AND make more money.
But it's nice to play early for sure, luckily SF6 launches around then so I will be waiting till the 6th.

 

[Hot5pur]

By the way as for recommendations for what to play in the meantime:

Wolcen: Had a very rough launch, and the dev team is still only semi-competent. The game is definitely carried by its art, but at some point was fixed to be enjoyable. They just rolled out a new Act 4 (free) and it's actually a small expansion and a new game mode. It's very much in the style of Diablo and games of the genre.
Pros:
- excellent graphics and animation
- excellent story, probably the best in the isometric ARPG space
- excellent voice acting
- fairly deep build customization, encourages hybrid builds + synergies, very unique take on skills, large passive tree that can be linked up in different ways
- interesting unique
- story is looong, 20+ hrs (and as I said, it's good)
- Fairly decent endgame that's a lot of fun, city building and pushing higher difficulty by running the equivalent of rifts (with basic twists/modifiers)
- you can get it for ~$10 on PC
- Controller support
Cons:
- Online can be spotty with some delays and rubber banding
- There are still several bugs, some of them can be gamebreaking
- On console there seems to be more problems

Outriders: This is basically a third person shooter diablo. Decent story, fun weapons, excellent shooting, and excellent skills with an awesome power fantasy.
Pros:
- nice graphics and animations
- decent story
- build crafting is very fun, there are many synergies and special abilities that can be added to weapons and gear
- the gameplay is very fun and shooting feels very satisfying, lots of enemy variety
- endgame is running missions and pushing difficulty, though they tweaked it to remove timers and timer-continent rewards, so not as fun now IMO, there is also an expansion which adds more gear, a short story, and a large endgame dungeon (which is fun for a few runs)
Cons:
- The endgame is OK for some time but did not keep my interest, I prefer how they set up the old system that prioritized DPS, but too many people complained as one of the classes was at a disadvantage
- May have some occasional bug and skills not triggering properly, the game has a very rocky start as well and at some point even wiped characters (which were restored for the most part, I don't remember the full details). It seems in much better shape


Other decent games:
Torchlight 2 - worth playing through even if it's a little dated
Dungeon siege 3 - pretty good top down ARPG
Grim Dawn - Decent overall, but animation and graphics lead much to be desired
Van Hellsing: These games are not too bad
Diablo 2R: it's pretty fun but definitely dated, also can be had for quite cheap. I enjoyed my time with it for the story.

Do not recommend:
Division 2: Thought it would have a decent loot system and fun story. It's pretty boring in comparison to the other games. I suppose if you prefer realism it can be good.
Torchlight 3: Tried to be a F2P game but then became something mediocre
POE: Tried it and got turned off within the first 1-2 hours. Too many systems, poor visuals, basic animations, overly complex.
Last Epoch: looks like it has a lot of promise, but it is not anywhere near finished. Visuals are kinda meh, but apparently gameplay and build crafting is very good. I only got an hour in before I was so disappointed by the animation and feel of the game that I refunded. May revisit if they ever release it properly.
Inquisitor Martyr: felt fairly mediocre all around, feel of the game, visuals, story, character builds. Got very boring after 4-5 hours.

 

[hlm666]

here's all the lore you need.