Diablo III Beta

[420]

I just got into the Diablo III beta! Not sure how much info I'm allowed to share (need to give the EULA a look) but I'll post what I can here.

-420

[420]

Disclaimer! 420 has a wicked head cold and may post incoherent ramblings.

So far I've played the Barbarian and Throbble has played the Witch Doctor.

General Stuff:
The most prominent thing to me was the in-game reporting. You get stats on every possible aspect of the game. No more going to web sites with stat calculators and whatnot. (I'll post an example screenshot of this later.)

Interactive environments are a lot of fun, even the grass moves when you walk through it or use skills.

Rag-doll corpses are great! They will even knock other corpses out of the way.

Shared Stash! Anything you put into your stash can be taken out by one of your other characters. Throbble got me a lot of cool items for my Barb while I was passed out on the couch.

Items take up very little inventory space which minimizes the "inventory tetris" aspect.

Barbarian:
The rage mechanic is fun, you attack with skills like Leap Attack to build rage then you spend rage for buffs.

No weapon specialization. Just use the biggest fucking weapon you got!

Witch Doctor:
Throbble says this class is very similar to a Diablo 2 character in that it uses mana, which regenerates over time. (Each class has a different mechanic in that respect.)

She also says that it is what a poison necro build in Diablo 2 should have been. (ie viable)

I'll post more when my head stops feeling like it's stuffed with cotton,
420

[cuchulann]

Sounds pretty fun. I find the different mechanics for skill use curious. I have just started wondering what game first introduced the idea. SWtOR has the same thing going on. Mele jedi and sith build up focus to power heavier attacks, while the caster types use up force (mana). The republic trooper uses up ammo (mana) but its opposite the Bounty Hunter instead build up heat. Underneath the GUI you know its the same code that handles all of these "mechanics". It adds a bit of flavor but I feel it is just needlessly complicated. Though watching the BH vent steam to cool off is pretty cool.
  Not sure how I feel about no weapon specialization though. Sounds like everyone will all be after the same big Sword of 1000 truths or whatever the biggest unique weapon happens to be.

[Mercy]

Sounds pretty fun. I find the different mechanics for skill use curious. I have just started wondering what game first introduced the idea. SWtOR has the same thing going on. Mele jedi and sith build up focus to power heavier attacks, while the caster types use up force (mana). The republic trooper uses up ammo (mana) but its opposite the Bounty Hunter instead build up heat. Underneath the GUI you know its the same code that handles all of these "mechanics". It adds a bit of flavor but I feel it is just needlessly complicated. Though watching the BH vent steam to cool off is pretty cool.
  Not sure how I feel about no weapon specialization though. Sounds like everyone will all be after the same big Sword of 1000 truths or whatever the biggest unique weapon happens to be.

This is all based off of WoW. All of the skill mechanics and everything. Playing through SWtOR has just shown me it's basically WoW on Star Wars. With some minor upgrades. I love the game, I definitely enjoy it more than WoW though.

[420]

Now that I've had a chance to play all five classes through the beta I thought I post some brief impressions from each.

I list them from my most to least favorite class.

Monk
Most like D2 Assassin.

Powered by "Spirit" which does not increase or decease over time. Certain attacks generate Spirit, others cost Spirit to use. Some skills and item mods will give Spirit regen but it is really slow. Skills called mantras work like the barbarian Warcries from D2.

Demon Hunter
Most like D2 Amazon.

Powered by "Hatred" (regens fast) and "Discipline" (regens slow). Certain attacks generate hatred and some cost hatred. Discipline is used for "tactical abilities" like dodging attacks.

Barbarian
Most like D2 Barbarian.

Powered by "Fury" which decreases rapidly. Some attacks (as well as taking damage) generate Fury. More powerful attacks and buffs cost fury. Barbarians can now only buff themselves.

Wizard
Most like D2 Sorceress.

Powered by "Arcane Energy" which regens really quickly. Some spells ("Signature Spells") cost no Arcane Energy making them free to cast.

Witch Doctor
Most like D2 Necromancer.

Powered by "Mana", which seems to behave in the exact same way that the Wizard's power works. Can summon undead and poison things.

I'll talk about the general game mechanics later.

-420

[Mo]

Cool! Keep posting info! Beta in Feb? Hmm summer release? Winter '12 release is a pretty damn long beta.

[420]

Cool! Keep posting info! Beta in Feb? Hmm summer release? Winter '12 release is a pretty damn long beta.

Most recent news I've hears is Q2 2012. So, keep your fingers crossed!

Right now I'm playing through a second time with each character. I get an achievement for every class I can get up to the max beta level 13 which takes at least 2 times through plus the first mission of the 3rd time. Looks like new random dungeons and story based tomes randomly spawn for higher level characters which is pretty cool.

So far the game is incredibly easy, the only one who's even come close to dying is the Wizard. But, I suspect it's because Blizzard wants to tell you the story the first time through, before you move to the other 3 difficulty levels. It's like they added a 4th difficulty level below D2's "Normal".

Here is a developer video about it that I keep forgetting to post:
Diablo III "You Will Get Your Asses Kicked, We Promise" Developer Diary Video

-420

[Mo]

Most recent news I've hears is Q2 2012. So, keep your fingers crossed!
-420

Crap I hope I can get through Skyrim by then lol.  I've decided not to fast travel anywhere so it's taking me a while lol.

[420]

There was a recent update to the beta that made some major game mechanic changes.

The biggest one is that "runestone" items (which fit into skill sockets to alter a skill's effect) no longer exist. It's now a level-based system that unlocks "skill runes" as you level. Which also explains why they removed the jeweler NPC, since he just combined runestones into higher quality ones.

Seems like they are still trying to refine the inventory glut aspect.

More info here: Skill and Rune Changes

-420

P.S. Oh, AND they locked certain skills to certain keys now... so some are only available on the left mouse button, some on the right, and some on the number keys. There is an option to free up that restriction but it doesn't work.

You used to be able to assign any skill to whatever slot you wanted before the most recent beta update. LAME!

[Tyrael]

Maybe thats why they told people to lower their high expectations for Diablo III :p, they start to nerf stuff and the game isnt even out yet! xD

[420]

New update!

Level requirements for items and skills have been raised but the level cap for the Beta hasn't so I'm stuck with a bunch of items I crafted but can no longer equip. Not much of a problem since they were way overpowered for my level anyway. The main problem is that some of the skills that I was able to use before I will no longer get to use.

Also, there are a lot more creatures spawning, a lot more bosses, and they are way harder than before. (I could really use my old items right about now.) But bosses now drop health globes when you get a critical hit, so that helps a lot.

I suspect Blizzard is done with testing skills and crafting and is now testing item drops and monster difficulty.

Which also explains why they removed the jeweler NPC, since he just combined runestones into higher quality ones.

That should be "Mystic Artisan". Jeweler is still in the game (though not the Beta) and combines gems to socket into items.

P.S. Oh, AND they locked certain skills to certain keys now... so some are only available on the left mouse button, some on the right, and some on the number keys. There is an option to free up that restriction but it doesn't work.

They fixed this in the newest update, you can now move your skills to various # slots or left/right mouse click.

Maybe thats why they told people to lower their high expectations for Diablo III :p, they start to nerf stuff and the game isnt even out yet! xD

It's probably all planned out to test specific aspects of the game. I think Blizzard already has a finished product and they just want some more data before D3 goes gold.

-420

[Mo]

Release date May 15th.  Geez I need to finish Skyrim and ME3 before I get this...

[420]

I recently read a post by a Blizzard dev that basically stated that any content in the Diablo III beta is considered open to the public. That is, there is no non-disclosure agreement regarding what's in the beta. So feel free to ask me any questions!

Also, here are some screenshots:

The first two are examples of the improved character stat reporting. The "Adventure" category at the bottom includes stats for Movement Speed (%), Gold Find (%), Magic Find (%), Bonus Experience (%), and Bonus Experience per Kill (#).

The next two show off the new zoom function and the fifth and final screenshot shows one of the randomly spawning unique bosses.