It's been 6 years since Diablo III released, and since then we've had some filler installments such as Diablo Immortal and a remaster of Diablo II, but this June we're gearing up for the long awaited fourth installment of this epic action role-playing video game! This game series has been slated as among the best video games of all time, and the open beta of Diablo IV drives that point home. Releasing on June 28th, you're probably wondering why you should pre-order...well, we've got you covered! Let's take a look at what we can expect from this goth-centric dungeon crawler.
The Classes
In Diablo IV you can create and customise from a selection of classes to give yourself the edge against the unspeakable horrors that blight the land. There are 5 classes available, and you can experiement with the vast array of powerful equipment and special talents to become steadfast in the face of darkness. But choose wisely, as your world depends on it! Let's take a look at the classes available:
Barbarian:
The Barbarian has unparalleled strength and expertly wields an entire arsenal in battle, with a weapon for every occasion. He bellows intimidating war cries and unleashes ground-shaking slams to send approaching hordes reeling. This class is the perfect choice when it comes to tanking damage. Known for having the highest health and incredible strength, Barbarians build Fury with every attack they make. This gives them the ability to unleash a powerful skill during their combat.
In Diablo IV, the Barbarian has been given an entirely new mechanic - the Arsenal System. This allows you to be able to equip four legendary weapons simultaneously. Though hauling around four weapons sounds like a mighty task, you will be able to swap between them simultaneously, and combined with the extensive skillset available this allows you to reach even greater depths of customisation! The Barbarian has a huge array of skills at their disposal, allowing for creative combat solutions when faced with the enemy.
Druid:
Most famously known as the shapeshifter class, the Druid can change forms at will taking the form of terrifying creatures such as a towering bear or a vicious werewolf! This class also has access to earth and storm magic, meaning you can unleash nature's wrath to devastating effect. Druids come with an intriguing skill tree, allowing you to focus your attention entirely on the shapeshifting mechanic, elemental magic or even a hybrid! Ravage your foes with the arsenal of skills at your disposal!
The Druid also boasts another mechanic, the Vulnerable debuff. Whilst vulnerable, the enemy will take 30% additional damage from attacks - this lasts until the enemy loses the specified amount of Life from any one source. The damage from Vulnerable also stacks from multiple applications!
Necromancer:
Necromancers come equipped with four different high-level playstyles: Bone, Darkness, Blood and Army. Among their spells are debuff skills called Curses, with Decrepify and Iron Maiden returning from the previous games. A Necromancer will utilise two resources for their combat style: Essence, a slow regenerating resource that is also gained by using basic skills; and Corpses, which come from the fallen enemies or are generated from certain effects. These resources are used in different ways depending on how you want to play.
The four playstyles for the Necromancer allow for the destruction of your enemy in different ways. Blood utilises the power of blood magic to drain the life of your foes - empowering yourself and your party. Bone will allow you to tear your way through minions, ripping their souls apart with skeletal spectres. Darkness is a damage-over-time playstyle that utilises spells to slowly drain multiple enemies of their lifeforce. Finally, Army will summon just that - an army of skeletal warriors to fight alongside you during your battles.
Rogue:
In typical Rogue-like fashion, this class is skilled with bows and daggers. Utilise a similar Arsenal system, you can alternate between weapon categories so you arent locked out of skill options when picking a specific weapon choice. Another feature is the Imbue system, allowing you to modify the damage type of multiple skills with either Cold, Poison or Shadow damage. The Rogue also has high mobility which can be used for assault, quick repositioning or even to retreat.
There are three specialisations at your fingertips: Combo Points, Exploit Weakness and Shadow Realm. You must complete specific quests tied to Rogue groups to unlock. These three groups are the remenants of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, the mercenaries of Kehjistan and the outlaw smugglers of Hawezar.
Sorcerer:
A high risk, high reward style class, the Sorcerer harnesses potent elemental magic - but be warned as this makes you incredibly fragile. These spells are designed around Fire, Cold and Lightning abilities. The Sorcerer also has a special mechanic of Crackling energy - meaning some Lightning spells with the right talents can leave behind a ball of energy used to restore mana. Think Orbs of Power from Destiny 2.
Being a magic wielder, the Sorcerer can also utilise the enchantment system as a unique class mechanic. This means skills can be placed into any of the six active skill slots, or three enchantment slots, allowing for a total of 9 different skills! A skill placed in the Enchantment slot will no longer be used as an active skill, but instead you will gain a passive or semi-passive bonus power related to this skill.
The Gameplay
With the click of a mouse button, you can tear your foes limb from limb in impressive combat styles, but that's not all Diablo IV has to offer. This game dips it's toes into the nostalgic, bringing back the moody and gothic tones of the source material - a big change from Diablo III's colourful visuals. With dynamic lighting throughout the maps, the stunning dungeons are given a new lease of life in this stylistic art direction. This twisted world fixes the mistakes that were present in Diablo III and Diablo Immortal. Your loot will be viable for your class, rather than pushing you towards auction houses, and Runewords will make a much anticipated return!
Diablo IV will be a multiplayer only game, and whilst some people recoil at the thought of "internet connection required", it's not necessarily a bad direction to go. The recent open beta saw long queues quickly disappearing, meaning come launch day it should be a case of load up and get playing. Rod Fergusson (Diablo General Manager) and Joe Shely (Diablo IV Game Director) have doubled down on the lack of queues when the game releases. The tests they have been running during this Open Beta mean that the full launch should be smooth as butter!
Finally, this game is going to be a huge open-world with plenty to do. You can easily find yourself side-tracked into helping NPCs with their smaller quests, or delve into optional dungeons filled to the brim with intense enemies. But with these risks come rewards, and you can get a currency called "Renown" for completing these side quests which can be used towards extra gold, skill points and other bonuses.
Overall, Diablo IV is a step up from it's predecessor in many positive ways. Fans of the series are impressed with what they've seen so far, and we have to agree.
If you're interested in pre-ordering Diablo IV, be sure to check out our related products below! If not, be sure to check out our full offering in our Gaming section!
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