BlizzConline 2021 Diablo: What's Next Panel Recap

Posted 2021/02/19 at 9:00 PM by Jaydaa

Wowhead's DiscordNews WebhookBlizzConline 2021 Diablo: What's NextRogue Announced for Diablo IV

Rogue introduced as a brand new class for Diablo IV. No RPG lineup is complete without that dexterity class that defeats enemies with finesse and speed. Bring it back to the godfather of all dexterity-based archetypes: the Rogue of Diablo I.

Adaptive playstyle. Rogue can utilize Swords and Daggers for melee as well as Bows and Crossbows on the ranged-side.

Look inspired by the rogues of the Sisterhood of Sightless Eye with the similar red armor. Updated now with additional customization including tattoos, scars, and more. Can go further with armor for a more shadowy hooded character. Craft the class or your dreams or nightmares. Become that criminal outlaw or the noble thief.

A lot of discussion internally if this dexterity-based class should lean more ranged or melee. Wanted each class to have that unique feel that differentiates them from the others. For Rogue that's one of their three specializations: Combo Points, Shadow Realm, and Exploit Weakness.

Shadow Realm takes a problem and makes it smaller by pulling a select few enemies into a shadowy realm and buffs you to more easily take on the current challenging monsters.

Exploit Weakness retaliate during enemy attacks to deal significantly more damage than ordinary attacks. Perfect for players who are quick on the draw. High skill cap that requires quick assessment and finesse.

Combo Points allow the rogue to build combo points with basic attacks and then consume then with other skills to provide additional powerful effects. Creates a nice rhythm to combat.

Augment Rogue weapons with the Imbue System! Pays homage to the skills of the Rogue Diablo II mercenaries. Ice, Shadow, and Poison imbues. Modify any attack with a particular imbue to completely transform the skill and conquer the battlefield. New art for each skill when modified by an imbue. Allows you to gain additional effects without completely changing your playstyle.
For poison watch monsters melt into an gory mess of acid and flesh!

Imbue ice to add additional crowd control by chilling enemies and building up to a full freeze. Fantastic for group play. Synergizes with the Sorceress chills.

Open World Diablo IV Features

Open world concept takes exploration to a whole new level, deeper than ever before. Vast and varied rewards for exploring the entire world of Sanctuary. Completionists will have a ton of collectibles they can acquire from around Sanctuary including trophies, mounts, customization, and more.

Mounts are a huge part of collections and customization. Tons of horse breeds including a skeletal war horse. Obtain these from completing puzzles or killing certain enemies. Further customize your mount with armor, hoofplates, trophies to make it feel like your companion. Hoofplates can even speed up your mount.

Unique dismount abilities for each class. Rain of arrows for Rogue, or frozen teleport for Sorceress. Forced dismount if damaged while on your mount. Strategic use of dismount skill will be key.

Camps: new open world feature. Basically strongholds of evil in the overworld. Huge power vacuum left after Reaper of Souls that have been filled by a lot of evil creatures: bandits, demons, undead. They're filling up these open areas and as the hero you'll be required to help clear them out.

Clearing out camps has a real impact on the open world. Once you defeat the evil in the stronghold, you unlock that camp and waypoint. This area becomes reinhabited by vendors and NPCs, a real living open world.

Qara-Yisu was a village that has fallen to ruins. Villagers were raided by bloodthirsty cannibals that they made a dark bargain with demons in order to survive. Once taken back, these camps will be resettled. Vendors return, new quests, new dungeon entrances can be unlocked.

Verticality being explored for Diablo IV. Jump chasms, scale cliffs, find new paths. Allows players to deviate from a single plane of gameplay and plays into puzzle elements.

PvP in Diablo IV

Hatred of Mephisto has been bubbling up from Hell that has created areas in the open world that consumes players and causes them to turn against other players.

These Fields of Hatred are optional locations that players can choose to go to collect Shards of Hatred by killing monsters, defeating players, opening chests, completing events, etc.

Refine raw Shards of Hatred by purifying them at certain locations in the Fields of Hatred turning them into currency. Can kill other players to collect their raw Shards of Hatred but once they're purified they can no longer be lost to other players.

Spend Shards of Hatred at special vendors around the Fields of Hatred to collect gear, trophies, mounts, and other content.

Build alliances or betray your allies, but beware! You'll slowly become infused by the curse of Mephisto becoming a Vessel of Hatred similar to becoming a bounty in WoW's warmode. Nearby players will be able to see you on the map and get a bonus for killing you. If you survive for a certain time limit, you'll receive a large bonus instead.

Ears return as a PvP trophy for Diablo IV, a callback to Diablo II and the Rogue announcement trailer.

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Comment by EcrazionSo... Andariel is coming back? Or am I the only one who thought that was her at the end of the combat montage on the Rogue trailer?Comment by CovahRedroSo... Andariel is coming back? Or am I the only one who thought that was her at the end of the combat montage on the Rogue trailer?Comment by SilverDragon234That sure is a lot of customizations for the Rogue. I'm pleased to see the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye regaining their playability since 1997.