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Thoughts on Diablo 3 (beta) classes

These are some of my thoughts on the difference Diablo 3 classes. I’m not a serious gamer, and this isn’t an attempt at theory crafting or suggesting that any of the classes are imbalanced. Item drops are random, and can make a huge difference to the damage your character does as well as it’s survivability – in my playing I used what items dropped (that I could equip), so these comparisons aren’t entirely “fair” in that regard, but I still think my points are valid. It’s also worth mentioning that I didn’t try leveling up my characters as much as possible in each area, nor did I loot every chest I found etc, so my characters were (all) weaker and less equipped than I’d imagine most players to be… so do keep this in mind when reading my thoughts below, I just wanted to make sure my characters had to work for their kills, and see what the experience would be like.

1. Demon Hunter:
• best (least annoying) male voice so far, looks pretty cool, and who doesn’t like the idea of dual-wielding crossbows
• felt a bit weak at the start of the game, got a lot stronger/easier as the game progressed and I leveled up
• personally not fond of having to keep running away from enemies (so they can’t hit me) while shooting them
• Rapid Fire works best if you hold down the key/mouse-button to use it, rather than single casting it (silly me) – does a fairly good job of taking down big mobs or groups of them
• Skeleton King battle felt relatively easy – the Chakram took care of the skeletons he summoned, and being ranged kept me out of (most of) his attacks

Diablo Lore + Diablo 2 Postmortem

Diablo 3 is due out this year, possibly even next month, and I for one am looking forward to it! I play a lot of World of Warcraft, mainly working the Auction House and making gold, and Diablo 3 is going to have a “real money” Auction House. It probably wont make me rich, but it’s always nice if your hobby generates some income ;)

Back on topic, there’s a great Gamasutra article titled “Postmortem: Blizzard’s Diablo II” which gives you an inside look in to the development that went in to Diablo 2 and lessons learned from Diablo 1, etc – some interesting stuff.

Next up are three great YouTube videos by “Force Strategy Gaming“, covering the Diablo Lore leading up to Diablo 3, a great way to catchup before the releases:

Part 1 – Pre-Diablo:

Diablo 3 announced!

Blizzard announced Diablo 3 today, at their “Worldwide Invitational”. The official Diablo 3 website has also gone live, and has all the relevant information about the game, as well as a 19 minute long gameplay video!

It seems good old Deckard Cain is still around, yabbering away as always. Did I mention the terrain (walls/pillars/etc) are destructable? While the interface looks very similar to Diablo 2′s, it’s been changed to make it easier to switch between skills and abilities. So far this game looks incredible.