Diablo III

Story



To decades have passed since the demonic lords, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal,
set out across the world of Sanctuary on a vicious rampage, twisting
humanity to their unholy will. Yet for those who battled the Prime
Evils, the memory fades slowly.

When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram Cathedral seeking
clues to defeat new stirrings of evil, a fiery harbinger of doom falls
from the heavens, striking the very ground where Diablo once entered
the world. This fire from the sky reawakens ancient evils and calls the
heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising
powers of the Burning Hells once again.

Official Story from Blizzard

Only seconds after the destruction of the World Stone the high powers in Heaven felt the effects of the stones destruction.

Tyreals role was to preserve the World Stone and prevent the 3
brothers from tainting it. Tyreal failed Heaven and for that he was
banished to the mortal realm. However…

For the Hero who defeated the 3 evils, he won’t be packing his bags
and heading back to The Western KingDoms… No something far more
sinister has risen up to the East. It seems the 3 brothers physical
forms were destroyed but surely their souls live on — even through the
destruction of their soulstones. They have convinced the great mage
Horazon to help bring them back to the mortal realm.

After Tyreals decent from the high Heavens to the mortal realm. The
legions of Hell were being spewed forth into the mortal realm. Heaven
is taking it’s army to prevent further chaos and destruction. However
it is a losing battle, with the help of 2 lesser evils the war is not
in favor of the Heavens. Heaven has sent out it messangers to rally
support and gain more fighters from the mortal realm. Messangers have
been sent to all corners of the sanctuary. To the Scosglen Druidic
Forests, to the Amazon Islands of Philios, Lycander and Skovos.
Messangers have also been sent forth to Duncraig for mercanarys,
Paladins and other warriors. Messangers were sent to the jungles of
Kehjistan to gain the aid of Sorceresses, Necromancers and Assassins
alike.

Though there is a place where each evil can only retain their former
bodies are long forgotten and are the sites of even the most dangerous
demons of all. These demons have no alliegence to Hell nor Heaven,
their actions come from orders even the Horadrim couldn’t capture. An
evil so overwhelming the name of it has been long forgotten. Mount
Arreat, The Guardians Tower and Tristram have all fallen to the power
of this evil.

Enviroment



We have already seen in the gameplay trailer, that it will be possible to
interact with the enviroment, like smashing tables, chairs.
There are also locations in the game, where players can use the
enviroment to handle dangerous situations, like dropping walls on
opponents, which offer a much more dynamic gameplay.

Diablo 3 world

Diablo 3 world will be similar size to Diablo 2.



How big is the world compared to Diablo 2?
Wilson: Well, we honestly don’t know exactly how big it is in
comparison to Diablo 2. The goal is for it to be of a similar size,
with a similar amount of content and over a similar time span as Diablo
2. During development, we were almost surprised how long the first Act
took, we really thought it should have been shorter. So we played
around with some settings and ran around the environments we’d randomly
generated to get a feel for this. It’s easy to change the length of a
given area so that it’s generated smaller, which will shorten the
length of time it takes to complete it, so we still have a lot of fine
tuning to do to make the length just right so that it coincides with
our objective to create a game that is about the size of Diablo 2.

Character classes

Three of five classes have been unveiled so far: Barbarian, Witch Doctor, and Wizard. Players may choose gender for each class, a change from the fixed class genders in the previous two games. The Barbarian, previously featured in Diablo II, is the only class that Blizzard is planning to bring back for the initial release, but former classes may appear in future expansions.

Barbarian




Witch Doctor

The Witch Doctor is a new class in Diablo 3, and is a spellcaster
with mind control spells such as summons and curses. Witch Doctor have
similar abilities as the Necromancer class from Diablo 2. Also have
variety of elemental direct damage spell attacks. The Witch Doctor is a
poor melee fighter and is rather vulnerable compared with other classes.
The background story of Witch Doctor lies from Torajan Jungles,
southwest of Kurast, in the Teganze region, and is family of Flayer
Shaman from Diablo 2.

The look of the Witch Doctor



Official Diablo 3 information about Witch Doctor

Lost believe the fearsome witch doctor of the umbaru race a
legend, but I have seen one in battle with my own eyes. And it was
difficult to believe, even then. He dispatched his opponent with
terrifying precision, assaulting his victim’s mind and body with
elixirs and powders that evoked fires, explosions, and poisonous
spirits. As if these assaults were not enough, the witch doctor also
had at his command the ability to summon undead creatures from the
netherworld to rend the flesh from his enemy’s body.

I came upon this rare display as I ventured deep into the interior
of the dense Torajan jungles that cover the southern tip of the great
eastern continent, in the vast area known as the Teganze, with the goal
of seeking out the tribes that reside there. This area is extremely
secluded, and heretofore unseen by foreign eyes. I was fortunate to
befriend the witch doctor I saw in battle, and, through him, his tribe:
the Tribe of the Five Hills.

The culture of the umbaru of the lower Teganze is fascinating and
perplexing to those hailing from more civilized walks of life. For
instance, the Tribe of the Five Hills frequently engages in tribal
wa***re with both the Clan of the Seven Stones and the Tribe of the
Clouded Valley, but these are matters of ritual and not of conquest. I
had heard tales that these wars are waged in order that the victors may
replenish their supply of raw materials for the human sacrifices that
their civilization revolves around, and when I timidly asked my hosts
more about this topic, I must admit their laughter made me fear for my
safety. However, through stumbled attempts at communication of such
complex topics as what constitutes heroism and honor in their society,
I gathered that only those taken in battle are considered worthy of the
ritual sacrifice, much to my relief.

“As if these assaults were not enough, the witch doctor also had at
his command the ability to summon undead creatures from the netherworld
to rend the flesh from his enemy’s body.” Upon further discussions with
my hosts, I discovered that these tribes define themselves by their
belief in the Mbwiru Eikura, which roughly translates to “The Unformed
Land” (this is an imprecise translation, as this concept is completely
foreign to our culture and language). This belief holds that the true,
sacred reality is veiled behind the physical one we normally
experience. Their vitally important public ceremonies are centered upon
sacrifices to the life force that flows from their gods, who inhabit
the Unformed Land, into this lesser physical realm.

The witch doctors are finely attuned to this Unformed Land and are
able to train their minds to perceive this reality through a
combination of rituals and the use of selected roots and herbs found in
the jungles. They call the state in which they interact with this other
world the Ghost Trance.

Alongside the primacy of the belief in the life force and the
Unformed Land, the second most sacred belief of the tribes is their
philosophy of self-sacrifice and non-individuality, of suppressing
one’s self-interest for the good of the tribe. This idea, so foreign to
our culture, struck me as something I wished to delve into much more
deeply.

Unfortunately, there was intense social upheaval among the tribes
due to an incident involving their most current war (inasmuch as I
could discern in the ensuing bedlam), and the charged atmosphere
warranted my quick departure before I could ask anything further of my
hosts.

Wizard



The Wizard can manipulate primal forces of the universe to vanquish
foes and the spells includes Frost Nova, Tornado and Blizzard attacks
as we know from Diablo 2.

There are a mixture of attack and passive spells in all trees and damage types vary.

Wizard has masteries that increase casting speed, all types of
damage, critical hits in types of damage, provide physical and magial
armor. boost weapon damage, etc. huge variety.

Wizard spells

• Magic Missile: like Firebolts.
  
• Electrocute: like chain lightning
  
• Slow Time: a bubble spell with “bullet time” slowdown. It affects an quite big area.
  
• Disintegrate: You can “heat up” your targets by using this melting spell
  
• Teleport
  

Wizard skills

The Wizard’s skill trees is:

• Storm
  
• Arcane
  
• Conjuring
  

Official Diablo 3 information about Wizard

wing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use magic towards
their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the
practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss
the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed
over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule
of law.

Recently the youth of Caldeum have fallen prey to the overblown
stories of just such a delinquent wizard. That is correct: I used the
uncouth term wizard, not sorcerer. It seems that
even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this
young upstart. Through my contacts at the Yshari Sanctum of the mage
clans, I am one of the few who actually know the truth behind the
rumors now sweeping our streets regarding this hellion who flaunts her
magic irresponsibly.

That is correct: I used the uncouth term wizard, not sorcerer. It seems that even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this young upstart.

This wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the
tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, it seems they neglected
to teach our wizard manners on her native island of Xiansai, for she
was a rude and uncooperative student from the very beginning.
Originally under the guidance of the Zann Esu mage clan, she was
eventually handed over to the Vizjerei in the hopes that their strict
and unbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. Yet even the
esteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was
continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics,
heedless of the consequences to herself or anyone around her.

Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the
infamous Bitter Depths below the Sanctum, she was caught in the Ancient
Repositories, where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the
safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage
Valthek and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him
rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. Exaggerated
stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions
by the more rebellious of our city’s youth, but suffice it to say that
she did not actually best Yshari’s most powerful mage in single,
honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as
Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by
reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the
great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property
damage was chiefly the result of Valthek’s magical prowess, not the
upstart wizard’s. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she
fled the city immediately after the encounter.

It is not my goal to alarm, but I find this situation disturbing. We
now have a rebellious wizard, young and inexperienced, wandering the
world, dabbling in powerful magics she does not understand. Those wiser
than you or I determined long ago that certain schools of magic were
too dangerous and forbade their practice. It is those magics that this
wizard seems determined to explore – magics centered on manipulating
the primal forces from which reality is constructed. Imagine, a
headstrong nineteen-year-old youth, able to warp time itself to her
will! The thought is truly terrifying. It is my honest hope that this
self-styled wizard chooses never to return to Caldeum.

The Unofficial Diablo III FAQ

Index:
1.0 What is Diablo III?
2.0 Classes
3.0 Gameplay
4.0 Monsters / Bestiary
5.0 Items
6.0 Locations / Dungeons
7.0 NPC
8.0 Release Date / Alpha / Beta
9.0 Unknown Information (Rumours)

Tip: If you want to search for something specific press CTRL + F on your keyboard.

1.0 What is Diablo III?
We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will adventure through rich and varied settings, unravelling an epic storyline, engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, growing in experience and ability, and acquiring items of incredible power. Diablo III will be a fitting sequel to Diablo II, with the easy inte***ce, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy. It will also include many new features that will take the Diablo action-RPG experience to the next level.

1.1 Who is the developer behind Diablo III?
Blizzard Entertainment is the game developer, the creator of massive success games Diablo I & II.

1.2 Official Diablo III F.A.Q
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/faq/

1.3 Will there be multiple expansions after Diablo III release?
Yes, multiple expansions!

1.4 Diablo III lore
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/

1.5 Diablo History
The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced Hell’s armies — and were fortunate enough to survive — went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.

1.6 Game requirements
No system requirements info yet.

1.7 Will Blizzard charge for playing on Battle.net?
Players wont have to pay to play online on Battle.net .

1.8 How large is the Diablo III Universe?
The size will be the same as Diablo II.

1.9 Game Rating
Game rating is set to 15 years worldwide and 18+ years in Germany.

1.10 Introduction

1.11 Game Engine
Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects systems and Havok-powered physics allow for realistic object dynamics and cloth simulation, and enable players to lay waste to the minions of the Burning Hells in spectacular ways.

1.12 Will Diablo III work on Mac?
Yes both on Mac and PC.

2.0 Classes

2.1 What is a character class?
Players will create a male or female hero from one of five distinct classes, such as barbarian, witch doctor, or wizard, each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing the player to create unique characters brimming with power.

2.2 How many character classes will there be at release of Diablo III?
There will be 5 character classes at the release of Diablo III, blizzard have stated that there will be more classes after the release.

2.3 The Barbarian
The barbarian is a strong melee class melee class with deadly combat abilities such as slam, stun, whirlwind.

2.3.1 Barbarian Skills
TBD

2.4 The Witch Doctor
The Witch Doctor is caster class with summoning abilities, Witch Doctor master control of the monsters with his curses.

2.4.1 Witch Doctor Skills
TBD

2.5 The Wizard
The Wizard is a caster class, he is the master of magic, he is like a glass-canon, with lots of damage output but have low amount of armor and health.

2.5.1 Wizard Skills
TBD

2.7 Class Talents Preview:
http://diablo3x.com/classes/barbarian/barbarian-talent-trees

3.0 Gameplay

3.1 Combat System
The combat system is very fast phased in Diablo 3, with lots of actions and interactions.

3.1.1 Singleplayer
Singleplayer mode is supported in Diablo III, however Blizzard call Diablo III for a cooperative gameplay.

3.1.2 Multiplayer
You will be able to play together though the new battle.net 2.0 portal, the number of players in a game have not been decided yet. There is no LAN (Local Area Network) support.

3.1.3 Player vs. Player (PVP)
Player vs. player is possible in Diablo III, when both players agree the fight.

3.1.4 Playing Killing
Player killing will not be possible in Diablo III.

3.1.5 Hardcore mode
No info yet (correct me if I’m wrong)

3.1.6 Player difficulties
Yes the three difficulties is back normal, nightmare and hell will be back in Diablo III.

3.2 Death System
The death penalty should be rather smaller than in previous Diablo games.

3.3 Quest System
What we know about quests is there will be story-line (lore) quests specific
for each class and random quests that differ for each gameplay.

3.4 Trading System
You will be possible to trade items between players and you will be able to safe your items in a save box (stash).

3.5 Health-Mana System

3.5.1 Healing Orbs
Healing orbs is a replacement of potions in Diablo III, and they will heal
approx. 15-25% of life, the drop is significant lower.

3.5.2 Health
Health is the amount of damage your character can take before he/she dies,
when the health is at zero (0) you will die and be teleported to the
town.

3.5.3 Fury / Mana
You character use fury / mana when they use active skills/spells.

3.6 Character profile
In the character profile you can see your character info such as
attributes, the items he is wearing and other important information.

3.7 User Inte***ce
TBD.

3.7.1 Mini-map
There will be a mini-map in Diablo III similar to Diablo II.

3.8 Stats/Attributes
There are 4 attributes in Diablo III, known as Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Willpower. These attributes influence all aspects of a character (health, damage, speed, mana etc). The attributes is set automatically and depends on the character class you are playing.

3.9 Skill System
Diablo 3 have a unique skill system where you can put “points” into a skill to increase the power of a skill. There are passive and active skills in Diablo 3. Active skills can be used in combat, where passive skills add power to a specific active skill.

3.9.1 Skill Runes
Skill runes are a unique feature in Diablo III where you can add ‘runes’ into skills to alter the skills purpose.
http://www.diablowiki.net/Rune

3.10 Will there be mercenaries in Diablo III?
Mercenaries (helpers) are back and are known as followers in Diablo III.

3.11 Will there be town portal in Diablo III?
Yes, but it will work differently from Diablo II, no further info.

3.12 Destructible environment
Yes the environment will be destructible in Diablo III and can be used to destroy enemies.

3.13 Crafting
There is no info about how crafting will work yet.

3.14 Shrines
Shrines will be in Diablo III according to Blizzard, however they will work differently to Diablo II.

3.15 Leveling
When you level up you will gain 1 skill point and 5 attributes that is
automatically distributed to your char. The max level is 100. You also gain, mana, health and damage when you level up.

3.16 Experience
No details on experience gains yet, however you gain a small experience bonus when you kill multiple monsters same time, the bonus also stack.

3.17 Achievements
Achievements are status symbol of what kind of goals you have accomplished in Diablo III.
Examples killed X monster or completed X quest.

3.18 Inventory
Seems like it will be a similar system to WoW where you increase inventory size with finding new larger bags.

3.19 Checkpoints (Waypoints)
When you die you’re dropped back at the last checkpoint with a small amount of health, and the rest regenerates slowly

4.0 Monsters / Bestiary
http://www.diablowiki.net/Monster

4.1 Super unique (Bosses)
What we know is the Skeleton king (Leoric) is the boss of act I.
Siegebreaker Assault Beast
Thousand Pounder

5.0 Items
The item system will be completely random generated, as in Diablo II. Gems and scrolls are into the game also. There will be much different kind of items from rare to unique. Shoulders are new items in Diablo III. You can use ‘alt’ key to show items on ground for short amount of time.

5.1 Items list
http://d3db.com/item

5.2 Item drops
You will only see your own items drops and nobody else will see them, also items will be generated for your class.

5.3 Item binding
There wont be item binding in Diablo III similar to World of Warcraft.

5.4 Bartering system
Blizzard has stated it should be easier to trade items.

6.0 Locations / Dungeons
New Tristram, Catacombs and other famous locations is back in Diablo III.
TBD
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/

7.0 NPC
Some of the famous NPC’s such as Deckard Cain is back in Diablo III.

7.1 List of NPC’s
http://www.d3db.com/bestiary

8.0 Release Date / Alpha / Beta

8.1 Release date
According to Blizzard it will be between late 2009 to end of 2010.

8.2 Beta test
Yes, there will be a beta test some months before release of Diablo III, no info yet.

9.0 Unknown Information (Rumours)

9.1 Will there be a secret cow level?
Blizzard cannot confirm that there will be secret cow level, but they always have Easter eggs.

9.2 How much will Diablo III cost? Where can I buy this game?
Same prize as other game cost. No details on where you can buy the game yet.

9.3 Will there be Clan support?
No info yet.

9.4 Will there be voice-chat support in via Battle.net?
There will be a Chat system, no info about voice-chat.

9.5 Will there be a Diablo IV or Diablo MMORPG
According to blizzard: Diablo IV: Yes, Diablo MMO, no details yet.

9.6 Horadric cube
The horadric cube will not be back, however Blizzard is working on another system.

9.7 What is the talisman?
The Talisman is a feature in the character profile that was shown at the BlizzCon 2008, it’s a bit unclear what it’s going to be used for, since Blizzard might change the purpose of it. The known purpose for the talisman is that there room for 9 spots where you are able to put ‘gems’ into that spot to alter character attributes.

9.8 Other Classes?
Two classes are remaining some rumours have floaded around about following classes: Archer, Knight and Warlock. According to Blizzard we will see the necromancer class in an expansion.

Diablo III Gameplay Part 1 (Barbarian & Witch Doctor)