Blizzard Entertainment have capped off the year with a new update on Diablo IV‘s development. The Game Director Joe Shely, Lead Systems Designer Joe Piepiora, and Lead Visual Effects Artist Daniel Briggs bring a first look at Diablo IV’s itemization updates for legendary gear and class skills, the return of the Paragon system, as well as the eye candy involved when slaying monsters.
In this update, the +Skill Rank affix returns in Diablo IV, allowing players to speed up specific skills as they did back in Diablo II. As a bonus, when a player equips an item with +Skill Rank for a skill they haven’t learned, they will have access to that new ability. Furthermore, Legendary items in Diablo IV will now have their legendary powers appear on multiple item slots. Now, if you’re searching for a legendary power, you’ll be able to find it on rings, chestplates, or helmets.
The Paragon System of Diablo III, which greatly enhanced the end game component, will be coming back to Diablo IV in the form of the Paragon Board, which unlocks for each class at level 50. A player’s class will start off at the central starting tile of their class’s “intro board”, and from there, players make selections radiating outward. Once your character reaches a gate tile, you’ll choose which new paragon board you would like to attach to at that location. In addition to the normal tiles (which offer a small stats boost), you’ll also encounter Magic Tiles, Rare Tiles (which include additional powers that unlock once your character has raised an attribute to a sufficient level) and Legendary Tiles, which grants you a new Legendary Power.
Lastly, for the eye candy. According to Briggs, as Diablo IV has a “gameplay first” strategy, meaning the VFX “must be readable in all areas and lighting conditions, so you can quickly understand what is happening and use that information to make informed decisions.” To that end, Briggs delves into the effects and improvements over the previous decisions in Diablo III, including the use of PBR.
Diablo IV is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.