d3 What's Next in Diablo 3?

[Stan 5,240]

A recap of both BlizzCon days exploring what's next in Diablo 3.

We're getting a recreation of the original Diablo I during the anniversary, we'll be getting Necromancers, many new items, Greater Rift redesigns as well as quality of life improvement such as the Armory, a new crafting tab and Seasons are finally hitting consoles! We've been reporting about most of the new stuff coming along in Diablo and you can find them all here, including our interview with Wyatt Cheng and Rob Foote.

Blizzard has published previews or (recaps if you wish) of both days at BlizzCon. They can be found below.

Blizzard Entertainmnet

DAY #1 RECAP

Looking Back on Twenty Years in Sanctuary

On December 31, 1996, the world knew true terror as they descended into the haunted depths below Tristram Cathedral. On that fateful day, Diablo brought a whole new experience to the role-playing game genre that continues to resonate with players to this day.

Reflecting on our long and storied past, it’s crazy to think we went from a game that supported only a single language (English) and introduced the world to Battle.net…to the game’s latest iteration, spanning five platforms and 13 languages.

  

  

We may have also made some other improvements along the way.

This year marks the twentieth milestone in the history of the Diablo franchise, and we’re honored to have had you all along for the ride through the years. From the very first utterance of the Butcher’s iconic “Fresh meat!” to the announcements we’ve shared with the world today, we thank each and every one of you who have grown alongside this series. It’s humbling to have been a part of your lives and we hope we’ll continue to hold a special place in your heart for many years to come. 

Celebrate the 20th Anniversary—In-Game!

What’s an anniversary without a party? We’ve got a very special anniversary event coming up in-game to celebrate all twenty years of our history with you! Join us in Patch 2.4.3 as the Darkening of Tristram kicks off and takes your nephalem back to the first time evil invaded a humble, tiny town in Sanctuary.

Head to Old Tristram in Adventure Mode during the month of January to discover a portal where you can explore a Diablo III recreation of the events that transpired in the original Diablo. Filled with iconic enemies, familiar faces, and some old-school items, this event is a nostalgia-packed adventure down memory lane. Transmogrification rewards, achievements, and a few extra surprises await those brave enough to plumb the depths below Tristram.

All presented in GLORIOUS RetroVision™.

Patch 2.4.3 will be hitting the PTR next week, so keep an eye on the front page for news about patch testing.

Load up your Loadouts! Introducing the Armory

We’ve all been there. Your stash is stuffed to the brim with all your different sets and legendary items. You just want to take a break from pushing Greater Rifts to farm a few Death’s Breaths, but who has time to swap out all those skills and gear?

We’re making it easier than ever to swap seamlessly between your favorite styles of game play by introducing the Armory. The Armory is an equipment manager that stores up to five full load outs for your characters. This includes your skills, passives, items, Kanai’s Cube powers, and even your Legendary Gems!

It’s so beautiful. Like the explosion of a loot-filled Treasure Goblin.

The Armory will be coming to Diablo III sometime in 2017—as release draws closer, we’ll have more to share!

Rise from Your Graves: Necromancer Revealed

A new nephalem will begin their part of Diablo III’s story as the Necromancer arrives in New Tristram in 2017. This young, enigmatic member of the Priests of Rathma has sensed a need for their unique power, answering the call on behalf of their mysterious and oft-misunderstood brethren.

We’ve thoroughly covered a more detailed outline of what (and when) to expect the Necromancer in-game over in our Necromancer Overview, so be sure to check out that blog to unbury the deadly details.

DAY #2 RECAP

Play Seasons On Console

We’re bringing the fresh experience of starting over in Seasons that PC and Mac players have enjoyed to the PS4 and Xbox One! For those who aren’t familiar with them, Seasons offer the chance to earn a full six-piece class set for achieving certain goals, while also granting new pets, cosmetic items and more.

If that’s not enough, you’ll also be able to race against other players for the chance to earn a coveted spot on the Seasonal leaderboards. How far will your Season Journey extend? There’s only one way to find out! Keep an eye out for this feature starting next year.

Save Space With Crafting Mat Storage

With all the enemies you’ve been slaying, chances are you’re using a good part of your stash space to store crafting materials. To help with this, we’re adding another improvement: the ability to store your crafting mats in a brand new tab, freeing up precious space in the process.

With this change, you’ll also be able to more easily transmute items using Kanai’s Cube. No matter whether you decide to spend your crafting mats a little at a time, or in one massive spree, they’ll always take up the same number of inventory slots: none at all.

New Items, Enemies and More

In addition to the above, we’ll also be adding in new enemies, improving Rifts and Greater Rifts, and – of course – adding brand new Legendary item powers for you to enjoy. Plus, you’ll soon get a free additional chance to upgrade your Legendary Gems in Greater Rifts if you complete one without dying.

And there’s more! We’ve got a change that’s to dye for – Myriam the Mystic now has a new tab in her interface that lets you change colors on your gear quickly. Hunting down vendors and taking up inventory space with pots of dye will soon be a thing of the past.

Explore All New Zones 

There are more places to see in Sanctuary, and you’ll soon be discovering a few of these in Adventure Mode which come with their own new Bounties and events.

The desolate, fog-enshrouded Moors have been occupied by armies and empires over time. Beneath them lies the Temple of the Firstborn – a place of evil unlike anything you’ve seen before. Catch a glimpse of these two new areas below, and look forward to exploring them next year.

Try A New Build With Challenge Rifts

Have you ever seen someone using a particular build and wanted to try it out for yourself? Starting next year, you’ll be able to do just that – and you won’t even have to gear up for it either!

Challenge Rifts are an upcoming feature which snapshot an actual player’s build from the game each week and let everyone take it for a spin in a static dungeon. If you’ve been hoping for a way to discover new builds while racing to beat your previous personal best in Greater Rifts, this is your chance.

Prepare Yourself

We’re working hard to bring all of this and more to you in the coming months, and we can’t wait for you to experience it all for yourself and tell us what you think!

Are you ready for the challenges ahead, nephalem? Let us know, and we’ll see you in Sanctuary!

(Source)

Let us know what you think about Necromancers and BlizzCon Diablo 3 announcements. Are you happy with it or have you expected an expansion?

[Valhalen 1,484]

Diablo III would be a much much better game if it was in "GLORIOUS RetroVision™" all the time.

I must say I love those small tweaks I've been mentally asking Blizzard for months: the whole idea of the Armory, the crafting tab and the Dye Section in the Mystic.

I hope they keep the Diablo I event forever, and not just temporarily.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Valhalen

[Stan 5,240]

5 hours ago, Valhalen said:

Diablo III would be a much much better game if it was in "GLORIOUS RetroVision™" all the time.

I must say I love those small tweaks I've been mentally asking Blizzard for months: the whole idea of the Armory, the crafting tab and the Dye Section in the Mystic.

I hope they keep the Diablo I event forever, and not just temporarily.

I don't think it will be kept forever as they stated it would be reoccurring every year as an event (during the anniversary).

[Marvus 7]

19 hours ago, Valhalen said:

Diablo III would be a much much better game if it was in "GLORIOUS RetroVision™" all the time.

I must say I love those small tweaks I've been mentally asking Blizzard for months: the whole idea of the Armory, the crafting tab and the Dye Section in the Mystic.

I hope they keep the Diablo I event forever, and not just temporarily.

The retrovision looks nice, and maybe even the movement gimmick is a nice nostalgic factor but I'd rather like they didn't go that far and just kept the visual and sound feeling there but didn't touch the movement set. I still remember how much I enjoyed the better movement in D2 and after that in D3 (and I would say this is one of D3's biggest improvements over its predecessors) and I don't really want to go back.

The armory idea was around at least from the point where there were multiple sets useful so it's nice they do implement that, along with the crafting tab. With that I hope they'll add the crafting materials to the auto pickup as the only reasonable argument against that to this point was that it can take up space in your inventory unlike gold, therefore it should be user decision. With that gone it would be nice to not worry about that at least (and also the pets could be more useful than before).

And yeah, it would be nice if we could go to the D1 even whenever we'd want, I even thought it would make perfect sense to have it as an alternative mode beside campaign and adventure (so even Tristram could be restored with all it's inhabitants) but sadly that's not the case

[Darkjester79 47]

I can't wait for the Necromancer.  This was my guy in D2 and I can't wait to make him my guy in D3!

[Valks 2,375]

On 11/6/2016 at 3:00 PM, Valhalen said:

I hope they keep the Diablo I event forever, and not just temporarily.

We did make sure to ask this in the interview and they confirmed, as said above, that it's once per year in the month of January. They have no immediate plans to include a D2 event either.

[Valks 2,375]

On 11/7/2016 at 7:15 PM, Darkjester79 said:

I can't wait for the Necromancer.  This was my guy in D2 and I can't wait to make him my guy in D3!

He plays beautifully, at least he did with the set that I tested him with! Reminds me a lot of a DK in WoW though. The bone visuals seem to be much more... frost-like? I don't quite know how to describe it, but the bones seem more like icicles.