Posted: Mar 04, 2021 9:19 pm
"Diablo 4 Interview: 'It Was A Day 0 Decision.' Lead Developer Thoughts" (Rhykker)
It's focused on the open-world aspect of D4, but this recent interview also made me notice a set of fundamentally new class mechanics in Diablo 4 that're obviously not getting as much hype as they should.
(Discovered that Game Informer commentary videos are funny. Who knew.) In this Barbarian-focused gameplay video from a year ago, a couple of them are featured:
Barbarians can automatically switch among different categories of weapons when activating certain skills. This is a big deal. It massively diversifies Barbarian playstyle (unless gear is too streamlined for it to matter). It's also just plain cool... of course a Barbarian would be walking around with 3-5 weapons & gracefully switching among them after each swing. YES!
Druid's is similar, but with shapeshifting (bear & wolf).
Sorceress can sequester a skill into a special Enchantment slot (away from skill slots) to equip an extra passive. This is similarly a big deal - doesn't "change" class playstyle, but it gives Sorc an extra ability. Because she studied. She earned it.
Idk if this is the Rogue version... but Rogues will have access to diverging faction-type questlines (mentioned in the top vid) that will shape certain abilities. Unclear, based on the devs' comments above, if any of these is gender-specific or if that aspect is there for RPers. (Rogues traditionally are members of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, hence female. These questlines expand the world to reveal additional Rogue organizations.)
It's focused on the open-world aspect of D4, but this recent interview also made me notice a set of fundamentally new class mechanics in Diablo 4 that're obviously not getting as much hype as they should.
(Discovered that Game Informer commentary videos are funny. Who knew.) In this Barbarian-focused gameplay video from a year ago, a couple of them are featured:
[Reveal] Spoiler: demo (Barbarian)
Barbarians can automatically switch among different categories of weapons when activating certain skills. This is a big deal. It massively diversifies Barbarian playstyle (unless gear is too streamlined for it to matter). It's also just plain cool... of course a Barbarian would be walking around with 3-5 weapons & gracefully switching among them after each swing. YES!
Druid's is similar, but with shapeshifting (bear & wolf).
[Reveal] Spoiler: demo (Druid)
Sorceress can sequester a skill into a special Enchantment slot (away from skill slots) to equip an extra passive. This is similarly a big deal - doesn't "change" class playstyle, but it gives Sorc an extra ability. Because she studied. She earned it.
[Reveal] Spoiler: demo (Sorceress)
Idk if this is the Rogue version... but Rogues will have access to diverging faction-type questlines (mentioned in the top vid) that will shape certain abilities. Unclear, based on the devs' comments above, if any of these is gender-specific or if that aspect is there for RPers. (Rogues traditionally are members of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, hence female. These questlines expand the world to reveal additional Rogue organizations.)