They’re the words every Diablo fan has been waiting for since the BlizzCon 2021 schedule was released: Blizzard announces new Diablo IV details! During the Diablo IV: What’s Next presentation, players were introduced to the Rogue, a dexterity-based class that can deal devastation with her daggers or fell monsters from afar with a bow. Among other things, the developers spoke at length about mounts, camps, and player versus player combat.
FROM THE SHADOWS
Last playable in the original Diablo, the Rogue is built to be as mobile and combat adaptive as possible. If your character fantasy is more cutthroat, she can wield swords and daggers to your heart’s content. If you prefer to rain damnation on the monsters of Sanctuary, she can make use of bows and crossbows.
The Rogue has access to Class Specialization, a function available to no other role in the game. It comes in three flavors: Combo Points, Shadow Realm, and Exploit Weakness.
Combo Points is a system many players will be familiar with. You use certain abilities to gain combo points which you then use to cast more powerful abilities. The Shadow Realm specialization allows you to pull a small group of nearby enemies into the Shadow Realm for a short time, where you can lay waste without having to worry about the larger group. Exploit Weakness caters to more skillful players, granting you increased damage against individual, randomized enemies; if you’re fast enough to attack them in the short window, they’re marked as weakened.
YOUR TRUSTY STEED
The best and fastest way to explore the massive open world of Diablo IV is with a mount. There will be a variety of different horse breeds to collect, along with customization pieces like armor, horseshoes (which change the speed of your mount), and trophies. Both the mount variations and customization items will be attainable by slaying monsters, solving puzzles, or finding secret locations in the world.
While there won’t be any horse combat in the game, there are special dismount skills players can use to leap from their mount and launch themselves into battle.
You’ll be able to collect different styles and customizable items for your Diablo IV mount.
On your journey, you’ll also encounter Camps: areas players will reclaim for the citizens of Sanctuary. Doing so will unlock new waypoints in the open world and give access to previously unavailable questlines. If you’re a lore fan, you’ll appreciate that each Camp will have its own story to be completed.
ET TU, BRUTE?
PvP combat will take place in optional areas called Fields of Hatred. Accomplishing things within one of these sections (like killing monsters, completing events & quests, or killing other players) grants you a special currency called Shards of Hatred.
When players first earn Shards of Hatred, they are unusable. If you can find and complete a Purification Event, your Shards will become usable at special vendors with exclusive loot. To make it harder, while attempting a Purification Event, your location is broadcast to every other player in the area. If they can find and kill you before you complete your event, they get all of your Shards.
Becoming a Vessel of Hatred invites players to attack you to claim your Shards of Hatred.
There is also a bounty mechanic in these areas. After killing a certain number of players, you become a Vessel of Hatred and your location is broadcast to all other players in the area. If you’re killed, the player who killed you gets a large bonus, but if you can survive long enough, you will get the bonus instead.
Blizzard has yet to announce a firm release date for Diablo IV, but you can find more details in the quarterly updates on the game’s site. BlizzCon is virtual and free this year, so you can watch all the announcement videos and presentations from the comfort of your own home.
