Decker

That's where I am leaning as well, though I still don't know what it includes or what a Season Pass even means. If you think whatever it is is worth $20, that's good enough for me. Please mail me you unneeded loot like you did with D3!

dom56

I play that game to death on the PC years ago and loved it. Most popular builds players doing are the Hammerdin, Frozen Sorceress, Necromancer's skeleton armies -golem and curses.

K&AJones

5 More Days.....in the meantime some early reiews from those lucky enough to actually play the beta....

LorenzoL

I went with the Ultimate Edition. I was flip flopping between the Deluxe and Ultimate but since it’s Diablo, I decided to spend the extra $10.

Now hit me up when this game comes out Buzz!

LorenzoL

I’m still trying to do the Hardcore run to level 99 with a Necromancer and failing miserably.

K&AJones

Pre-load for the beta (pre-orders) is up. Here is info on times for the Beta along with times for when the World boss will appear......FWIW, the World Boss (many in the actual game) are no joke and not a caklewalk. Up to 11 players can fight and can take anywhere from 15-20 minutes.... You Can Now Preload Diablo 4 Ahead of Imminent Early Access Open Beta | Push Square

just a note on the video below, they upped the speed...alot....in the combat. That's for just showcasing several parts and doesn't reflect on the actual combat "speed"....

Decker

I went with the Deluxe. Tried the Beta just for an hour. Man it’s so cool. Very happy with this game. It looks so polished and it’s just a gameplay feedback loop I love. Know this is going to be a big game for me going forward. Started out with a Sorceress. Like how you can build a skill tree to your liking right away, Feels like a more modern skill progression than in D3.

K&AJones

I've been waiting for this for nearly 4yrs...and I can say without a doubt...the wait was well, well, well worth it.....I played the whole weekend testing all three characters up to Level 15 at least. Ended with Barb at 17, Sorceress at 18 and Rogue at 15. My goal was to at least start and play them to test the Skill Tree and see just how it was laid out. It's a far cry from how you had it in D3. Each had more nodes to add to the mix that was related to health, defense, damage bumps, resource, etc....

D4 - Completely New Look Top to Bottom....the design, art, style, look, feel of the D4 is beyond anything I could imagine. It is truly a remarkable world they have developed with amazing details seen everywhere. I saw it with the opening where you are in the snowstorm and have to make it to the Town so to open coop and see other players....little things like your footsteps in the snow, snow on your shoulders, trees all blowing independently of each other and all the super fine details inside the cabins from wood, stone, even the food on the table you could tell what it was.

The rest of the world was a fest for eyes be it in snow areas, grass with streams, rock formations, all just really amazing ...BUT...the real treats were The Dungeons. At times I felt like it was out of Lord of the Rings...the details were astounding...and not just sights but sounds also. break a stack of stuff and the clatter of metal and wood could be heard. And even when using abilities it was something. I tried the Sorceress Shock and you would smack some wood/metal and sparks would fly. And the Lighting; they nailed it everywhere from Corner Light Posts in town to inside, Night to Day..it was seriously a WOW...

Gameplay....the one concern going in for everyone was...How was having iother players in the world going to work?...it worked fine and even coop itself was far better than expected. Beside the New Dungeons, Special Events were also added which when about to arrive/trigger was on a Large Red Circle on the Map. I played them with coop and other players joined and it was fun with zero issues. Seeing other players in Town areas...which by the way was nearly perfect with a lot of NPC's walking around, vendors, get side quests...another outstanding job. Another area of concern was...how was coop going to work if players were different levels...well, say you had three players going in a Dungeon and one was 20, one 15 and one was 12. The difficulty scaled to the player, not the group leader or average. And i can say no matter solo or 3 players the combat and difficulty was about right though Dungeons were no joke...

I still need to play more of each character, all those who played this past weekend, anything they have will be saved to this coming Open beta so you can continue. I'll play Druid and Necro to check their Skill Tree. you also need to get to Level 20 if you want to try Adding Gems to Sockets and see how that woks. They expanded areas to where you can really fine tune your character with Potion, Gems, Gears, Skill tree...and Character Customization there almost no limits as to what one can do. And there's even more after hitting Level 50 as The Paragon tree will open. The first place in this Beta as large as it is could probably fit 2/3 of Diablo 3 in it...and there's a total of Six Regions. I think the days of Speed Running and Power Leveling are gone; way to large and way, way too much to see and do....

stingermck

This game is amazing, Like having an old friend back. I can't wait for the Summer of Diablo.

LorenzoL

This was definitely worth the wait!

I forgot that the Beta came out on Friday so I was only able to log an hour on Saturday morning. I did some errands and visited friends so I eventually ended up playing only a couple of hours on Saturday night.

It was Sunday that I was able to really delve into it. I was able to connect with K&A Jones and play coop for a few hours. Tested the trading system which is great. Went some dungeon hunting and that was fun but difficult. The Mother of Den monster is no joke!

I was only able to play as a Barbarian and Sorcerer. I’m loving how the Cold Sorcerer plays.

I love the graphics. I haven’t played D3 in a very long while since getting the Platinum. I’m not into seasons. I have been playing D2 Resurrected a lot but coming from that game to D4 is a huge difference. I love how streamline the items pick up and storage has been made. The initial allotment of 50 spaces might seem small but you can easily purchase more as coins seems easy to pick up.

The skill tree took me a little bit to adjust coming from D2 and D3. I was apprehensive about it but I think the change in design and layout is for the better. I love the fact you can only choose one of the two possible end choices for the end skills.

I’m definitely going to put some more hours for this upcoming weekend when the Beta is available for everyone. Plus I’m looking forward to playing the Necromancer and Druid.

Anyone interested in forming a DVD Talk clan?

steebo777

Does this feel more akin to D3 where it is an arcade feel as opposed to D2 where that was much more in depth?

LorenzoL

This is the start up screen.

K&AJones

I watch Rhykker's videos alot with D2 and D3 and he's considered pretty knowledgeable with Diablo in general. The below video shows some play and other parts but he talks about the Beta, parts of it and what to expect later....well worth it....



And another Beta Impression Video....with a bit more gameplay but hits all the points...



And one more...pretty interesting on each take on the Beta both Pro and Con...

MrX

Downloaded the Beta last night and turned it on around 10 to try it for a bit and wound up staying up until 2am playing

OldBoy

I wish I was more into these type of games. Couldn’t get into D3. They look great, but not my genre, I suppose.

LorenzoL

Playing the Necromancer in Diablo IV and the Golem is an absolute beast. The skeletons are not strong enough to survive a Boss battle but the Golem helped me defeat a few of them including Lilith’s Lament. I leveled up to 25 cap and was able to find Legendary pieces for all my equipment. I participated in the World event against Asheva and it kicked my butt along with the rest of the players that joined. I even managed to liberate a stronghold, all by myself.

Decker

I tried building a Druid. It's cool to turn into a Werewolf or man-bear but I wasn't strong enough to beat the first boss and kept getting killed with up close attacks. Felt much easier to play as a sorceress and hang back and attack.
Any way the game is fabulous already.

K&AJones

The Necro has more to them than Skeletons and golems...don't underestimate The Bone Spear nor Bone Armor. This Necro is more closer to the one in Diablo 2 than Diablo 3. The "Curses" are really important here; Decrepify and Iron Maidan both together do seriously a lot especially sustaining your minions.. Not sure how it works in D4 but you can pop both on any enemy and basically slows down all movement 40%, then pop Iron Maidan on with Deflects Damage Done back to enemy...at least that's how in D2...The Necro in there has like five curses...some like Amplify...that increase your Minions Damage.

I tried Werewolf along with Tornado off the bat....The damage output was ok but being up close there wasn't enough damage resit...say like how the Barbarian has with Shouts, Iron Skin, etc...Tornado was interesting but I ended up respec and doing a Earth Build...Basic was Storm Strike because each hit gave you 25% damage reduction and Shock could spread to other enemies. Then grabbed Landslide...this actually is one of if not strongest 2nd Abilities among all classes...and cheapest resource wise. And both Storm and Landslide immobilizes targets. You need a defensive skill and Earthern Bullwark...off the bat you get 40% damage reduction....maxed it's like 70%.....add the 25% from Storm Strike and for 3 seconds you're tanky. Companions...grabbed Wolves and Vine Creeper...there is a Passive that maxed grants 30% extra Companion Damage...the Vines are Companion and plus they immobilize so with three abilities, you get Immobilize. And anytime you get...Vulnerable, that's 25% Extra Damage on the enemy. A Wolf Passive grants extra damage to immobilized enemy....and those vines deal good amount of poison thanks to the Companion buff. that also buffs the Wolves which are triple dipping in damage buffs; immobilized, vulnerable and thru passives.

All in all liked playing all five....sort of hard to choose which one I'll go with. I like The Rogue but she is like Sorceress...a bit squishy if overwhelmed but lots of tools and different ways for damage. Barb is solid as a Tank period but the Fury Costs on abilities needs work. His Shouts would be great in a group but he lacks some AOE...single target, no problem. The Necro is a safe bet for anyone who wants to stay the distance and let the "Troops Do The Damage"...they're a blast to play in D3 but early on can be a struggle. Right now...The Druid might be my pick....He's part Sorceress with Wind, Earth, Electricity and has Poison as well..part Necro calling Wolves, Ravens, can be a Werewolf or Bear and has a Two Hander that can dish out damage....sort of a "jack-of-all-trades"....

LorenzoL

I love the Summoner Necro. It feels more feasible in Diablo IV than Diablo 2 Resurrected to survive and the main difference has been the Gollum. I spammed Decompose and Blood Surge and then my minions did the work. If that’s not enough, Corpse Explosions finished whoever was remaining.

The other Necro builds are probably even better but that’s not my playing style. I did a Druid for the last few hours and it was okay. I didn’t find it very enjoyable. The only character that that I didn’t use was the Rogue.

Looking at the list of challenges, this one will have a PvP matchup. I wonder what it will look like?

Looking forward in playing this regularly once it’s released in June.

K&AJones

I didn't play yesterday, was already done with what i wanted and that was explore the map, try events, dungeons, stronghold, world boss and more importantly try all five classes to see the Skill Tree.....I had to laugh when i say "How to Build_______ Guides" all over on Game Sites and YouTube Videos. I mean this was a Beta....good grief people. And a bit of FWIW, Blizzard said they increased the Drop Rates for the Beta which now explains why it seemed a lot of Rare and even legendary were actually high. They said long ago it wasn't going to be a Loot Bonanza like D3....

Plus they're already looking at changes for skills in the classes to fine tune.....people were upset about the repeatable Dungeons; Blizz said that was put in on purpose also for Beta. And people were complaining about every class. These people have been spoiled by D3 plain and simple....

Decker

Lots of complaints about the lack of roll away dodge ability I suspect.

LorenzoL

I hope it didn’t spoil me as I was able to get Legendary pieces with good stats for my Necromancer in the Beta lol!

Decker

Microsoft is offering a XSX Diablo IV bundle, but unless I am missing something it's just a regular XSX and a regular copy of D4 with the same pre-order bonus you get from just pre-ordering the base game. Though it's $10 less than buying the two items separately, so there's that I guess. Or maybe I'm missing something. A Diablo themed console or controller would have been cool.

K&AJones

I accidently posted the Numbers from D4 in the D3 thread...so here they are in correct one...

Well...the numbers are in from the Beta.....and are impressive... Diablo 4 Open Beta is the Largest in Series History (gamingbolt.com)

61 million hours played
2.6 million players hitting level 20
29.5 billion monsters killed
Players suffered from 46,924,644 deaths
More than 1.7 million deaths were at the hands of The Butcher
576,662 Butcher deaths
Ashava, the World Boss, caused 10,163,397 player deaths while players managed to slay it 107,426 times
The most played classes were Necromancer and Sorcerer
__________________

Decker

This game is looking like a potential "surprise hit" according to the WSJ.

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