About Diablo 4 Livestream
The livestream started with a brief introduction of the developers present. Among the team members were:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Rod Fergusson | Franchise General Manager |
| Joseph Piepiora | Associate Game Director |
| Tim Ismay | Lead Game Producer |
| Adam Fletcher | Community Lead |
Diablo 4 Season 1: Overview
The first season of Diablo 4, named “The Season of the Malignant,” is set to begin after the main events of Diablo 4. A new threat has emerged in Sanctuary. A corruption called Malignant has begun to spread throughout creatures in the world, altering them into bloodthirsty fiends.
And there’s a new threat that’s basically emerged in Sanctuary. There’s this Malignant; there’s this corruption that has begun to spread throughout the hearts of the creatures throughout the world. And that’s everything from beasts to humans, to demons themselves.
In Season 1, players will encounter a new character, Corpsman, an ex-priest from the Cathedral of Light. Corpsman will need the player’s assistance to combat the emerging Malignant threat.
When asked about Corpsman, one developer described him as:
He is rying to fix the problem on his own. And then, when he’s not 100% successful, he comes to the player and says, ‘Hey, you were really helpful in the past? Could I get a hand from you?’
It was emphasized that the team strives to address player feedback and make necessary improvements as swiftly as possible. He also hinted that the second season is already well underway, showcasing the team’s forward-thinking approach to the game’s development.
Game Mechanics Changes
Blizzard aims to add more appealing elements to Diablo’s 4 seasons, from narrative content to novel challenges and powers. The developers introduced a new mechanic that revolves around the Malignant threat.
According to the developers, Malignant can appear throughout the game. Elite monsters may spawn as Malignant versions with extra growths and power. Once you kill a Malignant monster, a heart appears. Interacting with this heart using a cage of binding starts a ritual that brings forth a more powerful version of the elite monster.
Upon killing this more powerful Malignant monster, you receive a caged heart, which can be socketed into your gear, granting you a significant power boost.
Malignant Hearts offer players a new way to customize their characters and engage with Diablo 4. This season introduces 32 new Malignant powers that act like legendary power-like abilities.
We have 32 new Malignant powers. Each of the Malignant hearts you’re collecting is actually like a category. They’re associated with a color. There are three different kinds of types of colored sockets. But there are four different types of Malignant hearts.
These hearts are to be socketed into your gear, providing a wide variety of new builds and combinations.
| Malignant Heart Type | Color | Socketed Into |
|---|---|---|
| Brutal Hearts | Blue | Rings and Jewelry |
| Raffle Hearts | Universal | Any colored socket |
Raffle Hearts are scarce and powerful. However, you will need a combination of all types of hearts to optimize your build.
In Diablo 4, rings are always with a colored socket when the seasonal event starts. The socket’s color depends on the type of Malignant heart it corresponds to. Even a jeweler-created socket will permanently be colored.
Unique rings can also come with different colored sockets, and players need to look for specific socket colors for their particular build.
If you get a unique ring from the new Helltide chest rewards as you play, it’ll always be colored. So there might be multiple versions of the uniques as well.
As players progress, they can craft items to help them find more Malignant hearts. Using crafted Invokers in Malignant tunnels – specific places where Malignant creatures manifest – increases the chance of encountering Malignant monsters and, therefore, of finding Malignant hearts.
Storyline and Gameplay
With the new season, players can expect new boss monsters, legendary items, power sets, and unique items. Significantly, these unique items are not limited to the season alone but will also appear in the internal realm, thus enhancing the overall player experience.
So if you’re a player trying to continue progressing your character in the eternal realm, there are now a few new items for you to try to hunt for and use to augment change bill.
Notably, the storyline in the season continues beyond the campaign storyline. Instead, it introduces a new quest line, a side story inside the open world, set after the events of Diablo 4.
This is a new self-contained story within the season number like that, which is great because it just gives us a lot of information and opportunities to tell an exciting story.
Battle Pass Mechanics
The developers have introduced the “Season Journey” feature, enabling players to track their accomplishments through the season. This feature, described as a “Battle Pass,” is divided into seven chapters, each containing multiple objectives.
So the season journey is separated into seven chapters, and each of those chapters has many objectives inside each to allow you to progress that chapter. You don’t have to do all of them to advance to the next chapter.
The game developers have also implemented the Battle Pass so that everyone can engage with it without buying it, as it is an inherent feature of the seasonal journey.
Players earn favor by engaging in the game, killing monsters, completing quests, and progressing through the season. This favor is used as an experience point value for the Battle Pass, leading to big item rewards and unlocking new legendary aspects.
Players also have the option to upgrade to a Premium Battle Pass for more rewards.
There are lots of free things on the Battle Pass. If you pay to upgrade it to the premium Battle Pass, you’re gaining access to a bunch of additional cosmetic things.
Developers stated that, unlike the shop, all the cosmetics in the Battle Pass are class agnostic. In other words, any class can equip them. However, it was noted that there are class-specific Transmog weapons. If your class can equip the weapon, you have access to it.
The livestream also touched upon the role of Smoldering Ashes, which players can collect through the free track of the Battle Pass. Developers stated that these ashes could be applied to the seasonal blessings system, providing players with different advantages such as boosting XP from monster kills or increasing the duration of all elixirs used over the season.
Seasonal Progress Carrying Over
The developers addressed a common question: Will a player’s progress carry over into the new season? The answer is yes, with a few conditions. Players must log in on existing characters to “self-migrate” some of their data. Once this is done, the progress is saved to the player’s account and carries over to any new seasonal character.
Release Timeline
The developers also shared some information about the game’s release timeline. The patch, containing the new items, balance changes, and reward changes, is expected to drop on July 18th, turning on July 28th. The season, however, kicks off on July 20th, when players can create seasonal characters.
To prepare for the season, the developers suggest that players complete their campaign playthrough before it starts. This is because seasonal mechanics, such as running into malignant and capturing malignant hearts, only occur post-campaign.
Responsive to Player Feedback
One key point the developers stressed was their responsiveness to player feedback. Implementing the renowned carryover system was primarily driven by player feedback and response. This is a testament to the developers’ commitment to continually improving the game experience based on the feedback received from the Diablo 4 community.
And this was based on players’ feedback we got since launch, so we are implementing it quickly to address the feedback you guys have been giving.
Further, developers expressed that the team is always looking to make changes as soon as possible. The team actively investigates feedback and tries to implement changes immediately, wherever possible.
Moreover, developers also mentioned improving the gold economy, the cost of respecting characters, and other aspects based on player feedback and data.
We hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Diablo 4’s development process and that it gave you a fresh appreciation for the game and its creators. As always, it’s exciting to see what’s in store for Diablo 4, and it’s clear the team is dedicated to creating an engaging and dynamic experience for all players.
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And remember to stay tuned for our guides to get more insights into the ever-evolving world of Diablo 4.
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