Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all enjoy your Christmas Day festivities. Looks like Cain Clause has received our Christmas wish list, I wonder what he'll bring... Help him before Nasty Diablo steals everything; how many candy "cains" can you find in the picture? Perhaps you can join the ranks of Cain Clause.

Something that i've been wanting to do for quite some time now, is announce the DiabloFans Twitter! Feel free to follow us and receive tweets about the latest news posted here.

In other news, we've now literally got a new face to DiabloFans. Brand new favicon on the main site and a few new images for us to toy around with in the news. Some of you may want to "book" a flight to our DiabloWiki to see the changes in season there as well. [Technical difficulties on the wiki updates, they'll be up Soon™.] Feel free to make an account there and then link it to your Forum account via the "Edit Your Details" portion of your UserCP.

In case anyone wants to link to DiabloFans from their website, we've also got a brand new Link2Us Button to show for.


In addition to the cool new stuff, the rep system was recently redone, and a new post rank was recently added. Check out the introduction thread for more information regarding those changes. We've also had a few new Staff additions, all of whom are very well deserving of their positions. With that in mind, i'd like to welcome Nyalite, ScyberDragon, and Don_Guillotine! Lastly, if you haven't seen our recent announcement about CloudWolf's Project D3W, I urge you to check it out.

I'd like to give Jetrall and Psyxix a big thanks for being the DiabloFans plastic surgeons and creating all of these new images. To conclude the holiday post, i'd like to share with you a little poem that ScyberDragon wrote for this special day...

The close of December is upon us once more and the holiday season is ripe for celebration. We would like to share with all of you our requests to the jolly fat man in red this year as they pertain to a certain Diablo III.

• Daemaro: I wish for Blizzard to release more information on how the new skill system will work soon.
  
• Don_guillotine: I wish that Blizzard would work their bottoms off to polish patch 1.13 some more and make the fifth class extremely interesting to complete the already interesting round-up.
  
• LinkX: I wish for a greater feel of all hell breaking loose in Diablo III. In Diablo II, it just seemed like we took our time. I want it to feel like if we don't defeat Diablo then the world is screwed. At the same time I want to feel like Heaven is also down our backs, waiting for us to kill Diablo for the final time so they can destroy us. In other words, I want all hell to break loose, and the heroes to not blindly fight what is viewed as bad, but to fight for balance in the world.
  
• Lt. Venom: I wish for Diablo III to be released in October 2010 and for more opportunities to use the Horadric Cube.
  
• MurderFace: I wish for a form of imbuing which allows you to develop your character's own set. The level of the item being imbued would determine how many enchantment slots it has, and there would be a diminishing return for repeated stat increases on the same item. Players could pick the color, model, aura (radiating light), and text color. The set would be named after the player, and they could only have one of each type of item (armor/weapon/amulet/ring) in their inventory.
  
• necronergal: I wish for a fun clan experience.
  
• Nyalite: I would wish for peace on earth for all mankind if this weren't a Diablo forum. With that in mind, the more carnage and destruction we get to see from Blizzard's creative team in the months to come will be quite sufficient.
  
• PhrozenDragon: I wish for a truly masterful story. A tale that will have you jumping with joy at one point and cursing at heaven and hell in the next. A tale that will give us memorable characters that will remain strong for years beyond Diablo III's life-span. A tale that will carry with it moments that still reverberate within us when we reinstall the game for the tenth time. A tale that weaves the worlds of Diablo together and finishes with a thunderous roar.
  
• Rykker: I wish for "desocketable" socketables, without destroying the item or socketables (as are the two choices in Torchlight... booooo).
  
• scyberdragon: I wish that the Witch Doctor gets a lot of attention this coming up year. Skills, machenima video, and armor concepts.        
  
• Seth: I wish for the chance to enter an elemental plane like the Sorceress Habacalva did with her enchanted sword.
  
• Siaynoq: I wish for the Priests of Rathma and Viz'jaqtaar to have an important role in the story of Diablo III as neither the Necromancer or Assassin will be returning as a playable class. Both these factions make up a big part of what I love about the lore of Sanctuary and overall feel and aesthetic of the Diablo universe. I know there have been comments from developers about the Necromancers being featured in some way, I only hope Necromancers and Assassins manage to play a more integral role in the story and not just an accessory one.
  
• Sixen: I wish for a new age Cow Level and the return of the Chat Gem. Both will, of course, work as intended.
  
• Stormcat: I wish for a 2010 release and for the game to be a challenge even with godly gear.
  
• Zhar: I wish for runes that change the element a spell uses, as well as the color of the spell. Aesthetics and customization have always been an important feature for me, lets you make your character (or in this case, your skills) your own.
  
• Zhuge: I wish for more info about the remains of Mount Arreat and how it affects Diablo III.

I hope you enjoyed ours and that these gave you guys some ideas. Let's hear 'em!

Blizzard has just posted the winners of their Holiday Card Contest.


You can check out all of the winners here.

Unfortunately not a single one was Diablo themed but there are still some good cards. Go check them out and feel the Holiday Spirit.

This one was my favorite:

Which one is your favorite?

After playing on my Paladin, I decided it was time to dig deep down to my Diablo II roots and play the first character that I created, back when the game was first released: the Barbarian. Some current Barb players will be happen to know that the 1.13 Patch brought about a couple of buffs for them:


This means for less mana requirements on WW Barbs, which could potentially change the WW Barb Build since you can use items without worrying about gaining the +mana attributes on items. Also, with Iron Maiden now gone, you won't have to worry about tanking your own damage in return. Here's the build that I went with:

http://diablofans.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=449&thumb=1

Stats:

• Strength: This depends on how rich you are in-game. However, as of now, you can respec your character if you overfill your Strength. Basically, you only need enough Strength to use all of your items.
  
• Dexterity: No need for max block or max attack rating, so don't put any points here.
  
• Vitality: Dump the rest of your points here. You'll be taking a lot of damage since you are a melee character; your merc will help out, but you'll be the main tank.
  
• Energy: Do not put anything here, it's a waste!

http://diablofans.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=448&thumb=1

Gear:

• Helm: Arreat's Face
  
• Armor: Fortitude or Enigma
  
• Weapons1: Breath of the Dying and/or Beast
  
• Weapons2: 2x Warcry Sticks from Malah in A5
  
• Gloves: Steelrend or Dracul's Grasp
  
• Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord
  
• Boots: Gore Rider
  
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope or Highlord's Wrath
  
• Rings: 2x Raven Frost

Skills: (requires cLvl of 99 if you complete the Skill quests)

Warcries	Combat Masteries	Combat Skills
+1 Howl	+20 Mastery	+1 Bash
+1 Taunt	+20 Iron Skin	+1 Leap
+20 Shout	+1 Natural Resistance	+1 Leap Attack
+1 Battle Cry		+1 Concentrate
+20 Battle Orders		+1 Stun
+1 Battle Command		+20 Whirlwind

Mercenary:

Any merc of your choosing will do fine. Some like to go with an A1/A3 mercs for ranged attacks, while others want to go with an A2 merc for the aura's. I would recommend going with the following though:

• Act 2 Norm - Defensive (Defiance)
  
• Helm: Vampire's Gaze
  
• Armor: Arkaine's Valor
  
• Weapons: Insight (Or you can use something else with +DoT effects or other auras. I used Insight so I could spam WW without any trouble whatsoever.)

(See here for discussion.)

When the 1.13 Patch hit the PTR, I decided I was going to revisit the class that I would say i've played the most in my Diablo II career: the Paladin. Unfortunately for all you Pally players out there, he only received one balance change in the latest patch, which was a nerf to Blessed Hammer.


Though, this change did not really have much affect for any type of Hammer build. PvP players will not have to worry about anything, and most Hammerdin's will do enough damage by the time they get to Hell and are fully geared, that resistances won't be a big deal. With that in mind, I would also like to revisit the last build I used, with a few alternatives in case you cannot obtain said gear.

http://diablofans.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=456&thumb=1

Stats:

• Strength: This depends on how rich you are in-game. However, as of now, you can respec your character if you overfill your Strength. Basically, you only need enough Strength to use all of your items.
  
• Dexterity: It would be smart to have enough for max block rate here, which is a 75% chance to block a monster.
  

  Quote

  Formula To Calculate Blocking
  Total Blocking = (Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)
  
  In our case, Total Blocking is the amount of blocking we want to achieve (75%) and Blocking is the Blocking of your shield plus the Holy Shield bonus.
• Vitality: Dump the rest of your points here. You'll be taking a lot of damage since you are a melee character; your merc will help out, but you'll be the main tank.
  
• Energy: Do not put anything here, it's a waste!

Gear:

• Helm: 2/20/2 Paladin Circlet or Harlequin Crest Shako
  
• Armor: Enigma or Chains of Honor
  
• Weapons1: Heart of the Oak or Wizardspike / Herald of Zakarum
  
• Weapons2: Call to Arms / Spirit
  
• Gloves: Trang-Oul's Claws, Magefist, or Frostburn
  
• Belt: Arachnid Mesh
  
• Boots: Sandstorm Trek or Waterwalks
  
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope or Seraph's Hymn
  
• Rings: Stone of Jordan or Bul-Kathos' Wedding-Band

http://diablofans.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=457&thumb=1

Skills: (requires cLvl of 89 if you complete the Skill quests)

Defensive Auras	Offensive Auras	Combat Skills
+1 Prayer	+1 Might	+1 Smite
+1 Defiance	+20 Blessed Aim	+1 Holy Bolt
+1 Cleansing	+20 Concentration	+1 Charge
+20 Vigor		+20 Blessed Hammer
+1 Redemption		+12 Holy Shield
+1 Salvation

Mercenary:

• Act 2 Norm - Defensive (Defiance)
  
• Helm: Vampire's Gaze
  
• Armor: Arkaine's Valor
  
• Weapons: Insight

(See here for discussion.)

Rumours fly as Gamasutra interviews J. Allen Brack about Blizzard's thoughts on Consoles vs PC's, and it seems that a console game may not be too far off for the PC Juggernaut.


Now, Blizzard has tried in the past to make console games, such as Starcraft 64 (for the Nintendo 64), or Diablo I (for the Sony Playstation). Having played both, I can say with certainty that they were immensely fun for gaming nights, but both were dwarfed by the PC version, complete with a LAN party.

These days however, it seems that LAN parties are becoming a thing of the past. Sure, pockets of resistance still exist. But for the most part, those gaming nights are moving towards multiple consoles in the same house. If Blizzard wishes to take advantage of the changing demographics of the gamer culture, then they may have to release games on consoles once more.

Of their current franchises, Warcraft is the only that has not had a console treatment. Keep in mind that both Diablo and Starcraft 64 were relatively unsuccessful on the consoles. For WoW, which is similar to Diablo, this means bad news. For Warcraft (the RTS version), this also means bad news, since it is similar to Starcraft.

With this in mind, it means that Blizzard may not be using Warcraft as their next console game.

However, this leaves the door open for a new franchise to step up to the plate, and dominate the console world. It's already been confirmed that Blizzard has a new franchise in the works, in the form of an MMO, so it's clear that they are expanding their line.

Whether this means a new franchise will also be made for consoles though, is yet to be seen.