A few days ago, we received what seems to be a hint from @Diablo that there will be some form of follower system in Diablo III, and after that Bashiok let us know that followers have been a part of the game since before it was announced:
Official Blizzard Quote:
We're not quite ready to talk about our approach, but I will say it's something that's been a part of the game since before announcement. We have a very solid direction for them.
However, even though we know followers will be present in the final product, there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the follower system, and you certainly don't have to agree with their implementation. Below is a summary of how hirelings worked in Diablo II and what we know about the follower system in Diablo III.
In Diablo II, there was a different type of hireling for each act, with the exception of Act IV. The first act gave you access to a ranged Rouge mercenary after defeating Blood Raven. Once you progressed to Act II you were allowed to enlist the help of a Desert Mercenary. After that, Act III gave you access to the Iron Wolf mercenaries. Without the Lord of Destruction expansion, hirelings could not equip items, did not level up, and were only available during the Act they were bought in, but all of that was changed with the expansion. Lord of Destruction also added a Barbarian mercenary in Act V. Hirelings could be selected from long lists of many different options, for example the Rouge could fire arrows imbued with different elements depending on your selection. However, despite these options the only noticeable differences were between hirelings from different acts.
In Diablo III, the hireling system has gone through an overhaul. They are now called followers, and they have been split up into two different groups. The first type, as seen in the announcement video, are temporary followers.
Official Blizzard Quote:
As you saw in the demo, if you got the quest where you could rescue the adventurers or their leader, those guys are a light level, where they are just along for the quest or they are just cannon fodder. You can't really control them or have anything to do with them at all.
Clearly these followers clearly aren't full replacements to the hirelings of Diablo II, but they are the only ones that we've seen in action. Temporary followers could surely prove valuable during hard quests or dungeons, but they offer very little in the form of interaction.
The second type of follower seems to be closer to the hirelings we know from Diablo II.
Official Blizzard Quote:
When you have what we are calling followers, they are the guys you can equip, give them different weapons, you can give them different armor. They will probably have some quests that involve them. Much more than in Diablo II, you could equip them but they were more like a game mechanic in a body of an NPC. Where this time, were making them much more individuals with their own back story and their own reason for being in the world.
[There will be different types to hire but this time they will be] much more specific. They were very interchangeable in Diablo II, they just had different skills. These ones are going to be much more geared toward certain gameplay types you'd say. Depending on how you play your class...I might be a barbarian, so I don't want another tank, I want a range or, I might want another tank.
Clearly Blizzard has ideas for a more expanded system than what we saw in Diablo II, and hopefully there will be good backstories to go along with these more permanent followers. As Boyarsky explains, these followers seem to be something of a replacement for another player at your side. From this description, it seems as if they are capable of filling in as a tank for a character that has to avoid damage, and the choices will go beyond small skill changes. However, it should be noted that these quotes are from 2009, and as a result the system could have changed by the time it is revealed, but as of now it is the only information we have on followers.
So now that you know how hirelings worked in Diablo II, and how they are expected to work in Diablo III, which system do you like more? Would you like Diablo III to feature a system similar to the previous game? Do you just want temporary followers, or do you not want followers in Diablo III at all? Vote in the poll above and express your opinion in the topic below
Last week's poll was essentially a split decision between people who will strike a balance between PvE and PvP (29%), those who will PvP once in a while (27%), and the most popular choice was "Maybe once I'm done with PvE" (31%). If you would still like to vote in that poll, or just want to talk about PvP, head over to the thread in the link above.
What Mr. Boyarsky's mechanic except the 2nd kind of hire (the non quest hirelings) are only available on single player for extra help and disabled on co-op. Less screen clutter = awesome game play
And I can also go for the temp hirelings where you only get them through quests.
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I love all loot fest kind of game! I will be playing all of them for the next few years. Loot fest games I'm looking forward to: LotR: War in the North,Torchlight 2,Borderlands 2 and of course Diablo 3.
I would prefer just the current follower system, in that you recruit a couple of npc's and get them killed a short while later.
I didn't really like the merc's in D2 because they always got themselves killed or did other stupid things. Sure, the AI might be better now, but I'd rather just rely on myself and my friends in co-op. So if they do add proper merc's similar to D2, I just won't recruit any.
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And may the odds be ever in your favour. Emmo#2406
I actually think the diablo 2 system was quite good... this seems similar to what Leonard is describing tbh - just sounds like you might get to equip more items, have access to more detailed stats, skill options will be clearer etc.
ie: slightly more detailed and expanded on the diablo 2 system
I don't want it to replace having cooperative play with others but i hope they do something interesting with it cause its going in the game no matter what the majority of the poll says.
I chose similar to Diablo 2LOD, but only cause I over thought it probably. In my defense however I will say that Diablo 2LOD made them perfect in the sense that they had their uses on the field but they were still a lot more/much squishier than you are. I remember putting alot of time into decking out my act III merc with good equip. He used the ice spell that slows things down. Well i remember fighting my friend in pvp and the mercs dropping like 15 seconds in and the rest of the fight was me.. run cast spell and stay away from my barbarian playing friends clutches. To sum that imagery back into words "Yea those guys helped and yes I'm gonna give them shiny nice things but they're still gonna die alot and thats the way the cookie crumbles."
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"Give a man a skill tree, and he will become a Fire Sorc. Give a man 6 skills to choose from, pulling from all three trees, and he becomes a Fire Sorc that likes to shoot lightning to manage the bigger crowds."
I don't want it to replace having cooperative play with others but i hope they do something interesting with it cause its going in the game no matter what the majority of the poll says.
I don't think he meant that it would replace cooperative play, but if you need someone to tank, they will have options that are good at it instead of dying as quickly as other followers (or hirelings in D2). There would probably be a trade off where the tanking follower deals very little damage.
I'd like to see a similar system as Diablo II, but I know it will be more integrated into the gameplay and storyline. Also, I would like to see more customization of mercenaries than existed in Diablo II, such as choosing skills and being able to fully gear your mercenaries. I also think it would be interesting (and the likely won't happen) if we could issue in-battle "commands" to our mercenaries, such as telling the mercenary to attack a particular target. This could make battle strategy more complex, but at the same time it may be a variable that they don't want to throw in, or they may deem that adding this extra level of complexity could make the game too difficult to play.
I'd like to see a similar system as Diablo II, but I know it will be more integrated into the gameplay and storyline. Also, I would like to see more customization of mercenaries than existed in Diablo II, such as choosing skills and being able to fully gear your mercenaries. I also think it would be interesting (and the likely won't happen) if we could issue in-battle "commands" to our mercenaries, such as telling the mercenary to attack a particular target. This could make battle strategy more complex, but at the same time it may be a variable that they don't want to throw in, or they may deem that adding this extra level of complexity could make the game too difficult to play.
Honestly, I hate having a mercenary to worry about. I'd rather all the focus be on my main character and just have fallowers. Anything more and its taking from my gameplay.
I think that being able to choose their skills as well as your own could be beneficial for your overall play. Especially if you get a follower with skill sets that will better support your own.
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Official Blizzard Quote:
We're not quite ready to talk about our approach, but I will say it's something that's been a part of the game since before announcement. We have a very solid direction for them.
In Diablo II, there was a different type of hireling for each act, with the exception of Act IV. The first act gave you access to a ranged Rouge mercenary after defeating Blood Raven. Once you progressed to Act II you were allowed to enlist the help of a Desert Mercenary. After that, Act III gave you access to the Iron Wolf mercenaries. Without the Lord of Destruction expansion, hirelings could not equip items, did not level up, and were only available during the Act they were bought in, but all of that was changed with the expansion. Lord of Destruction also added a Barbarian mercenary in Act V. Hirelings could be selected from long lists of many different options, for example the Rouge could fire arrows imbued with different elements depending on your selection. However, despite these options the only noticeable differences were between hirelings from different acts.
In Diablo III, the hireling system has gone through an overhaul. They are now called followers, and they have been split up into two different groups. The first type, as seen in the announcement video, are temporary followers.
Official Blizzard Quote:
As you saw in the demo, if you got the quest where you could rescue the adventurers or their leader, those guys are a light level, where they are just along for the quest or they are just cannon fodder. You can't really control them or have anything to do with them at all.
The second type of follower seems to be closer to the hirelings we know from Diablo II.
Official Blizzard Quote:
When you have what we are calling followers, they are the guys you can equip, give them different weapons, you can give them different armor. They will probably have some quests that involve them. Much more than in Diablo II, you could equip them but they were more like a game mechanic in a body of an NPC. Where this time, were making them much more individuals with their own back story and their own reason for being in the world.
[There will be different types to hire but this time they will be] much more specific. They were very interchangeable in Diablo II, they just had different skills. These ones are going to be much more geared toward certain gameplay types you'd say. Depending on how you play your class...I might be a barbarian, so I don't want another tank, I want a range or, I might want another tank.
So now that you know how hirelings worked in Diablo II, and how they are expected to work in Diablo III, which system do you like more? Would you like Diablo III to feature a system similar to the previous game? Do you just want temporary followers, or do you not want followers in Diablo III at all? Vote in the poll above and express your opinion in the topic below
Last week's poll was essentially a split decision between people who will strike a balance between PvE and PvP (29%), those who will PvP once in a while (27%), and the most popular choice was "Maybe once I'm done with PvE" (31%). If you would still like to vote in that poll, or just want to talk about PvP, head over to the thread in the link above.
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"Other" and you explain your reasoning
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And I can also go for the temp hirelings where you only get them through quests.
that would be i dont want followers ;D
I didn't really like the merc's in D2 because they always got themselves killed or did other stupid things. Sure, the AI might be better now, but I'd rather just rely on myself and my friends in co-op. So if they do add proper merc's similar to D2, I just won't recruit any.
And may the odds be ever in your favour.
Emmo#2406
ie: slightly more detailed and expanded on the diablo 2 system
TheSkaBoss
This :Thumbs Up:
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I'm all for the advanced follower system, so 2 and 4.
I like this idea, I'm down.
there wasn't when i posted it, for all those people who decided to point that out
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