DiabloFans

When Diablo 3 was first announced I read every news story on it and new pretty much every piece of information that was announced, but i have pretty much completely stopped reading up on news and I haven't even watched any beta videos.

I can't tell if this is because I am not interested anymore, or if I just don't want it to be spoiled, it is probably a bit of both.

Are you zoomed in at all?

For me, your sig normally looks like this:

http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab329/kberry7/?action=view&current=Sig1.png

However if I hit ctrl+ once to zoom in, it looks like this:

http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab329/kberry7/?action=view&current=Sig2.png

I think that would also cause the dfans logo to be blurry too.

And sorry for not putting the pictures in the post, for some reason it said "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this board."

This site is giving away free beta keys in a fun even that everybody can join in on. I don't see why you feel the need to criticize that. Obviously people are going to be disappointed when their picture, or the picture they liked the most doesn't win, but you should just be happy for the person who did win and enjoy the funny pictures.

Life just involves lying around in a circle waiting for little food pellets to start rolling around. You wish they would be evenly distributed among the the remaining four, but the others just start chowing down. In order to keep yourself alive, you are forced to eat as much as you can as fast as you can, and hope that will be enough to keep you alive until the next feeding time.

So hungry...always so hungry.

I am about the same level you are, my advice may not be great, but here goes.

After watching your replay, these were some flaws I found:

You built 2 evolution chambers and they sat dormant for a long while only to be used once, however this isn't a huge deal since you had so many minerals.

You had too many minerals. You were building all roach/hydra and gas was your limiting factor so you have to throw in a mineral drain as well or its just going to stack up. I would have probably built some zerglings throughout the game and maybe another hatchery in your main.

Scouting is important. You had a ton of overlords (and a lot of overseers for some reason) just sitting around doing nothing. Spread them around the map some. You had the xel-naga watch towers, so you could see the middle but that really doesn't mean much since he did drops. Also you sent your army on a suicidal attack, you might want to send in an overlord first so that doesn't happen.

He was a giant blue turtle, so gain map control. This goes with more scouting, but if you see him being highly defensive then expand some more. You could have taken the entire right side of the map without him even noticing. However when you do expand, make sure to use that base. Your third base did nothing for a long time, then it only mined minerals when you really needed gas.

You also might want to try harassing some. Get some mutas or zerglings to attack every time he thinks about leaving his base. This will make him become even more defensive which lets you really easily expand.

And try to produce more. I had the production tab open for the game and there were long periods where you were producing nothing. You had the supply, larva and resources, but I guess you were lacking motivation or something.

And don't be afraid to change your plans. You seem to have been set on going roach/hydra, but I bet if you would have thrown some banelings at his marines/marauders he would have been most upset.


Well, that is all I've got. As I said, I am not that much better than you (especially as zerg), so if something I said seems stupid, it probably is, so don't listen to it. Besides that, just watch your replays, watch day9 or other castors if that helps you and play more.

Skynight is easy.





I had a good plan for Scyber, but it didn't go so well. I know 2 things about him,he is from Columbus and he is Asian. So naturally, I was searching through Columbus in google street view looking for any asian person (because the first one I found would obviously be scyber). The only problem is, I could not find any asian people about the streets of Columbus, so I had to settle with assuming he is hiding in some stereotypical building.

Quote from Dauroth

I haven't seen anyone talking about this, which really suprised me!

Who is the fat demon that appears at 2:32

Hes not fat, he is big boned.

Lol I wish I had a cool title like Julian Love.

______ Diablo III
Julian Love-Explosions Guy

Well it said that every demon hunter had a story similar to the one that Abd al-Hazir met. Meaning that they all had their entire town destroyed by demons with everybody they knew killed. If that doesn't give somebody motivation to kill demons I don't know what will.

And the cinematic trailer is here if anybody missed it.
http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/movies/demonhunter.xml

What I got from that was that the universe makes perfect sense and it follows the same rules throughout (the laws of science) but we don't see it because we don't understand the laws of science enough.

But that is just my interpretation of what he said and it could be completely false. I am mainly just posting this because I am kind of bored and this discussion is interesting so I would like to keep it going.

To sum up this thread;

Irrational: Religion is dumb!!!!
Other people: Na uh!!!

Can we be done with this now?

Artisans

A real hero doesn’t craft items! He fights! Even though you can create items in Diablo III, it’s not exactly “you” that makes them. It’s them! You meet those merchants through the game and gain their trust after a series of quests. They don’t follow you to battle, but they do follow to the nearest city or village. There are three types of artisans:

-The Blacksmith creates weapons and armor. In addition he can add sockets to items. In those you use gems, just like in Diablo II.
-The Jeweler creates… well jewelry (Rings and Amulets) and can transmute multiple lower level gems to one higher level variant. This way you can get gems of quality levels 6 to 14 that can’t be found on monsters. He can also remove used gems from sockets.
-The Mystic is responsible for enchants. Enchants add special bonuses to items. She also creates and sells staves and other magical supplies. The Mystic also identifies items for the player - Deckard Cain has retired the identifying business.

To create an item, you need to have the recipes and the crafting materials needed for them (some gold too). Crafting materials you get from equipment you salvage (there’s a special box in your inventory after you acquire it). Certain special crafting materials are drops from monsters. This can save time from going back to town to sell useless items. Every Artisan can be upgraded (there’s 5 total levels). To upgrade them you use gold and materials (the higher their level, the more the materials required). Higher level Artisans offer better items for sale and crafting. Some of which are the best in the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIob8wXaQkU

Character Classes

There will be 5 character classes for the game.
The Barbarian
The Witch Doctor
The Wizard
The Monk
Demon Hunter

Skills

The new UI reflects this change to seven skills. On the left will be your seven skill slots which will unlock as you level. To the right is a window with all the skill choices possible, broken up by when you can access them. This will help you to see directly what you have as well as what you can get and plan for future levels. All skills start off with a possible increase of five ranks but there will be a chance to increase this amount through other means. Leveling up a skill will be as simple as clicking o the skill in the UI.
For more information about the skills you can check the wiki page

Traits

Traits is a new system that will be replacing passive skills. This mechanic was added to allow players to customize their character without having to waste skill points to do so. As you level, you currently gain one trait point every other level. Traits will vary and help distinguish your particular play style. Each Trait will have ranks that will range from one to five that you can upgrade. Helping define you character as a tank, berserker, or battle master for the Barbarian, each trait also includes some flavor text to help explain and immerse your character into the world. There will be about ninety possible choices, including upgrading, but your character will only get about thirty points to distribute. Jay mentioned that right now there are actually too many possibilities and that some will probably be cut out.

* Skills and Traits quoted by Scyberdragon's post here.*


Runestones

Every active skill, no matter if it’s magic or melee attack, can have a rune attached. The rune will change the way the spell/attack works. It has been confirmed that the rune/skill combination will be about 700, all with their own effects. More info on the runes can be found here . *Update* The Diablo Wiki on Runestones has been updated with some more info and images from Blizzcon.

Character Stats *New*

Attack: Increases damage
- This stat will be a universal damage increasing stat for all classes to prevent confusion about what you should increase to do more damage.
- We realize that ‘Attack’ is less flavorful than ‘Strength’ and ‘Willpower’, but we feel the pros of understanding clearly how to build your character outweigh that con.
- This stat has no secondary effects.

Precision: Increases crit chance
- This will be tuned to be comparable in power to Attack increases for the most part.
- So why have Precision? Mainly so we can play into it with affixes, runes, and traits. Linking effects to crits gives us another hook for designing skills and gives the player options to create ‘crit builds’ that play different than normal attack builds. Examples of the kind of crit effects we 'could' do (not saying we are, these are examples):
- - Cleave crits cause monsters to explode and do damage to those around them.
- - Lifesteal could be an ‘on crit only’ affix.
- This is a more finesse stat, and we’re fine with that. Most people will want Attack by default, but they won’t mind getting precision.
- This stat has no secondary effect.

Vitality: Increases health
- And it's staying that way!
- This stat has no secondary effect (seeing the pattern here?).

Defense: Decreases all damage taken
- This stat is separate from armor and resistances, each of which effects different damage types. This stat effects ‘all’ damage.
- This stat will allow players to control incoming damage rather than increasing health capacity, which is useful to reduce the need for health globes and pots, and allows players to double down on defense for survival focused builds.
- This stat is also useful for PVP, and likely will be valued in the arenas, but isn't tuned to be a 'PVP' only stat.
- This stat has no secondary effects.

Willpower: Affects resource in class-specific ways
- The effects of this stat will change from class to class. It will be our goal to make it roughly equivalently valuable across classes and versus other attributes.
- Basically this stat will give you more access to whatever restricts your resource by default: capacity, regen rate, degeneration rate, generation rate, etc.

Full article on it in the Core Attribute Changes to D3 thread.

*update*

Hit Rating: Bashiok strikes back! According to his latest posts on battle.net every melee hit has a flat 5% miss chance, meaning that hit rating is more or less out of the game. Ranged and Area of Effect attacks still have to be aimed to hit.

There's a topic about it from Jackzor in the news section here.

Followers
There has been very little information about Hirelings in Diablo III. Unfortunately, there has not been much change on this front. From what we know, in the first gameplay video, there were some archers you ran into while on a quest to rescue Deckard Cain. These archers would follow you for a short while fighting monsters until they would meet their own demise. These mercenaries were never meant to follow you for a long time and would only help you through a quest. We saw this again in the Demon Hunter gameplay video when a weapon maker needs your help. These NPC's are just to help you through a quest temporarily.

In addition to these characters, many have wondered how the hirelings, as know of them from Diablo II, will work in Diablo III. There was actually an interview with Leonard Boyarsky back in 2009 where he touched upon the subject. In the interview, he is asked about mercenaries returning in Diablo III. He first talks about the temporary mercenaries from the gameplay trailer as a smaller version of the followers. He then expands upon the newer version of the "Followers" as they are now known as.

The Mercenaries/Hirelings/Followers article was created by ScyberDragon and can be found here.

*update*

As you can find in the Follower System Unveiled article, the "Followers" system has been unveiled.

There are three follower classes in Diablo III:
The Enchantress
The Scoundrel
The Templar

Each has it's own unique abilities split in 4 tiers of 3 skills each.


Quests

Staying true to the action-rpg tradition, the quests won’t be too complicated. In the playable versions the quests were simple like “go in the desert city” and “slay the skeleton king”. In addition to the story quests, there will still be side quests that can be found while exploring.
These optional quests appear to be like quest chains. For example, you save a girl from desert cultists. She still dies, but before she does she asks you to visit the village. The mayor there informs you that some women have been taken – find and rescue them!

Enemies

There will be 4 different types of enemies in Diablo III (the Act bosses don’t fall into any of the categories).
-Normal enemies
-Champions
-Rare enemies
-Unique enemies

Loot

The usual item gathering will be reduced in Diablo III. Blizzard announced that the item drops will be reduced in comparison with Diablo II. There will be more useful items to be found, though, magical or better. There are also more item slots in the inventory too. In addition to the slots we had in Diablo II we get to (finally) wear pants, shoulder pads and bracers. The inventory changed again to a more tetris like one. Weapons and armor take 2 slots. Potions, crafting materials and scrolls require only one and are also stackable. We’ll also be able to change the colors of the armor through dyes.
Latest news mention 18 different armor tiers (so far), which is subject to change till the game is released. Source.

*update**update 2* - The Talisman was cut from the game
Charms are after all in the game. They don't go to the inventory, however, they get their own little place called Talisman. We start the game without it and we upgrade it until the end of the game so it can have more charms placed in it.

*update*
In our very own interview, we got information about Quivers making their way back into the game. It's most likely going to be exclusive to the Demon Hunter. So far they only mentioned it being used with pistol crossbow - the ranged weapon exclusive to the Demon Hunter.

Full interview here.

*update*
There's been several updates on items "binding" on the character after being used or earned through quests. Latest Blizzard comments, however say that the whole "binding" of items is out of the game. All items will be able to be used and transfered after they're no longer useful to any character, or even traded.

News article about it here.

Looting

Everyone will get his/her own share of the loot. Meaning that whatever you see drop, it's individually for you and nobody else can take it unless you pick up and drop again. So there's no need to rush to the loots and die trying to pick it up anymore.

Town Portals

They’re gone! Instead you get to go back to town through waypoints that will be placed better than in Diablo II. There won’t be a really big need to go back to town as often anyway because of the new “Salvage” feature that’s been explained in the Artisan section. There’s also supposed to be a “scroll of wealth” that will change items in gold directly without the need to find a merchant to sell it.

Health System

The potions are rare to find and also have a cooldown. Instead there will be health globes dropping from enemies during the fight to replenish lost hit points. There’s different kinds of health globes too that replenish different amount of health. Bosses are supposed to drop some health globes at certain percentages of their total hit points. In most cases there will be minions of them aswell to make sure we’ll have a decent amount of health globes when needed.

Death

Inevitably we’ll all die sometime (hopefully the hardcore people won’t do it often). In death you don’t appear in town but in the nearest checkpoint. You also have all of your gear so there won’t be any more corpse runs. -As of 10/7/2010 we got some news about the death mechanic. Bashiok mentioned the death penalties aren't final yet. In his latest battle.net post he talked a bit about the developer's team thoughts on death. In multiplayer there's an other option to avoid running back (even from the checkpoint nearby). Other players will be able to carry "Scrolls of Resurrection". Those scrolls existed back in Diablo 1 and made it possible for friends in coop to revive the dead players of the group. They will have the same function in Diablo III aswell.

*update*
On the death penalties, in the current build, all the character gets after death is durability loss on his items. As mentioned before, it's not final so we can't possibly tell just yet how this will end up.

Horadric Cube

As expected it’s out of the game. Most of its uses have been replaced by the artisans.

Private Stash

It’s still here. Whenever there’s items not really needed right now but still useful they can be placed in there and remain in your possession. Jay Wilson stated that from the start it will offer more room than the stash of Diablo II. It will also be possible to upgrade it so it can store more items and gold. *Update* This years Blizzcon we heared that the storage space offered with the Stash is one of the ways Blizzard plans to eliminate muling.

A shared stash has been confirmed by Jay Wilson in this years Blizzcon. The Shared Stash, will allow characters of the same account to safely and easily transfer items from one character to another.

*update*
It is confirmed that we'll get 2 stashes. One for the current character and the second for the whole account (shared stash).
Interesting article about it here.

Acts

It’s been confirmed that Diablo III will be about as big as Diablo II without its expansion, so it’s going to be 4 Acts. The adventure will begin near New Tristram, so the first act will remind a bit of the first game. Same for the second act that (at least mostly) will be in the desert near Caldeum. As for the third and fourth act, there hasn’t been official word yet. But if we take a look at the art section of the official site we can see an image of a harbor in Skovos Isles (the isles of the Amazons) and a monster called “Crater Assault Troops” (concept goes back to 2004 but it was in the teaser trailer with the announcement) that could make us assume that the third Act might play in the amazon jungles and the fourth in the Dreadlands, where Mount Arreat used to be (hopefully we’ll get to see footage of act 3 in the next Blizzcon).
Latest posts from Bashiok mention that the game will be longer than Diablo II, even though they'll immitate the Act length to make it more dramatic and not to delay the end-fight too much.

*update*
@Diablo recently mentioned that we have seen bits and pieces of Act 3. Only new thing (as in environments) that we've seen so far was Bastion's Keep. It should be relatively safe to assume it's act 3.

Player versus Player (PvP)

Everyone's waited for info on it and this year's Blizzcon was quite generous. Duels and Hostilities as we knew them in Diablo II are off the game. The new Battle Arenas are implemented to make sure that those who want to kill people get to kill them, while those that want to kill monsters don't have to worry about being killed by anything else but monsters! PvP balance won't be an issue, though, according to the developers since PvE is the primary focus and "nerfing PvE abilities because they're too strong on PvP" won't happen.
As a hardcore player... if you step into the Arena there's no going back. Either you die, or your opponent.

The Diablo III PvP - Battle Arenas thread offers more information on the PvP feature of Diablo III.

Achievements

Just like Starcraft 2, Diablo III will also have achievements to unlock. They won’t be pure “grinding” achievements, though (killing things is still encouraged). Instead the achievements will be rewarded for killing unique monsters, crafting and/or fully exploring the regions.

Expansions

Lead Designer Jay Wilson talked about it in an interview. Blizzard is already thinking about expansions for Diablo III. This should mean that Diablo III will be pretty open ended. Also in Gamescom he answered a question about DLCs (downloadable content as paid mini “expansions”): “I love DLCs”. We can expect some DLCs for Diablo III it seems.

Online Activation

After the launch of Starcraft II we know how it's going to be. The game will have to be attached to a battle.net account and be activated this way. Achievements will only be awarded if you play through battle.net (even for single-player, very much like the campaign achievements for Starcraft II). There will be an offline/guest play option that will require to log to a battle.net account once too.

ESRB Rating

According to a recent Bashiok post Blizzard aims for a rating of M (for mature). So we're guaranteed to see alot blood spraying during the fights.

The Story

Diablo III begins 20 years after the previous game. 20 years after the Prime Evils were defeated and the Worldstone was destroyed by the Archangel Tyrael. After a long time of peace a meteor hit the cathedral of Tristram and Evil stirs again. Heroes rise to fight against the Evil that's taking the world of Sanctuary once again... we still got nothing more...

*Update* While it's not much, what they told us was that this time, it's not just the presence of certain demons that will corrupt Sanctuary, but a full scale invasion from the Burning Hells. According to Jay Wilson, the Burning Hells decided to destroy Sanctuary since the humans are becoming a great threat should they take Heaven's side on the Great Conflict. They were strong enough to destroy the Three after all.

Beta Test

The Blizzcon closing ceremony had a surprise for all of us. 1000 attendees will be randomly selected to be given beta keys for the upcoming Diablo III beta test. What's missing is word on "when" the beta will start. At least now it's confirmed that there's going to be one.
*Update*
While Blizzard hasn't said anything about the timing of the beta start, they did talk about how much of the game it will contain. More or less they don't want many spoilers and we're going to see a full PvP mode and probably a couple Acts at maximum.

There's more about it in the article: Where's Beta?

*Update*
In the recent May 9th Conference Call there's been some info about the Beta. It's supposed to start sometime in Q3 2011. Meaning from July 1st to September 31st.

Release Date

So far there's no official word about it, other than Blizzard's usual "When it's Done™". - Wilson said that the game would be released approximately 6 months after the beta starts.
*Update*
After the last financial conference in February, Mike Morhaime said that the team aims for a 2011 release, but it's not set in stone just yet and it may have to be pushed to 2012. So it's probably going to be Q4 2011-Q1 2012.


*Post updated with news as of 5/26/2011*

The world of Diablo is quite extensive, and the lore around it amounts to a great deal. It's not (yet) on the scale of Tolkien's works, but few game series have had the opportunity to have not one but eight books set in it's fictional universe, and Blizzard's cinematics are not only renowned for their high quality, but also for the memorable moments they create and the powerful visions of their worlds they reveal. All evidence seems to suggest that this tradition has been carried over to Starcraft II in full force, and we can only assume the same will be true for Diablo III.

But in the old days, before the massive cinematics and in-game cut-scenes of Warcraft III, how did Blizzard tell their stories? Well I'm sure you all remember the tomes scattered about the dungeons of Diablo I. A simple yet very effective way of conveying details of the story to the player. We shall have a look at the various tomes of Diablo I, what they told of the story, but most importantly, if their information provided is still accurate. Because Diablo, whether you like it or not, has gone through a lot of changes from the release of the first game to the last chapter of the Sin War novels, The Veiled Prophet. Retconning does happen, and things can change.

• First things first: What tomes?
• Horadric Tomes
• The Great Conflict
• The Wages of Sin are War
• Tale of the Horadrim
• Lazarus' Tomes
• The Realms Beyond
• Tale of the Three
• The Black King
• Demonic Tomes
• The Dark Exile
• The Sin War
• The Binding of the Three
• Final Words

First things first: What tomes?
For those of you who never played Diablo I (and the few who did but have a bad memory), during the game the player would come across several books (similar to the Moldy Tome in Diablo II). These books would, upon reading them, provide snippets of information about the game and the war between Heaven and Hell. Four of them were started a quest and included nothing really interesting, but nine books were there purely to tell a story to the player.

These nine tomes could then be divided into three separate categories:

• Three were written by the Horadrim, and told of the capture of the Prime Evils.
• Three were written by Arch Bishop Lazarus and praised Diablo.
• Three were of an unknown author with considerable knowledge of Hell.

The Horadric Tomes
The Great Conflict

Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein, for they are the last legacy of the Horadrim. There is a war that rages on even now, beyond the fields that we know - between the Utopian Kingdoms of the High Heavens and the Chaotic Pits of the Burning Hells. This war is known as the Great Conflict, and it has raged and burned longer than any of the stars in the sky. Neither side ever gains sway for long as the forces of Light and Darkness constantly vie for control over all creation.

The Wages of Sin are War

Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein, for they are the last legacy of the Horadrim. When the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells falls upon mortal soil, it is called the Sin War. Angels and Demons walk amongst humanity in disguise, fighting in secret, away from the prying eyes of mortals. Some daring, powerful mortals have even allied themselves with either side, and helped to dictate the course of the Sin War.

There is a slight change here. The Sin War technically refers to the initial conflict that befell Sanctuary (the entirety of those events is laid out in the Sin War novels). Other than that, the passage is still canon.

Tale of the Horadrim

Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein, for they are the last legacy of the Horadrim. Nearly three hundred years ago, it came to be known that the three Prime Evils of the Burning Hells had mysteriously come to our world. The Three Brothers ravaged the lands of the East for decades, while humanity was left trembling in their wake. Our order - the Horadrim - was founded by a group of secretive Magi to hunt down and capture the three Evils once and for all.

The original Horadrim captured two of the Three within powerful artifacts known as Soulstones and buried them deep beneath the desolate Eastern sands. The third Evil escaped capture and fled to the West with many of the Horadrim in pursuit. The third Evil - known as Diablo, the Lord of Terror - was eventually captured, his essence set in a Soulstone and buried within this Labyrinth.

Be warned that the Soulstone must be kept from discovery by those not of the Faith. If Diablo were to be released, he would seek a body that would be easily controlled as he would be very weak - perhaps that of an old man or a child.

This text is mysterious. While the text in itself remains canonical, it is clearly revealed in the first paragraph that the Horadrim were unaware of why the Three were in fact on Sanctuary to begin with. In another book further down, The Binding of the Three, it is clarified that the Three were overthrown by the Lesser Evils.

However in Diablo II when Deckard Cain gives the quest Sisters to the Slaugher to the player, he reveals that:

"Ancient Horadric texts record that Andariel and the other Lesser Evils once overthrew the three Prime Evils -- Diablo, Mephisto and Baal -- banishing them from Hell to our world."

At first glance, it would seem as if this is crystal clear: the book in Diablo I must have been written by a Horadrim mage, and that is how Deckard Cain knows of it. But what one must remember is that Cain is only just barely a Horadrim; the order fell apart before he was born, and the only reason he carries the title is because his ancestor was a Horadrim, and since the order no longer exists, there's no one to stop him from using the title. Clearly Cain managed to retrieve the book "The Binding of the Three" from Tristram, but it is not clear whether he actually knows who wrote it, or just assumed it was a Horadrim mage becasue he found it in their old fortress.

Lazarus' Tomes
The Realms Beyond

All praises to Diablo - Lord of Terror and survivor of the Dark Exile. When he awakened from his long slumber, my Lord and master spoke to me of secrets that few mortals know. He told me the kingdoms of the High Heavens and the pits of the Burning Hells engage in an eternal war. He revealed the powers that have brought this discord to the realms of man. My master has named the battle for this world and all who exist here the Sin War.

Tale of the Three

Glory and approbation to Diablo, Lord of Terror and leader of the Three. My lord spoke to me of his two brothers, Mephisto and Baal, who were banished to this world long ago. My lord wishes to bide his time and harness his awesome power so that he may free his captive brothers from their tombs beneath the sands of the east. Once my lord releases his brothers, The Sin War will once again know the fury of the three.

This quote is questionable. It is the only quote that actually names one of the Three as leader. Various quotes in the Sin War novels allude to the fact that Diablo is the strongest and foremost of them, but no single quote can prove it. For example, Astrogha, a servant of Diablo, refers to his master as the greatest. Lazarus, being a corrupted servant of Diablo, would obviously give his master the same reverance as Astrogha. More so probably, given Diablo's dominance over his mind. So while the quote shouldn't be taken literally, it is another small proof supporting the fact that Diablo does in fact seem to be the leader of the Three (for more thoughts on this, refer to The Cosmology of Diablo: Angels and Demons).

The Black King

Hail and sacrifice to Diablo, Lord of Terror and Destroyer of Souls. When I awoke my master from his sleep, he attempted to posses a mortal's form. Diablo attempted to claim the body of King Leoric, but my master was too weak from his imprisonment. My lord required a simple and innocent anchor to this world, and so found the boy Albrecht perfect for the task. While the good King Leoric was left maddened by Diablo's unsuccessful possession, I kidnapped his son Albrecht and brought him before my master. I now await Diablo's call and pray that I will be rewarded when he at last emerges as the lord of this world.

This is the only passage during which the title "Destroyer of Souls" is used for Diablo. Since it is capitalized it is clearly a title, but it has never been mentioned after this. Perhaps it is just the ravings of Lazarus, or perhaps there is some unknown connection that Diablo has to souls in general that we are unaware of.

Demonic Tomes
I have chosen to label these tomes as demonic tomes, mostly because of the information they contain about the inner workings of Hell. It is unlikely anyone but a demon or perhaps a very powerful sorcerer could possess this information.

The Dark Exile

So it came to be that there was a great revolution within the Burning Hells known as The Dark Exile. The Lesser Evils overthrew the Three Prime Evils and banished their spirit forms to the mortal realm. The demons Belial (the Lord of Lies) and Azmodan (the Lord of Sin) fought to claim rulership of Hell during the absence of the Three Brothers. All of Hell polarized between the factions of Belial and Azmodan while the forces of the High Heavens continually battered upon the very Gates of Hell.

This is definitely canonical, though whether it is true or not is another matter. Izual holds a speech in Diablo II that casts some doubt as to whether it was truly a revolution or simply a very elaborate plan by the Prime Evils:

"You see, it was I who told Diablo and his Brothers about the Soulstones and how to corrupt them. It was I who helped the Prime Evils mastermind their own exile to your world."

Still, the mere fact that a revolution did take place, whether real or faked, is not something just any mortal is capable of knowing. And it wouldn't have been a very good scheme if anyone knew the rebellion was a sham.

The Sin War

Many Demons travelled to the mortal realm in search of the Three Brothers. These Demons were followed to the mortal plane by Angels who hunted them throughout the vast cities of the East. The Angels allied themselves with a secretive order of mortal Magi named the Horadrim, who quickly became adept at hunting Demons. They also made many dark enemies in the underworlds.

True, though the amount of angels is probably limited to mainly Tyrael and perhaps some lesser angels under his command. At least, no angel but Tyrael has ever been named to have helped the Horadrim.

The Binding of the Three

So it came to be that the Three Prime Evils were banished in spirit form to the mortal realm and after sewing chaos across the East for decades, they were hunted down by the cursed Order of the mortal Horadrim. The Horadrim used artifacts called Soulstones to contain the essence of Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred and his brother Baal, the Lord of Destruction. The youngest brother - Diablo, the Lord of Terror - escaped to the west. Eventually the Horadrim captured Diablo within a Soulstone as well, and buried him under an ancient, forgotten Cathedral. There, the Lord of Terror sleeps and awaits the time of his rebirth. Know ye that he will seek a body of youth and power to possess - one that is innocent and easily controlled. He will then arise to free his Brothers and once more fan the flames of the Sin War...

This clearly highlights that a Horadrim mage did not write this book. A Horadrim would not call his order cursed, and he would not refer to the Horadrim as "mortal". It suggests that a demon, or some other immortal being, has written this.

What is also interesting about this book is that it is the only quote that mentions Diablo as the youngest brother. There are plenty of passages that mention Mephisto as the eldest, but only this one named Diablo as the youngest. It has consequently never been disproved either, so it seems entirely reasonable to assume that this holds true.

Final Words
And this was supposed to be a short post... Regardless of that, most of this article, as well as some details about the quest tomes and where all tomes appear, can now be found in the wiki at Tomes (Diablo I).

And for those still waiting for the next cosmology installment, it is coming.

Episode 1- The Lost Soldier
[spoil]The Lost Soldier

Season 1 recap-
Precel- a world of magic, mages and beasts. A prophecy told long before their time, has set the path for the adventures of Nacho and his companions in their quest to find the elusive wand of power- the Eximius Wand.
Mere days after having set off from their clan’s refuge, they have been forced to fight for their lives, facing danger that was almost beyond their power. As the mystery and purpose of the terrible creatures behind the attack slowly unravel, our friends sit in the safety of the Town of Deeha’Blothri waiting to hear the reason they’ve been summoned by the master, Atrumentis.

Atru- “...which brings me to why I actually wanted to see you.”



The companions looked up inquiringly at the Town-master.

Atru- “It has to do with one of our guards, Jeru. He disappeared. We only began our super investigation when he failed to report to Ferret, the guard captain, after he finished his night patrol yesterday. From what we gathered, he was last seen near the Kairn Caves. Tomorrow a group of guards is going to head into the caves for a reconnaissance mission. Needless to say, it will be very dangerous but you see, Deeha ‘Blothri, is a very closely knit community. And as long as there is a hope that we can find Jeru, we must try.”

Nekro raised his eyebrows- “It’s dangerous, you say?”

Atru- “Yes indeed, super-dangerous! And that ever since the appearance of the undead or as they were referred to in the archives I found in the Western Kingdom, the Phasmatis. During the great wars, the caves were used to store everything from food to weapons. It is a vast network of tunnels and we’ve only ever used a very small part of it.

Then peace came and when they were no longer needed, the caves instead became a place of great interest for reckless young lads. The latter would always come back with stories of terrible monsters they’ve found in its depth and how they had to fight their way back. Quite humorous considering they all came back with no a scratch and clothes as clean as when they set off for their journey.

However some of our soldiers have tried to venture as far as they could within the caves but there was a place quite far within, that they described as a high-ceilinged oval chamber where there was a great gust of wind constantly blowing and no torches managed to stay lit. The soldiers had to track their way back through complete darkness away from the chamber for quite some distance before being able to light their torches again. They said the wind was ‘pursuing’ them.”

Az- “You think it was a spell?”

Atru- “I do not know but it could be just some air vents that was the cause of all of this. And it is well known that panic and darkness can mercilessly toy with our imagination. But I digress. The Kairn caves had to be sealed some 7 years ago when a great serpent phasmatis came out of it and attacked the townsfolk. If it wasn’t for the skill and courage of our elite guards, it might have been a gruesome day in our town history. Jet, Elfen, Ferret, Link and Jeru fought the creature and victory only smiled at us after a long and hard battle.”

Turmo- “So how come the Jeru guy went in there?”

Atru- “You should know that it was a magical barrier that we set at the cave’s entrance. So presumably nothing could come out of it, but we could easily go in. It’s true we covered the entrance with some broad planks to prevent children wandering in there but these could easily be bypassed by any grown-ups.”

Nacho- “But the question remains. Why did he go in there?”

Atru- “There might be an explanation to that. A week after the Shatterer incident, townsfolk living close to the caves started hearing growling and moaning coming from the cave at night. It sounded like an animal in pain and anguish, and usually occurred close to dawn when night is deepest. Many were starting to be afraid and feared that an attack similar to the Phasmatis serpent was imminent. I ordered guards to patrol near the caves, more to appease our inhabitants than anything else since the magical barrier was the best protection. At that time Jeru sought a meeting with me and told me he wanted to lead a group of guards into the cave and investigate the matter. I expressly forbade him since once a person crosses the barrier, he will be at the mercy of whatever foul creatures may be residing in the caves.”

Nacho- “You think he disobeyed you?”

Atru- “I do not know. He is a man of honor and has always served Deeha ‘Blothri well. He did seem quite perturbed during our meeting. There must be some other reason that pushed him to enter the caves.”

Nekro- “Well what does this have to do with us?”

Atru—“I am a man who believes in faith young ones. And your presence here at this moment strikes me as a turn of faith. The reconnaissance mission will be dangerous, but the power of the 2 mage clans will be a priceless aid and strength in this quest. We’ll have a much greater chance to succeed. I do not doubt the strength of my guards but I cannot hide that I fear greatly what might befall them in Kairn may be beyond their abilities. I have spent long hours in my study pondering on what to do. I conversed long with Ferret and came to a very painful decision to send my people into the caves. The doubt was still on my mind until you turned up and then all I saw was providence. Please help us!”

Nacho looked into the distressed face of the Town-master and knew he couldn’t refuse. If it wasn’t for the safety of Deeha ‘Blothri, they would be out in the wild having to survive against the terrible Phasmatis. It was the least they could do for the town. Besides they would be accompanied by guards who have had experience in dealing with such dangers.

Nacho- “We shall help Deeha ‘Blothri and its people.”

The Town-master expressed his sincere thanks. The atmosphere lightened considerably then, as Sir Atru began entertaining them with stories he’s been working on while they had dinner in a room removed from the library. As they feasted on the succulent dishes of meat, cheese, bread and…lemon juice, our friends began to truly relax for the first time since they entered the forest. However too soon (it seemed to them) were they finished and as they sat munching on some chocolate cookies, their minds went to Jeru and the dangers of the Kairn caves. Nacho seized the opportunity just as Atru paused and took a sip of his lemon juice-

“We would love to hear more of your stories sir Atru and I pray you do not take offence but we shall need to rest before the task that awaits us on the morrow.”

Narrator-“Mehehe…what a liar! Like if he wanted to hear the stories…”

Atru- “So true, young ones! I tend to get super-excited sometimes- forgive me. I bid you goodnight my friends. Rest well. Be ready by 10 o’clock. If you come to see me earlier-I’ll be in the library- we can go see your friend Zhuge.”

The friends bade the Town-master goodnight and went back to the tavern which had its bar and tables to serve food on the ground floor and lodgings on the 2 upper floors. The four companions made their way to their quarters on the first floor.
And soon enough, they were in a profound sleep, their minds finally free and undisturbed by the happenings of the outside world and their bodies enjoying a well-earned rest.

-------------------------------------End of episode 1----------------------------------------

Narrator- “How have been folks. Long time no see!”
Umpa- “When do I get in?!? When do I get in?!?”
Narrator- “Oh shut up, Umpa.”
Zhuge- “I hope I’ll get some story time.”
Nekro- “Aah…another season of being taunted, insulted and made fun of… Who wouldn’t enjoy that…?”

Narrator- “Guys, do you ever do anything apart from complaining?”

Shatt- “Yep, I kill innocent people.”

Narrator- “Now that’s more like…Eh…wait, what?”

Shatt- “Chill, old man. I’m only at the planning stage. Nothing’s done yet.”
Narrator- “Oh shut up, Shatt.”

Seth- “Yay! We are reunited once more.”

Narrator- “About damn time someone actually takes notice of that!”



What exactly is awaiting our friends in the Kairn caves?
How is Zhuge coping? Are the rumors true he lost a vital part of his anatomy when he was attacked?
Who is Stonebreaker? Does he like Zhuge? Wait, what?

All of these questions will be answered in the next episode of Dfans the movie titled: The Second Episode!

[spoil]Narrator- Hoho…how original is that?[/spoil]
[/spoil]

Episode 2- The Second Episode!

Episode 3- The Kairn Caves

Episode 4- Battle of the Kairn Caves

Episode 5- Zhar The Swearing Ghost