Diablo 3 System Changes
The anticipated System Changes have finally come in! Here's a quick summary of the changes:
- Scrolls of Identification are gone - players can now identify rares/legendary items without them.
- Button '5' is now dedicated to potions.
- The Mystic artisan has now been removed from the game.
- The Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube have been removed.
- The Stone of Recall is now a button at the bottom and has been renamed "Town Portal".
- The Blacksmith is now responsible for salvaging players' items.
- Common (white colored) items are no longer salvageable.
- Character Attributes have been changed. See below for details.
- Character stats are now placed in the same place as the inventory panel and the old dedicated stats panel has been removed.
Official Blizzard Quote:
While working on Diablo III we've been called out for messing around with systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release it. I think that's a fair argument to make, but I also think it's incorrect. Our job isn't just to put out a game, it's to release the next Diablo game. No one will remember if the game is late, only if it's great. We trust in our ability to put out a great game, but we're not quite there yet. In addition to finishing and polishing the content of the game we're continuing to iterate on some of the core game systems. So all that said, I'd like to provide everyone an update on some of the systems we're currently working on.
We’re changing some of the systems we’ve gotten the most feedback on both internally and from the beta test, including crafting, items, core attributes, and inventory. We’ll go over those changes and the reasons for them. In addition we’re working on major changes to the skill and rune systems that we’re not ready to talk about, but I promise you we can’t possibly ship without a finished skill and rune system.
Let’s start off small: Scrolls of Identification are no longer in the game. Unidentified items and the act of identifying them is still very much part of the game, but now when obtaining an unidentified item you'll simply right click it, a short cast timer will occur as your character examines the item, and it will become identified. We love the double-discovery of finding a present and then unwrapping it, but we don't think it requires a physical item you have to find and keep in your bags to get the same effect. From now on you'll just be able to inherently identify all your items, no need to carry scrolls. Your character in Diablo III is just that badass now.
We’re also moving the fifth quick slot button, which is becoming a dedicated potion button. A dedicated potion button is something we went back and forth on throughout development. Recently it became apparent that players need to be aware of their potions for emergency situations. Our combat model doesn’t promote or even allow chugging potions in rapid succession, but they’re certainly useful when you run into a string of bad luck with health globes, or if you just get in over your head. This is one of our newest changes, so the button and mechanics don’t actually function in beta Patch 10, but that’s our intent and you’ll be seeing it supported in future beta updates.
The design team is currently looking at systems and cleaning them up, removing any superfluous system objectives and those that are beyond fixing. Thus, we're removing the Mystic artisan. As we look at the big picture, the Mystic simply wasn’t adding anything to our customization system. Enhancement was really just the socket and gem system with a different name, and it would prolong the release of the game even further to go back to the drawing board and differentiate it, so we’ll revisit the Mystic and enhancements at a later time. Removing her from the game took some time, but it’s nowhere near the efforts that would be required to flesh out a better customization system. We hope she’ll be able to join your caravan in the future, but for now we’re going to focus on the extensive customization options the game already offers.
We're also looking at systems we’ve created and making sure that the rationale that brought us to these designs still makes sense. The Stone of Recall, for instance, has a short cast time and allows you to return to town. Early on we said we wouldn't have town portals, as they introduced too many combat exploits, but we were able to resolve them. Because we have the Stone of Recall, though, we began to evaluate systems that were originally implemented to deal with the exclusion of town portals.
So we've decided to remove the Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube. They were implemented to allow for salvaging and selling items when there was no quick and easy way to return to town. Now that the Stone of Recall exists, we found that keeping the Cauldron and Cube in the game detracted from the benefits of returning to town to sell items, salvage, craft, and interact with the townsfolk. It’s a good idea to break up combat so that players have a moment to evaluate their gear and crafting options before venturing back out. In addition, we've decided to just call it what it is and the Stone of Recall is now Town Portal, and is integrated directly onto the skill bar UI.
The Blacksmith artisan will now salvage items. With removal of the Cube we needed some mechanic in town that allowed you to salvage your items, and it just makes sense for the Blacksmith to offer it.
One other important change is that common (white) items will no longer be salvageable. We found that it caused a few itemization issues, but mostly this is due to a general philosophy shift on the importance of items. Previously, our thinking was that when an item dropped it should always be useful to you in some way, either the stats could be an improvement for you, or in the case of white items you could break it down and craft something better. Through a lot of play testing we have come full circle to the Diablo II methodology -- a lot of stuff that drops just isn’t worth picking up. Diablo II captured the loot piñata feel by dropping a lot of crap, mostly arrows and bolts, and we of course still very much want that feeling of item-explosions. To do that we need to be able to balance the value of items to how many we’re throwing at you.
This leads us to the last change I'll be detailing today:
We're changing core character attributes to Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Vitality, and the benefits each stat provides is being broken down as:
- Strength
- Increases Barbarian damage
- Increases Armor
- Dexterity
- Increases Demon Hunter damage
- Increases Monk damage
- Increases Dodge
- Intellect
- Increases Wizard and Witch Doctor damage
- Increases Health gained from Health Globes
- Vitality
- Increases Max Health
This change makes the stats more intuitive and fixes some of the itemization issues we were running into. We want to make it clear that junk items aren’t worth picking up, and make it easy to identify other items as not for your character. We want to drop a ton of items, but to really pull off a sense of excitement when finding a great item, there needs to be non-optimal items, both for your class, and in general. By specifically targeting stats at classes, we can reduce the amount of item overlap, diversify our item pool, and create a cleaner, more exciting itemization system.
By and large these changes have little impact on which items you’re going to want. The item hunt has always been based on secondary stats and affixes, and we’re working hard to ensure build diversity is as large as possible by getting as many affixes into the game as possible (adding more item affixes is also something we’ve been working on). Simply including affixes that augment specific skills greatly expands the itemization pool and build possibilities.
Moving on, with the removal of the Cauldron of Jordan, Nephalem Cube, and by moving Town Portal to the skill panel, we're now displaying character stats directly on the inventory UI. Now you can see your stats go up and down as you try on different items. All the same info is available; we’re just streamlining the UI, making it more useful. It might seem insignificant but we're pleased with the results.
All of these are changes that will in one way or another be seen in the latest beta patch, and so we hope that those of you with access please try them out and let us know what you think in the Beta Feedback forum.
There’s a lot of work left to be done, though. We’re constantly tuning and making balance changes; it’s a massive task. Some of these changes can be seen in the beta, like changes to item rarity, the levels at which we introduce affixes, and how many affixes enemies can roll up. Some you can’t see in the beta, like balancing the difficulty of the entire game for four different difficulty levels, adding tons of new affixes, creating legendary items, filling out crafting recipes and itemization, working on achievements, and implementing Battle.net features. We’re also working on a number of other large systems changes -- specifically with the skill and rune systems. We're not quite ready to share what those are just yet, but we look forward to being able to do so in the near future.
We want Diablo III to be the best game it can be when it launches. To get there, we're going to be iterating on designs we've had in place for a long time, making changes to systems you've spent a lot of time theorycrafting, and removing features you may have come to associate with the core of the experience. Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we question ourselves and our decisions, Diablo III won't just live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after it's released.
Jay Wilson is game director for Diablo III and the Inventor of Meat. He believes that Kate Beckinsale is the greatest actress that’s ever lived.
Blue Posts
Bashiok as responded to acouple of clearifying questions about these system changes.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Keep in mind everything detailed in the article today is already in the game, and most of it is complete. Once you get Patch 10 and see that, I think it may sink in that these aren't theoretical changes we're still working on, they're changes we've completed. Obviously the potion button still needs a little work to hook it up correctly, and the character attribute changes need to be balanced and tested for itemization throughout the game, but overall these are changes we've already made.
I do not intend to impress that we're close to release, or infer any such "we're <-- this --> done" kind of statement, but most of these are fairly straightforward changes that are already complete and implemented. We do have more changes, skills and runes, affixes to add, more items, Battle.net features, testing, testing, and more testing etc. to do so we're obviously still not there yet, but none of the changes detailed today are theoretical or yet to be implemented. (Tracker / Forums)
It looks like these changes have been in the works for awhile now. Will the upcoming patch reflect these changes?
Yes, all of these changes are complete and will be present in beta Patch 10.
But white items still cost gold? Wont that make them worth something, making me to fill my inventory and later sell them in town
They'll sell for very little. It will quickly become apparent they're not worth the inventory space.
Why have items that are useless?
To make seeing a good item drop that much rarer/exciting.
Will the new Salvage method be included in the new patch?
Yup!
What about "upgrading" gems? since u removed the mystic, its not implemented anymore?
That's the Jeweler.
Jay's article says strength affects barbarian damage and dexterity, DH's etc... That's just core, rite? Weapons still add most?
Well there's the basic weapon damage, then if it has +Strength on it you *probably* wouldn't want that item as a wizard.
What if per chance the weapon damage is vastly superior? wouldn't that make sense to take it for secondary attribute?
Very possible! It won't always be an absolute "It has X I don't want it." You'll still need to evaluate.
Town Portal: Instant or cast?
It's the same as the Stone of Recall, just in a different spot with a new (old?) name. It's a 2 second cast I believe.
what? was just getting excited about stone of recall! U guys had me convinced that scrolls suck, and stones rock (no pun intended)
It's the same thing, we just moved it and renamed it.
The "don't break the combat" thing was quite nice. As I do like to go back to town sometimes and maybe take a leak or eat something while everyone sold their items and stuff, I really like the idea that you could opt to not do it at all. Imagine that the four players have different ways of picking items, so they would all have to go to town at different times. With 4 players max, 1 less player makes a big difference.
The attributes were simplified so people didn't have to research what each attibute do to understand what's going on. Now we may see a lot of monks investing in strength items because they didn't research about it before. (And I think monks SHOULD benefit from strength).
The removal of identification scrolls is quite nice. I hope that they come up with an explanation for it, like the hero having a big book and needing to look for some information to know about the item, or just meditating to an angel or something like that. It may be a pain in the ass when you spend a lot of time to identify 50 rings you picked up. Maybe making identification instant in town.
I didn't like the removal of the mystic. It would be another artisan to level up and grant new achievements.
Really don't care about the minor details, but I really wanted to know about the rune system. As they are going back in their previous groundbreaking news, they may very well put skill points back in the near future.
They seem to think they're still in diablo 2 where gold had close to no purpose. Of course you won't want to pick and equip white items but what about the money you will get from selling them? I don't see a single reason to not pick white items in inferno and sell them for money to buy epic items in AH.. I really don't like where they're going with their game. They prefer to just remove features and possibly add them in later expansions rather than adding them on release and improve them with patches.. The game is starting to interest me less and less as they screw it all up.
They are just generating screen clutter to disguise the fact that the items that you do pick up aren't as interesting as they were hoping they would be. I have no idea what other changes they are planning on making, but none of the ones they just announced make me go "oooh, that's way better than what it was before"
They can continue to modify this game all they want, eventually they either have to release it or eat the who knows how much money they spent developing it. I'm sure when they release it they will sell a lot of copies and that most people here will buy one, but seriously, I grew bored with the Beta in under a week, I'd rather start new characters in Skyrim than play more Diablo 3 and I don't really see that changing even after release, they just don't seem to be making it that much more interesting. That being said, I'm fairly confident when the game comes out I'll buy it and play for awhile, but I doubt I'll bother playing to inferno at all and I probably won't play past normal on more than one character if that. If their goal is to make the game lasting, this isn't helping, but if their goal is to sell one-off copies, they probably, correctly, figure "who cares"?
TLDR: Meh, release delayed, boring changes that don't mean much.
I like the idea behind the stat changes. In D2 different stats were good for different classes so you could look at something and say "that's a Barbarian item" or "that's a Sorceress item". With the current D3 stats, everyone wants the same stuff so there's fewer reasons to want to trade/AH that great Wizard item you found on your Barbarian for something that's better for you.
This also explains why Unique/Set item stats have been MIA since Beta Patch 5 (they probably started trying to do a final itemization pass on that stuff and realized they couldn't actually target the items to specific classes, so they changed all the stats.)
I was a little concerned at first about class balance thinking that some classes might only need 1 or 2 stats now while others might need 3 or 4 of them, but I suspect what will end up happening is that people will want items with their "primary" stat on it, and then whatever else they can get of the other stats will be a bonus (all stats provide a survivability bonus, so they will probably all be decent and somewhat interchangeable).
Salvaging Changes
I'm not a huge fan of these changes. In the beta right now its pretty exciting to get your Nephalem Cube (similar to getting your Horadric Cube in D2) since its a noticeable quality of life improvement. Forcing people to go back to town to salvage and sell seems like it will just be annoying.
Not being able to salvage common items anymore is a bit of a mixed bag. It was a bit strange to not want to vendor anything (starting out a new character in the beta my bags tend to get full and I feel bad about dropping or vendoring items before I get that cube to salvage them with). On the flip side, it seems like white items will be virtually useless now which is a departure from D2. In D2, an elite armor was worth picking up to vendor the for 35k gold if you had the inventory space, and because of gems and eventually runewords they could be quite valuable to players as well (particularly superior and etherial versions with specific numbers of sockets). That system made the common items a sort of secondary loot lottery--mostly they weren't that interesting, but if the right one dropped it could be valuable.
Mystic Removal
I think this depends on what happens with gems. From looking at the data files, my suspicion is that gems were supposed to provide 2 stats in all slots (one stat no matter where its socketed, and a 2nd stat based on what slot its put into). There are also icons for more types of gems than are actually items in the game. If they flesh out the gem system a bit more then I guess removing the mystic until an expansion is fine.
My biggest concern about the mystic is what will happen to the runestone-combine recipies: http://www.d3lexicon.com/recipe-type/mystic#other ? I don't think this was ever an officially announced feature, but it definitely made a lot of sense to be able to "cube up" lower quality runestones to get those rank 7 ones you really want. I guess I should reserve judgement on this one, though, until they release more info on the skill/runestone changes.
Other Stuff
Scroll of Identify - Not sure if this is a quality of life improvement or not. Scrolls take up an inventory slot, but they are instant. Why make people waste the cast time to ID items? If they decide to remove the cast time it would be a nice little improvement, but at that point why not just have the rares IDed from the start just like magic items? I just really don't see the logic behind this split system where magic items come IDed already but rares don't.
Dedicated Potion Button - This change is just dumb. They are spending developer time to implement a feature that reduces player choice? Really? Not everybody likes to have a skill bound to their left click, but with 6 skill slots and 4 action buttons now, everyone has to use both mouse buttons to bind all their spells. In addition, not all spells can even be bound to left-click. I'm not sure if a build would crop up in practice that used 6 skills like this (perhaps some sort of WD summoner build?) but if such a build exists then its no longer viable because of this change. (On top of this, moving the button is just bad UI design--it messes up the physical-to-virtual spacial relationship with the default keybinds).
Character Stats on Inventory Page - Good change.
Templar = barbarian gear
rogue = monk gear
enchantress = wizard gear
Perhaps? But templar has a few spells too.
If taking out the Mystic means that the Jeweler is basically going to take over some of those duties, thus fleshing that artisan out, I don't see it as a bad thing. I'm not in the beta, but if the enchanting was not overly useful then I agree with scrapping it, and using what worked for the Jeweler.
I don't know why they're even bothering to keep the identification system in the game to be honest. The whole "unwrapping a present" aspect is something I like, but why even bother at this point? You're breaking the game's momentum by having a delay on identification. Just let me hover my mouse over it and it's identified. Using this new system is just adding an unnecessary layer honestly.
Attribute changes are what they should have been in the first place. Simple names that everyone recognizes and actually resemble Diablo as we've known it for years. If it took them years to figure this out, I have to wonder a little.
Salvaging change is fine, and makes sense. Make it cost some gold and you've got a nice little gold sink included. Seems a little counterproductive, as others have said, to talk for years about the game's momentum and then ultimately still tie us to going back into town for downtime. I don't mind having downtime (hell, make someone like Deckard identify our items for a price, or something), but why the sudden philosophical change?
Potion button should be mappable for anything. Don't force me to map my potion to a button. If I'm playing a Demon Hunter I might not even be using potions as much as a Barbarian...so why am I losing a hotkey for it? MAPPABLE BUTTONS Blizzard. I'm not an idiot...I can figure out what I need and map it accordingly.
I'm sorry...but some of this reeks of the console team. Not that I'm crapping on consoles really...I own all three. Just some of this stuff seems odd to change now.
Second what ever happened to not going back to town staying in the action????
Third glad the stats are clear cut, it's anoying in many games were alot of the stats info is vague.
The game was simple enough as it is, anyone who cannot figure out how to play it shouldn't play computer games to begin with. What ever happened chance to hit?? What's wrong with having PLAYERS decide what item is good for their character or not? I don't see anything wrong with gray-area items, and not super-defining items for one class over the other. This makes trading INTERESTING.
Why are you going to get rid of scrolls of identify or cain identifying? This is a symbolic function in the Diablo franchise. With the amount of town traveling you have to do anyway, using cain is not going to cause much inconvenience at all.
The only change I like is changing the stone of recall. I don't even know why you thought of changing the name from town portal to begin with. What's with the design department??
One question, Blizzard: Who the hell are you listening to about these changes? Holy shit!
I'm pretty damn close with cancelling my two collectors editions preorders just like some guy who posted earlier on this thread.