Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Be Thrilled By Diablo 3′s Skillls

By Craig Pearson on February 27th, 2012 at 12:22 pm.

He thrilled!

I must confess that I’m immune to whatever charms Blizzard’s games possess. If I am a waterdrop then Blizzard are a water lily pad, scattering me across their surface – I just want to be absorbed by the gaming nymphaeaceae, but I can’t. But while my fingers don’t quite click with their games, my eyes do. So I got excited when they decided now was the time to release a load of skills videos for Diablo 3. The 20 skills on show are mostly new, so if you have the beta you won’t have encountered most of them. They’re unencumbered by the alteration runes, so this is raw rarr! I love the dancing voodoo doll that distracts enemies enough for the players to mash their face, and if I played it I’d use that all the time.

Damned dastardly Blizzard have laid down unembed +2, so I can only link to the page that links to all the videos. Instead, here’s a video of the Diablo team promising how hard Nightmare mode is.

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82 Comments »

  1. 27/02/2012 at 12:26 Torn says:

    Here you go, one video to rule them all (aka all the new skills rolled into one embeddable video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQK1pijgvY

    I think that some of the skills shown though ARE runed normal skills, like how Disintegrate becomes Ray of Frost? (Edit: I stand corrected)

  2. 27/02/2012 at 12:27 Dingler says:

    All 20 skills shown in one video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQK1pijgvY

  3. 27/02/2012 at 12:32 DanPryce says:

    Pictured: Todd McFarlane’s Braveheart.

  4. 27/02/2012 at 12:33 Echo Black says:

    I think Craig posted the wrong video.

  5. 27/02/2012 at 12:33 iARDAs says:

    I wish they did not steal the gameplay from Torchlight.

    uoyhtiwgnissem

  6. 27/02/2012 at 12:38 D3xter says:

    I’d be thrilled for no Always-Online/Auction-House/Monetization/Activision involvement and disallowing of Mods.

    This isn’t particularly thrilling for me.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:42 Icarus says:

      Agreed, times, uh, many many times.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:45 Echo Black says:

      There are some awesome Diablo 2 mods. I once played one with a custom quest, extensive custom loot and (I seem to recall) even some new sprites. Why won’t they support it for D3, when SC2 has (It does, right?) mod tools?

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:48 UncleLou says:

      I, on the other hand, am rather thrilled, but would have been bored to tears by news about the AH or the online requirement.

      It looks absolutely splendid.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:48 Kdansky says:

      SC2 has incredible mod tools.

      They do it because they want to try something new with the Real Money AH. If you want to read seven hundred words on the topic, go to my blog.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:50 Icarus says:

      They won’t support mods because of the real-money auction house- if mods were allowed everyone savvy would install the ‘multiply all drop rates x100′ mod which would put them at an advantage in the RMAH and probably the arena minigame too.

      The RMAH is the main reason for online-only and no mods, for sure.

      If SC2 had a real-money component (beyond ‘buying the game’) then I guarantee you they would stop allowing mods for it too.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:55 jezcentral says:

      The mod I’d need to play this game is the “Pause Button Mod”. As it stands now, this game will literally be unplayable for me, due to impending first offspring.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:09 MrMud says:

      read my next post. game will pause as soon as you press escape (in solo games)

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:28 jezcentral says:

      @MrMud Yeah, thank you. I saw that once I’d made my post and the page refreshed.

      I still want official confirmation that it will definitely be in the game, though. (It was the reason I gave when I cancelled my long-standing Amazon pre-order, about £7 ago).

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:11 Starky says:

      You have unlimited town portals anyway so while it isn’t pausing you have pretty much instant access to a safe parking location even in multiplayer.

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:32 MrMud says:

      @jezcentral If by confirmation you mean that it is in the beta and I have seen it myself while playing. (sent a mail about it to RPS but I guess it was not deemed newsworthy enough)

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:55 jezcentral says:

      Oh no, MrMud. I trust you on this. :)

      I want to make sure that it is in the final game.

    • 27/02/2012 at 17:23 Arglebargle says:

      I think the whole D3 setup is evil, but I am considering it as a possibility for a second job…..

    • 28/02/2012 at 15:18 Stephen Roberts says:

      Maybe they could build the architecture to allow a divided game style. No Mods, restrictions and rules for Real Money Auction House and mods and freedom for the exact same game with no ability to affect the real money auction house. If they build the limitations, there’s no security risk.

      Sorta like how PvP and PvE should have been different things entirely for WoW since forever.

  7. 27/02/2012 at 12:40 MrMud says:

    Pause is in the latest beta version if anyone was wondering.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:46 Hanban says:

      That is at the very least nice to hear.

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:46 Kdansky says:

      To me: That’s quite awesome, now I really don’t have an issue with online-only any more (travel etc, but I can live with playing something else then).

      To rage-boys: OMG IT’S STILL ONLINE ONLY. I MUST POST THIS IN FIFTY COMMENT THREADS!!!111one

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:52 Icarus says:

      That’s good news, yeah. I have less of an issue with online-only now- although getting a hardcore-mode character killed by lag beyond the player’s control is still something that concerns me.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:01 Unaco says:

      They still have the Online-Only requirement? Aww man… That’s no good. They should at least make it optional.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:15 MrMud says:

      They cant make it optional. Parts of the game runs on the servers among other things in order to prevent hacking.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:43 Kdansky says:

      They can’t and won’t make it offline-playable. D3′s huge innovation* is its RMAH. You can’t have a RMAH with offline mode and mods.

      *An innovation is a change, which you are of course entitled to dislike. I’m not claiming it’s awesome, but I applaud them for trying to try something new in a very old genre.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:45 Unaco says:

      Can’t they make that part optional? The Hacking Prevention (and RMAH I guess), that is. Could I not have the option to have an offline character/game/save, that can’t be used online at all, which they don’t need to monitor and ensure the integrity of? Have everything run on my computer, and not require connection to the server? That way I could still play the game (albeit in my closed off offline character) if I’m ever without internet connection.

      I have nothing against Online Options… they can be good things. But Online Requirements for an essentially single player game is pushing it a little. They should really make it optional.

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:48 Unaco says:

      @kdansky…

      Innovation is cool. Trying something new is cool… Run with it, I say. But I’m still not seeing how they can’t make an offline mode an option, at least.

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:09 Sian says:

      “They can’t and won’t make it offline-playable. D3′s huge innovation* is its RMAH. You can’t have a RMAH with offline mode and mods.

      *An innovation is a change, which you are of course entitled to dislike. I’m not claiming it’s awesome, but I applaud them for trying to try something new in a very old genre.”

      If this “innovation” had anything to do with gameplay, sure, I’d applaud them. However, it doesn’t change a single thing where that is concerned – it just adds in real money. Change for the sake of change is NOT something that should get Blizzard any applaus. Change for the better, sure. But this doesn’t make the game better.

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:34 MrMud says:

      @Unaco
      They obviously want to encourage everyone to play online so that they get everyones RMAH money.
      But it is also a case of where if the game could be played offline then they would need to put all the code on the client. This means that the game is much easier to hack.

      There is actually a server emulator for the D3 beta that allows people to play without a beta key, but there are many things that don’t work properly (like enemy AI). Obscuring the code by placing it on the servers is a great way to protect the integrity of the game.

    • 27/02/2012 at 18:29 Unaco says:

      They aren’t encouraging people to play online and with the RMAH… They’re forcing people. There is a difference. Encouragement would be if they made incentives to play online, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to or are unable to. The way it is, there may be ‘incentives’ for online play, but there is no alternative… no option.

      It isn’t encouragement to play online. It’s forcing people to do so.

    • 28/02/2012 at 01:43 rocketman71 says:

      @Kdansky: “That’s quite awesome, now I really don’t have an issue with online-only any more”

      Are you kidding?. You’ve never had any problem with ANYTHING any publisher tried to shove down our throats, especially Blizzard. You’re the ESA white knight in chief. Please don’t come here now and try to pass as a convert because Blizz listened to ONE of the things people were complaining about.

      And yeah, online-only, action whorehouse, monetization, consolitis, etc, completely kill this for me. Not that I was expecting much from Blizzard after they showed what they have become with SC2.

    • 28/02/2012 at 20:58 Thants says:

      Why are people acting like this is an innovation? Paying real money for more powerful items is a cliche by now.

      And why does it matter if people hack the game when they’re playing by themselves?

  8. 27/02/2012 at 12:51 Gap Gen says:

    I totally read “skulls”. Which is also accurate.

  9. 27/02/2012 at 12:52 Cerzi says:

    One nice thing to note is that the Monk actually uses his weapon in these vids, rather than just having it on his back while he punches everything (as in beta).

    • 27/02/2012 at 12:56 MrMud says:

      I must have been blind when I have been playing the beta because I totally seem to remember the monk always having the weapons in his hands but it not being animated properly.
      Perhaps it was a difference between 2 and 1h weapons?

    • 27/02/2012 at 13:02 Cerzi says:

      Oh yeah, he had his weapon in his hands but whenever his attack animation fires it magically pops onto his back, then reappears in his hands in between animations.

      It might just be that the later level animations use the weapon while the earlier ones don’t. It does look weird though, currently.

    • 27/02/2012 at 22:07 SonofSeth says:

      Oh man, I’m gonna so play the shit out of the Monk!

      *droool*

  10. 27/02/2012 at 13:02 Cerzi says:

    Oh yeah, he had his weapon in his hands but whenever his attack animation fires it magically pops onto his back, then reappears in his hands in between animations.

    It might just be that the later level animations use the weapon while the earlier ones don’t. It does look weird though, currently.

  11. 27/02/2012 at 13:06 Revolving Ocelot says:

    You’ve misspelled a word in the title Craig, it should be “skilllllllllllllllllz”. Y’know, to give an accurate impression of the magntitude of these mad skillz yo.

  12. 27/02/2012 at 13:20 derbefrier says:

    I am really ready for this game to release I got a small taste of the beta on a friends account amd it was pretty much what I was hoping for.

  13. 27/02/2012 at 13:24 Gnoupi says:

    Ok, so now, on the topic, go sell your soul or something of equivalent value to Blizzard and bring the same thing as Destructoid to your subscribers: http://www.destructoid.com/come-get-your-diablo-iii-beta-key-update–222710.phtml

    I’m waiting. :P

  14. 27/02/2012 at 14:06 JKjoker says:

    wow, the game looks sooo easy, and the devs pretty much accept you wont even be challenged until nightmare, jeez

    btw, random thoughts (i know blizzard is not anywhere the worst offender) but what happened with the idea that “an image is worth 1000 words” ? its getting to the point where we dont get gameplay in trailers anymore, just dudes talking and cgi teasers

  15. 27/02/2012 at 14:14 Calabi says:

    It doesnt look particularly innovative.

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:21 jezcentral says:

      No, no, no. You’ve missed it. I’ll show you:

      It’s innovation with Hi Def graphics.

      Just using the innovation from a decade ago.

      Can you see it now? :)

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:57 Humppakummitus says:

      It’s not supposed to be. Blizzard takes well established genres and game mechanics, and polishes until the game is the best in its class. That’s what they do. Their games are not particularly adventurous or inventive, but they always deliver quality.

    • 27/02/2012 at 15:46 Calabi says:

      I know but theres so much it could’ve been . The 3 in the name means it should be a step above. The original and sequel had to be innovative.

      Like Magicka or R-Type an evolution of the genre in a way. Just pew, pewing things like that, it doesnt look that compelling. I dont want to play the same game as Diablo 2 but just in 3D and a bit more polished.

      I dont know though, I’m just judging from the videos, maybe it is.

    • 27/02/2012 at 16:22 DK says:

      “That’s what they do. Their games are not particularly adventurous or inventive, but they always deliver quality. ”
      It’s not “Quality” to lock people out of playing with each other because “oh no, those oceans are so big, it’s impossible to get digital information across! It would take days for each packet!”.

    • 27/02/2012 at 17:38 derbefrier says:

      Well it plays like a diablo game the big innovation is in the leveling system which is completely different from d2 something you can’t see from videos.

  16. 27/02/2012 at 14:52 MadMatty says:

    Its so very easy for Blizzard to get the offline game in, just split the character types in two:

    Local characters (who cant use the RMAH or Online features), and
    Battlenet characters that can use the RMAH and online features, but cant be played in modded games- just like in Diablo 2.

    Can´t think of any reason why they´re doing it this way, except for always online DRM.

    • 27/02/2012 at 14:59 UncleLou says:

      Someone said it earlier already: parts of the code, for example item generation, is running on their servers. This means that hacking should be much harder or even impossible, because noone ever has that code on their PCs. Seeing how the item security must be one of their major concerns (Auction House), there will not be an offline mode.

      Diablo 2 was (and still is) ripe with cheating, even on online characters. People find ways to hack code and take the result back online. By not even letting that code ever leave their servers, they’re trying to nip that problem in the bud.

      So there is in fact a perfectly valid explanation. Whether people agree with that is another matter, but they’re not doing it out of spite.

  17. 27/02/2012 at 15:09 wodin says:

    So they have a mode thats really really hard. Probably so hard it’s pretty much impossible to play it, I mean what other way can you fight in the game other than steaming in with swords and or spells blazing? If that doesn’t work you have no other options surely.

    Did he say one hour trying to kill a boss? I’d have quit in frustration. I hope that mode can be turned on and off on the fly.

    • 27/02/2012 at 16:33 MondSemmel says:

      Well, it’s presumably like Diablo 2. So you play through the whole game on Normal*, then Nightmare (or whatever it is called) mode unlocks. It’s essentially “New Game +” from some other games. You carry over your (much more experienced) character from Normal difficulty. But tons of things change: New items, new boss abilities, etc. The same thing happens with the third difficulty mode.
      So if it is like in Diablo 2 (I haven’t read anything about D3, so I can guarantee nothing), everybody plays through the whole game on Normal first, and then you can use your current character to play through the game again for a much harder challenge, and yet again once more.
      (It helps a lot that most game environments consist of largely random layouts. Otherwise, playing the same region several times on different difficulty levels could get tedious. Of course, that’s something the Diablo series copied from roguelikes – successfully, I’d say.)

      *That also means pretty much everyone should be able to experience the game’s story.

  18. 27/02/2012 at 15:37 FLYBOY611 says:

    “Nymphaeaceae?”

    Way to make us Google a word there. I’m betting you had to look that up yourself.

  19. 27/02/2012 at 21:48 FecesOfDeath says:

    I’d rather be playing Blizzard North’s Diablo III than this, but I guess Isometric WoW will do…

  20. 28/02/2012 at 01:26 irongamer says:

    Weeee! I sure can’t wait to fail killing a boss for an hour with my friends. I’d rather have more content with a balanced continuum of difficulty throughout. More time on new content and less time on making repeated content more difficult.

    I know this was included in previous installments of the series but that line just made me think of mmorpg raiding… which I detest and find offensive to the world of gaming in general.

  21. 28/02/2012 at 02:52 oliverh72 says:

    Wow, Torchlight 2 looks way more fun than this. Pass.

  22. 28/02/2012 at 04:45 jrodman says:

    If I play this game, will I acquire that man’s physique?

    And facial hair?

  23. 29/02/2012 at 00:36 Aardvarkk says:

    I wanted to say after reading this I looked online at the videos provided by the link, out of boredom decided to change my battle.net password, when to my surprise I saw I had access to the Diablo 3 beta, so if you haven’t, take a look, you might be surprised like I was.

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