– Press Release
Diablo IV utilizes an open world structure with five unique regions. These are Kehjistan (specifically its northern desert region), Scosglen, the Dry Steppes, the Fractured Peaks, and the swamplands of Hawezar. Each of these areas will be 10–20 times larger than even the largest areas in Diablo III. Each of the regions are connected, and players can traverse the areas without interruption. The geography of the regions shifts in accordance with this. For instance, if a player heads south from the Fractured Peaks to Hawezar, they will see a series of waterfalls, as snowmelt feeds the swamps.
Players will be able to use mounts to traverse across long distances. World Bosses are encountered in the open-world areas. The open-world is fixed, and not randomized. While the game has shared-world elements, it is not an MMO. Towns may become social hubs for a player once key story elements have been completed. Roads link various areas—sticking to the roads allows players to bypass monsters, while heading off the path will take them towards higher monster densities. Each zone has associated renown that the player can earn. The campaign is expected to take 45–50 hours to complete on a first playthrough.
The Paragon Board features, replacing the Paragon system from previous games.
The game has a day-night cycle and dynamic weather effects.
Randomized and Keyed Dungeons are featured in the game. Monster designs are based on “families” of disparate, yet thematically-linked creatures which work well together. Dungeons are always tackled solo. Camps also feature, as do strongholds and cellars. The Tree of Whispers is an end-game system.
NPCs are featured in the game, both friendly and unfriendly ones. For simple interactions with NPCs, the game brings the camera in closer to the characters. This is designed to maintain an isometric feel, but a library of animations are used to deliver the gist of the conversation. For more complex conversations, the game takes a similar camera approach but here the character’s movements and animations are more deliberately hand-crafted. The second storytelling method used is real-time cutscenes. Here, the camera is used to treat the storytelling as being akin to a movie. These cutscenes are reserved for the most important story moments. The player character’s armor is carried over to these scenes. Despite the game’s open-world structure, the game’s story has a definite beginning, middle, and end.
Harvesting is a new mechanic that’s introduced.
PvP zones feature where players can battle against each other. The game can be played solo or in a group. The game utilizes a shared world system where groups may encounter one another, engaging in both PvE (PvM) and PvP activities. The game will not have an auction house. Players can create clans while in the game.
The game adds an evade function, which in the case of the PC version, is assigned to the space bar. It allows players to dodge enemy attacks. Furthermore, the game includes a stagger system for some monsters. Players can induce control effects on bosses, and in doing so, this fills up their stagger bar. When it fills, the boss becomes staggered.
Trading is enabled between players. Transmogrification features. The console versions will feature couch co-op. Dyes and the wardrobe return from Diablo III. The game will have cosmetic-only microtransactions.
In-game cinematics feature, as well as pre-rendered ones (in contrast to previous games, where all cinematics were pre-rendered).
Crossplay is available, and couch co-op is available for the game’s console versions. Cross-progression will also feature.
The game will have Seasons, similar to those in Diablo III.
While Diablo IV has MMO-esque features, it is not divided into server regions. The game’s regions are all their own separate instances with varying numbers of players in each, meaning that players will gracefully transition from one densely populated area to a more sparsely populated one without realizing it. For instance, towns have high population caps, and players will generally see each other here. Overworld zones have lower caps, so player encounters will be less frequent. The cap soars for World Bosses, in order to allow players to team up to defeat them.
– Press Release
The game will have five classes at launch:
Skill Trees have also been revamped, now resembling an actual tree where Skill Points are spent in the ‘Branches’ and Passive Points are spent in the ‘Roots’. Blizzard estimates that roughly 30-40% of the Skill Tree will be filled in on an average end game character.
Some classes will have specific quests.
Diablo IV is pay-to-play. It will have a Cosmetics Shop and Season Pass, but neither of these provide pay-for-power options.
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