One complaint that came back regarding the Diablo 3 beta is that it felt too easy. Blizzard have come right out and said this was intentional however, as they intend on appealing to casual players, but still providing difficulty levels on subsequent playthroughs to suit the hardcore. Because let’s face it – nobody plays Diablo once.
Speaking at Blizzcon about the various difficulty modes, Blizzard has revealed that not only will the loot be a lot better on higher levels; a whopping 70% of the items won’t even be available in normal mode. If you want the good stuff, you’re going to have to get hardcore.
The developer team explained that this is because of the various bonuses and stats that come with the higher level items won’t be applicable in Normal difficulty, such as special resistances and attributes. Thus to avoid confusing the casual crowd, they just removed that loot entirely.
Blizzard is clearly going out of their way to make Diablo 3 more accessible for someone new to the franchise, as developer Jay Wilson explains their hope is to “turn them into hardcore players”. To this end, the first act functions like a tutorial, with enemies not having access to all their powers, and less likely to all mob you all at once.
Once you get into the higher difficulties however, all bets are off. Enemies will now have extra randomized abilities, such as area damage and abilities designed to split your team. Once you blast your way through to the Hell and Inferno difficulties, creatures will get up to a pants-wetting four extra abilities. It may feel like a never-ending stream of boss fights, but you’ll be getting the best loot in the game for your efforts.
Inferno mode is where the really insane items can be found, with the highest level item being divided into increasingly powerful tiers. Inferno will be designed to be a challenge even if your character is level capped, but still possible to run it solo.
Blizzard seems to be putting a lot of focus on giving a player options, and trying to make the game as diverse as possible. I know I can’t wait.
Source: PC Gamer
70% of Diablo 3 items unavailable in Normal << Comments and views
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