Diablo® III

Hello, all! Though I quickly lost interest in Diablo 3, I kept it close to my heart simply because it's part of one of my favorite game franchises of all time. I return to Diablo 3 from time to time, to re-experience the joy of slaughtering demons in droves, and... well, that's about it. Give me some demons to slaughter, and I'll be satisfied.

Anyway, I wondered for the longest time about a possible expansion to D3, and then I started wondering: What if there was a Diablo 4? So I decided to try my hand at creating Diablo 4. Mind you, this is all roughly a nut shell, but this is what I dream of...

Diablo 4

Plot

Long ago, a schism in the High Heavens severed the bonds of the Angiris Council, inducing calamity all across the four horizons. While the holy realm struggles to regain order, the Burning Hells once again storm Sanctuary. The legendary heroes of the past, while unforgotten, live no more. But when Sanctuary teeters on the brink of extinction, new heroes emerge from the bloodbath with great power at their beck and call, and all the fury of mankind in their hearts. Tirelessly, these new heroes sweep across Sanctuary, eradicating humanity’s defilers with one great push, sending the demonic army, piece by piece, into a screaming plummet back to the Burning Hells, until the leader of the army makes his (or her) appearance.

Classes

Warlord (reminiscent of Diablo 2’s Barbarian / Diablo 1’s Warrior)

Cleric (reminiscent of Diablo 1: Hellfire’s Bard / Diablo 1’s Sorcerer)

Enchanter / Mage (reminiscent of Diablo 2’s Sorceress / Diablo 3’s Wizard)

Reaper (reminiscent of Diablo 2’s Necromancer / Diablo 3’s Demon Hunter)

Artisan (reminiscent of Diablo 1’s Rogue / Diablo 2’s Assassin / Diablo 2’s Amazon)

Expansion Classes

Hellborne (reminiscent of Diablo 2’s Druid / WarCraft 3’s Demon Hunter)

Seraph (reminiscent of Diablo 2’s Paladin / Diablo 3’s Monk)

Acts and Locations (Rough)

Act I: It’ll take place on the Skovos Isles – mankind’s final safe-haven – located south-southwest of the mainland territories, which are now widely occupied by the Burning Hells’ armies. It becomes clear right away that you, the player, are a Nephalem with a body, mind, and soul unhindered by the Worldstone, as it no longer exists. With the encroaching demon armies pushing across your borders, you’ve no choice but to throw yourself into the great bloodbath that awaits.

Act II: Having overcome one of the lesser Generals of the Burning Hells, you lead your people to the mainland. However, this is where you get to choose where to go for Act II. Will you travel to the Torajan Jungles, of the eastern side of the continent? Or will you travel to Kingsport, located on the western side? Depending on your choice, you will face whatever demonic General awaits you next on that side of the continent (while your Nephalem comrades take the other side by default, so the story goes) at the end of Act II.

Act III: If you chose to go to the Torajan Jungles on the eastern side of Sanctuary, you will have seen Viz-jun and the Sea of Light, Ureh in ruins, and you’ll have taken temporary refuge in Kurast before traveling northward past Gea Kul (destroyed), through Caldeum (where the General in Act II awaited you), and are now at the edge of the Borderlands, where you establish a vanguard before traveling on across the Dry Steppes, toward Scosglen.

If you chose to go to Kingsport, you made it to Duncraig before you were ambushed by powerful demons from Westmarch and Bramwell in the northwest. In the battle, you lost all of the people you were leading. You took heart, however, knowing that they died for a good cause, as you trekked on through the bloodstained battlefields past Tristram, across the Tamoe Mountains, and up to Ivgorod, where you will spend Act III besting the archdemons in the Dreadlands.

No matter what side you chose, a powerful Act III boss awaits you at the end.

And if you play online with friends, you can use a special magic stone to transport you to your fellow Nephalem’s side, on the other end of the continent.

(Continued in next post)

Act IV: Whatever side you chose, you end up on Xiansai, island north of the mainland. This was once the home of the Wizards; now, it is nothing more than a brand new spire for the endless evils of the Burning Hells. The demon Generals seek to use the ancient research of the Xiansai people in an attempt to forge a new Worldstone, to subjugate all of Sanctuary – starting with the Nephalem.

You meet each and every demon General head-on in combat, and annihilate them all. But the Generals were just the beginning of the true battle; for Diablo, the Lord of Terror, has long slept here, dormant in the body of a Xiansai boy believed dead years before. With all the power of the Xiansai wizards’ research, Diablo opens a two-way portal to the Burning Hells, where oceans of demons spill into Sanctuary as restlessly as a bloody sea in a fiery tempest, crashing upon the rocky shore and tearing the world to pieces.

Bolstered by the wizards’ ancient magic, Diablo bears down on you in his true form.

You are in for one Hell of a fight.

More information about the classes:

Warlord: A headstrong master of arms and melee combat, and an adept at nearly all other forms of weaponry, hailing from the Islands of Skovos. The Warlord's bravery, cunning, and ferocity in battle is unmatched by any, and feared by all. They say the only time he draws his weapon is to wash it with either blood or cleaning agent.

Brief Appearance Description: A broad-shouldered man well-over six feet in height. His muscular build makes him appear barbaric to the core. He has long, dark hair and a full beard. His starter appearance is shirtless, dark leather trousers, and thick boots.

Cleric: She's a holy woman from the last renowned bloodlines of Westmarch. She senses something is amiss in the sky. As the demonic armies of the Burning Hells wash across Sanctuary, she sets out to exorcise them all from the land with her divine song, wizened mind, and heart of justice. The Cleric relies on a mix of her holy voice and staff-fighting skill to destroy evil. She has the power to heal, bless, and protect herself and her allies with her magic song, as well as scorch demons, undead, and otherwise hostile enemies with light from the High Heavens, and inflict killing blows with her staff.

The Cleric is the only class that does not require an identification scroll or a town portal scroll to identify magic and unique items, and return to town.

Brief Appearance Description: Youthful in appearance, she dons silvery-white locks. The predominant shade of her outfit is white, with hints of black, gold, and azure decorated throughout as she acquires stronger armor on her journey. Her starter appearance is a simple white cloth tunic which extends to the point just above her knees. Eventually it'll become a a leather outfit, and finally a white robe reinforced with chain mail.

Enchanter: Not all refugees from Caldeum survived their flight south from the demons that poured in from the north. They say that, in war, the lucky ones die first. But from what the Enchanter has seen, that couldn't be further from the truth. He's a man with heritage from two nations: his mother, from Xiansai, and his father, from Caldeum itself. Naturally gifted in the powers of arcane, the Enchanter honed his skills at calling upon the four elements: ice, fire, wind, and earth; as well, he delved deeper and discovered spellwork his mother kept secret from the world: blood magic, at the cost of his own vitality.

With the power of the elements and his own lifeforce, the Enchanter wreaks havoc across the battlefield, storming the demonic legions with powerful windstorms, shaking them with massive earthquakes, burning them away with starving fires, and death-freezing them with absolute zero temperatures; while at the same time, he drains away their life force to replenish his own, while using that same lifeforce to cast forbidden spells.

Brief Appearance Description: He favors the color red, because red is the color of his blood, and blood is what he needs to cast his mother's forbidden spellwork. His starter outfit isn't quite as dainty as the Cleric's, though it gives off the sense that he is more fit for fighting at a distance, rather than moving close to his enemies the way the Cleric does. His hair is short and blonde, and he has more of a five o-clock shadow than a full beard like the Warlord.

Reaper: A man whose face is always unseen. All that's known of him is whence he came, and that he uses frightening power to obliterate his enemies. He came out of the Aranoch Desert with a long-shafted scythe resting upon his shoulder, the crescented blade stained with the blood of something foul. He's been seen standing over the cadavers of demon and human alike, conducting strange, dark rituals. When affronted by wild beasts, he's been witnessed blasting fires and other vorpal magics blacker than night out of his gloved palm, instantly turning the predators to shivering skeletons that, seconds later, keeled over and died.

The Reaper is believed to be a necromancer in disguise. However, anything he's slain and left mangled in his wake never moves again.

Brief Appearance Description: His starter outfit is a black, hooded cloak, with a white mask obscuring his face. No skin shows; he wears black full-sleeved leather on top and bottom. Eventually his outward appearance will look more "death-like" as he acquires heavier armor.

Artisan: The mountains of Ureh were never quite the same, when the demons came bearing destruction. The Artisan was the only survivor of the onslaught, thanks to his quick reflexes and trickily built traps. As a marksman, the Artisan can put a hole between any demon's eyes. As a builder, the Artisan's ability to invent new contraptions goes a long, long way in this war. Playing the Artisan requires a strategic approach to battle.

Artisan (continued): Life can get dangerous if enemies come too close to the Artisan in a fight. His traps are designed to keep enemies at bay, ranging from venom splashes and sudden lethal injections to electro-nets and fire pits, turrets that spray ice and shoot darts, and even a giant slingshot that fires boulders into whole legions of enemies, decimating them upon contact. If traps don't do the trick, the Artisan can always turn to his bow, crossbow, or javelins.

Brief Appearance Description: The Artisan has a very... blacksmithy look to him. He wears a hauberk-length leather vest that's studded with various metals he's created. The higher level of armor he equips, the more he accessories appear on his person, such as work tools like hammers and small picks, strapped to his belt. His hair is scraggly, and he wears thinly framed specs.

Hellborne: You wouldn't want to be seen alone with her anywhere. She's an Enchantress who delved too deeply into dark magics, so much so that she sacrificed her humanity for the sake of unimaginable power. Unlike those weak Nephalem cowards who came before her, she chose to use all the might of the Burning Hells against the Lord of Terror, and even dared to challenge Diablo for his title of Prime Evil.

The Hellborne possesses superior physical strength and defense, like the Warlord, with her broad selection of demonic transformations. She relies mostly on shapeshifting to do battle, as she has an appropriate form for whatever style of fighting you specialize in, be it magic, ranged fighting, or up close and personal melee. Rarely does the Hellborne remain in [what's left of] her natural human form; but don't worry, she has some very useful spells as a human, too.

Brief Appearance Description:

Human Form: A seductive dress with hellfire designs woven into the black fabric. Her hair is waist-length and tied into a high pony tail. Her eyes gleam orange.

Succubus Form: Her hair is let down, and she's wearing nearly nothing. Leathery wings sprout from her back. A sleek, spaded tail grows from the seat of her small wear. She grows curled horns and hooves. In Succubus Form, the Hellborne's movement speed is increased 25%. This is the Hellborne's ranged combat form,

Lamia Form: Another visually pleasing (to most male observers) demon form, one in which the Hellborne's mostly nude torso remains human, and her legs are replaced by the body of a great serpent. In Lamia Form, each successful magic or physical strike replenishes a set percentage of health, and each killing blow restores 2% mana. This is the Hellborne's magic combat form.

Archfiend Form: The Hellborne's most bestial form. She becomes an enormous monster covered in blue and silver fur. It appears mostly humanoid, still retaining the curvaceous shape of the Hellborne. Her horns are long, and her claws are sharper than sharp. In Archfiend Form, the Hellborne's melee attacks cause her to slowly go berserk over the course of ten charges. By the tenth charge, her physical defense diminishes, while her attack power triples. Only lasts 10 seconds, and goes onto cooldown for one minute. This is the Hellborne's melee combat form

**She has other transformations, but those are only temporary, and they have long cooldowns.

Seraph: Standing strong under the burning sky is a man halfway to Heaven. Courageous and unwavering, he dispenses holy judgement across the land like no Archangel could. He wields the mightiest battle hammers and swords, either two-handedly for extreme offense, or one-handedly with a shield to protect himself with. The Seraph, like the Cleric, is in tune with the High Heavens, the only difference between the Seraph and all other humans being the Seraph's angelic side shining through; if ever there was a rank between the Archangels and the Creators, it would be the Seraph.

The Seraph's skillset consists of heavenly oaths of fire, immense angelic auras, and special melee attacks with such skill and power that they would leave the angels wanting.

Brief Appearance Description: At first he appears in a pure white robe. His face is lined with eld, and his thick mane and long beard are as white as his cloth, while his eyes burn with golden light. Acquire higher level armor, and the Seraph will become a knight decked out in shining steel platemail, with silvery outlines of angel wings on his back.

Class Skills

Warlord:

Unique Skill: Unstoppable: - Passively, the Warlord's health regeneration is increased the lower his health drops. When skill is active, the Warlord's melee attacks devastate his enemies' defenses, bypassing all armor and resistances until the skill's duration expires.

Cleric:

Unique Skill: Heavens' Calling - An ability which passively allows the Cleric to identify items without the use of an identification scroll, create town portals without a town portal scroll; and, when activated, (1)instantly teleports her to a safe area on the map, if enemy swarms overwhelm her; (2)in multiplayer games with one or more party members adjacent to the Cleric, the skill teleports all party members whose health is below 50% to her, and the Cleric and all affected party members are shielded against damage for 5 seconds.

Enchanter:

Unique Skill: Virtuoso: Passive: The Enchanter's mana regeneration is increased 100%, due to his deep connection to the arcane. Active: An array of selectable spells unrelated to elemental and bloodborne magic become available. These spells include Teleport, Invisibility, Telekinesis, Weapon Enchantment, and Armor Enchantment.

Reaper:

Unique Skill: Don't Fear the Reaper: Passive: Enemies who would normally run away from a player will stand and fight when the Reaper is present. Active: The Reaper shows his enemies visions of their own demise, and wins them over to his side. Any converted enemy that dies grants experience and loot as they would have if they were not converted.

Oh, and if the Reaper ever tires of his converted lackeys, he knows a nice little spell that will blow them to pieces, raining blood, guts, and gore everywhere. He claims that the lackey-bursting is a strategic maneuver to blow up his enemies, but he probably just does it for decoration. And to show off.

Artisan:

Unique Skill: Jack of all Trades: The Artisan gets discounts for purchasing from NPC shopkeepers, and extra profit for selling items to them. He has an increased chance of finding magic and unique items, as well as detecting weak structure work in his surroundings, allowing him to chisel his way through walls. Ultimately, the Artisan has the ability to alter the stats on magic and unique items with the use of various resources dropped by enemies that only he can use.

Hellborne:

Unique Skill: Tormentress: In human form, the Hellborne takes great pleasure in dealing pain. Passively, the more damage she deals, the quicker she can use her spells and melee skills -- for in human form, her main weapons are barbed whips and chains, as well as various torture devices, like the voodoo doll and red-hot irons. The Tormentress skill creates a meter that fills up when the Hellborne fights as a human. Once the meter is full, the skill can be used actively to send the Hellborne into a frenzied sadistic trance, in which she cannot be knocked back, sent fleeing in terror, or be crowd-controlled in any other way.

Seraph:

Unique Skill: King of Angels: In a time of great peril, activate this skill, and the Seraph will sprout divine wings and take to the air. He hovers high above the ground for a set amount of time, immunized against physical attacks (except in PvP), and blasting angelic energies at his enemies below. This skill is so powerful that giving it a passive effect would be downright unfair.

Player-versus-Player

Since there'd be an offline mode, playing online would be at your own risk. Starting at level 10, players can declare hostility toward one-another, giving way to the open warfare of Player Killing, and Player Killer Killing.

Guild Warring System

On top of open Player-versus-Player combat starting at level 10, guilds can officially declare alliance or hostility toward one-another. Be warned: There is no under-level 10 immunity against PvP during guild vs. build battles. Rather, starting at level 10, you will drop not only money upon death, but also one random piece of equipment you are wearing. To the victor go the spoils!

Guild Alliances allow two or more guilds to gain accumulative Guild XP (inspired by the Guild Level System from World of Warcraft). As guild levels rise, its members begin to level faster, gain more money from kills, and find rarer equipment more often... among other things.

Guild warring can happen in any public game on Battle.Net. Allied guilds may send out help requests to their comrades, and they can instantly leave whatever game they're currently in to join the game in which the battle is taking place, if the allotted player volume allows.

Disclaimer: While guild warring, you may not declare hostility against anyone outside of the guild you're doing battle with. They, however, can declare hostility toward you. You are, after all, waging war in their game, if you were not the creator.

Going Solo

You don't have to be in a guild to have the full experience of online play, especially when it comes to guild leveling or PvP. Even as a solo player, you may reap guild rewards by going into Mercenary Mode, which allows you to be a temporary member of any guild who hires you, for a certain percentage of gold per day. As a hired Mercenary, you reap guild benefits without being a member. Though, be warned: You may be cut off from the guild without notice, and you may even be betrayed.

Reputation System

Player Killers, Player Killer Killers, and Non-Player Killers can be differentiated by the color in which their name appears on screen when they enter the game, and when you highlight them. Non-Player Killer names are blue. Player Killer names are red. Player Killer Killer names are yellow.

For colorblind players, there's a symbol next to each name. Player Killer names are followed by a skull symbol. Player Killer Killer names are followed by a symbol of a scale representing justice. And Non-Player Killer names are followed by the symbol of a rabbit face, because like rabbits, they may be too speedy for the Player Killers to catch, and they may very well end up defending themselves or their territory (game) until the end.

Quests, End of Act Bosses and Side Bosses

Act I: The Isles of Skovos face the wrath of the approaching demon armies from the far reaches of the north. The main task throughout Act I is to protect the last remnants of humanity from the demons by slaughtering every damnable hellish miscreation you see without mercy. Act I is where you get a feel for the game's controls, UI system, your class, and the new level of bloody violence and gore Diablo 4 has to offer.

The first NPC you talk to upon starting the game is Jarla, a famed amazonian warrior among the denizens of Skovos. She is pissed off at you and every one of the mainland survivors for bringing the monsters of the Burning Hells to her homelands. Like in Diablo 2, some quest givers show favoritism toward one class or another, and their introductory dialogue differs from what you would get if you played another class. Jarla will shout at you, condemn you, and tell you to take responsibility for leading the horrid creatures here by aiding her warriors in demon genocide, unless you are a Warlord. Then she won't be as angry with you as she is with the people she assumes dragged you down to the islands with them, because of their weakness. Jarla might even come off as flirtatious toward the Warlord.

Non-Warlord Intro from Jarla: "You there! Stop where you stand! You and your ilk... you have some nerve, barging into our home with those MONSTERS in tow! Look around us! These islands -- my home -- it's all being reduced to rubble because of you! Had this destruction been your own doing, I would have slaughtered you before any words were had.

But it seems that you aren't so helpless, like these armored dogs who run around with their tails between their legs. Know this: I hold all of you damned curs responsible for what happened here. If you want to escape judgement and earn our forgiveness, then join us. Join our fight. Go and slaughter every monster you brought from the north with you, until not a single atrocity moves or breathes."

Warlord Intro from Jarla: "A Warlord...! You have some nerve, barging into our home with those MONSTERS in... no, it could not have been you. I can't imagine YOU fleeing from death. Not like those weak men you accompanied here.

Know this, Warlord: My sisters are ungrateful for this intrusion you and yours have beset upon these islands. However... I think we can reach a compromise. Go and slaughter every monster you brought from the north with you, until not a single atrocity moves or breathes. Heed my every order and show me the great man you are, and I'll show you the strongest woman in the land I can be."

The final boss of Act I is a two-faced demon (literally) with split personalities. One face is overly patriotic and cries praises of his master, while the other face is constantly telling the first one to shut the hell up and kill the Light-be-damned Nephalem. At 10% health, the boss will go into a frenzy in which both faces scream out, "For Inarius!" before you silence the demon for good.

Act II: Before you storm the mainlands of Sanctuary, you must choose whether you want to accompany the Amazons, who have begrudgingly agreed to help the people of the mainland retake their home, or the Mainlanders, whom, collectively, are on unfriendly terms with the Amazons, despite their temporary alliance. Siding with the Amazons takes you to the eastern side of the continent, where swamplands and desert await, while siding with the Mainlanders takes you to the western side, where you will march over mountains and through ravaged kingdoms.

On the eastern side, with the Amazons, the final boss of Act II is a demon which appears in the form of a giant snake, and a somewhat humanoid torso where the snake head should be. His claws are the length of his torso, and his teeth are many and jagged. In the Burning Hells he is known for devouring the damned over and over again.

On the western side, with the Mainlanders, the final boss of Act II is a demon which appears in the form of an enormous goat-like being, much like the Moon Clan. In the Burning Hells, he is known for skinning the damned alive and making their skins into clothing and armor for lesser demons.