Although Diablo 4 is still without a release date, Blizzard has released tons of new information about the anticipated title in a new blog post. At over 3,500 words, there’s plenty for fans to get excited about, even though the title isn’t currently slated to release until sometime in 2023.
One of the major shakeups in Diablo 4 is the Paragon system, familiar to those who have racked up thousands of hours in Diablo 3. Once a character reaches level 50, they will begin gaining Paragon points–but rather than investing them in different stat increases, players will unlock nodes on a giant board. The layout of these boards will vary depending on class, and there isn’t one way to progress through them. The nodes will range from normal to Legendary, with some able to be socketed with glyphs to give different benefits. Once a player reaches the edge of a Paragon board, they can use a gate tile to move to another Paragon Board with a new layout and different tiles.
“The desired outcome is a personalized set of bonuses that will empower your hero and honor your dedication to their progression, that will remain fun to tweak and adjust over many playthroughs,” Blizzard said.
Diablo 4 will feature a new NPC, The Occultist, who is able to distill Legendary powers into different items. For those obtaining a Legendary power on an item they don’t want to use, visiting this NPC will allow that power to be transferred to another item of the player’s choosing.
Additionally, plenty of visual improvements will be found in this new title, with particular classes having unique destruction effects on enemies. For example, a sorceress will be able to freeze and burn monsters, while a druid can crush an enemy into dust with boulders.
Rather than the hectic loot system found in Diablo 3, certain monsters in Diablo 4 will horde certain item types. For those looking for, say, a particular pair of pants, one certain type of monster will be more likely to drop them when killed.
Diablo 4 was announced in November 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game will not release in 2022, so fingers crossed for 2023.
