Tag: Diablo 4

Blizzard outlines what to expect from Diablo 4 seasons, battle pass

Diablo 4’s post-launch content and seasons are meant to be celebrated with friends in the multiplayer game, Blizzard said in a new video

Diablo 4 seasons and post-launch content are meant to be celebrated with friends in the multiplayer game, Blizzard said in a new developer video, and they’re also meant to funnel you through objectives to increase your battle pass level. Blizzard’s latest RPG borrows from Diablo Immortal by adding a free battle pass, a paid battle pass, and a somewhat convoluted system of getting through it all.

Seasons will introduce new challenges, stories, and bosses for everyone, regardless of whether you buy the battle pass. The first one launches in July 2023, and you have to finish the main campaign before you can start it. Each season includes chapters and objectives, things such as collecting a certain number of a specific item, completing a dungeon, or taking part in a local event.

Finishing these will reward you with materials and aspects, along with Favor, which you use to level up your battle pass.

The battle pass gets a little confusing. Favor levels up the free and paid pass. Leveling up the free pass earns you cosmetics and Smouldering Ashes, the latter of which you can spend to get Season Blessings. These blessings grant you extra gold, experience, and obols to make leveling up easier, and you can equip multiple blessings at once.

The paid battle pass is the premium battle pass. It costs $9.99, and you only get cosmetics and platinum currency from it – nothing that actually affects the game. You use platinum currency in another in-game shop to buy yet more exclusive cosmetics. Finally is the accelerated battle pass, which costs $24.99 and gives you 20 tiers on the paid pass and a special emote.

Everything you can buy in the shop, with in-game and real-life money, is cosmetic only. There are no level skips or items that affect your power level.

Diablo 4 launches on June 6, 2023, with another open beta scheduled for the weekend of May 12, 2023.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Diablo 4 ‘is not intended to be played forever,’ says Blizzard

There’s a “pinnacle boss encounter,” according to associate game director Joe Piepiora.

There’s no question that Diablo 4 will have an astronomical amount of playable content at launch, but developer Blizzard isn’t trying to hook you forever.

In an interview with GamesRadar, Diablo 4 associate game director Joe Piepiora explained that there will be a “pinnacle boss encounter” and climax to the game’s story.

“[Diablo 4] is not intended to be played forever,” Piepiora said. “So there are creatures that you will continue to fight at higher and higher difficulties [beyond level 100], but this is content where you’ll be kind of pushing yourself to see how far you can take your build, rather than trying to reach some endless grind of rewards as time goes on beyond level 100.”

Basically, Diablo 4 shouldn’t replace your favorite MMORPG – whatever that might be. 

Blizzard is still keeping much of Diablo 4‘s endgame and progression systems a mystery. There’ll be a level cap of 100, and Nightmare Dungeons will keep gameplay challenging as players hunt for better loot and equipment.

“At level 100, we do have a pinnacle boss encounter we want players to engage with that’s been balanced so that it’s extraordinarily, extraordinarily challenging,” Piepiora continues. “Players that reach level 100 are going to have an extremely difficult time on this boss encounter. And the expectation is that you take your class, you understand your build, you’ve maximized everything that you possibly can about it, and you really have learned encountered very well. And that’s going to be the way that you can maybe take it down.”

Diablo 4 is on track for its release date this summer, though there’ll be another open beta soon.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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You can play the Diablo 4 beta one more time before launch

Blizzard made a surprise announcement that the team is running a second Diablo 4 beta before the RPG launches in June

Blizzard made a surprise announcement that the team is running a second Diablo 4 beta before the RPG launches in June. The news comes a few days after Blizzard announced a set of changes to Diablo 4’s dungeons and classes based on player feedback during the first beta.

The second Diablo 4 beta is open to everyone, regardless of whether you pre-ordered the game, and runs from May 12, 2023, at 12 p.m. Pacific time through May 14, 2023, at 12 p.m. Pacific time. It’s available on PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Like the first beta, you can play through the prologue and the entire first act, which unfolds across the bleak Fractured Peaks zone. The big boss fight against Ashava returns, and you can get a glimpse at how some of the changes Blizzard made to dungeons will play out, including new enemy behavior that removes the need for backtracking.

Also like the first beta, your progress won’t carry over to the main game when it launches on June 6, 2023. However, there is a set of challenges you can complete that will unlock unique cosmetics in the full game. If you completed them previously, you don’t have to do it again in this beta.

  • Initial Casualty Title: earned by reaching Kyovashad with one character.
  • Early Voyager Title: earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
  • Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Item: earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
  • Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy: earned by defeating Ashava with one Level 20 character.

Level 20 is the cap this time, instead of level 25 as it was during the first beta. Legendary drop rates are adjusted to match their rates in the final game, so don’t expect to run across much legendary gear this time.

Just mind your graphics cards, and maybe don’t pet the dog either.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Diablo 4 will not have a map overlay at launch

Blizzard has ‘no plans’ to implement the feature anytime soon.

Everyone has been hoping that Diablo 4 will have a map overlay feature by launch, but unfortunately – it will not.

While it may not sound like an issue, consider that every previous entry in the series shipped with a map overlay – mainly because it’s relatively easy to get lost in dungeons with a top-down isometric camera. During Diablo 4‘s recent open beta, one of the more common bits of feedback was that the in-game minimap and complete map toggles interrupted gameplay flow too often. 

Naturally, many fans want Diablo 4 to see a map overlay implemented by the release this summer – though franchise general manager Rod Fergusson shot down the fan request last week (thanks, Gamesradar)

“No plans at the moment, ” Fergusson said on Twitter.

It’s a pretty cut-and-dry response, much to the chagrin of speedrunning enthusiasts everywhere (and, you know, everyone else).

While we’re still several weeks away from Diablo 4‘s release date of June 6, 2023, it doesn’t seem likely that Blizzard will change its stance on this. After all, Diablo 4 went gold earlier this week, so development is largely complete as the project transitions to bug-squashing phases and server preparation – that last bit is an enormous priority for Blizzard currently.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Diablo 4 has gone gold, on track for summer 2023 release

Blizzard Entertainment’s latest action RPG epic is ready to go.

Diablo 4, the highly-anticipated gothic action RPG epic, has gone gold – well ahead of launch.

On Monday, Blizzard Entertainment announced that Diablo 4 had reached gold status – which, in game development terms, means preliminary development is complete. Why should you care? Simply put, this means that Diablo 4 is on track for its release date of June 6, 2023.

“Going gold is a landmark milestone for the incredible Diablo 4 team, who have all worked so hard crafting the next-generation installment of this iconic franchise. This is a concrete, meaningful step toward our June 6 launch,” Rod Fergusson, franchise general manager, said in a press release. “Whether players are veterans of the franchise or jumping in for the first time, we can’t wait for everyone to experience the full game: taking part in the incredible storytelling, experimenting with character classes and builds, and exploring what the endgame and the dark world of Sanctuary has to offer.”

It’s quite a moment for the development team, mainly because Diablo 4 saw multiple delays throughout the past few years.

Diablo 4 will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Despite the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal (assuming it gets approved), there are no plans to bring Diablo 4 to Game Pass.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Diablo 4 beta is reportedly bricking some Nvidia graphics cards

It looks like the Diablo 4 beta is bricking certain graphics cards thanks to a bug that seems similar to another MMO’s issue

It looks like the Diablo 4 beta is bricking certain graphics cards thanks to a bug that seems similar to another MMO’s issue (thanks, PC Gamer). Much like Amazon’s New World in 2021, Diablo 4 seems to be placing extra stress on processors, namely the Nvidia RTX 3080Ti and RTX 3090 Plus cards, sometimes to the point where they just stop working.

Diablo 4 players on Reddit and the Blizzard forums began experiencing the problem as soon as the first beta opened. For most of those affected, their screen went black, and their cooling fans kicked into overdrive. Some initiated a hard shutdown and tried playing again, only to have the same issue happen and their GPUs stop working completely.

It’s a distressing quirk in general and even more so considering how expensive these cards are, but most seem to agree it’s an issue with the GPUs manufactured by Gigabyte and not the game. 

Diablo 4 just bricked my 3080 TI from Diablo

Replies to some Reddit posts recommended capping the framerate to avoid placing undue stress on the cards, an approach that worked with the New World problem as well. In that incident, the issue’s cause turned out to be GPUs with shoddy soldering. Running the game with an uncapped framerate exposed the flaw somehow and sent the cards into overdrive.

You can change your framerate settings from the Nvidia Control Panel on your desktop, and it might be a good idea to do it if you’re planning to try the upcoming RPG‘s open beta.

  1. Right click on your desktop, and select “Nvidia Control Panel”
  2. Select “Manage 3D Settings”
  3. Toggle “Max Frame Rate” to “On”
  4. Select your framerate. This should be no higher than your monitor’s refresh rate
  5. Apply the settings
  6. Restart your computer

Blizzard and Gigabyte have not acknowledged the issue yet.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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You can pet the dog in Diablo 4, but you probably shouldn’t

It turns out you can pet the dog in the Diablo 4 beta, but as one unlucky fan found out, you might not want to

It turns out you can pet the dog in the Diablo 4 beta, but as one unlucky fan found out, you might not want to. Reddit user Fliw played through the first weekend of the upcoming RPG’s open beta and heard a rumor that you can pet dogs by using the “hello” emote next to them.

Fliw tried it, and it worked. All is well. Then, Fliw couldn’t resist experimenting a bit further. In Diablo games, you can recruit people and, sometimes, non-humans as followers to help you in battle. The system is a handy way to overcome challenges when you’re playing solo, but Fliw didn’t think Blizzard would actually let you take a sweet, innocent dog outside the town limits into the demon-infested snowscape.

Fliw was wrong, and it didn’t take long before, well… you can imagine what happens to an unarmored dog fighting a 10-foot demon sorcerer from the depths of hell.

“So I went in the game, to the bear creek town or w/e its called, found myself a doggo, pet…me happy,” Fliw said. “But wait… if that works… can he /follow me? Sure enough he does…”

“Outside of town../RIP Seymour, you were good doggo.”

Fliw posted an edited afterthought and said that, after further reflection, they think Blizzard should make everyone aware of this little nugget so others don’t make the same mistake they did. One helpful commenter said that if you use the “hi” emote on the dog after enticing them to follow you, they’ll sit, stay, and live a happy life untroubled by conflict and demons.

So, if you’re playing Diablo 4’s second, smoother beta, it might be worth bearing all this in mind so you don’t end up with a poor lost dog on your conscience. 

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Diablo 4’s servers will be ‘much better’ at launch, says Blizzard

The recent beta’s issues will “make the actual launch of the game that much better.”

Diablo 4’s Early Access Beta this past weekend was rough – specifically, the disconnects and long login queues ran rampant due to server instability. However, franchise general manager Rod Fergusson doesn’t want fans to think the technical issues will carry over to Diablo 4’s final release.

In an interview with NME, Fergusson politely reminded everyone that the ‘Early Access Beta’ label wasn’t just for show – players were actively helping Blizzard prepare its servers for launch.

“The word beta nowadays has kind of been misconstrued, where people start calling things beta that’s [actually] a marketing beta, and it’s just another term for a demo – that’s not our case at all,” Fergusson said. “Our beta is actually us testing our technology, especially on the server side. We had a little bit of a rocky start on Friday.”

Anyone knee-deep in the beta likely noticed that Blizzard was constantly patching Diablo 4, even during the early access period.

“We put out six hotfixes over the weekend, we solved dozens of issues and all of that work is going to pay off next weekend and then pave it for launch,” Fergusson continues. “Sometimes, as a player, it can be a little frustrating, but they have to recognize that they’re helping us make the actual launch of the game that much better.”

If you missed this test – fear not: Diablo 4‘s Open Beta is happening March 24-26, later this week. The retail release is coming later this summer.

Recently, Fergusson announced that Blizzard currently has no plans to add Diablo 4 to Xbox Game Pass. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Blizzard has ‘no plans’ to bring Diablo 4 to Game Pass

The highly-anticipated action RPG may not make it on Microsoft’s subscription service.

Many are wondering if Diablo 4 will be on Xbox Game Pass come release, and it seems blizzard has “no plans” for that scenario at the moment.

On Tuesday, Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson took some time to address lingering questions about the fourth installment potentially making it on Xbox Game Pass.

“It’s awesome seeing the excitement around the Diablo 4 beta, and our Wolf Pack puppy,” Fergusson said on Twitter. “We’ve been getting some questions about [Diablo 4] on Game Pass, and I want to let you know we have no plans for that.”

With Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, most assumed Diablo 4 would make it on Xbox Game Pass. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case as of this posting.

Diablo 4 is coming out on June 4, 2023, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC – an announcement that came via a stunning CGI trailer last fall. 

Pre-ordering the game will grant you access to the upcoming Early Access Beta, which runs from March 17-19, with an Open Beta the following weekend from March 24-26. The latter of which doesn’t require an invite code or anything like that, so you can check it out free of charge!

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The best RPGs of 2023 to keep an eye on: Starfield, Zelda, and more

The best RPGs of 2023 to keep on your radar run the gamut from big-hitters like Starfield to niche gems, gacha games, and more

Keeping up with the best RPGs of 2023 is no easy task. 2022 was the year of the big RPGs, like Elden Ring, Pokemon, and Xenoblade 3, but outside a few smaller there wasn’t much in between. 2023 couldn’t be more different. 

The year is packed with releases, with major AAA games such as Starfield and Final Fantasy 16 launching alongside a range of promising niche games, remasters, and ports. We’ve put together a list of more than a dozen RPGs worth keeping up with as 2023 rolls on, including their release date if one is available.