Diablo 4 Developer Live Stream Recap

Today we had the second Diablo 4 developer live stream with the team which includes Adam Fletcher (Pez), Joe Shely, Art Peshkov, and Meng Song.

There were a few technical glitches with the audio so it blanked out a few times at the start but it was sorted out quickly. Not a huge amount of new info on the game systems but plenty on the beta. The Armor system implementation was pretty interesting if you’re a number cruncher,

Here’s a summary of the stream in case you missed it.

• Explained the intro cinematic and how it’s the character you create in the cinematic.
• Very expensive statue promo for Inarius.

Beta News

• Early Access to the Open Beta begins March 17 at 9 a.m. PST and concludes March 20 at 12 p.m. PST.
• The Open Beta begins March 24 at 9 a.m. PST and concludes March 27 at 12 p.m. PST.
• Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorcerer are the beta classes for Early access.
• The open beta will have all five classes.
• Beta will have a world boss Ashava and there will be four spawns on the Saturdays.
• 12 Players can go against a world boss.
• Players will need to be around level 25 to take on the boss which is also level 25.
• System Requirements revealed
• Ray tracing will come after the launch
• Beta preload around 1 week before launch.
• Consoles will have couch co-op.
• 10 characters can be created in the beta.
• Progress carries over from early access to open beta.
• Three beta rewards (see pics below).
  • Initial Casualty Title: reaching Kyovashad
  • Early Voyager Title: reaching Level 20
  • Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Item: earned by reaching Level 20 (see pics below).
• Live stream on 24th, day of open beta to play with the devs.

All the beta information is also in our Beta Buzz section

Armor Systems

• Chest Armor and pants provide most armor value.
• Armor Value depends on the item power. Armor value scales linearly.
• Armor is different in D4 than in D3. In Diablo 4. Armor not only mitigate physical damage, it absorbs a certain amount of non-physical damage. Non-physical absorbed damage is half of the physical damage.

• When you reach end-game content, you will need to mitigate more damage from other game systems such as using Paragon points, skill trees etc.
• Damage mitigation on monsters has been added to avoid large numbers as seen in Diablo 3. Damage mitigation on monsters will increase less than the players.

Strongholds

• Content unlocks when Strongholds are liberated.
• Hope’s Light stronghold in Scosglen clip was shown.
• Rewards will include Renown, gold, XP, etc but it also unlocks vendors, waypoints, shortcuts to another area, dungeons, and sidequests. (see Renown system video)

Diablo 4 Developer Live Stream Q&A

When will we learn more about Diablo IVs progress and end-game systems?

Expect more on this after the beta test.

Is there a limit on the number of people you can see in the open words

Yes, it adjusts dynamically depending on what content you are doing. We want the exploration of the open world to feel like a desolate place, but if there are 20 other people defeating evil at the same time you lose that Diablo feel.  Strongholds and dungeons are private experience between you and your party. You won’t see a whole lot of people in these places.

When you are doing an event or world boss o town you will see more other players.

And that was it for this latest Diablo 4 Developer Live Stream and you need to watch out for the next one when the beta starts.

Watch the Diablo 4 Developer Live Stream