It’s a question that repeatedly arises: will Diablo 4 Runewords and Sets ever be added?
Sets are something that we feel could be coming sooner rather than later, perhaps even the Vessel of Hatred expansion because there are assets in the game files that point to it happening. On the other hand, runes were touted prior to launch but never appeared.
Joe Piepeira has been on the interview rounds this week and speaking to Rhyykker, it sounds like both Sets and Runewords could be coming down the pipe which I know would please many fans.
If you have been following PureDiablo long enough, we started documenting the Diablo 4 Runewords that were first shown before launch and they shared many similarities to the Diablo 2 Runes.
On Diablo 4 Runewords
Talking about Diablo 4 Runewords , Joe stated:
“Prior to the launch of Diablo 4 we did work on Runewords for quite some time. We had some really cool stuff. We didn’t feel we had the time to iterate it properly and polish it. It wasn’t going to be ready and it wasn’t going to fit quite right. With that in mind, we didn’t end up launching with that feature. We didn’t want to have a half-baked version of what we wanted to do with it.
As we think about the future, it’s not like Runewords have lost their luster. I think it’s pretty clear that Diablo 4 feels like Runewords would fit. There’s room for this in the future I think.”
It’s worth noting that when they announced they would not appear in Diablo 4 they said that Runes, “led to a lack of equipment variety”.
On Diablo 4 Sets
On Sets and how they would fit with all the other game systems and power balance.
I want to make sure that of we bring Sets into Diablo 4, we would want to make sure they have a good amount of space. If we were to just add another feature with no space carved out to make room for it might feel like it’s not adding enough value on it’s own to hit the set fantasy.
I do think they are an interesting concept and are extremely “Diablo”. We love sets on the team, we have this conversation many times internally about them. I think there’s absolutely a future and there are conversations to have about them.
Blizzard also toyed with a few other systems that did not make it into the game at launch such as Mythic Items and Ancient Legendaries.
I think fans still have a lot to look forward to in Diablo 4 as more systems start to come online. The Season 4 changes are a huge step in the right direction, and when the game is in a sweet spot, more of these systems like Runewords and Sets should start appearing.