Diablo III Demon Hunter trailered, Inferno detailed
Check out one of the most nimble of Diablo III's classes, and get acquainted with the the increasing difficulty of its greatest challenge: Inferno mode.
Writing on the Battle.net forum, Diablo III community manager Bashiok said Blizzard has decided to axe plans for a flat difficult rate throughout Inferno mode, an unlockable high difficulty setting.
"Inferno monster levels aren't linear any longer. They get progressively more difficult. This was really a reaction to Inferno playtesting," he said.
Bashiok said having the same difficulty throughout all areas of Inferno felt wrong, especially when it came to the final boss, but also failed to provide sufficient challenge for the hardest of hardcore.
"There’s a wide variety of players out there and we wanted to make sure everybody had something to sink their teeth into," he said.
"We expect that anybody with enough time and dedication will reach level 60. But the jump in difficulty to Inferno needed to be different amounts for different people. For the crazy people they need a huge ramp in difficulty, for a more 'casual but still hardcore audience you want an obvious but milder increase in difficulty.
As a result, Act III and IV are now "really, really brutally hard, for the most elite players only".
Players will still be able to find high quality loot in lower acts, and Bashiok noted that Inferno really is hard, regardless of which section you're playing..
"You're going to die, a lot, and you're going to have a horrible character for quite a while. You're not going to hit 60 and finish the game on Inferno. You're going to be smashing your face against Act 1 Inferno for weeks," he claimed.
Responding to concerns about the inflexibility of class builds, Bashiok was slightly dismissive.
"It's Diablo. If you can't find a workable build without having your own perfect choices being handed to you on a silver platter at the start of the game, good luck in Inferno," he said.
"Actually, good luck in Nightmare. This game is hard."
The thread has been neatly summarised by DiabloFans.
Meanwhile, the latest class to be detailed is the Demon Hunter. these agile adventurers pack a fair wallop in the form of explosives. The Demon Hunter has to balance Rage and Discliple to make the most of her attacks; see it in action in the IGN-exclusive trailer below.
Diablo III is due for release on Mac and PC on May 15. Pre-orders have opened, and special editions are available.
Thanks, Shack.