Diablo 3 Expansion Revealed at Gamescom
Malthael is making a return after appearing in the Diablo 2 expansion pack. What a pest. **Updated with the opening cinematic trailer and gameplay footage.
On Wednesday during Gamescom, Activision Blizzard made a surprising move by announcing the first Diablo III expansion pack rather than wait until its own BlizzCon convention this November 8. Called Reaper of Souls, the add-on will increase the level cap to 70, add a fifth Act to the game's storyline, and add a new Crusader class. The game's current classes will also receive new spells and abilities.
"From the beginning, Diablo has always been about the struggle between good and evil, and Reaper of Souls explores the darker notes of that conflict," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "This expansion also represents a big milestone in the ongoing evolution of Diablo III, with key enhancements to the core gameplay, along with a new act to experience, a powerful new character class, tons of new loot, and even more end-game options. We think players will love playing Reaper of Souls, and we can’t wait to get it into their hands."
Malthael, the fallen Archangel of Wisdom, returns as the Angel of Death after disappearing following the events taking place at the end of Diablo II's expansion pack, Lord of Destruction. He takes control of the Black Soulstone, the artifact containing the essence of Prime Evil. Last we saw the stone, it trailed behind Diablo after he was defeated and fell from the high Heavens, dissipating into the wind.
Blizzard describes the new Crusader class as a warrior of righteousness who has been hardened by relentless, brutal combat with the evil that lurks eastern Sanctuary. The Crusader wears immensely heavy armor, wields a wide variety of "cruel and punishing" weapons, and uses battle magic to strengthen allies and weaken foes. He's a natural walking tank, driven by a centuries-long quest to cleanse the land.
The expansion pack will take players from the city of Westmarch to the unhallowed halls of the Pandemonium Fortress. That means more randomized environments to explore, new epic quests, and new monsters to defeat. The expansion also provides a substantial update to the loot experience so that players can further customize their character with new and improved multilevel Legendary items, new Blacksmith and Jeweler item-crafting options, and more.
"Diablo III’s Paragon progression system is also being majorly upgraded for the expansion, adding even more end-game character advancement and replayability," the company said. "Two new game modes—Loot Runs and Nephalem Trials—are being added as well, providing fun and rewarding challenges for players to tackle when they’re not busy saving the world."
Reports surfacing after E3 2013 indicated that the expansion pack launch was pushed back into 2014, and that former Titan developers were brought into the Reaper of Souls team to accelerate the expansion's progress. However Blizzard said there has been no delay because there is no official launch date. Now the company is stating that additional details will be revealed this November during BlizzCon "and beyond" as development progresses, meaning there's a good chance players won't see this expansion pack under the Christmas tree this holiday season.
fool me once, shame on you
fool me twice, shame on me
The game overall is short and be completed within a day. I wished they would add more optional quests, fix drops rates, add content that will effect the look of the character and skills. It's a shame that they tired to make the game similar to WoW and not Diablo because it had a very strong launch.
Free to play is the future for MMO's. Never Winter, Path of exile, and Tera are really changing how big publishers do business. Blizzard needs to adapt to the change, and implement mechanics that work. This expansion is most likely a gimmick until Titan is released.
LOL - Only through the AH, so thy can make even more money.
D3 by no means is better then D1 or2. In thoses, you could actually find good legendary items by spending hours crawling your way through dungeons. In D3 the only way to truely get a good item, is to buy it.
Now try to sell it and get half your money back, good luck.
as above i would also like to know the price, anything above 20 and i am not interested
not sure about 1, but 2 had drop rates severely nerfed to 1 in over a million to keep some items from becoming to plentiful, that kind of bs kills games for me.
Unless the expansion is like $5-$10 max, then thats way way way too little content for a paid expansion.
To comments about it being pay to win - don't visit the auction house, ever. I will agree that the auction house is a terrible thing, but you don't HAVE to buy anything. It's much more fun if you don't.
To comments about it being short - again, this is a Diablo game. It's relatively short on normal, but get to Inferno (especially without using the auction house), and then see how long it takes you.
If that doesn't sound like fun, fine, this isn't the game for you. But this is exactly what should have been expected of a Diablo game. I'm not saying the game is perfect. I wasn't a huge fan of the art at first (something a bit darker and less cartoony would have been nice). But they're still working towards finishing the game. The loot 2.0, new paragon points, and loot runs will probably all be free. They still have to finish the promised 1.1 PvP patch. It seems to me like this will be a game that is still played in a decade, like D2 was. I'd call that a success.
I really have to disagree. It made Diablo some god-like "know it all" to have planned everything since before D1 to the end of D3. Plus it was completely predictable, and made you chase rabbits while you wanted to catch the fox. Worst of all was how the story was told, like the baddies taunting you like some 8-year olds.
p.s. Star Citizen @gamescon this Friday gogo!!