Skill Trees Removed From Diablo III

By Kevin Parrish
published

Blizzard's Jay Wilson said that skill trees will not be a part of Diablo III.

DiabloFans conducted an interview with Blizzard's Jay Wilson and chatted about the upcoming action-RPG PC game, Diablo III. Recently Blizzard revealed that it had no plans to ship the game in 2010, instead revealing a possible 2011 or 2012 street date. This latest interview dives straight into the topic of skill trees, and how they're listed as "unnamed skill tree 1-3." Naturally, inquiring Diablo fans want to know more.

Wilson's eventual explanation reflects back to two Tweets over the last week, with the first reporting that the Diablo III team is implementing and testing a new system that changes how skills are acquired. A tweet dated yesterday is more of a tease, asking followers what approach the team is taking in regards to the removed/changed skill trees.

But in the interview, Wilson admits that they're removing the tree-type architecture and will instead install a "purely" skill-based system. "This new system is still in the development stages and if it does not work, we still have plenty of options to fall back on," he said. "Right now, we're just trying different things and getting a feel for the few ideas in regards to the skill system that we have going on right now. It differs from the World of Warcraft/Diablo II type hierarchical styles and is more of a skill pool/path than a tree per se."

The interview also covers topics including class-specific quests, the difficulty settings (or current lack thereof), balancing the power of an item in comparison to its drop rate, what the merchants are selling within the game, an more. While Wilson refused to comment about the PvP system, he did say that they're trying to implement features from the published novels.

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Kevin Parrish
Topics
Software
24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ssalim
    Maybe they'll implement UO-like skill system where if you use it alot, it'll go up but if you don't use it, it'll go down. Since there is no tree, skills/spells will be available as you level up (you automatically learn them) except a few special ones (you must get from quests maybe).

    Start: 15
    Max: 100 (not including bonuses from gear or enhancements etc)
    Cap: 120 (real max)
    Min: 10

    Obviously, higher number = better effect/damage.
    Reply
  • tommysch
    PLZ Blizzard dont noobify (wow-style) something that works.
    Reply
  • Kelavarus
    I'm confused... Is this still Diablo? It says 3, but it's starting to sound like a different series.
    Reply
  • oren
    I like Final Fantasy 12's license system. Maybe something like that could be an option.
    Reply
  • It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. One thing I hated about the skill tree in Diablo 2 is that you had to put points into crappy skills just to be able to get access to the better ones. I can see having level requirements on certain skills, but I don't like being forced to waste 1 or more skill points on skills that I'll never use. Regardless, I'm still not buying this one if there is no LAN support.
    Reply
  • MrHectorEric
    When 2012 rolls around I doubt they'll be close, in the mean time they'll roll out another 5 expansion packs for WoW. My whole theory is they don't want to put out a RPG that will compete with WoW, so they'll keep working on it until WoW subscriptions start to drop off. They may even decide to turn D3 into a MMO with subscriptions also. The longer they take to roll out this game the less excited I become. If they take long enough I may just stop caring altogether.
    Reply
  • the_al
    Blizzard doesnt have the core Devs around that were there when Diablo2 was created. A big portion of the original team that Made D1/D2 got together and recently put forth a new game called Torchlight.

    That game has such a diablo2 feel to it.

    Also, the guy that created the slick sounding medieval guitar music, is doing alot of the sound/music in Torchlight. I believe his name is Matt Uelman. If anything, I would call Torchlight Diablo3, and call the forthcoming Diablo3 : World of Dialocraft......


    People who are expecting the aura, the mystique, and the gothic nature of diablo2, are in for a surprise. Diablo3 is going to be cartoony, wow'ish, and catering to stupid newbs.


    It will never be the same again, blizzard is selling out to the masses..
    Reply
  • gr33nf00t
    Meh. I've almost lost complete interest in D3. By the time it's released, my grandchildren will be who is playing it.
    Reply
  • sslazio77
    Vouch Torchlight, its very very similar to diablo/2 besides the graphics, its not very demonic and dark, and cartoony. but teh game play and everything else is really similar and i would recommend it. Idk about diablo3 anymore, why do they feel the need to change a game that made it in the 200 games of all time, d1, and d2 made it and now they gonna change it to crapness... with all the advertising they will get every1 who played d2 to try d3 as well as newcomers, but all they are doing is chasing away old d2 players with all this waiting and changing
    Reply
  • myriad46
    Let me get this right, Microsoft has developed, beta'd and deployed three operating systems since the last Diablo product was released and will probably have a fourth out before we see anything. That's right boys and girls...XP went live in 2001, the same year as Lord of Destruction. This is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. In 2012, we'll all probably be saying, "Diablo what?"
    Reply