During Gamescom 2011, Blizzard's game director Jay Wilson revealed that Diablo 3 will feature a fourth difficulty mode called "Inferno" for those who thrive on extreme punishment. Featuring monsters with a minimum level of 61, this mode is aimed at players who have maxed out their character at the level 60 cap.
According to Wilson, enemies will get a boost in health, damage, damage resistances and aggression in Inferno. They'll even have access to a larger suite of powers. With that in mind, players should expect a tougher game across the board, even for experienced hunters who previously chewed up the first two installments.
"The idea was that we wanted a difficulty mode where the entire game was viable," Wilson said. "So you don't have to pick and choose key areas [to replay]."
Wilson said that the team has created a "flattened" difficulty experience so that players revisit the world seeking "bigger and bolder challenges" rather than jumping in just to grab unique loot drops or to fight one specific breed of minions.
"We do expect there to be a certain amount of... runs to get items, but we wanted players to do it over a lot more content," Wilson said. "We're trying to make sure that there's a lot more opportunities for players to see a lot more variety."
He added that if player behavior does lean towards the quick encounters, then Blizzard may encourage and reward players for doing more "diverse plays."
That said, there will be unique items only uncovered in the Inferno mode including Runestones, armor, weapons and other items. These will be visually distinct from the versions available on lower difficulty levels. This means Inferno uniques will have its own set of artwork, so those branding Inferno-based weapons and armor will undoubtedly be noticed on lower-difficulty raids.
To get the full scoop on the Inferno mode, head here.
