Diablo III Reaper of Souls - First Look Adventure Mode

The world of Sanctuary is about to get a whole lot bigger. . .

Introducing: Adventure Mode

In Diablo® III's upcoming expansion, Reaper of Souls™, players will have the opportunity to choose between two different modes whenever creating a new game: Campaign Mode and Adventure Mode. 

Campaign Mode In Campaign Mode, players reprise their pivotal roles as the heroes of Sanctuary. With a greater focus on story, all of the quests, cut-scenes, and in-game movies will remain available to you in this mode. Progression through the game's five thrilling Acts is intentionally linear. Campaign Mode is very similar to the current Diablo III experience.

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Adventure Mode In Adventure Mode, the majority of these story-driven elements have been removed and all waypoints have been unlocked, allowing players the freedom to explore and play the game however they like—even across all Acts. The world itself is your battlefield. Go anywhere, slay anything!

These modes can be accessed at any time, and you're welcome to switch between them whenever you please. In addition, we've unlocked all difficulty levels, giving you even more control over your in-game experience. Don't want to play through the story four times on each of your characters? Done. Looking to farm in Adventure Mode at one difficulty, then switch over to Campaign Mode at a different difficulty? You've got it.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Adventure Mode also includes two brand new, incredibly entertaining gameplay features: Bounties and  Nephalem Rifts.

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Bounties:

Having the ability to go wherever you want whenever you want is certainly compelling. But, what if you're not in the mood to choose your own adventure and would instead prefer a little direction? Enter Bounties.

Bounties are optional, randomized objectives available only in Adventure Mode. In addition to providing players with a guided experience within a specific Act, Bounties are also intended to showcase all the different content Diablo III has to offer. Some example of Bounties you can pick up include slaying a unique monster (like Mira Eamon), killing a boss (like Queen Aranae), clearing a dungeon (like the Khazra Den), and completing an event (like Last Stand of the Ancients).

Each Act will have its own set of randomized Bounties for players to explore and conquer, and you'll receive new Bounties each time you start a new Adventure Mode game. 

For completing a set of Bounties, players will receive gold and experience. We also want Bounties to provide access to powerful Legendary items unique to the system, but we're still experimenting with how that reward mechanic will work. Definitely stay tuned!

Bounty hunters are also rewarded with a new item, Rift Keystones. Rift Keystones grant access to another feature we're introducing in Adventure Mode: Nephalem Rifts.

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Nephalem Rifts:

Nephalem Rifts (previously called "Loot Runs") are randomized dungeons that are designed to be completed within 10-15 minutes. The goal of Nephalem Rifts is to provide players with a rewarding, endlessly replayable experience, one that continually offers new and exciting moment-to-moment gameplay. . .as well as heaps of loot. They're also what senior level designer Jesse McCree likes to describe as an opportunity to "break all the rules."

So, what does this mean in terms of actual gameplay?

First off, it means that Nephalem Rifts are completely randomized, featuring different content from Acts I-V—random interior and exterior tile sets, random layouts, random lighting and weather, random monsters, and (of course) a random boss encounter to cap it all off.  Each Nephalem Rift dungeon can be up to 10 levels deep, but even that's random too!

Here's just a peek at some of the crazy combinations you can experience as a result of this design:

In the spirit of breaking all the rules, Nephalem Rifts also include new shrines that will provide players with some pretty insane temporary buffs when activated, things like invulnerability, massive movement speed boosts, and a lightning aura that will one-shot any enemies who get within range. While these shrines would be overpowered in the campaign, they fit well within the self-contained environment of Nephalem Rifts.

We've had fun experimenting with monster density as well, which means there's always a chance your Nephalem Rift (or even one of the levels within a specific Rift you've opened) might suddenly get a little. . .crowded. For example, what would happen if we paired Skeleton Summoners from Act I and Morlu Incinerators from Act IV? Well, it'd look a little something like this:

(Pretty cool, right?)

To access Nephalem Rifts, simply bring a Rift Keystone to any town hub and click on the nearest Nephalem Obelisk. Step through the portal and get ready to kill ALL the things. As noted above, Rift Keystones can be earned by completing Bounties; however, they can also drop randomly anywhere in the world while in Adventure Mode.

Happy hunting!

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BlizzCon 2013 Sneak Peek:

As a special treat, we've put together a short video featuring Nephalem Rifts in all their random, chaotic glory. Please enjoy this first look at Diablo III: Reaper of Souls!

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If you're at BlizzCon® this weekend, you can try out Adventure Mode first-hand at the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls PC demo area in Hall A of the Anaheim Convention Center. Just queue for the "Adventure Mode" line and get ready to explore!

For those of you at home or tuning in with a Virtual Ticket, be sure to stay tuned to diablo3.com for all the latest new and updates, including panel recaps, interviews, photos and links to coverage from media and fan sites in attendance.

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Blizzard to Shut Down Diablo 3 Auction House on March 18, 2014

Blizzard has decided to shut down the Diablo 3 auction house! Below is the full announcement:

Diablo® III Auction House Update 

When we initially designed and implemented the auction houses, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But as we've mentioned on different occasions, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot. With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo III.
We feel that this move along with the Loot 2.0 system being developed concurrently with Reaper of Souls™ will result in a much more rewarding game experience for our players.

We're working out the details of how the auction house system will be shut down, but we wanted to share the news as soon as we made the decision in order to give everyone as much advance notice as possible. Please note that the shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014. We will keep everyone informed as we work through this process.

Josh Mosqueira and I wanted to provide everyone with a little more information behind this decision, so please have a look at the video, and stay tuned to this site for further updates in the months ahead.

Auction House Public FAQ

Q. Why is the auction house system being removed from Diablo III?

The gold and real-money auction houses have provided a convenient and secure system for trading, but it's also become increasingly clear that despite the benefits they provide, they ultimately undermine Diablo’s core gameplay. A big part of Diablo is the thrill of battling demons and finding epic loot. While buying epic loot in the auction houses might be more convenient, it doesn't feel anywhere near as heroic as plowing through a pack of fearsome-looking monsters and having them drop that one awesome item that seems like it was made for your character.

Q. Will this change affect both the gold and real-money auction house?

Yes. We will be shutting down both the gold and the real-money auction houses.

Q. When will the gold and real-money auction houses be removed from the game?

The gold and real-money auction houses will be shut down on Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

Q. Are the gold and real-money auction houses shutting down at the same time?

Yes. The gold and real-money auction houses will be shut down at the same time.

Q. Are the gold and real-money auction houses being removed for all gameplay regions?

Yes. The gold and real-money auction houses are being removed for all gameplay regions.

Q. Why aren’t the auction houses being removed sooner?

Since the gold and real-money auction houses receive a regular amount of daily activity, we wanted to inform everyone of this upcoming change as soon as we made the decision and give as much advance notice as soon as possible. Also, removing the auction houses from the game is no small endeavor, and there are many technical and gameplay-related questions we still need to answer before this change is implemented.

Q. Are there any plans to add the gold and real-money auction houses back into the game in the future?

No. We have no plans at this time to add either the gold or real-money auction house back into the game after they are removed.

Q. How will the removal of the gold and real-money auction houses work from a technical perspective (for example: What will happen to posted auctions, items or currency in the Completed tab, Battle.net Balance, etc.)?

We’re still working out all the details regarding how the auction houses will be shut down. We know these details are important, and we want to ensure that this transition goes as smoothly for everyone. We will be keeping everyone informed as we work through this process.

Q. How will I be able to trade with other players once the gold and real-money auction houses are shut down?

Once the gold and real-money auction houses have been shut down, players will still be able to trade with one another using the in-game Trade Window.

Q. How will the removal of the gold and real-money auction house affects changes planned for itemization in Reaper of Souls, specifically “Loot 2.0”?

One of the main goals behind Loot 2.0, which is being developed concurrently with Reaper of Souls, is to make playing the game the most rewarding path to getting items. That goal has not changed with this decision, and in fact was one of the big inspirations behind the removal of the auction houses. We’re still moving forward with all the changes previously revealed as part of Loot 2.0, but we’re also looking at additional improvements we can make that will help ensure that the loot hunt and trading experience in Diablo III is as satisfying as possible.

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Mystic Enchanting Provides Stat Choices

The Enchanting system in the upcoming 'Reaper of Souls' expansion will let a player choose the new stat on an item that is enchanted. In some recent Blizzard Blues posts, Diablo III developer Wyatt Cheng provided new information about how the Enchanting system will work, provided by the Mystic artisan.

Enchanting System Details
Posts by both Lylirra and Wyatt Cheng delved into the Enchanting system, currently under heavy development. The system is designed so a player can take an item to the Mystic, and have a specific stat rerolled for a gold cost. There will be a list of stats that can be chosen, to replace the current stat on the item, and the player can choose which of those randomly rolled stats he wants to put on the item. Like much of the Reaper of Souls system content, this is under development and may be changed before it is released.

The way enchanting works right now (which, bear in mind, may change as we continue internal testing and receive feedback) is that you'd get to choose which affix you re-roll. So the process would be something like: visit Mystic --> select affix to re-roll --> get randomly-generated list of new affixes --> chose single affix from list --> pay material cost --> old affix replaced with new affix --> profit. The plan, at the moment at least, is to make an item account-bound if it's enchanted.
We're still tinkering with the actual costs and mechanics, as well as some remaining niggly details (like can you re-roll the same affix over and over? should the costs scale with each affix you re-roll? if yes, how much? etc) which is why we haven't done a grand reveal of the Mystic just yet.

We are still iterating heavily on the system, so the exact details may vary from what we talk about today, so let's talk about our values. By focusing on our design values, even if the exact implementation changes, you''ll be able to see our intent and what's important to us. Here are some of our design values for enchanting:
Value: It's important for the actual hunt for the loot to still matter
How enchanting supports this: As currently designed, you are only allowed to reroll ONE property on an item. In this way, each item can only be changed so much from it's original state. This allows enchanting to feel meaningful, while still allowing lots of room for players to resume hunting for an even better "base item" to enchant into an even better item.
Value: We want this to be a meaningful end-game sink
How enchanting supports this:

1. As previously mentioned, all items that are enchanted will be bound to account
2. Even though you are allowed to reroll only ONE property, you can reroll that property over and over. For example, suppose an item has 200 str, 200 vit, 80 res all, +1200 Life on Kill and +400 Life on Hit. You might choose to reroll the +1200 Life on Kill and get +87 Hitpoints per second. You can then reroll the +87 Hitpoints per second and get +4 gold pickup radius. You can reroll the "mutable" stat as many times as you want, but the other 4 stats (200 str, 200 vit, 80 res all and +400 Life on Hit) are now "locked in" and cannot be rerolled.
3. We want to ensure enchanting is meaningful on Legendary items. We are working hard to make sure Legendary items are awesome. If we want enchanting to be a meaningful end-game sink, it needs to work on the best items in the game. It has not yet been determined whether this means you can enchant the "guaranteed" properties of a Legendary, or if you can only reroll the "random" properties of a Legendary. This aspect of the design is still under iteration but at the end of the day we want enchanting Legendary items to be worthwhile.

Value: We want to avoid "Buyer's Remorse"
How enchanting supports this: Have you ever played an RPG with an enchanting system that sometimes randomly made the item worse? Since we're allowing the result to be random, it's possible that your choices for enchanting are worse than the property you're replacing. Oftentimes this can lead to a feeling of dread when you begin the enchanting process. Or maybe you re-enchant the item over and over hoping to at least get something better than what you started but you get unlucky and run out of money or reagents before you get a good roll! To mitigate this, when we present you the list of options one of the options is ALWAYS the original property. So if you don't like the new options you can always choose to keep the old one. Now you can enchant with peace-of-mind.
Standard disclaimer. Enchanting is a work-in-progress. Expect it to change before it's done, but this is a glimpse at the current state.

Console Loot versus Loot 2.0

The drops on the console version of Diablo III are generally better than the PC version, with both higher stats on the items, and more class-appropriate drops. Lylirra talks about how the two systems compare, and the changes that are still under development for the massive Loot 2.0 patch. The console version may seem better right now, in that regard, but the PC version is still the lead platform, and will see big improvements with that eventual patch.

New Crafted Legendaries?
The Loot 2.0 patch will bring a lot of new and revamped legendary items. Going into the expansion, there might also be new crafted legendaries, and Vaeflare asks what type of crafted legendaries players would like to see.

We’ve certainly discussed the possibility of adding in some new craftable Legendary items into the expansion, but we don’t have any concrete plans just yet.
What kind of Legendary items would you like to be able to craft? If you had full control over the system, how would you want that process to work?

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Reaper of Soul Expansion Fearture

The lords of hell rage within the Black Soulstone, their souls screaming for vengeance and release. Before the artifact can be sealed away forever, Malthael–Angel of Death–manifests in the mortal realms with a deadly new purpose: to steal the Black Soulstone and bend its infernal power to his will.
So begins the end of all things...

Here's what's new:

• New Class: The Crusader
• New Feature: Loot Runs
• Loot 2.0
• The Mystic
• New Level Cap - 70
• New Act
• Major Paragon Changes
• New Monsters

New Class - The Crusader: Impenetrable armor, gleaming weapons, and heavy, heavy damage–wield the power of the Crusader, unbreakable new hero of the mortal realms.

• Inspired by the Paladin.
• Focuses on Shields. Uses Flails as weapons.
• Mid-range melee character.
• Uses the resource "Wrath"

Reaper of Soul in action (from Gamescom)

New Feature - Loot Runs

• 15-20 minute completely random dungeons!
• Random weather!
• Random enemies!
• Random boss!
• Multitiered (severa levels deep)!

Loot 2.0: A comparison was given between how items in Act III drop now and how they'll drop in the expansion:

• Now: 256 white, 399 blue, 275 yellow and one legendary items.
• Then: 73 white items, 266 blue items, 83 yellow items and 7 legendary items!
• Legendary will be build-changers as seen in the screenshots below

The Mystic

• Can Transmogrify items, so you don't have to sacrifice looks for power.
• Item Enchanting - allows to reroll one of the affixes on a rare/legendary item.

New Level Cap - 70

• Every class gets new Skills and Runes
• Which means a fresh economy and new power-cap as well

New Act

Featuring what looks like Westmarch, with lots of graveyards and other fun places!

Major Paragon Changes

• Is now Account wide.
• No longer has a cap
• Seems to have Stat Allocation tied to it

New Monsters
New monsters are introduced - The Seraph, Summoner of the Dead, Executioner and Death Maiden.

Screenshot from Blizzard

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Diablo® III: Reaper of Souls™ Revealed

"Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all…"

A presence more sinister than any demon hangs over Sanctuary….

It watched from the shadows as a hero of nephalem lineage struck down Diablo, the Prime Evil, and trapped the demon lord within the Black Soulstone.

It waited in silence as the mortal armies of Sanctuary crushed the leaderless remnants of the Burning Hells and scattered them into the stinging winds of Kehjistan.

Now, as hope springs anew, its long vigil has ended.

Shrouded in mystery and imbued with a power as ancient as the universe itself, it comes to the war-torn world of Sanctuary. It cannot be stopped. There is no escape.

In its wake, only death will remain.

The next chapter in Sanctuary's epic saga has been unveiled. Prepare to take on Death itself in Diablo III's upcoming expansion set: Reaper of Souls.

In Reaper of Souls, players will explore haunting new environments and face down fearsome new enemies within and beyond the world of Sanctuary as they seek to unlock the mysteries of Malthael, the Angel of Death.

Stalwart adventurers can choose to continue their journey as one of five existing heroes—the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, or Wizard—or adopt the mantle of a new class: the Crusader, a fierce melee warrior whose command of the battlefield is matched only by his unwavering conviction.

Advance through additional levels of supremacy, mastering bold new powers of raw, demon-slaying potential along the way. Customize your strengths with an improved Paragon system. Battle your way through newly randomized 3D maps and epic new quests in Act V. And test your mettle in all-new game modes—including Loot Runs and Nephalem Trials—designed to provide players with a highly replayable (and highly rewarding) end-game experience.

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