Diablo Immortal, Blizzard Entertainment’s new iOS / Android game is scheduled to launch today at the time of writing this article (June 1). This is the latest title that follows in the footsteps of the historical online action RPG “Diablo” (1996), the legendary game that established the “MORPG” genre in which players can share online gameplay with other players.
Initially announced as a mobile-only game, now it have become also a PC game, and an open beta version for PC will be released on June 3, coinciding with the official launch of the iOS and Android versions of the game. Below are excerpts of the interview 4gamer has conduct with the development team about the status and goals of the game, Mr Wyatt Cheng and Ms Peiwen Yao, translations are done by the author of the article.
Wyatt Cheng is a veteran designer in his 19th year at Blizzard Entertainment and the game director who led “Diablo III: Reaper of Souls”, and Peiwen Yao is an executive producer with 10 years of experience in the mobile game field, including GREE and EA Shanghai.
Diablo Immortal Main Features
- Alpha and Beta tests have been conducted for a year and a half, to check server loading and condition.
- Cross-Play and Cross-Progression are both possible on all platforms.
- The decision to support PCs, which was not originally planned, is that many people continue to play for more than 3-4 hours during the beta test period, which made their fingers tired.
- Basic play fee is completely free.
- Touch controls and gamepads are supported, even on PC.
- Character Customization is a first addition for the series
- You can’t only change the loadout with the touch of a button, but even the skill set, essence transfer, paragon tree selection and other stuff.
- Diablo Immortal is suitable for beginners and time-restricted players.
- World Paragon System helps new players gain more experience if they have left Diablo Immortal for a while, and will make players with different levels have an easier coordination time.
Diablo Immortal Systems
The system of Immortals is as follows: only one player can win the title of Sanctuary Ruler “The Immortal” on one server, which is given to the guild leader who won first place on that server. .. And that guild and its two allies will be called “Immortals”. Of course, Immortals cannot keep their position forever. When a guild is promoted to Immortals, it will be targeted by other players and guilds on the server. And the ones who can challenge The Immortal to the decisive battle are the members who belong to the guild registered as “Dark Guild” who pledged allegiance to the power of “Shadow” in the in-game world view.
Up to 100 people can join a guild, and there is no limit to dark guilds on one server. It is necessary for the founder of a guild to reach LV30 and pay platinum to form a guild, and to become Immortal at LV43 to avoid duplication and birth of random guilds.
The battle between Immortals and Shadow is a system called “Circle of Struggle”. Each week, the top 10 pairs from the Dark Guilds are chosen to challenge the Immortals (8 vs. 8). As the Shadow Forces corner the Immortals, three representatives from each of the Dark Guilds, for a total of 30, are eventually chosen to advance to the “Rite of Exile,” an arena where they will battle The Immortal in a decisive battle. The Immortal himself will become a “last boss” that has been enlarged and given buffs to his abilities, and will fight 30 people at the same time.
When the Dark Guild defeats The Immortal, the time counter will be activated at that point, and when it reaches zero, an honorable battle royale by 30 players will begin. Specifically, in a match of 10 teams of 3 people, it may be possible for guild members to cooperate well in a chaotic play. In any case, the guild of the player who remained until the end of this decisive battle will be the next Immortal, and its leader will be The Immortal, forming an alliance with the other two guilds and enduring the onslaught of Shadow for as long as possible.
The benefits of becoming an Immortal is that you will be given “Founder’s Buff” for 4 hours as a privilege. This means that each Immortal’s within a 10-yard range will be given + 50% Magic Find, which is astonishing + 200% for a party of four. In addition, the leader will have + 100% Magic Find, + 30% Attack Speed and Movement Speed. On the other hand, The Immortal has a bounty-style “daily goal” that must be achieved every day, and failure to achieve this will affect the daily activities of Immortals members, so dedication as a leader is required.
Apart from this, four members are given the title of Lieutenant (officer) to run the Immortals, and five senior officers, including the Immortal, are given the Eternal Crowns, which have different attributes. Immortals who are not members of the executive can also gain various buffs by partying with them. In addition, multiple Elite members can be selected, and players of Elite or above can participate in the “Kion’s Ordeal,” a 48-player raid exclusively for Immortals.
Non-Elite members can also offer their “Sigil of Dominance” resources, earned by performing their own tasks, to the executives, which will level up their crowns and provide them with better buffs.
As for the Shadow Side: there are a number of activities to perform, such as contracts, and among them, the raid on the “treasury” (Vault) will be a heated PvP battle. This is a special area where Immortals store various treasures, which the Shadow side can enter by fulfilling conditions. Of course, since the Immortals are trying to steal from you, the actual players will be on the defensive to protect them, creating a 4vs.4 battle.
Warband and End game content
A guild can have up to 100 members. Warbands are a less restrictive “guild within a guild” of up to 8 players who have time for each other and know each other well.
The guilds can be accessed from their base city of Westmarch, where they can discuss what to do in private chat and enjoy raiding together.
Group raiding will earn you points and give you an advantage on the leaderboards of the 8-player cooperative raid content “Hercuary,” and you will have access to a dedicated shared stash while playing PvE content. Note that while you can share root items with different attributes, there is a limit of only one item that can be yours.
A new zone called “Realm of Damnation” was introduced as end content, Just before the launch. This is the final zone of the launch storyline, where you will infiltrate the Hell Realm in pursuit of Skaan, the “King of Doom”. Up to 8 players can play through a variety of activities, including lairs, bounty quests, and events. The game is designed for players between lvl 55 and lvl 60 (the level cap was lvl 55 in beta and will be raised to lvl 60 at launch). The battle against the Skaan will be updated at a speed of about once a month.
The Pit of Anguish is also another important part of the story of Skann, where the giant gargantuan “Zaka,” buried deep in the bowels of hell, emerges from this place. The game can be played by a single player on normal difficulty, but as the difficulty is increased to “Hell 1” or “Hell 2,” the enemies become more powerful, and up to four players can enjoy the game. The system of entering through the West March with a warband allows for eight players.
Apart from this, multiple times a day, at random locations throughout the vast “Doom Zone,” the “Gates of Hell” (Damon Gate) appear, and Skaan opens them to strengthen his forces. You can even earn high rewards by jumping in here.
Rewards and Legendary Gems
Cheng: First, in Diablo Immortal, there are multiple ways to develop your character. Legendary Gems are only one of them, but what gear you equip, what rank you are, what skills you have, what your paragon level is, etc. are also important. We don’t sell items that lead to XP boosts or gold boosts, and the majestic Legendary items worn by other characters you meet in the Diablo Immortalare items they have found and ranked up with their own hands during the game, in other words, No micro transactions.
With this in mind, the Legendary Gems have undergone significant changes for the global launch based on feedback during the beta period, and have been improved to be more easily obtained by using the “Crests” that can be obtained from the Elder Rift quests. This means that rare crests are now available in the game. We have created a process whereby rare crests can be found throughout the game, runes can be produced, and these runes can be used to evolve into Legendary Gems. Of course, the Legendary Gems themselves are rare, but we feel this will satisfy many gamers.