Carceri
Arcane
They removed the necro for this guy?
-
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Completed Let's Play Diablo III Beta - COMPLETED!
- Thread starter felipepepe
- Start date
Far from it. For instance, you now have 3 different energy systems:
The Barbarian & Monk 'use weaker attacks to charge energy for stronger ones';
The Wizard & the Witch-Doctor regular mana bars;
And the Demon Hunter, that has a energy bar for attacks and one just for combat manuevers.
They also play quite diferently; the Barbarian is pure melee, the Monk mixes combos with support auras, the Demon Hunter is a ranged hit-and-run class, the Wizard has some powerful area spells and magic shields, and the Witch-Doctor mixes summons with poison & fire skills.
Tigranes
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2009
- Messages
- 10,350
Still can't understand the autostat move, it's what you would come up with if you asked 5 people in a room what would be the most pointless and stupid thing to do to a successful ARPG.
How does the game look in practice? The landscape looks really messy and two-dimensional (that is, doesn't look isometric) in places, though I assume they blurred everything down so monsters/loot stands out better.
How does the game look in practice? The landscape looks really messy and two-dimensional (that is, doesn't look isometric) in places, though I assume they blurred everything down so monsters/loot stands out better.
Oh, yes then, they will all look exactly the same. I find Blizzard's explanation for this hilarious:CrazyLoon said:
They reported that it was fun to play around with the creation screen, but that testers would spend several minutes making their own character, only to start playing and find that 1) their character was too small for facial features to show up, and 2) face and hair were immediately hidden by a helm or huge shoulder pads.
Yeah, sort of. The objects and decoration are well done and look good, but the terrain is just a flat blurred texture. This makes outdoor places look a bit dull, though indoors with lot's of objects, like Leah's room, still look nice.
PART 4 – My mom’s a Witch! (And dad may be Diablo).
Back to our LP! First thing first, so we change the Summon Undead Dogmeats skill for the Grasp of the Dead we got earlier, so we can try it out and make things more interesting without the dogs killing everything.
Now, we quest!
Come, let us search for your uncle.
We’ll need to open the cathedral first. The guards locked it up before they were ambushed. Rumford told me they fought their way back to Adria’s hut. The key must still be there.
Leah has joined the party!
We them take the party to her room. Just for the +120XP that reading a girls diary gives us, mind you.
This is my room. Do you like it?
Her diary now reads:
A miracle has happened! A hero, like one of Uncle Deckard’s tales, appeared and saved us! I know in my heart that my uncle still lives and I pray that the hero will bring him home safely.
Ahh... We are all heroes; you and Boo and I!
We them heroically teleport back to the old Tristam ruins and Leah opens the gate for us.
Wasn’t the key on some hut or something?
No, silly! This is the key that opens the way to the hut that has the key that opens the way to the cathedral.
As we proceed, Leah starts telling us her whole family history:
Adria was my mother, but I don’t know much about her. She died when I was very young. I was raised by Uncle Deckard.
Did you know your father?
I’m told he was a great warrior who was lost when Tristam fell to the demons.
Before we can ask if the ‘great warrior’ had a Soulstone on his head, we arrive at Adria’s Hut. And “Hidden” has a different meaning at Blizzard, it seems.
Down we go, into the not-so-hidden cellar.
This is a place of power. Your mother hid her secrets here.
People say she was a witch, but I never believed it.
Just as I was going to point out the huge still-lit cauldron and witch stuff lying around, Captain Daltyn, former captain of the guard appears, as a huge undead. Unlike the disappointing Wretched Queen, the Captain and his minions are frost enchanted, hit hard and have respectable HP.
Leah helps with her bow, and we do quick work of them. As you can see, frost enchanted monsters still blow up and freeze everything around when they die.
Those hands coming out of the ground near the cauldron are the recently equiped Grasp of the Dead skill, and area spell that does a little damage and slows monsters. And yes, the only thing that dropped is ANOTHER magic knuckle that I can’t equip. *sigh*
Here’s the key… and my mother’s journal. What I’ve seen of it is disturbing. I want to know more about her, but that can wait. We need to save Uncle Deckard first!
I will find Deckard Cain. Stay here and study your mother’s secrets. We may have need of them.
Simultaneously we complete a quest, get the reward, Adria’s journal appears on-screen, her VA starts reading it, we level up and Black Cat gets jealous of Leah! We also learn a new skill, “Haunt”:
Haunt seem like a really useful skill for harder enemies, but most of the monsters here dies with few hits, so area spells like Grasp of the Dead are far more useful now.
Heading outside, the Hut is under siege by zombies, which breaks down the wall, and conveniently opens a path to the cathedral.
After some exploring, I find myself mistaken; it’s not A path, but THE ONLY path that goes to the cathedral. It seems that besides selling overpriced stuff to players in D1, Adria also made a living out of this illegal tollbooth of hers.
Anyway, we soon reach the cathedral. I gotta say, it really looks like the one in Diablo I. There is a (another) locked gate blocking the way to the gardens, so we enter the main building.
I’m sure that the old Deckard Cain was only scratched by whatever created this subtle hole, but we will have to wait for next update to find out.
Back to our LP! First thing first, so we change the Summon Undead Dogmeats skill for the Grasp of the Dead we got earlier, so we can try it out and make things more interesting without the dogs killing everything.
Now, we quest!
Leah has joined the party!
We them take the party to her room. Just for the +120XP that reading a girls diary gives us, mind you.
Her diary now reads:
A miracle has happened! A hero, like one of Uncle Deckard’s tales, appeared and saved us! I know in my heart that my uncle still lives and I pray that the hero will bring him home safely.
We them heroically teleport back to the old Tristam ruins and Leah opens the gate for us.
As we proceed, Leah starts telling us her whole family history:
Before we can ask if the ‘great warrior’ had a Soulstone on his head, we arrive at Adria’s Hut. And “Hidden” has a different meaning at Blizzard, it seems.
Down we go, into the not-so-hidden cellar.
Just as I was going to point out the huge still-lit cauldron and witch stuff lying around, Captain Daltyn, former captain of the guard appears, as a huge undead. Unlike the disappointing Wretched Queen, the Captain and his minions are frost enchanted, hit hard and have respectable HP.
Leah helps with her bow, and we do quick work of them. As you can see, frost enchanted monsters still blow up and freeze everything around when they die.
Those hands coming out of the ground near the cauldron are the recently equiped Grasp of the Dead skill, and area spell that does a little damage and slows monsters. And yes, the only thing that dropped is ANOTHER magic knuckle that I can’t equip. *sigh*
Simultaneously we complete a quest, get the reward, Adria’s journal appears on-screen, her VA starts reading it, we level up and Black Cat gets jealous of Leah! We also learn a new skill, “Haunt”:
Haunt seem like a really useful skill for harder enemies, but most of the monsters here dies with few hits, so area spells like Grasp of the Dead are far more useful now.
Heading outside, the Hut is under siege by zombies, which breaks down the wall, and conveniently opens a path to the cathedral.
After some exploring, I find myself mistaken; it’s not A path, but THE ONLY path that goes to the cathedral. It seems that besides selling overpriced stuff to players in D1, Adria also made a living out of this illegal tollbooth of hers.
Anyway, we soon reach the cathedral. I gotta say, it really looks like the one in Diablo I. There is a (another) locked gate blocking the way to the gardens, so we enter the main building.
I’m sure that the old Deckard Cain was only scratched by whatever created this subtle hole, but we will have to wait for next update to find out.
"The Legacy of Cain"?
... Seriously?
... Seriously?
That's so fukken stupid on so many levels, my rage is too low to express it.
Haha, I didn't notice the Legacy of Kain reference until PlanHex pointed it out. (Then again, it could be a reference to Sacher-Masoch. 
)
)
PART 5 – Back to 1996
And here we are, Cathedral Level 1, where it all started in 1996! Most likely we won't be reaching Level 16 and fighting Diablo, but let the dungeon crawling begin!
Here is where the fire our sis fell from the sky. Strange magic comes from below.
Our first foe isfrom D2 new, the Carrion Bats! They come in large packs and do moderate damage, but have low HP. A nice improvement from D2 is that they really fly! This means they can ignore heights and fly straight at you, leading to some dangerous surprise attacks. Here’s Cain ramblings on them:
Some foul new disease has taken hold in this land and the carrion bats are near the heart of it. Since returning to Tristam, I have seen their numbers surge. The evil forces that linger here give them strength, and I fear that the worse is yet to come.
- Deckard Cain
Most of the enemies here are Ravenous Dead, a recolored & more powerful version of the undead outside.
The big monster in the middle is a Grotesques, a.k.a. the abominations from Warcraft 3 & WoW. They have a lot of health and do heavy damage, pushing you back when they hit. Also, they explode when they die, damaging everything around them. Something that can be used…
…like this! Where’s my achievement Blizzard? Oh...you actually gave me one...
The real threat thought are the 3 Corpse Worms that spam from him when he dies. They are fast and do A LOT of damage, as shown by my finally low health pool, but die in one hit. Now more rambling:
The grotesques may seem slow and senseless, but they hide many dangers within their hideously malformed bodies. A set of spikes lurks beneath the monsters flesh and foul parasites nest within them. It is said that these horrors themselves are constructed by a greater evil… a darkness that I cannot even fathom.
- Deckard Cain
A generous chest finally drops a useful magical weapon, a poisonous Club with 9.0 DPS! A nice upgrade for Sulik, who is still running around almost naked.
We also found the first of Lachdanan’s Scrolls, a series of lore tales about the Skeleton King from Diablo 1!
My name is Lachdanam, and I am cursed. Once the captain of King Leoric’s army, I lived only to honor my land and my king. No man has a greater love for his king than I had for mine – even as I drove my blade through his dark and corrupted heart.
- Lachdanam
A feature that was hyped a lot by Blizzard is the use of physics to slay enemies. We shall display that by casting Grasp of the Dead on this group of zombies. This way we slow them and damage the planks holding the wall behind them.
Is quite an effective way to handle large groups, as it kills weaker enemies and damage & stun stronger ones. Still, it’s more of a gimmick than a real feature, as you can only do it on very specific locations, and there is always a group of weak zombies standing underneath it.
While disposing of some Carrions Bats, the sun flashes onscreen. We reached Lv 5! And learned the “Zombie Charger” skill:
Is a powerful skill, that burns our mana fast, but does heavy damage. Much like the 'Haunt' skill, it's a waste in such weak enemies like these. Besides, I'm in the middle of a dungeon, without any Town Portal, so I can't even try it out.
After exploring everything, like a true BRO, we reach the stairs towards the next floor. From my beta experience, this is medium sized floor, and the biggest I’ve seen is double the size of this one. I really enjoyed the design here, it got that “dungeon-crawling” feel just right, and its way better than D2 dungeons IMHO.
Down the stairs,The Butcher a cut-scene awaits us! Deckard Cain, after being hit by a falling star and living without food or water for 6 days in an undead filled cathedral, runs from a group of skeletons.
Rocks fall on the undead, destroying the ledge, and the Skeleton King himself appears! Didn't I kill you 15 years ago? (God, I'm old).
More skeletons appear as we run to help Cain. The big one is “Headcleaver”, a huge skeleton with a powerful sword swipe that can kill me in 3 hits. But he is slow, and our voodoo skills make him even slower, turning him into an easy prey. He drops a shitty chest armour, that is but a white stripe on Sulik's back...
The big ass door down here is locked, so let’s chat with Cain.
Thank you. But why did you risk yourself for me?
So you can identify my items for free! (not that I found any yet)
Because you needed my help. Come, I must return you to Leah.
Oh… it is wonderful to hear that Leah is well! I feared the worst. I learned of this secret passage through old maps I found.
His secret passage lead to the Cathedral Gardens, that was locked before. We take the teleporter back to town.
Uncle! You’re alive!
Thanks to you and your friend here.
I seek your wisdom. Tell me of the fallen star our sis.
The Prophecy of the End Days surely points to it as a sign that the end has begun…
Please, Uncle, not more of your stories. All that matters now is that you’re back.
Ah yes, "The Prophecy of the End Days". We have dismissed that claim.
So while Cain tries to prove tothe Council Leah that there is something wrong going on, we finish our quest and get tons of XP! With 2/4 of the Beta completed, I end this update! And hope that I can edit the Thread Title next time...
And here we are, Cathedral Level 1, where it all started in 1996! Most likely we won't be reaching Level 16 and fighting Diablo, but let the dungeon crawling begin!
Our first foe is
Some foul new disease has taken hold in this land and the carrion bats are near the heart of it. Since returning to Tristam, I have seen their numbers surge. The evil forces that linger here give them strength, and I fear that the worse is yet to come.
- Deckard Cain
Most of the enemies here are Ravenous Dead, a recolored & more powerful version of the undead outside.
The big monster in the middle is a Grotesques, a.k.a. the abominations from Warcraft 3 & WoW. They have a lot of health and do heavy damage, pushing you back when they hit. Also, they explode when they die, damaging everything around them. Something that can be used…
…like this! Where’s my achievement Blizzard?
Oh...you actually gave me one...The real threat thought are the 3 Corpse Worms that spam from him when he dies. They are fast and do A LOT of damage, as shown by my finally low health pool, but die in one hit. Now more rambling:
The grotesques may seem slow and senseless, but they hide many dangers within their hideously malformed bodies. A set of spikes lurks beneath the monsters flesh and foul parasites nest within them. It is said that these horrors themselves are constructed by a greater evil… a darkness that I cannot even fathom.
- Deckard Cain
A generous chest finally drops a useful magical weapon, a poisonous Club with 9.0 DPS! A nice upgrade for Sulik, who is still running around almost naked.
We also found the first of Lachdanan’s Scrolls, a series of lore tales about the Skeleton King from Diablo 1!
My name is Lachdanam, and I am cursed. Once the captain of King Leoric’s army, I lived only to honor my land and my king. No man has a greater love for his king than I had for mine – even as I drove my blade through his dark and corrupted heart.
- Lachdanam
A feature that was hyped a lot by Blizzard is the use of physics to slay enemies. We shall display that by casting Grasp of the Dead on this group of zombies. This way we slow them and damage the planks holding the wall behind them.
Is quite an effective way to handle large groups, as it kills weaker enemies and damage & stun stronger ones. Still, it’s more of a gimmick than a real feature, as you can only do it on very specific locations, and there is always a group of weak zombies standing underneath it.
While disposing of some Carrions Bats, the sun flashes onscreen. We reached Lv 5! And learned the “Zombie Charger” skill:
Is a powerful skill, that burns our mana fast, but does heavy damage. Much like the 'Haunt' skill, it's a waste in such weak enemies like these. Besides, I'm in the middle of a dungeon, without any Town Portal, so I can't even try it out.
After exploring everything, like a true BRO, we reach the stairs towards the next floor. From my beta experience, this is medium sized floor, and the biggest I’ve seen is double the size of this one. I really enjoyed the design here, it got that “dungeon-crawling” feel just right, and its way better than D2 dungeons IMHO.
Down the stairs,
Rocks fall on the undead, destroying the ledge, and the Skeleton King himself appears! Didn't I kill you 15 years ago? (God, I'm old).
More skeletons appear as we run to help Cain. The big one is “Headcleaver”, a huge skeleton with a powerful sword swipe that can kill me in 3 hits. But he is slow, and our voodoo skills make him even slower, turning him into an easy prey. He drops a shitty chest armour, that is but a white stripe on Sulik's back...
The big ass door down here is locked, so let’s chat with Cain.
(not that I found any yet)
His secret passage lead to the Cathedral Gardens, that was locked before. We take the teleporter back to town.
So while Cain tries to prove to
anus_pounder
Arcane
So, how does the game compare to D1 and 2 ?Not that I actually want your opinion. sheeple that I am, I'll probably try out D3 anyway.
I like it a lot. There are some obvious decline, like the autostats and the need to be always online, but IMHO the improvements stands out more.
You have better dungeons, more skills, skill gems, crafting & enchanting and a much better interface & combat system, so now even an average player will easily use his 6 skills in combat, instead of just spamming one or two attacks.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
This may be a stupid question, but is there no longer different types of damage from weapons (cutting, bludgeoning, piercing)?
D2 did have that didn't it? Or am I thinking of something else?
D2 did have that didn't it? Or am I thinking of something else?
Nah, Diablo never had that stuff, it's just weapon damage & speed. You mus be playing too much Dark Souls.
Yeah, is quite easy. Diablo now has 4 dificulty settings, Normal, Nightmare, Hell and Inferno. I can only play the Beta on 'normal', so I'm stuck on easy-mode...besides, this first part of the game is more like a tutorial.
And no, the music is just some bland orchestral stuff...kind of a big let down.
Damned Registrations
Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2007
- Messages
- 15,002
Well, it did have 'blunt' weapons, which did bonus damage to undead. Though iirc the damage formula made the difference really minor later on anyways. But at level 1 a club would beat the shit out of skeletons and zombies faster than a shortsword would.Nah, Diablo never had that stuff, it's just weapon damage & speed. You must be playing too much Dark Souls.
Ahn...yeah, true. I remember having weapons that deal extra damage to undead, but since socketed diamonds also did that, I thought it was the same...shame on me.
PART 6 – My Zombie Wife and Me
The Skeleton King was once our beloved lord, Leoric. He was driven mad by Diablo’s evil.
He lost both of his sons – and his very soul – before he was finally defeated. Now it seems he’s risen to plague this land once again.
Leoric should be in the Unformed land, yet he stands between me and the fallen star our sis.
The key to defeating him lies in his old crown. Seek out our blacksmith, Haedrig; he knows of its whereabouts.
We then realize an important thing: Deckard Cain no longer identify items for us! Jerk! On a side note, Leah’s diary now reads:
Uncle Deckard is home – rescued from the clutches of the Skeleton King! I’m so glad. But the Skeleton King? I thought he was a folktale. The idea of Mad King Leoric returning to torture this place… Hasn’t Tristam suffered enough?
Foolish girl, Tristam has, but this is NEW Tristam, HAHAHA! That’s what you get for naming your town like that.
No objections.
Moving on, the Mayor cart that was blocking the way has been moved, so we can access the other side of town, where the smith awaits us. Is where you would find the Blacksmith for the first time on your first playthrough.
Here we also have some new vendors, but man, they are SHIT. They sell like 1 weapon and 2 armor pieces only, plus indentify scrolls and health potions. Their only use is buying our loot, but breaking items to get crafting materials makes much more sense in the Beta than selling for money, as I will show on part 8 of this LP.
Blacksmith, Deckard Cain said you could help me find the crown of Leoric.
Not now. It’s my wife… She’s locked in the cellar, like all those who’ve been bitten. I’m to put them all down. But how can I kill my own wife?
It must be done , blacksmith. I will help you.
Thank you. Follow me.
Thus, here we are. We slay all they zombie villagers, and them reach the blacksmith’s wife.
SPOILER: She turns to a zombie and we kill her.
The enemies here are just lv 1 zombies, and the zombie-wife is pretty easy too. And they don't drop any phat lewt.
Of course! The whole concept of this scene is creating an emotional connection between the player and the suffering blacksmith, that should motivates them even further to fight evil. This isn’t about making loot drop, but tears.
Right…excuse me, I need to talk with the Blacksmith…you know, to give him some support.
Milo and I are very proud of you. And please buy Fable: The Journey, It’s not on-rails.
I couldn’t have done this without you. I’m in your dept. My name is Haedrig Eamon.
I need your assistance, Haedrig. I search for the crown of Leoric.
I can help you there. It’s buried with his chancellor – my grandfather. You’ll find his tomb in a cemetery in the Weeping Hollow. And if you see my fool apprentice out there, tell him to get back to town.
Gotta say I love his over-the-top scottish accent. The way he says "get back TCHOO TCHOOWN" is fantastic.
Out we go them, thought the town’s north gate, that just happens to be attacked by a horde of Scavengers (sorry for the bad pic, I will show them better ahead).
Scavengers are ugly, pathetic creatures who survive off of carrion and corpses too diseased to attract any other carnivores. I did once meet a raggedy fellow who claimed that he had trained one of the beasts to bring him large rats to eat, but I’m sure the story is utter nonsense.
- Abd al-Hazir
Utter nonsense is your text! These guys hit HARD and fast! IMO they are one of the most dangerous foes in the Beta, as they move quickly and in packs. Also, they approach not in a straight line, but in a weird pattern that makes hitting ranged attacks quite hard.
Out to the Weeping Hollow we venture them! This is the second biggest area in the Beta, it’s just a HUGE open field with tons of enemies and random stuff all around.
A few steps ahead we find the blacksmith dead apprentice. His body drops a huge amount of equipment, all low quality or broken. A foolish apprentice indeed.
The huge group of zombies near the apprentice give us a lot of XP and allows the sun to shine again as we reach Lv 6. With that, we finally can equip 3 skills at once. Luckily my mouse has 5 buttons, so I can still play Diablo and hold my chin at the same time.
We also learn the Hex skill:
Is quite a weird skill, but works surprisingly well. Since we already have an area spell and a single target skill, we chose this one as a support skill for tougher battles.
Here is the skill in action, we summon a weird shaman that stays for some time and usualy turn 1-3 enemies into chickens. Is a great skill as they stay as chickens for ~5 seconds, can't attack while transformed and even take 20% extra damage! And the shaman turn even some enchanted monsters into chickens, making life much easier.
A little ‘treasure seeker’ appears and steal a big chest, making me run after him through half the map, with a massive horde running after me. Not joking, I must have spent 2 minutes running after him. But he drops a off-hand “Magic Mojo”, a Witch-Doctor only item that gives us ‘6-10 extra damage’, so it’s cool.
Here you can see the Scavengers way better, they are those white & red huge hamsters trying to kill me. A keen eye would also note I had to use one potion to survive this wild chase, shame on me.
And them, yeah… an Electric Enchanted monster. I HATED those in Diablo 2, as is one of the most dangerous enchantments, especially when mixed with a stone skin, frozen or teleporter enchantment. Here they still have the annoying habit of filling the screen with lightning when struck, but their damage is so low they pose no danger.
When I said this area has TONS of enemies, I mean it. We hack n’ slash our way to Lv 7 and unlock the Corpse Spiders skill:
I really don't get this skill. It's the same as the Summon Undead Dogs, as it summons 4 spiders that do a little weapon damage. But this one only last for a few seconds, and cost A LOT of mana, while the dogs are permanent and way cheaper. There are already many comments pointing that on the beta foruns, so I hope they fix it soon.
A little ahead we find a Shrine! There are various ones on the next levels, and they give some useful boosts. The little golden chest icon next to my health pool shows up how much time left we got, and helps that “kill everything as fast as possible” feeling.
This pic also shows our recently equipped Witch-Doctor mask, which dropped from a random zombie!
And we finally reach the cemetery gates! Here we have a teleporter and 3 random crypts we must explore in search of the Skeleton King’s crown. But that’s a story for the next update!
One last thing, just look at this map, its HUGE! It took around 15 minutes to explore & kill everything. Sadly, we didn’t found any random dungeon on it, but I’ve seen various types on other playthrought, such as caves, wells, the underneath of huge trees and more cellars. They had a great unique look, especially the well and underneath the trees, and even an enemy we didn’t see, the Carrion Bats Nest, that’s exactly like the one in D2.
Join us next time as we complete the third major quest of the Beta, The Shattered Crown! I will also finally show the town portal and the crafting system!
We then realize an important thing: Deckard Cain no longer identify items for us! Jerk! On a side note, Leah’s diary now reads:
Uncle Deckard is home – rescued from the clutches of the Skeleton King! I’m so glad. But the Skeleton King? I thought he was a folktale. The idea of Mad King Leoric returning to torture this place… Hasn’t Tristam suffered enough?
Moving on, the Mayor cart that was blocking the way has been moved, so we can access the other side of town, where the smith awaits us. Is where you would find the Blacksmith for the first time on your first playthrough.
Here we also have some new vendors, but man, they are SHIT. They sell like 1 weapon and 2 armor pieces only, plus indentify scrolls and health potions. Their only use is buying our loot, but breaking items to get crafting materials makes much more sense in the Beta than selling for money, as I will show on part 8 of this LP.
Thus, here we are. We slay all they zombie villagers, and them reach the blacksmith’s wife.
SPOILER: She turns to a zombie and we kill her.
The enemies here are just lv 1 zombies, and the zombie-wife is pretty easy too. And they don't drop any phat lewt.
Gotta say I love his over-the-top scottish accent. The way he says "get back TCHOO TCHOOWN" is fantastic.
Out we go them, thought the town’s north gate, that just happens to be attacked by a horde of Scavengers (sorry for the bad pic, I will show them better ahead).
Scavengers are ugly, pathetic creatures who survive off of carrion and corpses too diseased to attract any other carnivores. I did once meet a raggedy fellow who claimed that he had trained one of the beasts to bring him large rats to eat, but I’m sure the story is utter nonsense.
- Abd al-Hazir
Utter nonsense is your text! These guys hit HARD and fast! IMO they are one of the most dangerous foes in the Beta, as they move quickly and in packs. Also, they approach not in a straight line, but in a weird pattern that makes hitting ranged attacks quite hard.
Out to the Weeping Hollow we venture them! This is the second biggest area in the Beta, it’s just a HUGE open field with tons of enemies and random stuff all around.
A few steps ahead we find the blacksmith dead apprentice. His body drops a huge amount of equipment, all low quality or broken. A foolish apprentice indeed.
The huge group of zombies near the apprentice give us a lot of XP and allows the sun to shine again as we reach Lv 6. With that, we finally can equip 3 skills at once. Luckily my mouse has 5 buttons, so I can still play Diablo and hold my chin at the same time.
We also learn the Hex skill:
Is quite a weird skill, but works surprisingly well. Since we already have an area spell and a single target skill, we chose this one as a support skill for tougher battles.
Here is the skill in action, we summon a weird shaman that stays for some time and usualy turn 1-3 enemies into chickens. Is a great skill as they stay as chickens for ~5 seconds, can't attack while transformed and even take 20% extra damage! And the shaman turn even some enchanted monsters into chickens, making life much easier.
A little ‘treasure seeker’ appears and steal a big chest, making me run after him through half the map, with a massive horde running after me. Not joking, I must have spent 2 minutes running after him. But he drops a off-hand “Magic Mojo”, a Witch-Doctor only item that gives us ‘6-10 extra damage’, so it’s cool.
Here you can see the Scavengers way better, they are those white & red huge hamsters trying to kill me. A keen eye would also note I had to use one potion to survive this wild chase, shame on me.
And them, yeah… an Electric Enchanted monster. I HATED those in Diablo 2, as is one of the most dangerous enchantments, especially when mixed with a stone skin, frozen or teleporter enchantment. Here they still have the annoying habit of filling the screen with lightning when struck, but their damage is so low they pose no danger.
When I said this area has TONS of enemies, I mean it. We hack n’ slash our way to Lv 7 and unlock the Corpse Spiders skill:
I really don't get this skill. It's the same as the Summon Undead Dogs, as it summons 4 spiders that do a little weapon damage. But this one only last for a few seconds, and cost A LOT of mana, while the dogs are permanent and way cheaper. There are already many comments pointing that on the beta foruns, so I hope they fix it soon.
A little ahead we find a Shrine! There are various ones on the next levels, and they give some useful boosts. The little golden chest icon next to my health pool shows up how much time left we got, and helps that “kill everything as fast as possible” feeling.
This pic also shows our recently equipped Witch-Doctor mask, which dropped from a random zombie!
And we finally reach the cemetery gates! Here we have a teleporter and 3 random crypts we must explore in search of the Skeleton King’s crown. But that’s a story for the next update!
One last thing, just look at this map, its HUGE! It took around 15 minutes to explore & kill everything. Sadly, we didn’t found any random dungeon on it, but I’ve seen various types on other playthrought, such as caves, wells, the underneath of huge trees and more cellars. They had a great unique look, especially the well and underneath the trees, and even an enemy we didn’t see, the Carrion Bats Nest, that’s exactly like the one in D2.
Join us next time as we complete the third major quest of the Beta, The Shattered Crown! I will also finally show the town portal and the crafting system!
Haven't read the entire update yet, but I have to say this sprite looks totally cool:
I was waiting for more people to read & comment, but since you asked so nicely, I shall post the new update.
I didn't want to, but I must admit that I'm interested.
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