While Diablo 4 may not be released in 2021, we still learned more about the game at BlizzCon 2021.
Diablo 4 developers hosted a press conference on Friday. Among other things, they revealed extensive details about how Diablo 4’s player-to-player (PVP) system works. The new system emphasizes organic combat experiences over a sense of pure fairness, a point that the developers left behind. very clear at the press conference.
All of Diablo’s open world PVP opportunities exist within hate camps. Hate camps are areas of the otherworldly world that have been cursed by Lillith. In these areas, you can kill enemies and open chests that will leave fragments of unpurified hatred. You can purify those hate fragments in the purification zones that are also within the hate fields.
“Since Diablo 4 is our first open world devil game, we’re trying to really adopt what this can mean,” explained Joe Piepiora, systems designer for Diablo 4. “For PVP and Sanctuary, we have these areas that they are called hate camps, which are open world PVP areas. But they are full of monsters, events, chests to find, rare elites to kill, and all the usual traps you hope to find in the Devil’s World 4. “
When within hate camps, players can choose to mark themselves as hostile. When hostile, you can attack other players, but you will also be marked as dangerous to all players you encounter. There is no way for players to force other players to be hostile by mistake, so becoming hostile will always be a decision made by the players.
“If I become hostile when I surround the fields of hatred, all the other heroes will see me as an enemy,” Piopiora stated. “Everyone can come together and attack me. I’m risking, it’s the kind of rewarding high-risk game we’re looking for as part of overseas PVP. “
Once purified, you can use hate fragments to buy special PVP items from game sellers. While the articles won’t improve player stats in any way, they will function as a way to show off and prestige. To maintain its importance, articles cannot be changed either, so if someone has a specific PVP article, they have earned it.
However, purifying the fragments is not an easy task, as many players will look for targets to kill.
“As long as you are [purifying your shards of hatred] other players can meet you, creating this anxiety when you are in ultra-world PVP, where you don’t know if another player will help you or hurt you, ”said Piopiora. “You could easily work alongside players who are in the fields of hatred or they can become hostile and come to attack you. If they are able to kill you, all the fragments of unpurified hatred that you carried will be abandoned and they will be able to take them out and follow their right path.
The developers were happy to share that this PVP system is not designed with equity in mind. Instead, the goal of Diablo overworld’s PVP system is to introduce the game to a sense of risk and an extra layer of challenge for players who wish to do so.
“One of the first emphasis of the PVP on Devil 4 was to try to erase the idea that the PVP should be fair,” Piopiora explained. “I know this can be a scary thing to say to people. When you think of open world PVP, you don’t always get in front of an enemy in an ideal circumstance with your cooling times at your disposal and you’re in full health, with your potions and everything. Sometimes you can even be in combat with another creature. We think the ebb and flow of this type of PVP combat feels really fantastic in Diablo 4 right now. ”
The environment will also affect PVP situations. Depending on your class, construction, and terrain type, players will experience a dynamic form of combat where no two situations are exactly alike. Or at least, that’s the developer’s goal with the new system.
“We don’t try to suggest that each class should be exactly parallel when we start in a fixed position with each other,” Piopiora said. “It is never clear who will win in a fight. We want to make sure that there are many circumstances in the environment, that allow players to feel that they can succeed in some situations and fail in others, and always feel that there is an opportunity the next time they play again.
With more emphasis on the world itself, your class ends up playing an important role in determining your chances of winning a particular battle over PVP.
“Another big difference between Diablo 4 and previous titles is the verticality we’ve added,” said Careena Kingdom, Diablo IV’s lead animator. “A barbarian can jump off a cliff instead of someone else having to go down the side of the cliff. It provides a variety of very interesting methods that you can look for in these PVP areas.”
Although the developers revealed a significant amount of information about their asymmetric PVP system, there is still much to learn about the full details. We can expect more information about Diablo 4 PVP system in the near future.