A Look Into the Diablo III Beta

Blizzard’s Diablo III Beta was released a few days ago to 100,000 lucky fans.  More will be sent out through contests and giveaways, but there are still the millions of fans who will not enjoy the experience early.  Let me try to be of some help.

Can you use all five heroes?

Yes.

What difficulty is the beta?

Blizzard set the difficulty on normal and this cannot be changed. There are greyed out options for the higher difficulties and an option to create a Hardcore character. For all who don’t know what Hardcore means, you get only one death. Just one.

Is there anything new in the main menu screen?

The initial log in screen has a similar layout to World of Warcraft. The character screen has a slot list on the left for your characters. There is a new feature that allows you to customize your own unique banner. This is connected to your overall account and not to each character. These banners can be seen around waypoints in the game when playing with other people. If you are a fan of the Game of Thrones novels, you will love this.

How much of the actual game is in the Diablo III beta?

The beta consists of what is said to be the first half of Act 1. I am unsure if this is true or not. It is a quick play taking up to roughly two hours of your time in main quests, but you can reset these and continue leveling up your character to level 13.

What is the first half of Act 1 about?

Okay, lets get detailed here.

Your hero starts on the outskirts of New Tristram. The “Fallen Star” piques your hero’s curiosity to explore the damage it has done. Each hero has their own dialogue keeping it fresh between the characters you create. As you come to the gates of New Tristram you come across Captain Rumford and his soldiers as the hold back the newly risen undead. Rumford gives a quest to talk with Leah (Deckard Cain’s niece) who was assumed to be the only survivor from the Fallen Star as it decimated Tristram Cathedral.

After confronting Leah, you head back to Rumford. He asks you to help him with the undead threat on New Tristram by killing off enemies called Wretched Mothers and their Queen at the Old Ruins (the original Tristram in Diablo II).

Once the path is cleared, you then set out with Leah to her mother Adria’s hut for the gate key to get in to Tristram Cathedral. Upon finding the key in a secret underground cavern below Adria’s home, you head out alone again to look for Deckard Cain.

In the depths of the Cathedral, you come across Deckard Cain fleeing from the Skeleton King and his minions. He then tells you that the Fallen Star has awakened the Mad King Leoric (Skeleton King) after you save him from impending death. Leoric was driven mad by Diablo’s evil and was killed by one of his knights. In order to get to the star, you must vanquish the Skeleton King who now guards the path.

Easy right? No.

In order to kill the Skeleton King, you need to find his old crown buried in the Defiled Crypts of the Cemetery of the Forsaken. Haedrig the Blacksmith, from the second Diablo, tells you about its whereabouts after you help him kill his sick and evil undead wife. You also look for his apprentice who hasn’t returned to New Tristram. 

You find the apprentice dead and tell Haedrig. Who cares?

After fighting and re-killing a dead chancellor who protects the Skeleton Kings crown, you bring it back to Haedrig so he can shine the thing up a bit. It needs to look glorious for when you kill the Skeleton King. Pristine, I know.

Now with the spit-shined crown in your hands, you make your way back to the Old Cathedral and fight your way to the lower levels. You eventually come across a Templar by the name of Kormac whom you save from a group of sorcerers. He tells you about his mission to kill a treasonous Templar, Jondar, who has become a necromancer and protects the Skeleton King.

He wants the Skeleton King dead as well, so you shake hands, hug and go about your business together.

As you scoot down farther in search of the Skeleton Kings Royal crypt you come across Jondar who Kormac “Troy’s” to death. You eventually find your way to the crypt after fighting off the Skeleton Kings small army of undead soldiers who magically spawn out of four pillars.

Magical pillars.

They die, the pillars fall and you can finally enter the Royal Crypt. There is an epic battle once you place the crown on the Mad Kings remains and the Skeleton King falls to your mighty skills. The end.

Is there anything new in the gameplay?

There are collectible books that give experience and a little bit of Diablo lore which helps with background information. This is presented through audio so it doesn’t interrupt gameplay and gives you some nice bed-time stories.

I also came across a battle event called the Jar of Souls. This event is triggered by clicking on a glowing jar found in the center of the room. A small quest is appears telling you to kill the approaching enemies being spawned by four pillars or poles. It is a great way to build some experience and they send a lot of enemies at you. A lot.

I will be going over some more parts of the game later in the week, like the Blacksmith Training so keep a look out.