While I certainly understand that a lot of people have played the Diablo 3 Beta since it began around a year or so ago. But I’m also aware that many people have not. I would like to say first, that I played the beta during their last open beta weekend for around The game looks great, as usual. Some of the more updated changes(stuff that changed since last Blizzcon) was kind of odd to me. A few of these changes included not being able to salvage any time I wanted; making it a purely Blacksmith only feature. Also, the whole rune and skills system changes seemed strange. Like just being doled out both runes and skills as you level; rather than choosing skills and finding runes. I suppose the systems are fine but they definitely seem a little dumbed down from the way it was originally. Which, I guess makes the game less complicated and more accessible. Which is fine, I was just a little surprised when I played the beta how off-putting the changes were to me. But I got over it.
I played all of the classes except the Barbarian. So will give you a short run down of each…
Demon Hunter: I played the Demon Hunter to the completion of the beta which hits around level 10. Which is fine, supposedly you can play until level 13. But I was pretty done with her by then; as I played for around 3-4 hours straight with her by then. I’m thinking that at higher levels the Demon Hunter is probably a lot better; as I see a lot of potential there. But considering her, incredible feeble amount of damage and the fact that she only uses traps and dodging from her Discipline pool that there seems like there is something missing. Also, playing with two hand crossbows looks cool, but I think the damage output is probably better with a crossbow or two-handed bow. Of course, having two descent hand crossbows would probably change this. Problem, is the way loot seems to be dropping in beta; that is pretty tough. In fact, much of the class specific loot doesn’t drop hardly at all and when it does it basically drops as a grey, low quality items. Which is fine, the class specific stuff looks good but isn’t a make or break. At least not at level 10 anyway.
Monk: The Monk overall, is one of the strongest classes, even at low levels. What makes the Monk incredibly powerful is the fact that you can dual wield all most any one handed weapon; by doing this the Monk gains both the damage and magical buffs from those weapons. So if you have a fire weapon in one hand and a poison weapon in the other you get poison and fire damage. Which makes the average enemy complete fodder. The Monk has a descent amount of stamina so even if you get hit it’s not really that big of a deal. I managed to get one vampric weapon and was able to constantly heal myself. Not that vampiric weapons are very strong. They basically just keep you from dying long enough to pop a potion or hit some health orbs. Which is great, because if used improperly the frequency of vampric weapons in the game could certainly break it. Especially when it comes to the Monk. My only real complaint with the Monk is that he has no real way of getting to a ranged target. Perhaps this comes later or your meant to constantly be using the rush ability. But in some cases, this makes you take quite a lot of damage.
Witch Doctor: My favorite character from my time with the Beta had to be the Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor is the pet class of the game, but no only does he have his wonderful pets. He DOES have some really interesting attacks. One is a thrown jar of spiders, another is a fiery swarm of bats. All of which make the Witch Doctor pretty dangerous. Strangely, the Witch Doctor has some really strange weapon choices and while I think the damage might carry over; all of the effects definitely don’t. Works with some abilities, doesn’t work with others. Which is fine because using any of his abilities do a ton of damage on their own. What I found great was being able to use the snaring area of effect ability and getting health procs every time. While the Witch Doctor can use a shield, it’s probably better to pick the right weapon for each situation. Mainly because, the Witch Doctor has SO FEW choices that your probably going to NEED to do this. Apparently(from screenshots and advanced character class videos) there are focuses for the Witch Doctor but you won’t see any of these in the 1-10 level stuff. At least I didn’t in the Beta. But what you might not be expecting is that just like all the Monk and the Wizard you will never actually be hitting anyone with those weapons. Might get the damage or effect bonuses but you won’t actually be touching anyone with them. So while the weapons themselves are mostly for aesthetics I’m guessing that no matter your play style the weapons that are favored by your chosen class are probably going to have the best bonuses for your character. I suppose what I find sad about this is that you will probably use every weapon available to your class just to get the bonuses. Rather than being able to choose those said weapons right off. While I do realize that this game IS about loot. It is also a game where every single piece of armor you pick up looks like your classes armor style.
Wizard: The Wizard is the character I spent the least time with. While to begin with the Wizard is rather difficult to use as the Demon Hunter has to play a little bit of a run and gun game; the Wizard must do this to an extreme. The Wizard really needs any block bonus or health bonus she can get. Most of the time your running into or out of a situation and getting grazed. Unfortunately, when the Wizard gets grazed; she is actually taking the equivalent on any other character to two direct hits. Eventually, the Wizard does pay off with this because she does do quite a lot of damage. But the beginning skills the game gives you. Really just make you want to runaway. Perhaps, this is some kind of tutorial telling the player to be careful not to get surrounded. Which your area of effect power works well for this. But unfortunately, this turns into more spamming than strategy. I would really like to see how this character plays out at higher levels.
What was evident for me in the extended play sessions I had with the Diablo 3 Beta was that this game is deep and interesting. While there may be some possible problems with going through the same areas with different characters with different skills sets. But perhaps this should be seen more as a challenge and a window into replay-ability rather than a slight against the game. While I have only played the first four hours of the game. I have to say that I’m really excited to play more of it. To play all of it actually… If you love hack n’ slash games you will be completely addicted to Diablo 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment