Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Preview

Destructoid is offering some hands-on impressions of Reaper of Souls, Diablo III’s upcoming expansion, which promises to improve itemization and add a new class to the character roster among other things. Snippet ahead:

The next piece of the puzzle is an increased level cap — raised from 60 to 70. With the new cap comes new abilities, passives, and runes, and thus, new chances for customization. Although the “cookie-cutter build” problem from Diablo III still persists a bit, I think the new options do bring a lot to the table, and will allow for a certain amount of differentiation between players. The new skills aren’t going to fundamentally change the game, but you do have more options for builds. All characters now share Paragon XP (post max-level experience), which is a nice touch for building alts.

As stated above, the auction house is being removed entirely from the game in March 2014. Not only is that music to my ears (much less the thousands of other fans who couldn’t stand it), but it also comes with the addition of the “Loot 2.0” system. Straight-up, this new mechanic ensures better gear consistently, and if my time with the beta was any indication, it actually works.

Immediately after entering the first area of Act V, I earned a unique from the first patch of mobs that surpassed my currently equipped gear. The way Loot 2.0 functions is that it not only presents more unique and interesting gear, but it also removes needless trash like most normal and magic items, so in the end, you’re getting better options without having to micro-manage a ton of stuff. Expect Hardcore runs to have a lot more viability.

As an added bonus Legendaries are vastly improved, and treasure demons give better loot now pretty much guaranteed, which makes them more enticing again — not to mention the amazing boss loot I got. As a side note, players cannot trade items to each other unless they were actually at the loot drop point, and a two-hour timer adds a further limitation on that. In other words, character progression feels more isolated, and not based on purchases or outside influences — interesting.