Diablo IV Sorcerer Trailer and Interviews

Having introduced us to Diablo IV’s Rogue class a couple days ago, Blizzard Entertainment now brings us a gameplay trailer for the upcoming action-RPG’s take on the Sorcerer that seems to be the classic elementalist here. Check it out:

Then, you may also be interested in reading a couple of interviews conducted during a recent PR event in Berlin. First, we have WCCFTech’s interview that focuses on Diablo IV’s Paragon system plus the game’s attempt to infuse the classic action-RPG formula with some MMO elements.

Here’s a sample question:

Earlier, you clarified where Diablo IV stands right now in terms of dungeon crawler versus MMO in that it was designed to be the former rather than the latter. But I’m wondering if this can maybe slightly change over time. As more and more players get to the endgame, is it possible that you could add more MMO-like activities and features to the game? For example, I’m thinking of some of the stuff that Diablo Immortal has been doing, like PvE raids or even some PvP features like the recently released territory control for clans, which I thought was pretty cool.

Joseph Piepiora: Yeah, Diablo Immortal has done a lot, the team has created a lot of really cool content and features to support that game, with what they want in their community and what their vision for it is.

We really want to make sure that Diablo IV remains firmly in the ARPG camp, like we’re not really making an MMO. We are making an online game that does have that connected community feel in some places. So when we think about features that we’d be looking to add to Diablo IV in the future, whether it’s in seasons or later updates, we’re thinking more along the lines that we are going to add features are gonna serve the game that we’ve made, that we think would be really good for the community. Now, again, the game is a live service and things will change over time. And what one person might say is strictly an MMO-only feature and what might look like an ARPG-only feature, I think it might get a little muddy over time, but we’re not looking to make that game, if that makes sense.

Then, there’s this PC Gamer interview that also mentions the MMO connection, the seasonal journeys to level 100, and the Battle Pass progression.

A quick excerpt:

Diablo 4 will have seasons like the previous game(opens in new tab), which means you’ll start a new seasonal character and level them from 1 to 100 each time. Participating in the activities laid out in the endgame video and working through objectives in the “seasonal journey” will earn you progress on the battle pass through “favor.” The battle pass will have a free track with things like XP boosts for all players, and a premium track with strictly cosmetic rewards.

“Right now, the battle pass, when you’re figuring in completing the season journey alongside doing other content in the game, you’re looking at roughly 80 hours worth of time invested to complete the entirety of the battle pass. To level a character to level 100 could take a little longer than that based on how you play,” Piepiora said.