Diablo 4 without Mythics; Unique Items From Diablo 2 Will Return
Blizzard decided not to add mythical objects in Diablo IV in favour of unique items known from the legendary Diablo II. Chief designer Joe Shely also discussed a handful of changes in the character progression system and items.
The last entry devoted to Diablo IV on Blizzard's official website stirred player interest mainly due to the announcement, which may herald the reveal of the next playable class. However, this is only an excerpt from a note posted by Joe Shely, the game's chief designer. The lion's share of the text focuses on changes in character and item progression systems in Diablo 4. This first aspect was discussed some time ago, and now the developers have ensured that they listen to the fans' comments and are still working on the skill trees.
Diablo 3 and stats
The entry confirms the four characteristics describing the characters: Strength, Intelligence, Willpower and Dexterity. As stated, the effect of investing in individual statis will vary from class to class. Moreover, some ability upgrades will require the development of selected pasttributes. This change is to be dictated by the opinion of players who were supposed to complain that the character's power depended too much on their equipment, and not on the character themselves (which was already underlined a year ago). Perhaps for a similar reason Vitality was abandoned, as it was common practice in Diablo II to invest in other statis only enough to meet the requirements of the items, and the rest of the points were "pumped" into endurance. However, we do not know if Blizzard simply combined this parameter with another one.
Item balance
Blizzard may want to reduce the importance of the items compared to previous installment, but the equipment will also experience some changes. The creators have decided to individualize the weapons more so that the items in the same category differ from each other. The purpose of this is to introduce the attack speed and characteristics of each type of weapon. For example, wands will enable us to cast spells faster, but you will deal more damage when using a staff.
Developers have also decided to balance items. In Diablo III, the legendary equipment usually completely outclasses even the best rare and magical items, with powerful effects and high statistics. To change this, the creators will make a number of changes. The maximum number of properties for rare items will be increased to five, and magical items will be able to receive the most powerful ordinary buffs. The game will also change legendary properties, which will work on a similar basis to regular ones. In practice, this means that they will be able to appear at random in different items and in different places for special effects. All this will give players more freedom in personalizing their hero.
Legendaries, uniques and more
In Diablo IV, there will also be unique items that will replace mythical ones. Blizzard emphasizes that although the very idea of the latter is still close to the developers, the creators definitely don't want equipment that would render any other category useless. As a reminder: mythical items were to be distinguished by the presence not of one random unique effect (as in legendaries), but of several, which would make them powerful tools. For the sake of balance, the game would only allow for one such item. However, this was apparently considered too weak a limitation.
As for the unique items, these are supposed to stand out with a distinct theme, as in Diablo II. In other words, they will be developed from scratch, with an unchanging appearance and effects (and probably also story background). The latter will, of course, be extremely powerful, although it should be noted that most of the equipment in this category will be reserved for one class.
As you can see, a lot has changed since the first solid information about Diablo 4 was revealed. It's probably not the end of it and the creators can still significantly modify the individual elements of the game, if only based on the opinions of the community, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Unfortunately, it also means that we can't expect an imminent launch of the fourth Diablo.
