More than five years after Reaper of Souls saw us facing Malthael, Diablo 4 is officially confirmed to be on its way. Blizzard announced the return of the acclaimed ARPG series during BlizzCon 2019, where it also gave us a first look at its aesthetics, gameplay and revealed its first batch of details regarding platforms and release date.
With more info certain to be shared over the months to come, we've gathered everything you need to know about Diablo 4, including details about its release date, story, and more in this here article.
Diablo 4 Release Date
Diablo IV's release date is still a long way out. Upon announcing it, Blizzard clarified that the game was still in the early stages of development, with lots still to be decided.
In November 2021, publisher it was confirmed in Activision's Q3 2021 earnings call that the game would launch later than expected, just like Overwatch 2.
The decision to delay it would "push out the financial uplift" that the publisher expected to see in 2022, which meant that Diablo IV's release date would likely not occur sooner than 2023.
In June 2022, during the Xbox/Bethesda Games Showcase, Blizzard confirmed that Diablo IV's release date is slated to occur at some point in 2023.
A leak from early December 2022 suggests that we could see the game launching in June 2023. During The Game Awards 2022, Diablo IV's release date was locked down to June 6, 2023.
Diablo 4 Story
Details surrounding Diablo IV's story are still scarce at the moment, however, its reveal did showcase Lilith in all her splendor, pointing at her as the villain of the upcoming installment.
Lilith hasn't been seen since Diablo II, however, her role in Diablo lore is quite significant. Not only is she the Queen of Succubi, but her union with Inarius also created the first nephalem (Diablo III puts players in the shoes of a nephalem).
Diablo IV also returns to the darker, gothic aesthetic that the first two titles are known for and from which Diablo III departed. The aim of its art style is, however, "believability" over realism.
Diablo 4 Gameplay
From what we saw of Diablo IV's gameplay, the title aims to both look towards the past, staying true to the series' hack 'n' slash ARPG legacy, and push things forward with a handful of new systems and additions.
Diablo IV will launch with five playable classes: the barbarian, sorceress, druid, rogue, and necromancer. Where the Barbarian relies on brute force and large weapons to succeed, the Sorceress blasts foes apart with elemental magic like fireballs and bolts of lightning.
The bruid, returning from Diablo II, not only wields earth and storm magic but can shapeshift into werewolf and werebear forms during battle. The rogue is a mobile fighter who can tap into hybrid gameplay style or go all-in on either ranged or melee combat.
Lastly, the necromancer wields the power of undeath, being able to summon minions to help them fight against opponents.
Diablo IV will not feature Ancient items, Blizzard hoping the change will encourage a broader range of playstyles. At the moment, Blizzard intends to allow players to earn consumable items that let them give non-Legendary items affixes that would otherwise be found on Legendary gear.
Mythic items, the stronger tier available, will likely be sought thanks to their powerful stats, although you can only equip one at any given time. Item sets will also make a return in Diablo IV but will play a smaller role than they did in Diablo III.
Runes and runewords are another facet of customization that players can engage with. Inspired by Diablo II's system, Diablo IV will feature two types of runes that, when combined, create a runeword. These runewords act as an enchantment of sorts, giving items new capabilities. Our deep dive into runes and runewords has more details on how they will work.
Players will also be able to freely customize their skill slots in order to create the build that they want.
Diablo IV departs from previous entries by having a shared world that players can traverse using mounts. As you roam around its five regions, you'll encounter other players that you'll be able to party with to complete quests, world events and farm gear. Enemy level scales so the open world itself won't have difficulty levels.
The game's over 150+ dungeons, on the other hand, are instanced and can be tackled solo or in a set party. Upon entering, you'll be able to select a difficulty level. Similarly, certain campaign-relevant areas will only be accessible to you or your party.
Strongholds are locations that you'll initially find overrun with the Burning Hell’s minions. Clearing them rewards loot, repopulates them and can also reveal new dungeons and "other hidden experiences."
The shared nature of the world, sadly, means that Diablo IV will not be playable offline. Crossplay is confirmed to be available on launch, and Diablo IV will also feature microtransactions, although we don't yet know their exact nature.
Diablo IV won't feature different-sized items, which is good news for anyone dreading the inventory Tetris of the first two entries in the series.
Alongside the traditional keyboard & mouse, Diablo IV will also support controllers on PC. To this extent, the game's UI will be more unified and make more use of grid-based layouts that provide optimal navigation on both control methods without limiting one or the other.
Diablo IV's monsters will be classified in families made up of different archetypes. Each family has its own combat style, its different archetypes fulfilling different roles.
As an example, the Drowned family includes the following archetypes: bruiser, ranged combat, melee combat, swarmer, and dungeon boss. Where swarmers strike in groups, bruisers are large foes with sizeable health pools. In combat, melee units can also act as shields for their ranged peers.
Aside from the Drowned and the Fallen, Diablo IV introduced the Cannibals as its third monster family. A gruesome bunch of humans with a taste for flesh and grotesque dismemberment, their family is made up of four archetypes that focus on melee combat.
The Cannibals' two standard melee units wield a two-handed cleaver with a slow, sweeping frontal attack and a light halberd which allows them to close in distance by leaping towards players. Their bruiser wields two spiked maces which can stun players, while their swarmers dual-wield axes capable of fast attacks which can quickly prove lethal to a stunned player.
Diablo IV's different monster archetypes will challenge players not just through their different abilities but also through the way in which they synergize with each other.
Horse customization is also confirmed as a feature while certain areas of the map will let players engage in PvP.
The Occultist is an NPC that will allow players to transfer Legendary Powers from one item to another, destroying the first in the process. The +Skill Rank affix is also making a comeback, both buffing existing skills and letting you try out those you haven't unlocked yet.
Diablo IV's progression will also involve the Paragon Board, an evolved version of Diablo III's Paragon system.
Unlocked at level 50, each class starts at the central starting tile of its intro board, charting a path through tiles of different rarities that impart bonuses until it reaches a gate tile.
At that point, you can select another board to explore while targeting particular bonuses. Rare and Legendary tiles sound like particularly important targets, granting your character additional powers.
Socket tiles then let you slot in glyphs that grant benefits based on the number of active tiles in their radius. You can extend this radius by leveling up glyphs in some of the game's harder dungeons.
As far as Diablo IV's endgame goes, Nightmare Dungeons see you battling enhanced demonic adversaries while new objectives and extra afflictions further increase difficulty.
The Tree of Whispers is another endgame system that provides "frequently cycling world objectives and bounties that reward you with Legendary gear, experience, crafting materials, and more," according to the developer.
When announcing the closed endgame beta, Blizzard also revealed the Helltide feature which brings region-wide events that empower demons.
Defeating these stronger opponents has a chance to drop Cinders, which you can use to open Helltide Chests. They reward "bountiful boons exclusive to a singular item slot." Cinders are dropped upon death and need to be reclaimed, so hoard them with caution.
Diablo 4 System Requirements
Diablo IV's system requirements remain unknown, which isn't all that surprising, considering it's nowhere close to launch.
Details about Diablo IV's system requirements are likely to trickle in as the game's currently unknown release date draws closer. We'll update this section once we know more. That being said, Blizzard titles are known for being rather lax when it comes to the required hardware.
Where can you buy Diablo 4 and how much does it cost?
Diablo IV is developed simultaneously for PC and consoles but as it's not currently available for sale, we don't know much about its price. Unless the industry goes through large changes in the years leading up to release, we expect the title to cost the usual 59,99€.
As for where you can purchase Diablo IV from, it'll likely be available on Blizzard's own Battle.net store and on the official console stores.
Diablo 4 Trailer
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