Difference between revisions of "Difficulty"
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| − | Diablo III will have three difficulty levels, just like | + | [[Diablo III]] will have three '''difficulty''' levels, just like [[Diablo 1]] and [[Diablo 2]] did. They'll even still be called '''normal/nightmare/hell'''. |
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| + | ==Level of Difficulty== | ||
| + | How hard they will be remains to be seen, and hasn't been much discussed by the [[D3 team]]. It's likely they haven't planned it out in that much detail; difficulty balancing is usually one of the later details to finalize, since it requires almost everything to be finished in the game and then extensive play testing. | ||
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| + | We do know that many of the basic game changes in D3 have large effects on the difficulty of the game. There will not be many [[potion]]s, life leech will be quite rare (or non-existant), and most [[heal]]ing will come from [[health globes]]. On the other hand, [[monster]]s won't be full of immunities and blessed with cheesy one-hit kills. The D3 team has discussed this issue several times, and always pointed out that the abundant potions and life leech made D2 characters essentially immortal. [[Death]] came only from cheesy super damaging kills, most of which were bugs, and that's no way to balance a game. | ||
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In D3 they want a much steadier progression of difficulty, so that monsters can be challenging, without being buggy insta-death dealers. The D3 Team has also talked about the difficulty ramping up smoothly. They want normal to be fairly easy, so new players can have success and find their way into the game. The D3 Team doesn't want D3 to be a total cakewalk, since that gets boring too, but they're not looking to turn normal into a tooth and nail struggle to survive. Nightmare and Hell? Perhaps. | In D3 they want a much steadier progression of difficulty, so that monsters can be challenging, without being buggy insta-death dealers. The D3 Team has also talked about the difficulty ramping up smoothly. They want normal to be fairly easy, so new players can have success and find their way into the game. The D3 Team doesn't want D3 to be a total cakewalk, since that gets boring too, but they're not looking to turn normal into a tooth and nail struggle to survive. Nightmare and Hell? Perhaps. | ||
| − | == | + | ==BlizzCon Demo Difficulty== |
| + | The only public play yet on [[Diablo III]] came at the [[BlizzCon 2008|BlizzCon event]], in October 2008. That play time can't be analysed very closely for clues to the difficulty, since the demo was set up easier than the version of the game the D3 team has been testing. New characters started off at level 5 in the demo, even as they took on level 1 monsters. The D3 Team has acknowledged that the early going was fairly simple, and that the difficulty curve will ramp up slowly in the final game, but they do say that the game will become far more challenging on higher levels. | ||
| − | + | How challenging is not a question that can yet be answered, even in the abstract. | |
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| + | [[category:Gameplay]] | ||
| + | [[category:Game terms]] | ||
[[category:basics]] | [[category:basics]] | ||
Revision as of 11:48, 17 November 2008
Diablo III will have three difficulty levels, just like Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 did. They'll even still be called normal/nightmare/hell.
Level of Difficulty
How hard they will be remains to be seen, and hasn't been much discussed by the D3 team. It's likely they haven't planned it out in that much detail; difficulty balancing is usually one of the later details to finalize, since it requires almost everything to be finished in the game and then extensive play testing.
We do know that many of the basic game changes in D3 have large effects on the difficulty of the game. There will not be many potions, life leech will be quite rare (or non-existant), and most healing will come from health globes. On the other hand, monsters won't be full of immunities and blessed with cheesy one-hit kills. The D3 team has discussed this issue several times, and always pointed out that the abundant potions and life leech made D2 characters essentially immortal. Death came only from cheesy super damaging kills, most of which were bugs, and that's no way to balance a game.
In D3 they want a much steadier progression of difficulty, so that monsters can be challenging, without being buggy insta-death dealers. The D3 Team has also talked about the difficulty ramping up smoothly. They want normal to be fairly easy, so new players can have success and find their way into the game. The D3 Team doesn't want D3 to be a total cakewalk, since that gets boring too, but they're not looking to turn normal into a tooth and nail struggle to survive. Nightmare and Hell? Perhaps.
BlizzCon Demo Difficulty
The only public play yet on Diablo III came at the BlizzCon event, in October 2008. That play time can't be analysed very closely for clues to the difficulty, since the demo was set up easier than the version of the game the D3 team has been testing. New characters started off at level 5 in the demo, even as they took on level 1 monsters. The D3 Team has acknowledged that the early going was fairly simple, and that the difficulty curve will ramp up slowly in the final game, but they do say that the game will become far more challenging on higher levels.
How challenging is not a question that can yet be answered, even in the abstract.
