Diablo Immortal is a real Diablo game and the alpha starts today

On Thursday, Blizzard announced plans to launch Diablo immortal‘s “technical alpha” test in certain parts of the world – initially Australia. This announcement comes two years after Blizzard debuted Immortal, the Diablo game for phones, at BlizzCon 2018. With its forthcoming release, Blizzard published a series of blog posts about the game and how it works.

Based on the blogs and a preview event with Blizzard on Monday, Diablo immortal seems to be a mix between Diablo 3 and a free to play giant online multiplayer game. It’s still all about killing monsters, improving skills, and equipping the best loot you can.

During the alpha test, players will have access to the Monk, Wizard, Barbarian and Demon Hunter classes, with the Necromancer and Crusader appearing with the full release of the game. Each of these classes has familiar skills – rebuilt for phones – and some new ones. Blizzard said it also has potential plans for more classes at a later date.

In terms of gameplay, Diablo immortal uses touch controls on your phone, with a joystick on the left and buttons to cast skills and attack on the right. Players hack and hack through huge hordes of monsters, complete quests to advance the story, or enter Rifts.

Rifts are random dungeon romp where players must kill enemies to fill a progress bar and then battle a final boss; they look identical to the Nephalem Rifts in Diablo 3. Immortal will also have Challenge Rifts, which are more difficult, but offer bonus rewards on initial completion, as well as weekly leaderboard positions.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

in contrast to Diablo 3, Diablo immortal has more of an MMO feel. Players can group into groups to do Rifts, Dungeons, and Quests, but there are also random players running around the world. Players may encounter other players fighting monsters or a massive world boss.

The alpha test limits access to the first 45 levels of Diablo immortal – Blizzard told us in a Q&A that they still determine the final max level of the game, but at the max level, players start to earn Paragon ranks. Instead of points that players can place in stats, Paragon uses Immortal let players speculate in unique skill trees.

Diablo immortal will be free to play. Blizzard says all gear can be earned by playing the game, but that Diablo immortal also offers in-app purchases.

Players have the option to purchase items such as Crests to customize Rifts with positive and negative effects. Those buds will increase the rewards in Rifts and possibly guarantee that certain types of items can fall, such as Legendary Gems. Players can also earn in-game peaks, although Blizzard hasn’t specified how.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard also sells what it calls Reforging Stones, which players can use to refine parts of their gear in specific ways – while free players would rely more on luck to get a perfectly rolled item. Diablo immortal will also include a Battle Pass system, which has both a free and paid number.

Content such as quests, equipment, lessons, and stories are all free, Blizzard says.

Diablo immortalThe tech alpha should be rolled out in Australia soon, with priority for Android players who pre-registered months ago. This first alpha test is limited and only takes a few weeks. Blizzard still hasn’t announced a definitive release date for Diablo immortal.