While Diablo 4 may not be released in 2021, we still learned more about the game at BlizzCon 2021.
The developers of Diablo 4 hosted a press conference on Friday. Among other things, they revealed extensive details on how the Diablo 4 player-versus-player (PVP) system will work. The new system emphasizes organic combat experiences over a sense of pure honesty, a point the developers made very clear at the press conference.
All of Diablo’s PvP opportunities in the open world are in the fields of hate. Fields of Hatred are areas of the upper world that have been cursed by Lillith. In these areas you can kill enemies and open chests that will drop raw shards of hatred. You can clear those shards of hatred in areas of clearing that are also within the fields of hate.
“Since Diablo 4 is our first open-world diablo game, we really try to embrace what that can mean,” explains Diablo 4’s systems designer Joe Piepiora. “For PVP and Sanctuary, we have these areas called fields of hatred, which are open-world PVP areas. But they are filled with monsters, events, chests to find, rare elites to kill, and all the regular attributes you expect to find in the Diablo 4 overworld. “
When in the fields of hate, players can choose to mark themselves as hostile. If you are hostile you can attack other players, but you will also be marked as dangerous to any players you encounter. There is no way that players can force other players to accidentally become hostile, so becoming hostile will always be a decision that players make.
“If I get hostile when I go through the fields of hate, any other hero will see me as an enemy,” Piopiora stated. ‘They can all join in and attack me. I’m taking a risk, it’s the kind of high-risk, high-reward gameplay we’re looking for as part of overworld PVP. “
Once cleared, you can use Shards of Hatred to purchase special PVP items from in-game sellers. While the items will not improve player stats in any way, they will act as a form of bragging rights and prestige. Also, to keep their meaning, the items cannot be traded, so if someone has a PVP specific item, they’ve earned it.
However, clearing the shards is not an easy task as many players will be on the hunt for targets to kill.
While you are [purifying your shards of hatred] other players can run into you and cause that fear when you are in overworld PVP, where you don’t know if another player will help or hurt you, ”said Piopiora. You could easily team up with the players you meet on the hate front, or they could get hostile and attack you. If they can kill you, all the unpurified shards of hatred you carried will fall, and they will be able to take it from you and continue on their merry way. “
The developers were delighted to share that this PVP system was not designed with fairness in mind. Instead, the goal of the Diablo overworld PVP system is to introduce a sense of risk and an added challenge to the game for players who want it.
“One of the first emphases of the PVP in Diablo 4 was to obliterate the idea that the PVP should be fair,” explains Piopiora. ‘I know it can be scary to say to people. When you think of an open world PVP, you don’t always land in front of an enemy in an ideal circumstance with your cooldowns all available to you, and you’re completely healthy, with your potions and all. Sometimes you are even in battle with another creature. We think the ebb and flow of those kind of PVP fights feels really great in Diablo 4. “
The environment will also affect PVP situations. Based on your class, build and terrain type, players experience a dynamic form of combat where no two situations are exactly the same. At least that’s the developer’s goal with the new system.
“We’re not trying to suggest that each class should be exactly parallel when they start at a fixed position relative to each other,” said Piopiora. “It is never clear who is going to win in a fight. We want to make sure there are plenty of conditions in the environment, so that players feel like they can succeed in some situations and fail in others, and always feel like there is a chance the next time they come back to play. “
With more emphasis on the world itself, your class ultimately plays an important role in determining your chances of winning a particular PVP fight.
“Another big difference between Diablo 4 and previous titles is the verticality we’ve added,” said Careena Kingdom, Diablo IV lead animator. “A barbarian can actually jump off a cliff, unlike someone else who has to climb the edge of the cliff. It makes for a very interesting variety of methods you can hunt in those PVP areas. “
While the developers have revealed a significant amount of information about their asymmetric PVP system, there is still much to learn about the full details. We can expect more information about Diablo 4’s PVP system in the near future.