A fan brought up a concern about Diablo III weapons in the official forums, wondering if Blizzard would bring back weapons from previous games. The Diablo III Gameplay Video shown at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals and BlizzCon 2008 showed axes, mauls, staffs, wands, and a throwing knife. Bashiok answered in a very jokingly manner. Or was he? It must have been a joke. Or was it half a joke, with some truth? Mind games. I tell ya. Mark Waid is evil, but Bashiok is far more.
 Blizzard Quote: |
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| Cold-Plasma Laser Rifles, and also ones that can hold more ammo than the normal one. | ||
Cold-Plasma Laser Rifles don’t look too Diablo-esque, but a wooden shotgun shooting magical fireballs, or frostbolts would look cool. Boomerangs hitting multiple targets and stunning them for 3 seconds. Laying traps that freeze or explode upon mobs chasing you. A Chainsaw. Guns that shoot a hook attached to a cord to reach high areas or to swing across broken bridges. Crossbows with explosive arrows. A magical-imbued hammer that cracks thunderbolts on every direction when hitting the ground. Now that’s the stuff.
Bashiok has commented on guns once or twice before.
Speculation mode: Would you dig a new Diablo III Gunslinger class? The way I would imagine it—in a Diablo III-esque way that is—would be like Van Helsing with all his bizarre weaponry built up from both science and magic. Van Helsing meets Gnome/Goblin tech, Indiana Jones and Vizjerei spellwork. Would that be appealing at all as a new class? Share your thoughts, and click through to read more of my speculation on this issue.
First and foremost, this article is titled “What If?”, I think those who read Marvel Comics are knowledgeable of the “What If?” comic book series.
This article is also under the categories Humour, DiabLOL, Rumours. I don’t mean to offend anyone with the article, but from time to time fans—myself included—can speculate, and discuss topics of possible classes that haven’t been announced. Blizzard encourages speculations, and enjoy reading them too.
This is a big and old community, and as such it is positive to have this type of discussions and/or debates.
Sure, I remember when it was said there wouldn’t be guns in the game. Same as they said StarCraft 2 was not in development barely a few days before it was officially announced in Seoul. (chuckles)
Despite that, though it was denied a gun class would be developed at that time, many months have passed after that comment. Diablo III is in alpha, which means every day something unexpected may change at any time during the development cycles.
The Emerald Dream for instance was planned to be, and out of nowhere they went on another direction and built Wrath of the Lich King (Northrend).
If there is a gunslinger or hunter class at any point, I would look forward to see what the Diablo III team does with it to fit the Diablo universe.
A Van Helsing-like class would look like a magical cowboy with gothic-vibes. A class that channels his/her powers through weapons or objects.
The Sorceress and Wizard use wands or staves for example. Why would they need a physical tool when a wave of their hands to cast would suffice? I have no idea.
There are actually diffent type of mages in the Diablo Universe.
1. The Necromancers were formerly Vizjerei mages who went on to a different path of magic following the teachings of Rathma.
2. The Vizjerei that have returned to the elemental powers.
3. The Vizjerei who summoned demons such as Bartuc. There are still some zealots nowadays lingering on.
I could see a new class that use weapons to channel their powers in more technological means. Of course, not futuristic-tech, but something more appropriate to the Diablo setting (dark gothic)
Actually, there could be a lore-background to them. We never knew what happened with Horazon. He self-exiled somewhere. This Gunslinger class could be made as mage followers of Horazon who use their magic in this way to attack demons invading Sanctuary as a new line of defense (for example).
As a matter of fact, the Assassin class was formerly created by the Vizjerei mages to hunt corrupted mages. If Horazon was to return, he could bring in his own cadre of followers to defend Sanctuary. He didn’t seem to be as evil as his brother Bartuc.
Here is some lore of the Assassin Class:
In the third century, two brothers rose to dominance from within the ranks of the Vizjerei clan of mages; their names were Horazon and Bartuc. Both were equally powerful and ambitious, and both were fascinated by the power one could obtain through the practice of Demonic Magics; however, the two differed in their views regarding how best to study demons. While Horazon viewed demons as a great source of power, he felt that in order to use that power best, you must harness a demon and bend him to your will. His brother, on the other hand, grew to sympathize with the demonic powers and felt (with no small influence from the demons) that the demonic forces were best understood by allying with the Hellish authorities so their secrets could be shared freely, and that is exactly what he did. Their diametrically opposed philosophies caused a great schism that split the ranks and tore the Vizjerei clan apart.
When at last their fierce rivalry culminated in inevitable violence, the combatants learned too late that they had both been played as pawns by the demonic host. The ensuing battle was so great it set the very firmament aflame, and when it was complete and the stillness of remorse was all that remained, Bartuc lay dead, Horazon had vanished into self-imposed exile, and the Vizjerei had learned a costly lesson. The small surviving group of sorcerers, the remnants of the once-great Vizjerei clan, resolved forevermore to spurn Demonic Magics and set about renewing their studies in the Elemental Magics. To further ensure that a similar tragedy could never happen again, they formed a secret order whose sole purpose was to police the mage clans, destroying corruption wherever they found it. This was the birth of the Viz-Jaq’taar, the Order of the Mage Slayers-otherwise known as the Assassins.
Knowing that such an order might itself be corrupted if exposed to the power of magic, the Vizjerei deemed it of the utmost importance that these Assassins maintain the purest, most focused minds. They should live in meditation and draw their power from within, not from external forces that could easily mask demonic interference. To this end, the Order would not employ the magic arts directly; rather, they would use ingenious devices and enchanted items to battle those possessing great magical powers. To further their campaign against demonic corruption, they concentrated on honing the natural martial abilities of their bodies, both physical and mental.
Because the Order remains veiled in secrecy, few people, even among the mages, know more than rumors about this mysterious organization. Their reputation has been one shrouded in ambiguity. Legends of their stalwart vigilance, and the widespread fear of their retribution, have kept many mages away from the temptations of corruption, so actual sightings have been rare. However, with the reemergence of the Three, and the subsequent increase in demonic manifestations in the world, the Order has shown a greater public presence of late.
