This guest article examines the sex appeal of the female characters thus far revealed in Diablo III, and contrasts them to the hordes of bikini-clad bimbos seen in fantasy RPGs such as Everquest and World of Warcraft. Why doesn’t Diablo III have pin up-style girls like those other games? Is it a pro or a con that Diablo doesn’t have sexy night elves and bodacious human mages? Would you like to see such characters in D3, or do you prefer the greater level of “realism,” such that while the characters (male and female) might sometimes wear little more than fur briefs and armbands, at least they look crazy while they’re doing it?

Click through for the image and link-packed article, and add your thoughts in the comments.

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A lot of work has gone in to polishing up the Witch Doctor article enough to be properly introduced (once again). Following the facelift of the Wizards, but it's finally finished. For now.

Our dear Witch Doctor was the second class to be introduced, a few minutes after the Barbarian (who is still awaiting his face lift). It's been argued he is the replacement for the Necromancer of Diablo II, which has been denied by Blizzard. Just dealing with the dead does not make a Necro! His focus is more combat oriented, with flaming skulls, locust swarms and flaming bats, but also includes a little bit of undeath with his (in)famous wall of zombies.

He has travelled all the way from Teganze in the Torajan Jungles, arriving in Tristram as an untrusted character, just in time to stop The Skeleton King.

Whether you just are a fan of the ol' Necro, or want to send exploding toads on people, the Witch Doctor in our new and polished iteration!


P.S.
If you have time to help out in the wiki, add more pictures to articles from the Diablo 3 gallery! We even have a nice help page for how to add all sorts of pictures. Leave a comment here, or e-mail if you need further help.

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Returning to the Fury thread we covered yesterday, Bashiok answered a couple of more questions about the Barbarian’s distinctive glowing balls.  Does PvP get considered in Fury development?

	Blizzard Quote:
	Yes.

A fan who knows where to find the info cited a few of the known skills that affect Fury regeneration.

Slower fury degeneration:
http://www.diablowiki.net/Berserker_Skill_Tree#Bad_Temper

Increase fury gain rate, but also damage taken:
http://www.diablowiki.net/Berserker_Skill_Tree#Enrage

Increase fury generation rate after a making a critical hit:
http://www.diablowiki.net/Berserker_Skill_Tree#Savage

An effort that earned a reply from Bashiok:

	Blizzard Quote:
	Thanks shark, yeah there are abilities that alter fury generation, degeneration, and how and when it’s gained. Those skills are a bit outdated but the general mechanic intentions persist. Regarding someone’s question on getting into a battle on a cold start (no fury), there is Enrage, an ability that grants a bubble of fury and increase fury generation. Kind of similar to Bloodrage for Warriors in WoW if that helps you. So you can pop enrage (lolinsidejokelol?) and then be able to get in and start using at least one ability instantly. Regarding fury cost and someone implying that everything is going to cost tons of fury, right now there’s only one ability that costs more than a single bubble. Even still, if you’re surrounded, you cleave, that costs a bubble but the damage you’re taking while you cleave and the damage you caused with the cleave is usually enough to cleave again immediately.

Personally, I think Fury is a cool concept. The mana costs of skills became irrelevant at higher levels in D2, with good equipment and leech. With Fury the Barbarian will always have to pay some attention to his skill-powering resource, and that seems a useful tool to add to the development team’s game balancing arsenal.

I think we all assumed that all of the D3 characters would repeat the health/mana style seen in D2. And the barb did, initially. (The Wiz and WD work just like D2 casters did.) The Barb’s change to Fury was made fairly recently, and how Fury will work is an ongoing design issue.  What about the other D3 characters, though? The 4th and 5th characters seem certain to be physical combat-oriented, with 2 casters in the game already. How might their skills be powered?  Will they be like the D2 combat characters were? Will they use Fury? Or something else, perhaps a sort of hybrid between mana and fury? Would you guys like to see a new control scheme for the remaining characters, or a return to the same style we saw in D2?

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Someone who clearly hasn’t visited our massively-informative wiki page asked how works the Barbarian’s Fury. Bashiok must have just finished an extra good burrito for lunch, since he gave a long, point by point reply with a lot of good general info about Fury, as well as some nice specifics on how the costs are handled now that the Fury bulb is the 3 stacked “traffic light” system, rather than the single large bulb they were using as of last year’s Blizzcon.

	Blizzard Quote:
	What are your specific questions on fury? As someone else said BlizzCast 8 gives some general information on it (mostly from an art angle) so I’d recommend listening to that first. I can probable give some examples of how it’s working right now though if you have specific questions. Just understand it’s still a system that’s in the process of development. Okay. How much fury does each skill cost? As an example. Bashiok: They require fury in amounts of full fury globes. So the most one can cost is 3. Does each ability cost a full globe? Bashiok: Yes, currently abilities that do cost fury cost one or more full fury “globes”. Don’t get the term ‘fury globe’ too stuck in your brain though, there’s going to be an official name for them and it may not be globe. Do abilities cost a portion of each globe? Bashiok: There aren’t and probably won’t be abilities that cost a portion of a fury ... ball. I’m going to call them fury balls. Wait ... no ... that’s a terrible idea. Are the globes valued numerically, similar to rage, and the abilities cost a “number” of Fury? Bashiok: Right now they actually are, but that’s because it’s sort of mid-transition from an old fury system. They’ll simply be shown and referred to in ability cost as full globes. At least that’s the current thought. As I said it’s still a system and game in development, and any of this can change entirely. This is just a peek into the current workings. Does fury deteriorate over time? Bashiok: Yes. Is fury cost affected by skill growth (adding more points to a skill). Bashiok: I don’t know of any abilities that do right now but it’s always a possibility for balance later. When you use a fury skill, does the damage dealt serve to recharge your fury (meaning that you could theoretically have a net zero fury cost when attacking crowds)? Bashiok: It does, but of course it’s subject to change. How many dots of fury (dots, yes) does the ground stomp cost? If three, I can see people holding it for when they need it, and not using any other skills to conserve fury. Bashiok: It doesn’t cost any fury, but it does have a cooldown. On that note, is 3 the absolute maximum? Or can you go a little over 3, like 3.9 or something, so you’ll get a full bubble soon after? If 3 is the hard max, then you’d have to use a 3 dot skill immediately before it decays to 2.999 or something. Bashiok: Fury decay doesn’t happen that quickly. There’s a grace period in there before it starts ticking down. Appreciate the info on the system as it stands bash, and if my deductive skills are working properly one could assume that there will be skills that dont use the fury system, such as ground stomp. Could you give us an idea of one that would use fury? how powerful will these skills be? Bashiok: Ground stomp is an exception mainly because of the nature of its use. A cooldown allows it to be used as an “oh crap I’m overwhelmed” ability without also requiring you to have fury built up. Most if not all straight attack abilities like cleave, leap attack, whirlwind, etc. have fury costs, in addition to most ‘buff’ abilities.

One more late addition, when a fan asked about how quickly Fury would build up.

	Blizzard Quote:
	Fury is also built from incoming attacks. If you’re in a moderate sized scuffle you can unleash abilities pretty regularly. The animation that was shown in BlizzCast was made in a test environment, using a single weapon and attacking stationary (and non-attacking) zombies. So it built up fairly slowly, but nice and consistent for the video, which was the point. In a normal game, and as the barbarian especially, you’re quite often surrounded and the balance of normal attacks/fury gen/special ability use feels quite nice.

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A fan cut out the gory and gruesome decorations in a number of Diablo 3 screenshots, compiled them into one big image, and posted it as evidence that Diablo 3 would indeed be a bloody game, as D1 and D2 were. (This isn’t news to anyone who played D3 at Blizzcon last year. See the Horror page in the wiki for a lengthy comment on this aspect of the game, from a fan who went into Blizzcon with some concerns about how it would be handled.) Bashiok is pro-gruesome.

	Blizzard Quote:
	Heh, if people think there isn’t enough gore… you ain’t seen nothing yet. This is Sanctuary. Demons and evil cults still really like torture and putting bodies on pikes.

Elsewhere, someone asked about some variation in the coloration of the Fallen Hounds. Bashiok replied succinctly:

	Blizzard Quote:
	There are generally multiple variations within a species.

How about a quick update on D2X v1.13 patch progress? Any details to share, Bashiok?

	Blizzard Quote:
	Not really. Work on the patch was put on hold for a while due to higher priority issues, but it commences, and it is nearing.

Another fan wants more new stuffs, and asks if Blizzard will be revealing the fourth class at Blizzcon this year. Bashiok equivocates, gets called on it, and turns his PR-speak into an art form.

	Blizzard Quote:
	The mere occurrence of an event such as BlizzCon doesn’t truly dictate what will or will not be shown. We obviously want to put on a good show, and entertain those in attendance as well as reveal new information about our titles currently in development, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the information we reveal will include a class announcement. That was a great way off typing something, and saying absolutely nothing. Bashiok: That’s why I get paid the big bucks. Lots of words to say nothing really, and diplomatically lower expectations at the same time. Well done. /bow

I don’t really understand Blizzard’s approach to publicity and announcements these days. For instance, they never confirmed that D3 would be playable at Blizzcon last year. The first actual confirmation about that came from the goodie bag, which included a map of the floor, with one playing area labeled “Diablo III.”  Likewise, (as best I remember) the first confirmation of a third character came in some other info in the goodie bag, which listed one of the presentations as focused on the 3rd character. Now obviously Blizzard knew they’d have playable D3 at the show months in advance. They had to set up literally thousands of computers, design the signs and banners, map out the show floor, plan events for attendees, organize the panels, etc. So why didn’t they ever announce it, if only to whet our interest for cool stuff at an already sold out show? It’s like they’re taking their painfully-arrived-at “when it’s done” approach to game release dates and over applying it to everything else.

I have no inside info on this topic, but I’ll boldly predict, with 99% certainty, that we’ll see the 4th character revealed at Blizzcon. Which will it be? Now that’s the real question, isn’t it?

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Just like we did a proper update on the Quests this Monday, we're now putting the magnifying glass on the three classes revealed so far. First off is the latest class, the Wizard.

The Wizard is really the second class closely resembling a Diablo II ditto, after the Barbarian, even if she has a new nickname. The Wizard is a Sorceress, but with a little chaotic and arcane edge to her spells. She does the elemental stuff like a pro, but since she learned a thing or two in the Ancient Repositories she's also wielding arcane and a time-altering magics.

In Jay Wilson's own words, she's a Sorceress with a little pen & paper RPG feel. A lot like my halfling sorcerer in my Monday D&D sessions.

So, regardless if you love Sorceresses, or the classic Disintegrate spell from D&D, make sure you check out the new and updated Wizard!


P.S.
If you want to help out in the wiki, feel free to add more pictures to the Wizard's media gallery, from Diii.net's!

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Bashiok hopped onto a few forum threads today.

A good question about the Wizard:

	Blizzard Quote:
	The one thing i remember about the sorc ..pregear.. in D2, was the shortage of mana you almost always had. Of course, you had mana potions to help with it, but it always seemed like you were just aching for the next mana potion to drop so you could grab it and use it. I can see a very similar trend in D3 with mana orbs. So why not give the sorc a spell that gives back mana. In the sorc vid, you can see she has a melee attack [Spectral Blade], that looks like blueish green claws (or something). This melee attack requires the sorc be close to an enemy, and could easily be given the effect, “generates ‘x’ mana” for each hit. Kind of like a mana leech. I feel like this would allow the sorc to be more versatile. Who knows…maybe that skill already has that effect. If it does great. If not, i think it should be considered. Bashiok: Obviously it’s just too early to say the wizard does or does not have mana issues, that all comes down to balancing and fine tuning, and ideally of course the goal is that each class is very playable and not frustrating. Especially at early levels. Mana orbs are actually the product of a passive skill in the wizard’s arcane tree. Since we can’t guarantee people will get that skill I don’t think it can ever really become the deciding factor in mana regen. It is an early skill in that tree though, easy to pick up, and sure to be helpful.

The issue of mana regeneration was something I stressed in my Wizard write up after Blizzcon. Playing alone in a multiplayer game I was constantly out of mana and found myself forced to retreat while casting spells the instant enough regenerated to fight with. There were no mana globes dropping in the Blizzcon build (Mana Recovery was a level 10 spell, and like all spells of that level, was impossible to use at Blizzcon) and I wanted them, or at least the ability to put my attribute points into a stat that would have added mana. However, as Bashiok says, it’s way too early in the balancing process to say if mana regen is too slow, too fast, or goldilocks.

 

A long question with a curious title (“not” does not mean the same thing as “naught”) about wasted development resources leading to cheating and hacking yields a pithy reply from Bashiok:

	Blizzard Quote:
	Diablo III is not being developed in the late 90’s.

 

A question about cooperative play suggests an odd party-boosting game mechanism that’s not entirely to Bashiok’s liking, though he sympathizes with the concept:

	Blizzard Quote:
	As monsters become more powerful as players join the game, players themselves should be more powerful by working together. +1 Skills to All per person in your group. Since there is a max of 4 people(?) per game, this will give you +3 Skills to All. Bonus only works if you’re near your party. Its an incentive for people to want to play and work as a group. I’m not sure that’s the right way to go about it, but the cooperative game definitely centers on keeping players together. Encouraging them to stay near each other, and helping them get back together should they be separated. There are many ways to do both, not all of them are the right answer.

What level were the characters in the gameplay trailers?

	Blizzard Quote:
	It’s kind of irrelevant what level they were as the trailers were essentially staged performances. Not that they weren’t indicative of actual gameplay, but we weren’t leveling up actual characters, picking up actual dropped gear, etc. The BlizzCon playable demo, where people could wait in line then actually play the game, for that people started at I believe level 5.

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Bashiok fielded a nit-picky question today, about the Barbarian’s appearance. “If the barbarian in D3 is supposed to be an older version of the same D2 Barbarian, what happened to his tattoos?” Bashiok’s three-word reply:

	Blizzard Quote:
	It was warpaint.

This sounded like retconning to me, but looking at the official D2 Barbarian artwork... Bashiok appears to be correct. The only marking on the Barbarian in the original Diablo II character design is the blue streak that runs up his chest and over his face and head. He’s unmarked in the earliest concept art. Not until Blizzard added the high fantasy-style character portraits to their website, long after the game’s release, did we see a Barbarian with tattoos and other such details (but no blue stripe warpaint, oddly).

This Barbarian (seen to the right) clearly has tattoos to match his um… enhaned fashion sense, and perhaps the most amazing unique shin guards ever seen outside of a Bruno film, but while that artwork can probably still be considered canon, it’s more of a reinterpretation of the classic look, and clearly doesn’t match the character in the game.

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Bashiok returned to an earlier post about the characters in Diablo III, and added a lot more info. What he says is shadowy (hidden) and open to various interpretations, so we welcome fans to share their own ideas here.  Jay Wilson had revealed in a interview many months ago that there were plans for expansions and that some of the Diablo II classes would return in the expansions.  Bashiok mentioned in this new thread plans for some classes in “expansions”, and something particularly teasing about other spells we don’t know yet about for the Witch Doctor.

In addition, Bashiok says that fans think the Witch Doctor is to replace the Necromancer or resemble it, but that we should see the flavor he brings.  This makes me think that the Witch Doctor will be the healer in a coop gameplay team.  That’s my personal hunch. Which leaves the two remaining unannounced classes to be something very interesting in the DPS department. Feel free to share your possible classes.

	Blizzard Quote:
	... there are a few archetypes of classic fantasy characters. Expecting us to do something completely outside of those archetypes for the sake of trying to be original is unnecessary, and would probably lead to something that’s just ridiculous and not fun, or difficult to design - let alone balance. I’m more than happy with you expressing your opinion, and as I summed it up yes essentially your opinion was that you wanted more originality. That’s fine, but I was just saying the way in which it was presented was practically inedible. Well, I’m not sure I can discuss much more without showing our hand. But! I think we’ll have at least one class in the game that will appeal to everyone. And that’s sort of the goal with the core game, hit those main archetypes that everyone can identify with. “Hey, a Wizard… I’m pretty sure I know what that’s all about without even seeing it.” Any potential expansions are probably where you’d try out something not of a core archetype like, say, an assassin or druid. ;P The witch doctor is a bit riskier, and I think sometimes written off as just a twist on the necromancer, but no one has really seen most of his abilities and the flavor he brings. He still has a lot left for people to discover.—source

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Bashiok chimed in on a few threads today. None were especially game-related, but you might find them of some interest.  Here they are, in ascending, or possibly descending, order.

Someone requested multiple D3 forums, including ones focused on PvP, PvM for a start. Bashiok’s reply was short and unambiguous.

	Blizzard Quote:
	Nah.

If only there were a D3 site with lots of moderated forums focused on specific elements of the game? *cough*

Elsewhere, a guy noticed something we posted about months ago; that Tyrael has improved “wings” on the official D3 site. Bashiok made several emoticon-rich replies, before concluding with a short statement:

	Blizzard Quote:
	About the wings, it was simply a style change on how we want angel wings to look in the game. The website was updated with the latest design so it all matches up.

Another post asks where were you when you first heard about Diablo III. Bashiok replies, though he answers where he was when “we” first heard about it, not where “he” was.

	Blizzard Quote:
	I was center stage about third row back at WWI, biting my nails, bouncing my legs nervously, hoping people would like what they saw. It was all too emotional, I kept telling myself “it’s just a game!” so I wouldn’t throw up or start bawling. Both were imminent.

Finally, some guy had a lot to say about the D3 characters, though it’s hard to say if he’s just trolling, since his post is more rant than argument. He’s annoyed at the Archivist joke, and doesn’t like the existing D3 characters, but offers no realistic alternatives or reasons the Wizard, Witch Doctor, and Barbarian = teh suck, other than that he doesn’t like them. An excerpt from his very long, rambling post:

My point blizzard is that if you want to have only 5 classes you -can’t- have them be the Amazon and the Paladin.

That just isn’t a good game, and it is doomed to failure.

The three classes you have released to us so far have been the Barbarian, who is from Diablo 2, where he was the spiritual heir to the Warrior of Diablo 1.
Fail.

The Wizard, a renamed Sorceress who was a femal Sorcerer. Diablo 1.
Fail.

The Witchdoctor, who is the Necromancer and I guess some scraps of the druid it looked like. Hahaha.
Fail.

You are out of options dudes.

I mean, you -HAVE- to advance your franchise, or it will die. Austin Powers is the proof of this, right? Like all bad franchises, just feeding on its own gut.

Bashiok replied briefly, and then added a few more thoughts later on. I’m not sure I agree with him, but since I kind of zoned out trying to TLDR through the rambling original post, I’ll withhold my own judgment.

	Blizzard Quote:
	*phew* Ok let me sum that up for myself and everyone else - “The classes shown thus far are not unique enough”. ...Obviously not, but ... come on, that post was all over the place. Go look at it. Don’t even read it, just look at the formatting. It’s spilling crazy all over the floor it’s so full of crazy. Anyway, there are a few archetypes of classic fantasy characters. Expecting us to do something completely outside of those archetypes for the sake of trying to be original is unnecessary, and would probably lead to something that’s just ridiculous and not fun, or difficult to design - let alone balance. I’m more than happy with you expressing your opinion, and as I summed it up yes essentially your opinion was that you wanted more originality. That’s fine, but I was just saying the way in which it was presented was practically inedible.

Update: Bashiok returned to add another, much more substantial reply about the D3 characters, which you can read here.

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