Diablo 3 guide
Even without any news of a new expansion or a sequel on the horizon for Diablo 3, the game is still going strong with a new patch on the horizon, the game’s fourth season of play on the horizon, and some special rewards for players who are also active in Heroes of the Storm. Whether you’re just picking up the game or you’re looking to catch up on the latest news, we’ve got you covered!
Table of Contents
Latest news
 | |
Diablo Season 5 ending April 15It’s that time again: Diablo 3’s Season 5 is coming to an end. This means you have just two more weeks to wrap up your seasonal character and get your seasonal achievements or seasonal armor sets. If you’re like me and completely forgot about the season until just now, that’s still plenty of time to climb the ranks to level 70 (at least with a bit of work). | |
 | Diablo 1’s original design pitch is a gaming time capsuleWhether you played Diablo 1 or not, now you can take a look at this Blizzard classic by reading through its original design document, released this week by designer David Brevik. Interestingly, this document wasn't just the setup for the original game — it also informed the sequels that followed. |
 | Blizzard refreshes Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 for new computersBack when they were released — 2000 for Diablo 2 and 2002 for Warcraft 3 — I loved these games. Diablo 2, especially, I played all the time. But years passed, new games were released, and eventually these classic titles just wouldn’t run on my latest computer. But now, Blizzard has released patches for both that will bring them up to speed with the latest hardware and software. |
 | Vanilla Diablo 3 may be going free to playDiablo 3 has always had a starter edition that let you get to level 12 before shelling out any cash, but now it looks like the game may be free to play up to level 70. Based on several changes to Battle.net’s Diablo store this afternoon it’s pretty clear that something happening… but it’s harder to say what. |
 | Monstrous good times with Bennyfits on TwitchBenny, aka bennyfits on Twitch, has been quietly working his way through Diablo 3 (and a little Hearthstone on the side) for about a week now. He’s pretty new to this whole streaming thing, but Benny isn’t your average streamer — and he’s managed to rack up quite the fanbase in just the short amount of time he’s been around. But Benny is also a monster. |
 | Play alongside Chief Elder Kanai in new Diablo 3 cow levelInside the Ruins of Sescheron in Act 3 of Diablo 3, players could venture into the Immortal Throne Room, where spirits of long-dead Barbarians stood watch over the body of Chief Elder Kanai. Exploring this small corner of Sanctuary, players were told that the time was not yet right — there was nothing you could interact with and nothing to fight in the throne room. Until now. |
 | Diablo 3 Developer Insights: Set DungeonsPatch 2.4.0 brought Set Dungeons to Diablo 3, and today we’ve been given some developer insights behind the process. Introduced as a way to test player skill, playstyles, and provide the ultimate challenge, Set Dungeons add a unique experience to Diablo 3. Alex Sulman, Senior Game Designer and lead on the Set Dungeon project, sheds a little light into the newest additions for players. |
 | How Diablo 3’s engineers tweaked damage numbers to maximize funWe don’t always see the thought that goes into Blizzard’s decision-making process, but the engineers on the Diablo team have given us a peek behind the curtain at something that’s more interesting than you might guess: the numbers. |
 | Diablo 3 previews Patch 2.4’s Greyhollow IslandGreyhollow Island is described as a zone where story is delivered via exploration rather than exposition — a story is told through journals and landmarks, where each player may have their own interpretation of the events which transpired on the island. That method of storytelling is more viable in Adventure Mode than a cast of characters delivering monologues — the player can decide whether or not they care to delve into the mystery of Greyhollow. |
 | Plan your Diablo 3 character with this web appI have notes spread out on skills, passives, specific gear pieces, general tips, and I wish there was a way to collect and connect them all together in one place. I might still have to keep a notebook of general wordy tips around, but Diablo III MVP Monstrous found a solution to my gear and skills set problem -- it's simply called D3 Planner. |
Gameplay guides
 | |
Get into Diablo 3 with the basicsThree years later, despite the warnings that the Diablo franchise is the maker of computer mouse graveyards, my original 2-button mouse still lives, though I admit the plastic has worn off in two fingertip-shaped spots. I might not log into Diablo 3 every day like I do for WoW, but now at Blizzard Watch we have more space to talk about and share the game. We've got you covered (again) for learning the basics of Diablo 3. | |
 | Pick a Diablo 3 class to playWhich Diablo 3 class should you play -- and what makes them any different from the classes you find in WoW? |
 | Surviving in Diablo 3Let's go over the basics of surviving as a Nephalem, because sometimes killing things is slightly less important than surviving in the first place. |
 | Diablo 3 difficulty and game modesSo you've been persuaded to try Diablo 3 (maybe you read about the basics). You've loaded into the game, and now you're faced with the question of what game mode to play. There are many modes of play in Diablo 3 and some of the modes refer to what content you're playing rather than what difficulty. |
 | 9 important Diablo 3 gear statsClass build guides will take care of very specific stats to acquire on gear, but I feel it's important as a Diablo 3 player to understand why we pick the stats we do. Players should be able to experiment with different builds by generally knowing how to support those builds with their gear without needing a precise gearing manual or spreadsheet at hand. |
 | Diablo 3 followers for the solo NephalemYou might want a little help when it comes to killing and controlling monsters or protecting and healing yourself. Or maybe you just want some company on your adventures in Sanctuary, Heaven, and Hell. When you go without other player friends, you have the option of partying with a follower NPC, whose skills you can pick and whose gear you will provide. |
 | Speed leveling in Diablo 3You might be a diehard Nephalem eager to climb the leaderboards once more. You might not have played since the expansion Reaper of Souls came out. Maybe you don’t even play Diablo 3, but you play Heroes of the Storm and you want that fantastic phantom pony. Regardless of how much you’ve played in Sanctuary, when Season 4 starts, we all start at level one. |
 | The short guide to bounties in Diablo 3If you run a lot of bounties, you’ll start to recognize patterns. Many bounty objectives are phrased similarly, and even the bounties of a certain type share similar rewards and environments across their respective Acts. I could fill pages by detailing each bounty in every Act, but I'll save time by talking about the six general types of bounties. |
 | Introduction to artisans in Diablo 3There are three artisans currently in Diablo 3 with a fourth coming in patch 2.3.0. The new patch is bringing some crafting changes with it, like a consolidation of not only materials but also some recipes. |
 | Overview of Kanai’s Cube in Diablo 3Whether in New Tristram, the Hidden Camp, Bastion’s Keep, or the Survivors’ Enclave, you’ll find Zolton Kulle hanging around the waypoint in Adventure Mode as if he were a merchant or artisan — he'll point you to Kanai's Cube, which will let you get all new powers and items. |
Diablo lore
 | |
Know Your Lore: Diablo and the Dark WandererAfter Diablo’s defeat, Aidan held the damaged Soulstone once used to imprison the demon lord, and he decided (perhaps urged by Diablo himself) to attempt to contain the Lord of Terror by using his own body as a prison. Thus, at last, Diablo finally had a host the Lord of Terror could make the most use of. Aidan left Tristram soon after. And the Hells followed hard in his wake. | |
 | Know Your Lore: Diablo, Lord of Terror, in TristramThe true malevolence of the Lord of Terror would be made manifest in how he manipulated the royal line of Khanduras, driving King Leoric mad, possessing his youngest son, and manipulating his eldest into sacrificing himself in a noble but doomed gesture. Aiden, son of Leoric, rightful King of Khanduras would die far from home, an instrument (less even than a pawn) in Diablo’s scheme to destroy the Worldstone. |
 | Know Your Lore: Diablo, the Lord of Terror part 1It's Diablo that we’re concerned with today — Diablo who caused the destruction of Tristram and ended the reign of the kings of Khanduras. Diablo who drove the Dark Wanderer on his path across Sanctuary, awakening the Prime Evils. And it was Diablo whose machinations ultimately saw all the Prime and Lesser Evils contained in the Black Soulstone — and in so doing Diablo became the Prime Evil, with the power of all seven heads of Tathemet once more united in a single being. |
 | Know Your Lore: Diablo’s creation storyToday we’re looking at the origins of the world of Sanctuary, the mortal realm that has seen the machinations of the Prime Evils as well as near-extinction at the hands of Malthael, the former Archangel of Wisdom and current Angel of Death. Well, I say current, but it’s hard to determine if that’s the case — can Death die? Indeed, Sanctuary’s very name is related to the eternal conflict between the angels and demons, because its creation was intended to be exactly that. It was the hoped-for escape, the sanctuary for those angels and demons that had tired of never ending conflict. |
 | Know Your Lore: SanctuaryI don’t know how often I’ll get to do a Diablo KYL, but in continuation of the first one we did, this week we’re talking about the world of Sanctuary. |
 | Know Your Lore: The Burning HellsFrom this whirling nightmare, this bloated ruin of the first evil's corpse crawled the demons. The Burning Hells could in a real sense be said to be the blackened corpse of Tathemet itself, and at the center of the Hells lies the Black Abyss, from which rose the Great Evils. Essentially birthed from the seven heads of Tathemet, there were the three Primes -- Mephisto, Baal and Diablo -- and the four Lessers. |
 | Know Your Lore: The History of the NephalemDespite the presence of Uldyssian and his followers, it was merely a chapter, a small one in a saga that links us from the creation of the world of Sanctuary to the present day. One cannot discuss the Sin War without discussing nephalem, for in a way, the nephalem are far more important to the cosmos than Sanctuary, Inarius or Lilith. More important than the Archangels or Prime Evils. |
 | Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The Nephalem risesFor today's Know Your Lore, we're putting on our tinfoil hat and speculating about the nephalem of Diablo 3. |
 | Know Your Lore: SescheronSescheron, the fallen. Once the most powerful of the cities that served to keep Mount Arreat from unworthy hands, this bastion of the Children of Bul-Kathos endured for countless generations. It was the walls of Sescheron that stood against all comers, and it was those very walls that fell when Baal, the Lord of Destruction, sought the ancient Worldstone for his own destructive ends. Now Sescheron lies destroyed, a ruin waiting exploration and plunder, the barbarians who once served to defend it all but gone. |
 | Know Your Lore: Bul-Kathos and Diablo’s BarbariansThe barbarians of Sanctuary are called this by those who do not understand them or their ancient culture, which was a casualty of the schemes of Baal and the actions of Tyrael. In destroying the Worldstone, they destroyed Mount Arreat and with it the very vigil that the barbarians maintained for countless eons. |
 | Know Your Lore: Speculation and the future of Diablo 3We’ve seen a lot of information on Patch 2.3.0 and the Ruins of Sescheron, but what about beyond? Where else is there to go in the world of Sanctuary, or are we even going to remain there at all? |
 | Know Your Lore: TyraelIn his time, he has served as the Archangel of Justice and sat as Wisdom on the Angiris Council. Once an Archangel, he is now a mortal being, with the limitations of mortality — yet with those limits comes the freedom to act on the mortal plane in a way that the Angels of the Angiris Council are forbidden. |
Join the Discussion
Blizzard Watch is a safe space for all readers. By leaving comments on this site you agree to follow our commenting and community guidelines.
