Despite some initial hitches, mainly due to the large volume of players, the first open beta on Diablo 4 in early access it was a success. On the other hand, it was dedicated to all those who had pre-purchased the Blizzard title due out next June, and who therefore already had confidence in the new chapter of a series that has made the history of video games, but which in recent years, when it appeared, it was always amid controversy and debate: just think of the early days of Diablo III and its real money auction house or all the fuss raised by the launch of Diablo Immortal. In any case, here we are, and last week we told you about our latest impressions in our test.
Now it's time for a new test weekend, this time open to everyone and with two more classes to play: the Druid and the Necromancer. If you are now approaching the beta, and Diablo in general, here it is 5 things to know to start Diablo 4 they could be useful to you: all you have to do is continue reading while you download the game on your reference console or PC.
1. Why play the open beta?
Why play the open beta? This is a trick question, as there is actually more than one answer. Officially, an open beta would serve to test the game to give Blizzard additional feedback that could help the guys from Irvine refine it in time for the release, which is scheduled for June 6 2023.
In concrete terms, a public beta like this serves to let as many potential buyers as possible try the game, including those who are more skeptical or who are approaching a Diablo for the first time: considering the advertising hype and its fame, expect some long queues at least at the beginning and don't give up if you encounter difficulty playing. The last test also didn't start in the best way, but Blizzard solved the queue problem in a few hours. In any case, squeeze through the beta and try to understand if Diablo 4 is right for you or not: remember that it starts on Friday 24 March at 17pm and ends on 00 March at 27pm.
Another reason to play the open beta if you plan to purchase the game in June is the exclusive rewards which will be unlocked on the account once certain objectives have been achieved: at the moment you may not notice any changes, but in theory these rewards will be available in the final game.
The first reward is a title, Initial Dead/Initial Victim, and is unlocked by reaching the city of Kyovashad with one character: you should be able to do it in half an hour at most, if you take your time. To unlock the other two rewards you will need to bring at least one character at level 20: You will get another title, Early Pioneer/Premature Pioneer, and a cosmetic item, namely the Beta Wolf Bag. Once the open beta ends, you will no longer be able to obtain these collectibles.
2. What does the open beta consist of?
Diablo 4 promises to be a truly enormous game, both in the initial stages and especially in the so-called endgame, and in the open beta you will only have a taste of the complete package, but already now we are faced with a vast title full of activities. In the open beta you will be able to complete Act I of the campaign - which should have six in total - and freely explore the region Shattered Peaks: in reality, you will be able to enter the surrounding areas, but access is prohibited and after a few seconds you will be returned to the borders of the testable region.
In addition to the main missions of the first act of the story, you can also embark on several secondary tasks - marked on the map by exclamation points - and in a whole series of optional activities that you will find more easily by dedicating yourself to the exploration of these snow-capped mountains. The world events and legion events they will occur randomly in some areas, and you can participate, alone or in company, to complete them and get your hands on all kinds of loot.
Remembering that progress will not be imported in the final game - except for the exclusive rewards described above - we can only advise you to explore every nook and cranny. The level of the enemies scales with that of your character, and the difficulty level you choose at the start of the game can be adjusted later in the city of Kyovashad. Look for them shipments: they are entrances that lead to mazes full of enemies, bosses and minibosses where you can increase your level, find lots of loot and win Aspects, special powers that you can imprint on objects.
And don't forget to try the world boss Ashava, the pestilential: will appear first on March 25th at 18pm and 00pm and then on March 20th at 00am and 26am. We advise you to face it together with many other players around level 07, as it is a long and challenging battle, but the rewards will be really interesting.
3. The classes
In the public open beta you can try it five classes, two more than in early access: the roster composed of Barbarian, Enchanter and Cutthroat are added Druid and Necromancer. Fans of the previous Diablo games will recognize these archetypes - and in fact many criticize the fact that Blizzard has not proposed a totally new class - but some innovations differentiate them from the past: each class is characterized by an additional mechanic that makes it truly unique.
The Barbarian, for example, can equip four different weapons and increase the damage he deals with each one simply by using them. His abilities depend on the weapon he holds and at some point the alternation of attack types will even influence his rotations. L'Enchanter, however, can take advantage of the so-called enchantments, passive bonuses that change depending on the spells chosen as well as those put on the bar to actively fight.
Although there are only five classes - but we are sure more will arrive: after all, Diablo 4 is a game-as-a-service designed to last over time with updates - the possibilities for configuring them are many thanks to a complex talent tree in which you will unlock new skills or passive effects by distributing the points earned by leveling up. Each new node unlocked branches two or three times, and individual skills can be upgraded by multiple ranks. Keep in mind that up to level 15 you can reset the chosen configurations for free and as many times as you want, after which you will have to shell out a little gold for each point reset.
The open beta allows you to reach level 25 and continue playing even after: it's an excellent opportunity to try different skill configurations, Aspects and legendaries, without prejudice to the fact that the final game will guarantee an even greater variety of solutions.
4. The power of loot
The first hours on Diablo 4 were not particularly challenging, but if you are totally new to the Blizzard series you might have some trouble, especially if you are not familiar with the game systems proven for many years and are really diving blindly into the dark world of Sanctuary . The first thing you need to know, therefore, is that Diablo 4 is mainly focused on loot, that is, the loot that drops when you defeat enemies, and that each piece of equipment it is characterized by a color that represents its progressive quality level: grey, white, light blue, yellow, orange and green, in this order.
Generally, a higher quality object is better, but by holding down the button to compare it - on PC, for example, the default is Shift/Shift - you can evaluate the differences with your own eyes: remember that the secondary statistics, bonuses and additional powers, although it's nothing you really need to worry about in the first few hours of the game.
If you plan on growing more characters during the open beta, you might consider keeping some items aside that could help them fight better: store them in your personal chest, marked on the map and shared by all the characters in your profile (but belonging to the same category: the Hardcore characters, those who are deleted when they die, make a story in themselves). Otherwise, you could sell the useless items or disassemble them at the blacksmith into materials that you can consume later.
The basic gameplay of Diablo is just this: slaughter hordes of enemies to get your hands on lots of loot, some of which will be completely useless, while others could drastically change your style of play. You will find that the Internet is full of guides explaining the best combinations of equipment and skills, but in these first hours we advise you to discover the game calmly and curiously.
5. The city helps you
Once you reach the city of Kyovashad, the game will gradually begin to unfold a series of secondary missions that unlock various services such as the blacksmith, the alchemist or the occultist: these NPCs will soon become your best friends, starting with thealchemist which we recommend you visit as soon as you have reached level 10. In fact, you will discover a secondary mission that will explain how to use the herbs collected around the Shattered Peaks, making you enhance the potions that you always carry with you: in this way, the potions they will heal you a few more Health Points, and you will probably immediately notice how much difference this makes in some challenging battles. The alchemist also allows you to prepare tonics that will give you interesting bonuses, giving you an edge in combat.
As we said above, the blacksmith it will allow you to recycle useless equipment, but also to upgrade what you prefer with the materials obtained and a little money, as well as to repair it: every time you die, in fact, the equipment deteriorates until it becomes unusable. It shouldn't happen in the middle of an expedition, right?
Remember that you can return to Kyovashad using the city portal: this will allow you to go shopping, empty your inventory and then return to where you left off, but keep in mind that the portal will disappear if you leave the borders of the country, so be careful how you move if you intend to return to the remaining expedition outstanding. The vendors in the city are relatively large, but the items on offer change every few hours so it's always worth a look. Some sellers will exchange the Whispered keys for random objects: it's a real slot machine, because often junk will come out, and sometimes excellent quality objects. You decide whether to risk it or not!
Finally, theoccultist is another important NPC that will allow you to further improve your character once you have become familiar with the different game mechanics. The occultist allows you to imprint an already unlocked Aspect on any object, thus giving it a legendary power that can have a more or less important synergy with class skills. You can also dismantle the legendary items that you no longer use, extracting their powers which you can then imprint on other objects at a later time. From this point of view, Diablo 4 promises to be one of the freest and most layered iterations of the Blizzard series, but we will only find out whether it will hit the mark in the endgame too in June.
