What's New in the Diablo III Beta?
A video walkthrough showing off Blizzard's changes to its ongoing closed beta test.
February 1, 2012
Many of the changes that recently stirred doubts that Blizzard's Diablo III may not make its early 2012 release date window have already been added to the closed beta test. The game is still very much about beating things with weapons until they die and spill treasure all over the ground, but the changes are significant enough to warrant another look.The actual playable content hasn't changed since the closed beta's launch in late 2011. You still smash through an early part of the game then fight the Skeleton King. But many of the upgrade and stat systems have shifted around.
Blizzard still appears to be toying with how active skills are swapped in and out. In Diablo III, you'll eventually unlock six slots to assign active skills and three slots for passive skills. These function as your character build and are easily modified, letting adjust your class' strengths on-the-fly. Initially in the beta it was possible to swap out skills as often as you liked, though Blizzard was concerned this ease of switching encouraged you to play with the skill window open at all times. A later version required you to visit an altar in town to switch skills, locking out your ability to change skills in the field. In the current version of the beta, you can again swap skills whenever you like, though swapping triggers a 30 second cooldown during which swapping is blocked.
Many of the changes are still in-development and could be tweaked further before launch, but other things like the removal of Scrolls of Identification and Scrolls of Companion sound permanent, based on what Blizzard's said in official posts. For an overview of all the changes so far, check out the embedded video.
Other "large systems changes," as game director Jay Wilson called them, are still on the way. Hopefully they're not significant enough to push Diablo III's release date beyond early 2012.
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