[BlizzCon 2021] Diablo 4 developers explain why PVP doesn’t have to be fair

Although Diablo 4 may not be released in 2021, we still learn more about the game at BlizzCon 2021.

Diablo 4 developers gave a press conference on Friday. Among other things, they revealed many details about how Diablo 4’s player versus player (PVP) system will work. The new system emphasizes organic combat experiences rather than a sense of pure justice, a point that the developers made very clear at the press conference.

How Diablo 4’s Open World PVP Will Work

All of Diablo’s open-world PVP opportunities exist within the fields of hatred. Hate fields are areas of the upper world that have been cursed by Lillith. In these areas, you can kill enemies and open chests that will leave shards of unclean hatred. You can purify these fragments of hate in the purification areas that are also located within the hate fields.

“Diablo 4 being our first open world diablo game, we are really trying to embrace what that could mean,” explained Diablo 4 systems designer Joe Piepiora. “For PVP and Sanctuary, we have these areas that are called hate camps, which are open-world PVP areas. But they are full of monsters, events, chests to find, rare elites to kill, and all the regular traps you expect to find across the upper Diablo 4 world. ”

When inside the fields of hatred, players can choose to brand themselves as hostile. When hostile, you can attack other players, but it will also be marked as dangerous for all players you encounter. There is no way for players to force other players to become hostile by mistake, so becoming hostile will always be a decision that players will make.

“If I become hostile when walking through the fields of hatred, all the other heroes will see me as an enemy,” declared Piopiora. “They can come together and attack me. I’m taking a risk, it’s the kind of high-risk, high-reward gameplay we’re looking for as part of the PVP overworld. “

Using your hate fragments in Diablo 4

Once purified, you can use fragments of hate to purchase special PVP items from in-game vendors. Although the items do not improve the player’s stats in any way, they function as a form of bragging rights and prestige. To maintain their meaning, items cannot be traded either, so if someone has a specific PVP item, they have won it.

However, clearing fragments is not an easy task, as many players will be hunting for targets to kill.

“While you are [purifying your shards of hatred] other players can cross paths with you, creating this anxiety when you’re in the PVP overworld, where you don’t know if another player will help or harm you, ”said Piopiora. “You can easily work alongside the players you encounter in the hate fields, or they can become hostile and come and attack you. If they are able to kill you, all the unclean fragments of hatred you carried will fall, and they will be able to take them away from you and move on on their merry way. “

A PVP system not designed to be fair

The developers were thrilled to share that this PVP system was not designed with fairness in mind. Instead, the goal of the Diablo overworld PVP system is to introduce a sense of risk and an extra layer of challenge into the game for players who want it.

“One of the first emphases of the PVP in Diablo 4 was to try to erase the idea that the PVP needs to be fair,” explained Piopiora. “I know it can be a scary thing to say to people. When you think about open-world PVP, you don’t always arrive in front of an enemy in an ideal circumstance with your cooldowns available to you, and you are in full health, with your potions and everything. Sometimes you can even be in combat with another creature. We think the ebb and flow of this type of PVP combat really looks great in Diablo 4 right now. “

The environment will also impact PVP situations. Based on their class, construction and terrain type, players will experience a dynamic form of combat where no two situations are exactly alike. Or at least, that is the developer’s goal with the new system.

“We are not trying to suggest that all classes should be exactly parallel when starting from one another’s fixed position,” said Piopiora. “It is never clear who is going to win a combat encounter. We want to make sure that there are many circumstances in the environment that allow players to feel that they can succeed in some situations and fail in others, and always feel that there is an opportunity the next time they come back to play. “

With more emphasis on the world itself, your class ends up playing a significant role in determining your chances of winning a particular PVP fight.

“Another big difference between Diablo 4 and the previous titles is the verticality that we added,” said Careena Kingdom, main animator for Diablo IV. “A barbarian can actually jump off a cliff as opposed to someone else who has to go down the side of the cliff. It is a variety of very interesting methods that you can hunt in these PVP areas. “

Although the developers have revealed a significant amount of information about their asymmetric PVP system, there is still a lot to learn about the full details. We can expect more information about the Diablo 4 PVP system in the near future.