Interview with the development team about the new element 'Mercenaries' added in 'Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred.' Pay attention to the skills of the roughnecks [gamescom]

The first major expansion pack for the popular action RPG "Diablo IV" (PC / PS5 / Xbox Series X|S / PS4 / Xbox One) "Vessel of Hatred" will be released on October 8th. At gamescom 2024, a game event currently being held in Cologne, Germany, I had the opportunity to interview a developer from Blizzard Entertainment regarding a large expansion pack.

As for "Vessel of Hatred", as mentioned on 4Gamer about the event held in July, it is said that together with Neirel who sealed away the great demon Mephisto, he will expand his legs to the 6th area "Nahantu" . An adventure is depicted.
Nahantu is a jungle area south of Sanctuary that was depicted in Chapter 3 of "Diablo II", and the new class "Spiritborn" that will be added in this work was based here. “It’s .
They have lived in the jungle with long weapons like glaives, and with the help of four types of guardian spirits, "Jaguar", "Eagle", "Gorilla", and "Centipede" , each of them Enjoy a specialized play style.

"Vessel of Hatred" is not far from release, but one of the new features that has been kept secret until now is the "mercenary system." Although it was prepared for "Diablo II" and "Diablo III", this time we will introduce "Shield Bearer" "Rahir" , "Barbarian Clone" "Varyana" , "Cursed Child" "Aldokin" ” , and the “drunken archer” “Subo” , four mercenaries who seem to have one or two quirks. All of them seem to be useful as companions for players.
This time, we will introduce two people: game director Brent Gibson, who has been involved in the development of this DLC for a long time, and system designer Aislyn Hall, who have been involved in the development of this DLC for a long time, focusing on the mercenary system. I've been asked to talk to people about it, so I'd like to introduce it to you.

Brent Gibson (right), game director of "Vessel of Hatred", the first major expansion pack for "Diablo IV", and system designer Aislinn Hall

4Gamer：
At this event, I had the opportunity to play the "Vessel of Hatred" Spiritborn for about 45 minutes, and it was a class that was extremely fast and powerful. I played a little bit with Jaguar Tribe, and the build seems to be a hybrid of Druid and Barbarian...

Brent Gibson:
It depends on what specs you play with. If you want to specialize in attack speed and enjoy close combat, choose "Jaguar", if you want to focus more on damage and agility, choose "Eagle", if you want to play defensively, choose "Gorilla", and use poison to take time. If you want to kill a group of enemies by using "Centipede", etc.

The Spiritborn is the most customizable class in the "Diablo" series, and if you like Barbarian-like play, you may want to assign it to more aggressive skills.
What we came up with when designing this class was the concept of a "hybrid class." Incorporating elements from various classes actually tends to result in a generic build, so making adjustments to make Spiritborn feel fresh while still emphasizing its uniqueness was surprisingly difficult.

Aislin Hall:
Our goals, as Gibson just mentioned, are to create a "hybrid type" where players can enjoy changing play styles by finely distributing skills, and to create a "hybrid type" where players can enjoy changing play styles by allocating skills in detail, as well as to create a new version of Nahantu, which is the first time since "Diablo II" that we have visited in a long time. The idea was to create a character that matched the jungle.
The character class is a very important element in experiencing the series, and the Spiritborn are people who have survived in a jungle full of hatred through their faith in Mephisto.
Each skill is different, but they complement each other, and you can play with any combination, and as you play, you will be able to build combinations that suit your play style. You can make it.

4Gamer：
Especially the sense of speed of the game, I thought, ``Huh? Isn't it more exhilarating?'' What is the basis of game design?

Mr. Gibson:
I agree. That sense of speed was something we paid great attention to when developing Diablo IV. We didn't really know how smoothly gamers wanted the game to play, so we adjusted the balance to the point where everyone would feel most comfortable at that point in time. .
However, in Vessel of Hatred, you can play at a speed that even exceeds the "limit value" that we originally envisioned, so we're looking forward to seeing how you feel about it. Masu.

4Gamer：
I get the impression that fan ratings for "Diablo IV" are gradually increasing as each season passes, but what was your motivation for developing this DLC?

Mr. Gibson:
yes. We are happy to see that gamers' evaluations have improved, but in reality, Vessel of Hatred was something that we at the detachment team had been planning to design since before the main game was released. The world of this series is so large that it can no longer be contained in one game. This time it's Nahantu, but ultimately our goal is to include all areas of Sanctuary in one game called Diablo IV.

Mr. Hall:
Throughout the season, "Diablo IV" has steadily grown as a live game. We're constantly listening to feedback from gamers and being aware of what the community wants, changing not only the direction of the game but also the values ​​we have for our franchise. We've been planning and developing it since the beginning, and we've had plenty of time to collect that feedback into the Vessel of Hatred.

4Gamer：
The biggest news at this event was the announcement of the "mercenary" element.

Mr. Gibson:
That's right. This was also one of the ideas for DLC from early on, so I'm happy to finally be able to announce it. All of the character classes in the Diablo series are specialized for specific play styles, and each has their own weaknesses.
If you are a sorcerer, you will need mercenaries who can act as a tank and keep the opponents at bay to compensate for your weaknesses, and if you are a barbarian, you will need mercenaries who will support you from the rear.
However, it was difficult to incorporate that mercenary system into the game, and it was not completed in time during the development of the main story. With the inclusion of itemization in Season 4, we can finally release with confidence.

Mr. Hall:
The topic of speed came up earlier, but there are some classes that are less speedy than others, such as the Necromancer.
This time's mercenary system not only fights around the player, but also has characters that give speed buffs. In order to create a more exhilarating experience, the mercenaries of Vessels of Hatred are firmly integrated into the game itself.
One of the mercenaries is a character called "Varyana", and one of her abilities is to increase the speed of the player's kill streak, so I think she would be a good match for the Necromancer.

4Gamer：
The number of mercenaries in this game is limited to four, and it seems to be very different from the follower system in Diablo III, but does each represent a character class by default, such as Varyana being a barbarian?

Mr. Gibson:
No, I'd like you to wait until you play the game to find out what kind of existence these mercenaries are, but Varyana is a "barbarian clone" (lol).

4Gamer：
What is that demon-like child?

Mr. Gibson:
It's "Aldkin", the cursed child of a half-demon. I guess it's something like a "shadow mage" who handles flames.
When Spiritborn is played as a Jaguar, there is an ultimate skill called "The Hunter" that deals flame area damage, but Aldkin has a similar skill.
In other words, if you like Jaguar's skills but want to play with another build, you can use Aldokin as a companion.

4Gamer：
It seems like each of them has a different background, but will their stories be more detailed in the DLC?

Mr. Gibson:
yes. What we wanted to portray is that these mercenaries are part of the world of Diablo. They may not be heroes with the power to save Sanctuary, but they do have the will to fight against the demon world, and they have some special skills that heroes don't have.
Players have quests to find them, and each has story development. Eventually, you will be able to freely set up your primary and secondary mercenaries in the Mercenary Den.

4Gamer：
Does each have their own inventory and skill set?

Mr. Hall:
Yes, there is a dedicated skill set, but there is no inventory. They have their own weapons and wear unique costumes. Skills can be assigned by the player, so it is possible for the drunken archer "Subo" to specialize in crowd control.
There is no inventory and there is a system called "Bartering", but each mercenary has a reputation system called "Rapport" that allows players to improve their reputation.
Skills are unlocked through this rapport, but at the same time, you can earn a type of currency called "Pale Mark", which you can accumulate to purchase gear from these mercenaries.

4Gamer：
　傭兵たちを，元の世界に連れていくことも可能なのでしょうか。そもそもスピリットボーンで最初からゲームをプレイできますか。

ギブソン氏：
　できますよ。傭兵は「憎悪の器」のクエストに組み込まれているので，ナハントゥまでストーリーを進めていかないとアンロックされませんが，ベースゲームの最初からスピリットボーンを育てたいというのなら，当然プレイヤーの選択の1つとして可能です。

4Gamer：
　今年の春にGame Passでも「ディアブロ IV」がプレイできるようになりましたが，相当数の新しいプレイヤーが参加して来ていると想像します。

ホール氏：
　そうですね。ベテランプレイヤーと，これまでシリーズをプレイしたことのないという新しいゲーマー層が混在している状況ですが，より多くのゲーマーの皆さんに楽しんでいただけるようになったのは喜ばしいことです。
　「憎悪の器」では新しいプレイヤーでも一緒にプレイできる人を探しやすい機能として，“パーティ・ファインダー”というフィーチャーをご用意しています。
　今回のDLCには，「ダーク・シタデル」という4人向けの新しいエンドゲームダンジョンや「アンダーグラウンド」というタイムアタック型ダンジョンがあるのですが，そうしたコンテンツに参加したいのにフレンドがいない時などは，募集のポストをすることで簡単に仲間を見つけられます。
　さまざまなコンテンツに，誰でもアクセスできる環境を整えていくのが我々の目標の1つでもあります。

　“シーズン 6”の開始と同時になると予想される「ディアブロ IV: 憎悪の器」は，2024年10月8日に，PCおよびPS5，PS4，Xbox Series X|S，Xbox One向けにリリースされる。新しいクラスであるスピリットボーンに加え，今回のインタビューの焦点にもなった“傭兵”システムなど，新しいフィーチャーの数々が楽しめそうな大型DLC第1弾となるだけに，これまでのファンだけでなく，新しいゲーマー層にも大きくアピールしそうだ。

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