DiabloFans

Druid fans rejoice!
... Maybe.


This actually isn't the first we've heard of animal themed armors: a suspiciously druidic looking female was shown in the artwork trailer.

We all know that animal themed armors were present back in Diablo II, with the druid pelts (Griffin Headress, Wolf Head, ect). With these new animal themed armors, it's starting to sound like the next class will be the druid, right?

Wrong.

Not only has Blizzard stated that the Barbarian will be the only returning playable class, but if Blizzard is just beginning to explore animal themed armors, then this would suggest two things...

In the event that the next class is the druid, then this would suggest that the fifth class is nowhere near being done, and concepts are just starting to be drawn out. I say this, because if the fifth class was a druid, it would be a safe bet that animal themed armors would be explored immediately, or very soon after the druid was settled upon.

In the event that the next class is not the druid, then this ends up just being an aesthetic thing. However, this may also be hinting at a more naturalistic fifth class. Ranger, Beastmaster, Hunter (cue WoW rage): all could be associated with such animal themed armor.

As for the armor itself, we have to ask just how animalistic they will be. We don't know if this armor will turn out to be the hides of animals draped over the character, metal armor fashioned to resemble animals, exotic hide armors (think tiger leather), or even tattoos to resemble animals, like a tigers stripes, or a leopards spots. Of course, tattoos for armor probably wouldn't provide much physical defense, but it would be safe to assume that such armor would carry many magical enhancements with it.

So, while this may not be the holy grail that druid fans have been searching for, it does hint towards an equally naturalistic fifth class. Hopefully though, all classes will be able to wear these new types of armor. I know I want my wizard decked out in leopard print.

WELCOME TO DIABLOFANS TWO POINT OOOOOHHH.

In case you haven't noticed, the website has had a total facelift. We've recently had a software upgrade to IP Board (may you burn in hell, Vbulletin), which essentially, is the prettier cousin of our old software.

With it comes a whole host of new options to tweak with, new things to do, and new ways to interact with your fellow users (check out the new PM system, it rocks). I have been particularly enjoying the status updates, as they're by far my most favorite feature we've got now. That, and the "view new content" button. Which, brings you to a page displaying new forum posts, topics, users, blogs, even gallery images.

Anywho, my rant about how much I love the new software aside, it's time to spotlight the community.
(Also, there are still bugs in the software being worked out. So, if you spot one or have any problems, head over to this thread to get help.)


The Forums
Badass new fonts, by the way.

Odd, that such a resiliant and well known thread has not yet been spotlighted. But, I feel it necessary to finally point out the Ultimate Random Thread. Also known as the URT. This thread was first made by Infinitum (then known as Party_Foul) who started it off with the million post thread. Much random spam was present back then, and it was a dark time for us all. It crashed and burnt horribly, which led to much raging and then to its reincarnation as the Ultimate Random Thread, made by Kenzai. Now it serves as a place to chat about whatever it is you want.

Next, is our April Fools gag. Some users thought that it was Blizzard who announced the Unicorn class (it was all a clever ruse!), while it was actually our warped imaginations that made such a class. As well, in case you missed them, the Blizzard April Fools gags are here. They're definitely worth a read, the Deckard Cain GPS in particular made me laugh pretty damn hard.

Finally, is the favorite class threads! Scyberdragon has been posting up competitive polls for the Monk and Witch Doctor, and now the Barbarian and Wizard. Only a vote is necessary, but of course, it's encouraged that you give some reasoning behind your choice. Hopefully, we'll see some solid discussion out of these threads in the near future, and we'll also see who comes out on top as the Diablofans favorite class. (Go Wizard!)


Forum Changes

Aside from the software update, there haven't been any changes.


Fan Creations


Fan Art
The software update broke a couple of threads with good art in them, but thankfully, we've got two posts with new art!

Kamrad with some sketches of a Fallen Shaman and a Cave Troll, and we've also got Archantyrael with a solid sketch of a Bone Reaver.

Good work guys, and Kamrad, I'm expecting fully colourized sketches soon to come!
GET ON IT!!


Fan Fiction

For fan fiction, Magistrate has continued his works The Veiling, adding yet another chapter to the already impressively hefty text.

Also, Scyberdragon has started chapter two of the Choose Your Own Adventure. A brief recap is in this thread for any who weren't around to steer William's life in the first chapter, so don't be afraid to start now!


The Wiki

Whole lot has been going down in here over the last few weeks. As for work being done right now, the runes are being reworked for both the Diablo II and Median XL pages (the latter being a well known mod for Diablo II).

But, the most significant change is the new portals, and front page.

It's looking pretty snappy now, with much more organization granted by the use of portals, and a much simpler front page, making browsing all the more enjoyable. To the right of the main page, is a list of mods currently on the wiki. Right now, we've got pages for both Median XL, and The Hell. Check in there to spruce up your game, or to learn more about the vanilla versions, as we've got that too on the wiki! (Also on the sidebar, seriously, go look at the new wiki. It's eye candy in the extremes.)


A Fond Farewell...

WELL, this is going to be the last of the community spotlights, as I've resigned from the news team. Not because of any problems with the staff or the website though (trust me when I say this, the forum is in good hands, the staff here is fantastic at what they do, and more responsible than any I know). But, real life has been having its way with me lately. My spare time has been cut down by my workload, and my job is getting fairly demanding as well (business recently expanded). So, with my grades and my job on the line, I haven't had the time to write news as effectively and frequently as I would like.

Thus, decided to take a break from the forums, and get back to reality for a couple months.

So, while this is farewell from the news team, it isn't farewell from the forums. I'll still be lurking around the shady corners of Diablofans, watching you browse.

Anywho, hope you guys enjoyed these articles, they were a hell of a lot of fun to write, you users get into some crazy shenanigans.

You stay classy, Diablofans.

Witch Doctor, Barbarian, Monk, and Wizard. The four classes announced thus far. We've all speculated about what the last class would be, smart money was on some form of bow class since no character specialized in the bow. However, we also failed to realize that no character class specialized in love, carrying saddle bags, or being cute.

Speculate no more, because the fifth class has finally been announced.
It's a pony!

A Unicorn, to be exact.

Blizzard briefly play tested the pony class, but found that the pony had a lack of weaponry. Horseshoes could be used to batter enemies, but that was about as far as it got. After some concept work, the team at Blizzard came up with the unicorn. With this change, came a host of new horn based weapons that could be used to gore enemies, skewer brains, and spread love.

Very little information is known of the skills the Unicorn will use, but we do know the skill trees available.

Rainbows and Puppies - First and foremost, the Unicorn is about spreading love and happiness. This is where the unicorn differs from the other classes the greatest. While other classes would attempt to murder demons and animals, the Unicorn instead tries to be peaceful with them. A barbarian would rush in and desecrate the corpses of those Fallen Ones. However, with this skill tree, the Unicorn has skills that let it set up and impromptu tea party, infatuate enemies, even release a horde of fuzzy bunnies to lick enemies. It can also function as a support class, as while zombies are busy sipping tea, the other party members can slaughter them mercilessly. As an added bonus, the tea can be picked up, functioning as miniature health orbs. However, this skill tree is the subject of the most scrutiny. Blizzard has been criticized for the vast overlap this tree has with the "Emotional Support" tree. Changes will no doubt be made, and ideas have been circulating of making this an offensive casting tree, and moving skills such as Tea Party to the emotional support tree.

Unihorn - Where Rainbows and Puppies fails, the Unihorn is there to force love directly into the heart of the enemy, literally. One of the first skills we know of in this tree, is a viscous stab to the heart. This causes the enemy to bleed out on the ground, as well as serving as a warning to any nearby demons of what will come if they refuse the love of the Unicorn. Several skills were able to be transferred from the Pony to the new improved Unicorn through this tree. Charge, Gallop, and Trot all affect movement speed of the unicorn and give some interesting passive bonuses to it's combat skills. While Horseshoe Gore, Trample, and Stomp all use the Unicorn's cast iron horseshoes to bludgeon the enemy. Overall, this tree functions mostly as a melee combat tree, we'll no doubt be seeing Unicorn tanks with this tree.

Emotional Support - When asked about the Unicorn, the Barbarian responded with "What a great dude, despite not being able to understand anything I say, or respond with anything other than nickers or neighs, he knows how to listen, and is always there for me and the rest of the party." Truly, this off the record quote represents this tree. A pure support tree (yes, we DID get a healing class), this set of skills concentrates on buffing, healing, and aiding allies in the fight. As stated earlier, the Tea Party skill will likely be moved here, which may in turn replace Cookie Batter. As we all know, Unicorns poop cookie batter (they're magical creatures, don't question it) which can be used as a fairly effective restorative item. When equipped with an Easy Bake Oven, the Unicorn can expend mana to bake the batter, doubling the healing effectiveness. Also available to this tree, is the Rainbow Aura. To the right, is the aura in action. It bestows a modest increase in damage, as well as splitting the damage into 7 elements, one for each colour of the rainbow. Elements had to be added for violet, indigo, and orange. Being darkness, water, and orange respectively (much argument was raised over orange being an element, as our sources tell us, this was settled over a water cooler discussion, which soon escalated into a fist fight). The damage is evenly distributed between the 7 elements, giving players a very easy time with resistant monsters. Without a doubt, the Unicorn is destined to become one of the chief support classes in Diablo III.

It seems odd that Blizzard has been hinting at a Unicorn class for such a long time, yet just announced it. See below for it's first appearance.


What was thought to simply be a cryptic photoshop job by Bashiok, actually turned out to be the announcement of the fifth class! (third class, at the time, but since we're so late on the uptake, it's now the fifth class). And due to this tremendous update, Blizzard has also revamped some skills on the previous four classes; screenshots can be found on the wiki. The quote within the quote was said by a user, so of course, we may not be seeing a specific Unicorn level. But, of course if we do, that may mean that EVERY class is getting it's own level.

To celebrate the release of the new class, we at DiabloFans have completely redesigned the forums! (With a Homepage redesign coming Soon(TM).) In case you have not noticed, you'll see many more pictures of unicorns, ponies, and happy stuff than we had before. It also seems all of the staff members were stricken with Unicorn fever, as we've all felt the need to change our avatars and signatures to better mesh with the new class, and the new face of DiabloFans. Expect a domain name change soon, we're thinking of UniFans, CorniFans, even HornyFans (we'd get a lot more traffic from perverts, at least). A poll will be held at a later date to see which of the names the users like, you'll be able to get a say in what our website is permanently, irreversibly changed to!

It's halfway through March, and that means it's time for another Community Spotlight!

Not much has gone down in the last two weeks. Blue posts are starting to slow down, and the useful information is also starting to become more and more scarce (though, we have a way to combat this, with the Lighter Side articles); however, this doesn't mean it's been quiet in the forums, or more importantly, in the wiki. There's quite the update in the works right now, with many more on the way. You'll love it, trust me.

Anywho, my introductory ramblings aside, let's move on to the community, shall we?

(Still experimenting with new colours [or colors, for you American folk], so bear with me)

The Forums

First off, we've got a thread concerning the best uniques you've ever found, created by MasterMorality. No, not uniques like a Shako, uniques like Pukemaw the Rapist, anyone else remember those gloriously disgusting names for unique monsters back in Diablo II. Anywho, this thread is all about unique monsters. What they were named, their stats, and your experience trying to take them out.

Next, we've got a nostalgic thread, all about the Tristram theme music. guilhermeufsc brought this up, pointing out how the theme music was responsible for a massive part of the melancholic, dreary atmosphere of Tristram. Several pages later, and users were recalling the fantastic scores to be found in Diablo I. Personally, I thought that Diablo I has the best music of all, but, if you think otherwise, discuss away.

Now, I'm completely biased towards this next thread, since Jetrall rocks n' all, but right now, he's putting together a Helghast soldier costume. Helghast soldiers were the soldiers from the game Killzone. Thus far, the materials he's got sound pretty solid, and I've got high hopes for this costume. Hopefully he will post pictures in due time...

This next one is a plain and simple barometer of how well our community thinks Blizzard is doing with our (yes, OUR) game. snillum101 posted up this poll, asking a generalized question of how well we think that Blizzard is doing with Diablo III. Thus far, we only have 3 votes in the "below average" grouping. Thus, I say we give Blizzard a hand for keeping us happy.

Some solid debating in this next one, revolving around the various character resources, and how they will affect dueling. Chalk brought this up, wondering how the Barbarian and Witch Doctor in particular will fare in duels. On one hand, the Barbarian must attack to use skills. While the Witch Doctor runs on the classic mana resource. Both will provide wildly different styles of gameplay, which will only be emphasized by duels. 3 pages of discussion thus far, get in there.

Forum Changes

At long last, we've got two new wiki sysops!

Zhuge and PhrozenDragon deserve a serious round of applause for keeping the wiki afloat for so long, with only themselves to contribute consistently.

BUT, now Huck and Kickin_It have joined the ranks of the Diablofans staff, congratulate them if you have the time.

Fan Creations

The three forum sections in question are beginning to go silent once more, we can't let this happen people!!!

Fan Fiction

Right now, Nekrodrac is dominating the fan fiction forum, with his two stories. Fairy Tales Revisited, and Dfans the movie, both quite funny, if I do say so myself.

Fan Art

Unless I'm horribly mistaken, we actually have no fan art to show off this time around. Somebody get on that...

However, Yngvar's Fan Art went up in the Official Blizzard Fan Art section, as seen in our recent news post. Give the man a hand, he's produced some amazing Fan Art.

Roleplaying

Scyberdragons' Zombie Survival Tactics game has steamrolled onwards through the March break, providing a new way to play RP's on the forum.

However, my own RP has calmed down over the March break.

The Wiki

Two new sysops, wiki updates on the way, and clans starting to roll in. Quite an intense time right now.

An article will be coming quite soon, showcasing the snappy new wiki in all its glory. Though, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you, so I'm not going to go into details just yet. In fact, you should stay the hell away from the wiki, as well.

Nothing new to see there, scat.


In Conclusion...

It's been a rather quiet first-half-of-month round' here. Of course, things will pick back up once we're back into the swing of things, and out of the holidays.

So, until then, have a good one everybody.

Over the last decade, more and more jobs have been lost to outsourcing, and illegal immigrants.It is becoming harder and harder for families to keep jobs, not just in North America, but in all parts of the world.

Shocked then, were we, when we found out who, or should I say what, Blizzard was employing.

Think that's just an innocent picture of the community team posing?
Look again... to the right, no, the RIGHT.
Yeah, inside those red circles.

Unmistakable evidence that Blizzard is hiring PUPPETS!
Yes, puppets.

They are able to do the work of several employees, at a much lower salary. Puppets don't eat, they don't sleep, and their bodies are not plagued with the various problems of our human bodies. The only thing they need, is the occasional wash and dry cleaning, and they're set to work another month straight. They don't even have voices to report any workplace abuse, they're the perfect employees.

Our highly trained detective team (Myself, armed with google) turned up some interesting information on these two individuals, who we now know are named Stukov, and Santiago.
Pictured to the left, is Alexi, the father of Stukov. Alexi immigrated in the late 50's, fleeing the race riots of the southern Ukraine. It was never publicized in North America, but at the time, the Ukraine was being torn apart by Puppet-Human tension. Puppets had been looked down upon for years, and the tensions finally exploded when one of their most beloved leaders, Kitmer the Toad, was assassinated along with several other "fabric revolutionists". The streets were flooded with rioting puppets, and Alexi could not put keep his family safe through such a tremulous time, and loaded himself, his family, and his belongings onto the first boat bound for North America.

Stukov was born in 1972, and despite being such an outsider in school, rose to the top in all of his academic endeavours, eventually earning a university degree in Psychology. However, he could not find work, as patients were reluctant to confide in an untalking, unblinking, unmoving puppet. In a state of depression, Stukov turned to video games to pass the time by. He became addicted, and his social life burned around him as he eviscerated demons in his own computer world. His depression culminated in a spurt of self mutilation, in which Stukov removed his googly eyes, replacing them with symbolic button eyes. He blamed Blizzard (the maker of his favourite game, Diablo) for his problems, and sought out their corporate headquarters. When he arrived, the complaint department found that Stukov possessed no voice with which to voice his complaints, and thus, no voice with which to report workplace abuse. He was hired on the spot.

Santiago lived a much more colourful life than Stukov, growing up in urban Nuevo Laredo (a town in Mexico, skirting the US border), he was quickly recruited into a local gang. He grew up in a world of drugs, guns, and violence. He busted his first cap at the age of seven, and began pimping out local strippers when he was 12. He thought he was living the high life, until a drug bust put him on the receiving end of a lengthy prison term. Rather than face the realities of prison life for a puppet, he fled the country, and made his way for the US border.

Santiago, pictured to the right, made it into the USA at the age of 21. He had to start anew, with nothing to show for wealth, or clothing. He spent the next few years of his life begging for change in California, slowly saving up enough money to buy himself a gun. As luck would have it, Blizzard's headquarters was in a nearby town, and Santiago was discovered on the streets by none other than Bashiok, who offered Santiago a job on the motion capture team, as he possessed the body of one of the beats from World of Warcraft. Santiago accepted, and, when he isn't using his misshapen form to mimic the movements of a real life Griffon, turns his attention towards the community.

While some would call these heart warming stories of acceptance and overcoming adversity, of two puppets facing the world of humans, and succeeding despite their lack of blood, sweat, or even tears.

But, it still doesn't change the fact that THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!!!!

But, nobody ever looked deeper into the meaning of "Hardcore" mode. People simply thought that hardcore meant nothing more than a hardcore game experience.

As it seems, the players are WRONG!!!



Little did we know, that this mode was ACTUALLY intended for hardcore people. Oh, how foolish we were, assuming that hardcore mode was intended for us, the average gamer. In reality, this mode was meant for people like King Leonidas, Bruce Lee, and Henry Rollins. We intruded in their world, and we will always be at fault.

BUT DON'T FRET!

If you're not a hardcore person, there are steps that can be taken to simply seem hardcore. All you need to do, is look at others who are hardcore, and mimic their clothing, or their actions if possible. The goal here is not to actually BE hardcore, but to fool the game into thinking you're hardcore.

First off, is this so called "Hardcore Dancing". Kids who do this, are seriously hardcore. Flailing their arms around and kicking at air, usually when surrounded by people trying to enjoy a concert. They take what would normally be an enjoyable evening at a concert, and completely ruin it by bludgeoning those around them, making people spread out, and generally cause a scene.

Pictured above and to the left, is a hardcore dancer in action. Note the various tattoos, the flailing pose, and the skull T-shirt. This is the apparel you need to be hardcore, and it can easily be done on a budget. If you're not one for pain, you can simply get your hands on some temporary tattoos, and stick them on when you're about to play hardcore mode (Be sure to verify that you're getting hardcore temporary tattoos, if you end up with butterflies and flowers all over your arms, then you're more like a hippy, and thus, not worthy of playing hardcore mode). Make sure to wear a hardcore looking T-shirt, as well, lest the game reject you. Anything with skulls, guns, even dead babies will do. The pose, can be difficult. Maintaining the flailing pose can be rather difficult to do when you need to click, so be sure to take regular breaks from the game to "Hardcore Dance" near the computer.

However, if hardcore dancing is not your thing, then another viable method exists. Pictured to the right, is King Leonidas. He killed like... twelve billion Persians, with a sharp metal stick, wearing nothing but a speedo, a cape, and a helmet. Obviously, taking this many lives while so scantily clad qualifies one as being "hardcore". Add in the fact that he did it surrounded by muscled dudes, also wearing speedos, capes, and helmets, and you've got what could be the most hardcore gathering of people the world has ever seen.

But, if you're like me, then you don't have a supply of 12 billion Persians readily available. So, much like the hardcore dancer approach, you simply need to look like a spartan to pass off as a spartan, and thus, to look hardcore. The speedo is easy enough, simply go buy a speedo. The cape, also easy, as any towel can pass off as a cape when properly secured around your neck. The helmet, however, may be a bit of an obstacle. Costume stores are always a good place to look, but, if you're on a budget, then cereal boxes can be cut and taped to form the shape of a helmet. Make sure to have the grey inside of the box facing outwards, lest your helmet have a leprechaun or smiling honey bee on it.

Thus, with either approach, one can feign being hardcore, and be qualified to play hardcore mode. Just remember, you don't have to be hardcore, you simply have to look hardcore.

With the next installment of Diablo, comes a whole new host of weapons. Weapons to stab, weapons to bludgeon, weapons to cut, and weapons to pierce. Back in Diablo II, we had all of the above. But, you were often limited in your choice of weapons.

Rarely would you see a Necromancer wielding a maul, and even more uncommon would be a Barbarian sending arrows towards his foes. Often, character classes were restricted to two, sometimes three weapon types that really worked for them. You could experiment, sure, but would often fall short of what was possible when using the "preferred weapons."

Luckily, this seems to be changing with Diablo III, as indicated by a recent post by Bashiok.


While this does mean that characters will have an increased amount of weapons to play around with, it means nothing since we have no idea what to base this on. We do not know the current amount of weapons each character can use, which makes guesswork and speculation very inaccurate.

Which, is why the first post by Bashiok on this matter must be taken into consideration, to provide insight. While it does only talk about the monk, we can compare this to the other character by looking at the wording used. Attention should be directed to the parts I have bolded.

So, if this means that 4 categories of weapons constitutes a "small and focused" description, then what does this mean for the other characters?

I can easily see the others being able to use 6-8 weapon types each. This is because obviously, it would not be described as "small" if it were not for some pre-existing norm to base this on. Thus, we can reason out that this is considered small because the other characters are able to utilize a much larger range of weaponry.

However, this also raises the question of how effective these weapons will be. Sure, in Diablo II, a Sorceress could use a Scythe, but did it actually work well? Rarely.

While a larger range of weaponry will be great for aesthetics and customization, it will mean nothing if said weaponry does not add anything to our current build. For example, I do not want to equip a 2H sword on my wizard (Which, is possible now) just to say that it's different. I actually want it to do something for my class, and not just serve as eye candy, and to set me apart.

With some additional speculation based on this....

... we can assume that since such restrictions will be placed, that the weaponry that is left open to a character class, will actually be able to benefit said class.

It would be odd for Blizzard to give us the ability to equip a certain weapon type with a character, without actually giving us any incentive to do so. Which, makes me think that we may be seeing more generic skill bonus items, instead of the class specific items we had back in Diablo II, or the wands for Necromancers, Staves for Sorceresses, ect.

So, even though it's a lot of speculation, it does have sound logic backing it, and I can definitely see most weapons having skill bonuses for the characters that can use them. Of course, this would mean two-handers with wizard skills.

So, ditch that staff and hoist your claymore, all the cool kids are doing it.

Disclaimer: DiabloFans' Rumors are not the officially recognized positions of the staff, management, and/or administration of DiabloFans.

For anyone who doesn't know about BoE, it's basically an item that once equipped, is permanently bound to your character. You can take it off, sure, but no other characters will be able to use it.

This, is one of the many features that us Diablo players have been rather skeptical about. In a rather lengthy post, Bashiok explained why BoE will be in Diablo III, and why it is an effective way to manage the economy. The following will be a highly condensed version, but see here if you wish to read the all of the related blue posts.


While the Diablo II economy was fun for a while, we have to admit, Bashiok is right. The economy in Diablo II was horribly broken, do you remember having the first wave of Shakos worth several high runes, then plummet down to a Pul rune about a month into the ladder reset?

It is this kind of flooding that BoE will be preventing. Without BoE, stockpiles of the highest items can be amassed, and freely traded between characters. While this does allow you to amass wealth, it does not keep a stable economy, as it will be flooded with items, with no way to remove them from the economy aside from losing them, or ladder resets.

With BoE, we'll see a much more stable economy. This is, of course, because items will be regularly removed from the trading pool once bound to a player. This will also force us to put a lot more thought into our builds, we will have to plan them out, and figure out exactly what we want to bind to our characters. So for those of you who think that Diablo III will be "carebeared", think again, BoE has got your back.


To me, this made perfect sense.

Most often, the highest items were the ones that drove the economy. This was because they were the rarest, and in the highest demand for builds. With BoE, that demand will stay high, since the economy will not be saturated with items several months into the ladder.



This has me quite hopeful for the economy in Diablo III. Honestly, we can easily guess that not much thought went into stabilizing the economy in Diablo II, aside from the ladder resets, and the occasional rust storm to weed out all those duped items.

However, in Diablo III, not only will we be getting what Diablo II began, but we'll be seeing all sorts of new methods of stabilization. BoE just happens to be one of the crowd, and I'm quite excited to see what else they've got in store for us.

Over a month since the last community spotlight, and I know you've all been lost without me.

Rejoice, for I have returned.

However, this spotlight was delayed for good reason. In case you missed it, the Community Projects article overruled this spotlight a while back, and focused mainly on the Fan Art, Fan Fiction, and Roleplaying forums.

Then, we had our (Or, should I say, Scyberdragons, seriously, give the man a pat on the back for the work he put into that.) Valentines day article. If you've been wondering what the fifth class will be, we've solved the mystery. Cupid, it will definitely, 100% without a doubt, be cupid.

As for the last month or so, a lot has gone down.

Starcraft II Beta, the Female Monk, a New Version of Patch 1.13, and a multitude of other noteworthy articles have graced our front page. Don's most recent editorial (scroll down the page a bit, you'll run into it) explores the possible locations of Diablo III, while Seth's Various Mod Articles will let you squeeze as much enjoyment out of Diablo I & II while you wait for Diablo III.

Now, with all that out of the way, we turn our gaze towards the forums.

(Colour brought to you by Nektu and CrazyCapnMorgan)

The Forums

The long standing debate of PvP vs PvE has finally been made tangible, through this poll. Cvoisgreat created this thread, and thus far, it has been met with quite a few votes, 57 in total (at the time of writing). The votes have been swinging towards PvE, with PvP trailing behind by roughly 25. Keep in mind, that PvE included cooperative play, which, as those of us who have had a LAN party will say, is one of the most fun experiences in Diablo when you've got a good crowd together.

Then, we've got lorenzo von matteorn, with his thread. Basically, it asks which character you will choose to play first. Over 7 pages of solid discussion have resulted, with users stating their reasoning behind their choices, the build they plan on using, and why they like the character they have chosen. Personally, I'm all about the Monk. Whether you agree or not, is another matter, and should be settled in the thread. Get in there and share your opinion!

For any looking for a new challenge from Diablo II, check out the Eastern Sun Craftsman Tournament, by Hans. Basically, this tournament tests your single player abilities, with strict guidelines. Hardcore is a must, and you can only use white, magic, rare, and crafted items. Definitely something to check out if you're looking for a new challenging type of gameplay, it will test you, there's no doubt about that. (In case you don't know what Eastern Sun is, it's a mod for Diablo II, and any questions will be answered here.)

In the realm of real life, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics have been taking place, and a thread has been made to discuss them. Pryda brought this thread into existance, and thus far, it has been filled with excessive patriotism, and sportsmanship. Personally, I'm surprised that this thread didn't degenerate into death threats and fist fights, kudos to everyone who handles themselves maturely in there, it's hard to do when the Olympics are going down.

As for forum games, Nacho_ijp has spawned a new creation, with the Treasure Hunt game. An account has been set up by the name of "Treasure", players will have to guess the password of Treasure, by using clues given by the current owner of the account. Once guessed, players will have to change the password, and begin giving out clues as to what it is. At the moment, Nacho is in the lead with 4 correct guesses, see if you can beat down his streak.

Have you ever seen a movie that was so bad, that those several dollars and hours invested in it will never be justified? Now, we have a thread to warn others of these abominations, courtesy of pathsofthedead. In here, you're free to whine, QQ, even rage about the worst movie you have ever seen. Death threads to the directors are still prohibited, but I'm sure you can sneak some in by using tricky synonyms, the moderators will never know.

Forum Changes

We've got a new admin!
Say hello to Alexia, the newest admin on the Diablofans team.

Fan Creations

The fan fiction and art forums are still trucking onwards, and the roleplaying forum is picking up steam once more, thanks to yours truly.

Fan Fiction

Old Fanfics have been continued, veteran writers have created new works, and two new writers have emerged into the forum. All in all, a solid month for the Fan Fiction forum.

The Veiling continues onwards, thanks to the hard work of Seth. It has now reached three chapters, and will be continued onwards. All of the finished chapters are downloadable, as well.

Scyberdragon has also produced some fiction, with his story, The Mercenary.

Two newcomers to the Fan Fiction forum have also produced some work, shibblicious with A Lesson in Life and Death, and Kickin_It with Redemption of the Vizjeri.

Fan Art



Fan art by Tepes, squishie, and naj (from left to right)

Roleplaying

We've got two new Roleplays that are both pretty far outside the box, so if you're looking for something new, now is the time to start using the Roleplaying Forum.

Where other roleplays have left out statistics for a more text driven approach, Scyberdragon and Junction3 has created one of the few "True RPG's" we have. He has created the Zombie Survival Tactics game, in which players take turns, level up, find items, and pick and choose tactical targets, hence the name. Players will, of course, be fighting against zombies as a team of survivors. If you're a fan of the Dungeons and Dragons games, this will definitely suit you well.

Most roleplays set pit you against all manner of undead, demons, and corrupt humans. But, you very rarely see roleplays in which you play the bad guy. Look no further, for the best user on these forums (Ahem) has created Damnation Rising. In this roleplay, you don't fight back the horde of demons, but instead, you play as one of the demons trying to see that horde overtake Sanctuary and eventually, Heaven.


Blues not in the News

Seems gender biases will be non-existant in Diablo 3, as both genders of the same class will have the exact same stats, as indicated by this post by Bashiok.

Rejoice!
TPPK is a thing of the past!

As we now know, the PTR was brought down in order to upgrade the patch to 1.13b. With 1.13b, a host of bug and exploit fixes have been added, along with several minor changes to character skills.

To make reading of the patch notes easier, any changes from the previous patch have been removed. If you wish to view the previous changes, see here.


While we won't be seeing the same magnitude of changes that the first version brought, many inconveniences have been changed for the better. The most notable of which, is TPPK.

Assassin players should also be quite happy, as you will now be able to stack multiple combos easier. Before, it was difficult to break past 2 simultaneous combos, now, with the duration nearly doubled, it will be easy to attain 3, possibly even 4 combos at once.

One thing to keep in mind, is that this may not even be the last revision we see. Keep that feedback flowing, and you might even see your suggestion up on the patch notes next time around.

According to one of our users, the Public Test Realm for Diablo II, patch 1.13 has recently been closed down.

The original intent of the PTR was to collect feedback from players about what did and did not work, before finalizing what was to be included in the patch. Hopefully, the closure means that enough feedback has flowed in, and we will soon be seeing the patch on normal Battle-Net realms, along with the obligatory ladder reset.

However, this could turn out to be a PTR update. Due to the fact that the PTR is meant to gather feedback, Blizzard will most likely release any updates directly to the PTR, to be met with more user comments. This may not even be the final version of the PTR coming up, due to software iteration, Blizzard may have to release yet another more refined version of the patch before going live.

This would be a good time to make use of our skill calculator, which is up to date with the 1.13 build. However, keep in mind that due to the nature of the PTR, these values and statistics may change once the final version is released, hopefully for the better.

So, while this may not meant that the patch is coming up soon, it still means we're getting close.

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Also, be sure to check out our newest fansite in the Curse Network, Lego Universe!

While some have argued that the art styles of the Blizzard games have been drifting closer and closer together, the music of their franchises is undeniably unique.

This fact was brought to mind by this recent post by Bashiok:


When compared, the sample from World of Warcraft (linked to in the above post), and this sample from Diablo III, prove to be incredibly distinct. The sample from World of Warcraft has a much more epic feel, due to the choirs in the background. The instruments themselves also contribute to this feel, listen closely and you will pick up oncellos, violins, trumpets, and other such orchestral instruments. It's this grand orchestra that helps to contribute to the epic atmospheric music of Warcraft, an atmosphere which fits the franchise like a glove.

However, the sample from Diablo III conveys a much creepier, gothic feel through to the listener. It uses odd, perhaps even unconventional sounds to produce a very unique sound. Cellos were the only actual instruments I could pick up, along with a multitude of various percussion, and synthesized sounds. Granted, I don't have a musical ear, so perhaps those of you with musical talent could shed some light on what could have went into making this piece.

To further show the musical distinction of the three franchises, is this theme from Starcraft. At first listen, you can quickly pick up on more modern sounds in the music. Synthesizers, electric guitars, drum kits, and many other more modern sounding instruments make up this piece. Which, of course, makes sense. It would be rather odd for a futuristic game such as Starcraft to use classical instruments such as the violin or trumpet.

Basically, context is key in the music. For Warcraft, which is generally high fantasy, epic sounds and music styles are used. For Diablo, their gothic fantasy franchise, odd, creepy sounds are used to compose the atmospheric music. For Starcraft, their futuristic RTS, it seems that more modern sounding instruments are brought together to form music that conveys a feeling of technological (or biological, in the case of the Zerg) conquest.


The truth could not be said any clearer, the music Blizzard produces has definitely evolved over the years, and improved by leaps and bounds.

When you compare music from Diablo I, and the music from Diablo III, it is quickly realized that the quality has improved. More sounds are able to be layered on top of each other, said sounds can be tweaked and modified to better convey atmosphere, and the sounds are made more crisp by improved recording and playback technology.

So, even if we are afraid of a foreign art style encroaching on our beloved franchise, we can rest assured that the music will not only improve, but will stay within the realm of gothic fantasy that we've all come to know and love.

Playing off of the recent "Female Monk Art Challenge", users over at the Battle-Net forums were asked to nominate their favorite of the bunch. Now, several days later, Bashiok has posted up the 5 top nominees.


Fantastic work by all the artists, it really shows the wide range of styles that are out there. The second on the list, for example, clearly shows that the individual would be skilled at concept art due to the large amount of notes on the page. While pictures such as the third and last nominations show an affinity for digital art.

Now, this is all fine and dandy, but since we don't all have Battle-Net accounts, we thought we'd run our own poll here at Diablofans. We will be using the above 5 pieces of artwork, and will leave it up to you to choose your favorite. The poll will run for 7 days, so make sure to get your vote in quick!

Remember the key that allowed you to swap between weapon sets in Diablo II? Well, it seems that it will not be making an appearance in the next installment of the series.

In a rather lengthy post, Bashiok revealed the reasoning behind the removal of the weapon swap key. The full response can be viewed here (yes, there was more to it than is shown).


As much as I would like to see the weapon swap key in game, this does make sense. Many times, you would have your normal weapon, and then a "buffing weapon" on your alternate set to cast buffs with. Many players grasped this, and it really did create a rather wide divide. Players who did utilize this often had an immense edge over those who could not, or could not afford to do so.



This is what makes me hopeful for the future. At face value, it may seem that Blizzard is simply "dumbing down" the game to better suit new players. However, when we consider the other new systems that are more complicated than weapon swapping could ever hope to be (Skill Runes), it shows that a "dumbed down" version of Diablo will not be hitting the shelves. On the contrary, it seems that it will be a blend of ease of use, and complicated features for experienced players.


I hate to admit it, but I fell into this trap many a time. I would often find myself using my second weapon set as extra storage for that polearm I wanted to sell, or those javelins that I couldn't tetris into my inventory. While this is not a game breaking feature, it is rather cheesy and pointless, so it is easy to see the backing behind this point.

As for the second part, many players (myself included), would simply swap weapons when a boss was close to dying, and be rewarded with extra loot. This may seem fantastic, but there is a valid point behind it. If we are allowed to do this, then we will not have to balanced our gear between combat, and loot-finding capabilities. We'll be able to adjust on the fly, and with a minimum of consequence. Basically, it would take a large portion of pre-planning and work out of the equation.

However, I assume that players will still be able to keep alternate weapon sets in their inventory, and just swap them out through more tedious methods. While this will still acheive the same ends as the weapon swap key, at least it will come with some downsides. Since, while you are changing weapons, the demons will not be taking a coffee break.

They're coming for you, with or without their morning cup of java.

Well, there's no questions about it now; the Jace Hall Show did have the inside scoop concerning the female monk. The official Diablo III website has just been updated with two new pieces of artwork, and a 3D render of the female monk.

Bashiok was quick to update us on the official forums.

Pictured to the right, is one of the two new pieces of artwork for the female monk. The second, is similar to the image we were salivating over several days ago, in the sense that it is a standing pose showing off the armored version of the monk.

Both images, as well as the 3D render, showcase the same armor style as the male monk (as would be expected), and personally, I think it flows very nicely with the current art style. It's simple, yet has a splash of color that will provide some extra eye candy in game. Something else I noticed that was similar between the two genders, was the beads they wear around their necks. Nothing has been said about it thus far, but perhaps background lore about the monks order will be tied into them in the near future.

On a sidenote, it seems that the pixie haircut is here to stay. I'm sure we'll warm up to it once we start eviscerating monsters in style, no other character got a haircut that rad.

Now, after having the official monk art revealed, I wonder if any Female Monk Fanart can compare...

(Also, props to Seniri and Shatterer for bringing this to our attention)