Assignment 2

    I have never played a game like Diablo III before! The response I have while walking around the town and interacting with other characters that pop up is curiosity. The curiosity drives me to learn more about the game and explore. A few of the parts of the game that drive that curiosity includes skill categories, skills, meeting new characters, stash, inventory, customize banner, and entering buildings.

Skill categories and skills are very intriguing. At certain points in the game, they serve as “power ups.” There are different kinds of skills that can be unlocked that increase the power of attack that my character has. For example, the purple “magic” is much more powerful that the first “blue” magic that is provide to my character. Both can be used to attack the monster but the “purple” magic had to be unlocked

Meeting new characters is usually part of missions that lead to a monster attack that the character has to deal with. At the same time, there are many characters that are randomly along the way to various destinations. Its always interesting to click on them and hear what they have to say as it advances the storyline.

The stash and inventory was confusing to me at first but than I realized that they can be very useful. They are shown through treasure chests across the virtual community and can be used to store items. They also present opportunities to trade items for other items. I am still trying to figure out this function, but its interesting nonetheless. 

Customize banner was my favorite part of the functions that made me curious. It is not a significant part of the game at all, but I have to admit that I spent a lot of time on it. As I walked through the town, there was a banner representing my characters tribe. This banner can be customized with different colors and designs. What do you think of my banner?

All of these functions add to the curiosity of the game. Many games that I have played drive me through the interactions and willpower to “win” that game. Diablo III is different because the journey and the story drive me to play the game. Hence, curiosity!

Assignment 1

      Throughout this blog, I hope you'll join me on an exciting adventure exploring the world of Sanctuary and interacting with its inhabitants and environments! Along this adventure, we will discover new areas, quests, allies, enemies, and powerful items. 

    To start off, the game gives us options on a character to choose from. I went with the Wizard. I've always loved wizardry and am a fanatic for Harry Potter so it seems like the natural option.

    To walk and run in the game, all it takes is pointing the computer mouse cursor at a spot, and the character will walk there, avoiding obstacles on the way. As I was exploring, I discovered that holding the mouse button down makes the character go faster. Moving the mouse cursor over an item allows it to be used. If it becomes highlighted, then it allows the player to interact with it. That’s it. So far, I have interacted with objects like doors, gates, and treasure chests through simple clicks of the mouse. Players can also pick up items by clicking on them. To talk to someone, clicking on them will allow players to speak to them and hear what they have to say.

    The map in the top right corner is an indicator of where the character is going and helps keep the game on track. There are lots of graphics that the map has that make the game more interactive and easier to gauge. It made it very easy for me in particular to navigate the town. Sometimes, the game will ask a player to enter certain buildings and the map enables a path to get there.

    Combat is at the heart of Diablo III. As players venture through haunted graveyards and other locations on the map, monsters appear. The Wizard character allows you to shoot “Wizard Magic” at monsters. This has been a lot of fun to use! When a player sees a monster, all that has to be done to attack is clicking on them. While attacking a monster, there is a red bar with its name at the top of the screen. It displays the monster’s health which serves as a visual of how much damage it can take before exploding or collapsing. When a player reduced the bar from its filled state (red) to empty (black), the monster dies. Sometimes, the upper half of the monster crawls towards a player with its hands reaching for the player's throat. I couldn't see it at first but that clearly means that the monster is not dead!

    While there are many missions to get to the main objective, it seems that the main objective is to “find the shooting star.” This has been the premise of the game from the beginning. Fighting monsters and meeting people across the town has been part of getting to that objective.

    You can die in Diablo III. At first, I wasn’t sure because it seemed impossible to lose. Then, I went to the difficulty and played around with it. That's when I realized that “Hardcore mode” makes it way more difficult of the game and increases the chances of dying. All that happens is that the character respawns at the last checkpoint.

    I’m looking forward to using these features and interactions for a great game!

15

 Weapons are one of the core loot drops in Diablo 3 alongside armor. The game is a hunt for the best gear, so finding and crafting the best weapons is the way to go.

Weapons fit into two inventory slots: 1-Hand and Off-Hand. Some Weapons that are 2-Handed require both slots, and some characters can dual-wield two 1-handed weapons, but otherwise the Off-Hand is reserved for support items.

Since almost every item is unique, and even items with the exact same name can have different stats, here's a breakdown of the different types of Weapons available in Diablo 3.

There a total of three different types of weapons which one can wield alongside or without off hands:

One-Handed Axes 

Daggers 

One-Handed Maces 

Spears 

One-Handed Swords 

Ceremonial Knives

 Fist Weapons 

One-Handed Mighty Weapons 

Two-Handed Two-Handed Axes 

Two-Handed Maces Polearms Staves 

Two-Handed Swords Daibo Two-Handed 

Mighty Weapons 

Ranged Bows 

Crossbows 

Hand Crossbows 

Wands

What I loved about the weapons is that visually, there is variability. You can even alter the looks of your gear depending what suits you. 

14

I was able to obtain all of the gems while playing Diablo III.

Gem effects are stackable. If you place 3 gems of the same type in a sword, you will receive the bonus of all three. The first gem that is placed will determine the color of the weapon.

They can only be obtained by killing monsters, opening chests or using a Gem Shrine with no other gem in your inventory. Vendors do not normally sell gems, though if another player in a multiplayer game sells a gem to a vendor, you may be able to buy it. Vendors also will not typically pay you full price for socketed items.

Once inserted, gems cannot be removed from a socket, although they can be destroyed via a Horadric Cube recipe. The skulls of some demonic creatures, inscribed with eldritch symbols, are said to work much like gems. They were introduced to showcase the socketing system, which was expanded in the Lord of Destruction with the introduction of Runes and Jewels.

You can upgrade gems by using a Gem Shrine, with a gem in your inventory, or by using the Horadric Cube. You can use the Horadric Cube to convert gems into higher quality gems. Place 3 gems of one type into the Horadric Cube and click the Transmute button.

There are six types of gems, plus skulls, which are considered by the game to be gems for all purposes:

Amethyst

Diamond

Emerald

Ruby

Sapphire

Topaz

Skull

They come in five levels of increasing quality, which also determines their sell price to vendors:

Chipped (250)

Flawed (750)

Normal (2,500)

Flawless (5,000)

Perfect (15,000)

13

While exploring the forums online, I opened up some public multi player games in adventure mode. Playing with others offers some significant advantages, but it also impacts gameplay in a few noteworthy ways.

When you’re in a party, you can see the health and current status of your party members in their portraits at the top of your screen. If you’d like to get right into the action with them, you can teleport instantly to the current location of your party members by selecting their banners in town. Finally, you can trade items with other players. This is done by right-clicking on their portraits and choosing "Trade," which will bring up a trading window that will allow you to exchange items. 

"Loot" in groups is individualized: each player finds their own personal items and gold on the corpses of slain foes or inside chests. It's impossible to steal items another player finds.

Though you can form a party with up to three other players (for a total of four players), you can’t bring your followers along when you’re in a group with other people, no matter the size of the party.

Most importantly, more players in a party also means stronger foes. With each addition to your party, the legions of the Burning Hells will grow more powerful. Although you have the might of several heroes at your side, its important to find that enemies defeated easily in the past may require additional effort when playing in a group.

While enemies grow in power with each additional party member that battles nearby, the rewards heroes receive from working together to defeat these foes also increases. In addition to bonus chance to find magical items and bonus gold received, also receive bonus experience. This experience bonus is multiplicative with difficulty bonuses, so playing multiplayer at higher difficulty levels yields even greater rewards.

2-player game: 10% Bonus to Gold Find, Magic Find, and Experience

3-player game: 20% Bonus to Gold Find, Magic Find, and Experience

4-player game: 30% Bonus to Gold Find, Magic Find, and Experience

It was a great experience exploring multi-player.

12 - Review of Playing as the Wizard

Diablo 3's Wizard class relies on long-range damage combined with a mixture of supernatural minions, there to do your bidding in combat. The Wizard derives much of its damage effectiveness from the Intelligence stat, but also reliant on Vitality as we approach higher levels and increasingly challenging difficulty settings. 

Apart from the usual business of scouring Rifts for legendaries and powerful rares, it's worth spending hard-earned Bounty shards at the Gambler. The ultimate objective is to get a Mask of Jeram as the Legendary Head item, a Stone of Jordan ring, and one of the many powerful off-hand items. The head slot completely changed the game in combat.

While hunting down Legendaries at the Gambler, I equipped the best yellow Rare items I could find. I got to very high Intelligence rating on every item, plus three sockets on the Chest item and two on the Legs. Into these sockets, I placed the best Topaz gems you either have in your inventory or can craft at the Jeweler. 

Clever use of some of the Wizard's skills can put significant damage on enemies at a range that other classes can't even begin to target. 

Wizards have six class sets:

Chantodo's Resolve (60 minor weapon set, 2 items)

Tal Rasha's Elements (60 full set, 7 items, 6 are required to complete it)

Firebird's Finery (70 full set, 7 items, 6 are required to complete it)

Vyr's Amazing Arcana (70 full set, 6 items)

Delsere's Magnum Opus (70 full set, 6 items)

The Typhon's Veil (level 70 full set with 6 items)

The Wizard's damage output is significantly greater than any of the Followers, unless provided with better gear than the Wizard itself. As such, it is generally redundant to base a Follower around damage output (e.g. Lyndon).

Kormac is an excellent choice as a companion for the Wizard due to his multiple healing abilities, his AoE stun with Charge and his power regeneration with Inspire to directly counter the squishy nature of the Wizard.

Eirena is also quite viable due to her multiple crowd-control abilities and her buffs that can boost both the attack and the defense of the Wizard.

Wizards do not have internal healing abilities, but has shields of force or encase themselves in diamonds to absorb damage.

They also have a very limited ability to enhance their allies, but some of their attacks make enemies more vulnerable to damage, benefitting all members of the group. Almost all Wizard skills are oriented at maximum damage output; even defensive skills may be turned into damage boosters. In a group, Wizards rely heavily on other classes for protection, but when uninterrupted by enemies' counterattacks, can devastate large areas in a blink of an eye.

Most, if not all of the Wizards' skills can hit more than one enemy at once, making Wizards lethal for hordes of lesser enemies. Many of their skills also become more potent as they are continuously cast against the same target, and many are channeled: while sustained, they grow in power, compensating for the danger of standing in one place. In return, Wizards' Crowd Control capabilities are tied closely to elemental damage: Stun effects for Lightning skills, Chill or Freeze for Cold, and Slow for Arcane.

I'm glad I chose the Wizard class as I feel it is the most superior. Even though I tried out the other classes for a smaller amount of time, the Wizard stuck out to me as the best. 

11

I've discovered a mode outside of the regular story mode: Adventure Mode!

Adventure Mode is a game mode in Diablo III. It provides endgame content.

Adventure Mode is unlocked for all characters by completing Act V with any character, regardless of the character level, and once unlocked, can be used by any character of any level of the same type (Hardcore/Softcore and Seasonal/Normal). None of the Campaign Mode storyline quests are available in this mode; instead, special zones can be found in Adventure Mode:

Treasure Realm

Ruins of Sescheron and Eternal Woods

Royal Quarters

Greyhollow Island

Guild Hideout

Shrouded Moors and Temple of the Firstborn

Realms of Fate

It is designed to be light on story content, based more around replaying certain points of storymode. 

There are three map-levels in Adventure Mode: global (a map of Sanctuary), act/region level, and radial (the map of a player's current location). There is also one more layer of automap (world) that allows moving between all five acts at will. All waypoints are unlocked and can be accessed at any time. Horned icons represent bosses and key icons represent Keywardens. Some of the waypoints are misplaced to prevent easy access to bosses.

Artisans are slightly relocated in some Acts. A Wardrobe is also available in each town. Kadala and Kanai's Cube can also be found in Adventure Mode.

I am having way more fun in adventure mode than in storymode!

10

 At this point, I have been through some of the "bounties" in Diablo 3. Bounties are a gameplay feature of Diablo III. They are a randomized objective system. They are marked on the waypoint map by yellow exclamation marks. There are 25 Bounties 

Rewards are not displayed when choosing a Bounty on the map. Typical rewards include gold and experience. Horadric Caches are rewarded for completing all five Bounties of an act.

There are five types of Bounties: Kill a Boss, Kill a Super Unique, complete an Event, Clear a Dungeon, and Exploration. Only one Bounty per zone is allowed in a single game. When close enough to the objective, the target is highlighted on the map (exact distance depends on the zone size). Most Bounties, except Bosses, can be accessed from two sides (by teleporting to the next zone and going backwards), which is helpful for completing a Bounty as soon as possible. A flashing icon also appears on the map, guiding the player to the main target of a bounty. Depending on bounty type, it can either appear immediately as the zone is entered, or after 1 minute.

Kill a Boss

This is a standard fight with one of the bosses (not necessarily main bosses) of each Act. However, all teleports located right before the bosses are disabled, so that the player always needs to get through at least one zone. The only exception is Zoltun Kulle, as there is no combat zone before the Soulstone Chamber. When a bounty boss is killed, a Radiant Chest (named Diabolic Hoard) appears, in addition to normal loot.

Kill a Unique

One Unique or Super-Unique monster in the zone is nominated a target (does not prevent other Uniques and Super-Uniques from spawning in the same zone). In addition to that monster, player must also kill a number of other enemies in the same zone, the amount varying depending on the zone size (25 to 150). The only exceptions are monsters that spawn in very small zones, such as Hell Rift.

Event

The player must successfully complete a specific event. These include scripted events, cursed chests and shrines, and even unmarked events. Bonus objectives have no effect on Bounty reward.

Clear a Dungeon

The player must kill all enemies (except resurrected and summoned foes) in the dungeon, the most bottom level only in case of multi-tiered dungeon. When 15 or less enemies remain, they are highlighted on the map. Only small dungeons with no more than 100 enemies can roll for this type of Bounties.

Exploration

Exploration involves events that require exploring an area and finding people who need to be rescued (if they're friendlies) or slain (if they're not).

I have done about 12 bounties at this point. The rewards are significant and it adds a fun element to the gameplay. 

9

While interacting with NPC's, I discovered the "gambling option. I decided to try it out.

Players can interact with an NPC and select the "Gamble" menu. There is a window with Unidentified Items. After spending some money on a specific item (by right-clicking on it) the item gets identified and the stats become known. After the rift, I gained a lot of gold and thought it might be a good idea to put some in the system.

The game showed these chances for every item quality:

Unique: 1/2000 (.05%)

Set: 2/2000 (.1%)

Rare: 200/2000 (10%)

Magical: 1797/2000 (89.85%)

Opening the gambling screen generates all the items shown in the window, even if they are never bought. This means that if it spawns a unique item, it won't spawn again in the same game. I left and re-entered the game after the prolonged gambling session. 

I also found Kanai's Cube. Prices in her store depend on item type, most of the armor costing 25 shards, jewelry 50-100, and weapons 75. There is a 10% chance to roll a Legendary or Set item in her store, regardless of difficulty or magic find. She does not sell items that are only found in Horadric Caches, but will sell Torment-exclusive items.

Upon every poor purchase, Kanai will laugh, saying that 'maybe you can find a use for the item they just bought one day... as a paperweight'. She will, however, congratulate you on a good roll.

Using Kanai's Cube to upgrade Rare items is a way of Gambling, for players only choose the type of item they want to receive, but the resulting gear is subject to random factor. 

I didn't win anything but it was probably for the best, especially after the abundance of items and gold won during the rift.

NPC's throughout the game that are able to start the gambling screen:

Gheed - Rogue Encampment 

Elzix - Lut Gholein 

Alkor - Kurast Docks 

Jamella - Pandemonium Fortress 

Nihlathak / Anya - Harrogath 

8

Today's adventure begins in Wortham, where the journey through an unholy forest to the town center. I am tasked with hunting the shards of the Worldstone through the  Ashwold Cemetery, the cursed forests of the Dark Wood, and beneath the sands of the Shassar Sea. 

As the exploration began, I found a dungeon. I found a lot of loot and lore. It took about 10-15 minutes to get through, and they are filled with monsters, gear and items. They also hold answers to some of the mysteries hidden in Sanctuary’s past. 

After that, I encountered a rift. Rift runs last 10-20 minutes (on normal difficulty) and have random areas and monsters. Unique monsters cannot spawn in the Rifts, but Treasure Goblins can. 

The rifts have 1-10 levels. Each level is effectively a different dungeon, with a different set of monsters 

The Rift is accessed via any of the Nephalem Obelisks, and can be opened at any time, at no cost. 

During the event, a progress bar appears beneath the game's mini-map, starting at 0%. To fill it to 100%, I had to kill monsters. More powerful monsters count as more than one kill, and least powerful monsters can count as a portion of a kill, or even not count towards it at all. 

Once the bar reached 100%, a random Rift Guardian boss spawned nearby. After the boss's death, it gave me the chance to speak to Orek to receive a gold and experience reward. After receiving the reward, the Rift closed in 30 seconds, so I had to pick up desired loot before returning to the 'quest'. 

I stayed in the rift and when it is closed I was teleported back to town.