Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the Harpy-class (Rogue) will be one of five playable classes in Diablo 4, joining the Barbarian, Sorceress, and Druid, who were revealed when Diablo 4 was first announced at Blizzcon 2019.
In an interview with IGN, game director Luis Barriga compared her to a person who can do anything, but noted that she can master certain things if players choose to push her build that way. He compared the Harpy with “Choose your own class” in the sense that you can shape it however you want it to suit your style of play. You can go old school style from Diablo 1 and use the bow and arrows. However, you can also adapt it to other ranged weapons or also to melee weapons. “Players looking for ranged attacks will be happy,” said Barriga, “and will probably be surprised how the other versions of the Harpy will surprise them.”
Belly also explained that the Harpy has a specialization system. Like the guild missions in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, if you choose to work with different groups of Harpies and go on special missions for them, you will unlock a unique combat style that is tailored to that group. However, you can only choose one at a time. When asked if the other classes would have a similar specialization system, Barriga said no and explained with a smile that “each class has its own, so other classes get jealous.”
“Players looking for ranged attacks are going to be happy,” Game Director Luis Barriga said of the Harpy. “
Meanwhile, Belly and Art Director John Mueller discussed the mounts, noting that players of any character class will have access to them. “We want you to be able to move in style,” Mueller said, noting that all mounts are horses due to Diablo’s medieval Gothic roots; the team didn’t want to get too far into the Warcraft-style fantasy world. You can earn modular armor pieces to add to your mounts, as well as portable trophies that you get for completing certain pieces of content. “Matching your character and mount is a pretty compelling aesthetic,” Barriga said. And each class also has its own unique combat takedown, with the Harpy firing Hail of Arrows, which tends to catch opponents off guard in PvP, according to Belly.
On the PvP front, Blizzard says that you will never be caught off guard if you’re just looking for a PvE experience. “So for us [la solución] it was to create these ‘Fields of Hate’ that are cursed by Mephisto and have become active again ”, explained Barriga. So if you don’t want PvP you’ll be safe, but if you enter the Field of Hate, the PvP is clearly enabled and the looting rules are different and there are targets within that. “Once you walk in, it’s almost like the Diablo 2 rules,” said Barriga. “It’s really dangerous, especially when you enter the game on Hardcore (difficulty).” PvP, Barriga noted, “is going to be a great addition,” but “no one should worry about that” because “it’s purely optional.”
Finally, Camps are another open world element in Diablo 4. They are effectively the opposite of PvP. Narratively, they were important a long time ago. Diablo 4 occurs after the world was decimated, so some of the camps have a “post-apocalyptic vibe,” according to Barriga. Camps can be old churches, lighthouses, forests, etc. which have tormented souls and ghosts inside of them, but if you complete the mini-puzzle there, you will have cleared that area and it will be a small town / safe zone again. “It’s another way to build progression,” Mueller said, because as you unlock landmarks you can go anywhere, giving you an un-team power advantage over other players. “Everything is in a big open world and you can join this content on your adventure.”
Don’t expect Diablo 4 in 2021, but stay tuned to IGN to learn more about the latest installment in the legendary action RPG series as development progresses. In the meantime, stay tuned today and tomorrow for full coverage of BlizzCon 2021.
