BlizzCon 2019 - Diablo IV World and Lore Panel Recap

[Haggle]

BlizzCon 2019 - Diablo IV World and Lore Panel Recap

• The Process
  
  
  • The team has looked at a lot of pop culture references such as comic books, tv shows, and look at these through a lens of Diablo. They like to add gross things based on this method.
  • Role-playing games are a huge inspiration for developing gross things through their "Diablo lens."
• Tone of Sanctuary
  
  
  • They want to bring back the unique vibe that previous Diablo games had.
  • They want to make a much more grounded story than Diablo III.
  • They want you to be able to discover the story of much more simple folk.
  • There are over 100 villages with common folk to explore and help.
  • Wandering and thinking about what awaits in the darkness is an important mood to create.
  • They are trying to give a sense of claustrophobia.
  • There is a Blood Bishop boss in one of the dungeons.
  • There will be religious and agnostic themes along with inspirations of what people in the middle ages imagined hell to be like.
  • The basic concept is discovering the problems of every day folks, exploring, and eventually finding something evil waiting at the end.
• Lore
  
  
  • When the black soul stone was shattered by Maltheal, the essences rocketed out into reality. This is important for Diablo IV.
  • Lilith is the daughter of Mephisto, the lord of hatred. She and Inarius created Sanctuary.
  • Maltheal's genocidal campaigned wrecked the world and created many power vaccuums that different groups are trying to fill.
• World Building
  
  
  • If you read the Diablo 1 manual, you find out a lot about the world that wasn't in game. This was the starting point for everything done since.
  • Diablo II gave a map of the world and allowed the team to develop the world more because of it.
  • With Diablo IV, they are building one large continuous and connected space and so porting around isn't needed.
  • Locations are actually in specific places on the new map and not added wherever they fit like in previous games.
• World
  
  
  • For the first time, Sanctuary itself gets to be a character.
  • You can walk all of Sanctuary as one cohesive world.
  • For the first time, you get to see all the space between locations that was separated by loading screens.
  • Scosglen
    
    
    • Ancestral home of the druids
    • Constant fog and rain
    • Drowned and Goatman causing havoc outside the towns
  • Dry Steppes
    
    
    • Incredibly difficult place to live
    • Geysers of boiling water
    • Violent wars between groups of people
  • Fractured Peaks
    
    
    • Snowy mountainous region
    • Victorian Gothic themes
    • Ancient old cathedrals and ruins
    • The towns bar the doors when the sun goes down
    • Group of religious zealots make their home here
  • Hawezar
    
    
    • Poisonous swamp lands
    • Black magic and fever dreams
    • Those who come here come to be lost or forgotten
    • Full of thieves and outlaws
    • Swamp witches that worship massive snakes
  • Kehjistan
    
    
    • Desert area from Diablo III
    • Ancient cult ruins
    • Tribune that resurrected Lilith is here
• Monsters
  
  
  • Drowned
    
    
    • Monsters of legend in Sanctuary that haven't been seen in ages. Most believe they don't exist.
    • They appear on moonless nights from the sea and infect the shores like a disease.
    • Bells toll when they are near.
    • Wretch, Sea Witch Dungeon Boss, and Drowned Juggernaut are some Drowned enemies.
    • Drowned Juggernaut used mast of a ship as weapon.
    • Drowned bring the sea to you with their attacks.
• Bosses
  
  
  • Ashava
    
    
    • Ever present threat in Sanctuary and can pop up anywhere.
    • She is a monument to what Diablo IV is as a game. A massive monster that takes people working together to take down.
  • Duriel, the Lord of Pain
    
    
    • Returning from Diablo II
    • They are paying tribute to his fight in Diablo II while also developing him further.
    • Also the Lord of Maggots
• Q and A
  
  
  • The Father of the Nephilim (Inarius) is still being tortured by Mephisto and it would be a spoiler to say if he makes an appearance in Diablo IV.
  • Sanctuary is a fixed world and will not be randomly generated, but the dungeons will be.
  • The souls in the Black Soul Stone are all out there and will come back.
  • We might see the other Lords of Hell
  • There is a lot of possibility to where Tyreal might be now.
  • There's a lot of characters that are fan favorites that they are talking about bringing back. Maybe the Butcher?
  • The team wants to honor the legacy of Diablo II and hopes the monster line up will delight you.

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