In a new end-of-year development blog, Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed Diablo IV is bringing the Paragon system back, but with big changes.
The news that Diablo IV is bringing the Paragon system back comes alongside the reveal of an expanded, greater Paragon board that doesn’t end when you reach the edge of your character’s board.
In Diablo III, once your character hits level 50 and you can start progressing through your Paragon Board, you’ll unlock the digital tiles and get boosts and customizations along the way. It begins in the center of the board and radiates out from there, with players reaching the edge.
Now, when players hit the edge of their Paragon Board, they’ll find gate tile, which unlocks and connects to other Paragon Boards, each with their own unique layouts and new things to unlock.
“Once your hero reaches a gate tile, you’ll choose which new paragon board you would like to attach to at that location,” Blizzard said in the update. “The desired outcome is a personalized set of bonuses that will empower your hero and honor your dedication to their progression, that will remain fun to tweak and adjust over many playthroughs.”
Legendary items are also getting tweaked to have legendary powers appear on multiple item types, instead of just one. This means the one item type that enables Martial Arts, a legendary power that improves the Barbarian’s kick ability, can be found on multiple items like rings, helmets, and chestplates.
The entire end-of-year development update also talks up a lot of other tweaks and updates like new visual effects, itemization changes, and “skill driven deaths”, meaning you can dish out death in a number of extremely violent ways.
“We can make blood, viscera, and gore even more realistic by having it react properly to the lighting of an environment,” Blizzard said. “Every monster is built with a skeletal and muscular structure used for killing them in brutal ways. If your character is in the thick of combat, they will be covered in the blood spatter of nearby monsters. Over time, your character’s armor will transition back to being spotless.”
Diablo IV was recently delayed to an unannounced date sometime after 2021, but it’s planned for release across Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
