It’s finally time to play Diablo 4, even if it’s in beta first. The full game’s release isn’t that far off either, as it arrives on June 2-6. We now know the entire prologue of the game, as well as the first act, which is more than enough to get a good idea of the gameplay and progression.
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Choose your class and build
It’s unclear what the top class will be when the game releases, and it’s certainly destined to evolve based on progression, equipment, seasons, and updates. We therefore recommend that you play the class you prefer. They all have their own charm and unique gameplay. It is also not necessary to have. You then have to choose what type of build you want to play, this makes the selection of talent points more consistent and the character more efficient overall. For example a Frost Witch, a Waterspout Barbarian or a Ranged Thief with traps. You can reassign your points quite easily if you make mistakes or don’t like your character’s orientation.
Diablo 4 open beta classes: overview and which one to choose?
Diablo IV Early Access and Open Beta put all 5 classes at your disposal: Sorcerer, Barbarian, Rogue, Druid, and Necromancer. Because time is limited, it is difficult to test everything. Here you will find information and selection tips in this guide with their strengths and weaknesses.
Extreme mode, and what difficulty should you choose?
Unless you really know what you are doing, we strongly advise against Extreme mode (Hardcore), you risk losing your character in record time. Since Diablo 4 is an online game, you can expect a lot of connection issues during the beta and when the game launches, so it’s better to play the full game once before.
Choosing between beginner mode and veteran mode is easier as you can quickly change the difficulty once the game starts. Their name is representative of the audience to whom they are addressed. Even for a regular on the genre and the Diablo license, Veteran mode offers a more than satisfying challenge, with meaty bosses. This risks looping kills, for less experienced players.
Choose talents well
Diablo 4 doesn’t give you any skills at the start of the adventure, other than a basic attack. The talent point gained on each level is used as much to unlock new spells as it is to strengthen with passive points. So you have to choose well.
At level 2, your first point must necessarily be invested in a basic attack skill, which is used to generate your class resource. This is where your build orientation comes into play. The options you get are all viable, but the gameplay is different.
From level 3, you unlock a new level, with more powerful skills, which consume the resources of your class. It is better to invest in it for a big capital gain.
The principle is repeated with subsequent levels, even if more points are needed. We recommend that you invest in improving your active skills for the time being, rather than passive skills. Your goal is also to have a skill in each shortcut of the interface as quickly as possible.
Try to find a good balance in your skills, ideally you need one to generate resources, a main skill that consumes it, a movement skill, a defensive skill in some form and an ultimate skill. You won’t be able to use everything at once, so don’t hesitate to experiment and change your talent points if the result doesn’t suit you.
The progress of your future characters will be much faster, thanks to the fame system, which gives bonus talent points even at level 1.
The gameplay loop
Diablo 4 is very easy to pick up, the gameplay is as intuitive as it gets: attack enemies until they die, pick up loot from the ground and equip it in your inventory. You regularly get better gear and levels, which you can use to unlock new skills.
Two basic elements require some vigilance. For starters, the dashboard, which allows you to quickly move your character. It is mainly used to evade a dangerous attack. Using it isn’t as important on minor enemies, but on bosses it’s what will prevent you from dying in a loop. Since it has a cooldown of a few seconds, keep it to avoid the most horrible techniques, usually marked in advance on the ground and indicated by the boss animation.
Next come healing potions. They don’t have a cooldown, so you can gobble them up as needed, but it’s better to avoid getting there, to dodge the damage that can be. The reason for this is your limited supply of potions. Small enemies and healing cauldrons allow them to recharge. You often find one for the boss in dungeons. The bosses also drop potions when their health drops below a certain threshold, so you’ll have to juggle attack and defense to kill the boss before the healing runs out.
The prologue will keep you at hand, but after that it is recommended that you regularly return to the city to empty your inventory. Equip the best items and recycle the others at the blacksmith. It may also be advisable to visit other merchants from time to time, to take advantage of their special services (alchemist, occultist, jeweler).
Otherwise, you’re free to choose whether you’d rather continue in the main story missions, explore the map, do the dungeons, or something else. Each type of activity has its own attractions, but you will naturally progress in levels as you more or less improve your equipment, so there is no need to stress.
Improve your equipment
We can assume it’s a permanent target in Diablo. Finding new items on monsters and in chests is part of the fun of the game. It is also your main goal at very high levels.
It’s hard to list the best features for each class and build. As long as you can figure this out for yourself, relying on the help of the interface isn’t a bad idea. The usual green arrows indicate whether one device is better than the other. It’s not absolute, but it’s a good general indicator. You will naturally find more powerful items as you level up.
The blacksmith allows you to upgrade each piece of gear several times, but it’s not a very good investment at low levels as you’ll be changing these items frequently. You can just improve your weapon a bit, especially if you find a good one. This will help you progress faster without costing you too much.
Don’t forget to go to the occultist after completing your first dungeons, he can transfer special aspects to your items. Find the dungeons that grant the desired powers. When you find legendary items, transfer their special power to your equipment when their stats are out of whack.
Don’t forget to merge your gems and shrink them into your items. They can be collected from the jeweler or by recycling the corresponding object.
Potions can also be improved, go to the Alchemist for that.
Various advice
- Unlock the waypoints and the horse as soon as possible (in the full game, before the horse), to save time on your travels.
- It’s an open world, but there are still minimum levels for enemies. Don’t waste your time attacking enemies that are more than one or two levels above you.
- Try to collect fame fast enough in each region of the world to unlock the first tiers of rewards, the benefits are huge: talent points, potion charges, lots of gold and experience, etc.
- You can play with the good old keyboard and mouse combination, or with a controller, both on PC and consoles.
