6. Multiplayer

• Players will be automatically partied when they join a multiplayer game.
• Player vs. player combat is reportedly planned, but no details have been released.
• A scroll that would teleport you to other players is also being considered for inclusion.
• Drop in/drop out cooperative play over Battle.net.
• There will be a single realm/region for North America.
• The game can support about eight players in multiplayer, but currently plays better with around five. The maximum has not yet been decided upon.
• Battle.net will receive new upgrades, some of which will be seen in StarCraft II.
• Blizzard is looking at Battle.net features that will increase player accountability in order to cut down on annoying jerks.
• Blizzard is looking at integrating web community features, such as a WoW Armory-like website, that would allow players to show off their characters outside of the game.

7. Classes

• Five total character classes.
• Players will be able to choose a male or female variant of each class.
• Confirmed classes:

  Witch Doctor

  • Hails from the Teganze, an area of the Torajan jungles.
  • A self-sacrificing people that believe in an alternate reality called the Unformed Land, which the Witch Doctors are able to tap into for their powers.
  • Similar to Necromancer in function, but not necessarily intended as a replacement.
  • Confirmed abilities:
    • Skull of Flame: Grenade-like AoE (Area of Effect) fire spell.
    • Horrify: AoE fear spell, causes most creatures to run away.
    • Locust Swarm: Summons a swarm of insects that literally devour clusters of enemies, leaving nothing but bones.
    • Mongrel: Summons a demon dog from a skeleton. Casting locust swarm on a mongrel adds disease damage to its attacks. Intentionally destroying the mongrel damages nearby enemies.
    • Mass Confusion: Temporarily turns a group of enemies against each other.
    • Soul Harvest: AoE spell that kills an enemy and converts it into mana.
    • Wall of Zombies: Firewall-like spell that summons a line of zombies which stand and swing at nearby enemies.

Barbarian

• The Mount Arreat area, home of the barbarians, was devastated in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. The barbarian people have subsequently fallen into decline.
• Some barbarians have been turned into inhuman beasts.
• Confirmed abilities:
  • Cleave: Hits multiple enemies in one swing.
  • Ground Stomp: A thundering AoE stun.
  • Leap: Precision jump that destroys enemies on landing.
  • Seismic Slam: The Barbarian slams the ground, creating a directed shockwave that can hit multiple enemies in a line.
  • Whirlwind: A reckless spinning attack that takes out any enemy in the Barbarian's path.

• Wizard
  
  
  • An upstart magic user, not fit for the term sorceress.
  • "A rebellious wizard, young and inexperienced, wandering the world, dabbling in powerful magics she does not understand."
  • Full spell tree, including passive skills, available here: http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1020
  • Confirmed returning abilities:
    • Charged Bolt: Launch a volley of 3 electric bolts that deal 1-8 lightning damage each.
    • Storm Armor: Surround yourself in electrical energy. Electric bolts are automatically fired at all attackers for 1 to 8 damage.
    • Frost Nova: An explosion of ice pelts nearby enemies for 1-3 cold damage. Has an additional 25% chance of a critical hit. 12 second cooldown.
    • Electrocute: Lightning arcs from the Wizard's fingertips towards enemies, electrocuting them for 4-5 damage.
    • Ray of Frost: Project a beam of cold energy that deals 6 cold damage per second.
    • Blizzard: Call down shards of ice to pelt an area dealing 6-10 cold damage per second for 3 seconds.
    • Magic Missile: Fire 1 missile(s) of energy at your enemies causing 7-13 arcane damage to them.
    • Disintegrate: Emanate a beam of pure energy dealing 10 arcane damage per second. Damage is modified to 80% each time the beam passes through a target.
    • Wave of Force: Project a wave of force outwards, repelling enemies and projectiles and dealing 1-8 damage.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

• Arcane Orb: An orb of pure energy explodes on contact dealing 12-16 arcane damage to all enemies in the blast area.
• Slow Time: Warp space and time, slowing nearby monsters and projectiles.
• Temporal Armor: Surrounds the wizard in a protective shell that stops all damage from an attack every 6 seconds. The shell dissipates after absorbing 12 attacks.
• Spectral Blade: Summons a spectral blade that strikes each enemy in front of the Wizard 3 times causing 1-5 physical damage with each hit.
• Stone Skin: Shield yourself with rock and stone, absorbing 30 damage. Lasts 8 seconds. 15 second cooldown.
• Mirror Image: Create an illusionary duplicate of yourself that lasts for 8 seconds.
• Meteor Storm: Meteorites pelt the targeted region dealing 10 to 20 damage per second.
• Acid Cloud: Drop a deluge of acid on the targeted area. Deals an initial 1-4 poison damage followed by 4-8 poison damage per second to enemies who remain in the area.
• Hydra: Creates a multi-headed beast that attacks your enemies with bolts of fire.
• Magic Weapon: Imbue your weapon with magical energy granting it increased damage.

• Other classes are still not fully decided upon by Blizzard, but an obvious addition would be some kind of Archer.

Turn the page for some information on the game's monsters.