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Diablo 4 is coming in 2023, and with it will come a new story, several playable character classes, progression systems, and of course, tons of loot. These systems are all aimed at inceasing the player’s overall power as they combat the forces of Lilith and the denizens of Hell.
Previous entries were a bit restrictive on how player growth could occur, but there are at least four progression systems in Diablo 4. Depending on how players approach the game, there will be a wide variety of ways to grow stronger. As the challenge increases, so should their ability to combat these obstacles.
Diablo 4 players will have plenty of useful progression systems
Diablo 4 will offer players flexibility and power like they’ve never experienced in the franchise before. There will be several useful routes to growing in power, which vary wildly. One of the first ones is the Renown System, which will reward them for completing activities in the world.
This account-bound progression system affects your entire group of characters, which is great. Previous entries in the franchise weren’t always very alt-friendly, but that will change in Diablo 4. Each zone in the game has five levels of renown, and by raising them, players can unlock account-wide rewards. Currently, six activities are known that will increase renown.
Renown activities
- Discovering an Area: 2 Renown
- Finding an Altar of Lilith: 5 Renown
- Unlocking a Waypoint: 10 Renown
- Completing a Side-quest: 15 Renown
- Completing Dungeons: 20 Renown
- Liberating Strongholds: 50 Renown
Each time they increase your standing in this progression system, all of their characters receive Bonus XP and Gold, and the account-wide rewards don’t have to be claimed anywhere. It is also currently known what amounts of renown players will need, though that could change as Diablo 4 continues to be developed.
Renown requirements/rewards
- 80 Renown: 1 Skill Point
- 180 Renown: 1 Potion Charge
- 300 Renown: 1 Skill Point
- 500 Renown: 1 Skill Point
- 800 Renown: 4 Paragon Points
The progression system is great and rewards players for simply playing the game. Then there's the Codex of Power, which rewards players for completing dungeons. This system is tied to your loot and contains most of the Legendary Aspects they will unlock as they play the game. Complete specific dungeons for the first time to obtain these.
You can then attach these to your Rare/Legendary loot, to increase their power and give them new abilities. Not all of these are universal, though. Many are class-specific, so it will be worth figuring out which dungeons are most important for you to complete first. This is a terrific way to make any piece of loot into something useful.
Of course, there’s also Diablo 4’s Skill Tree. This is a classic progression system, and this version is interesting. This is how you both unlock skills and increase the usefulness of said skills. As of this writing, it resembles a tree you might see in Path of Exile - The Hub and Spoke model.
Players will have roughly 64 points to work with when you factor in leveling up and the Renown system skill points. This number could change in the future, though. At level 50, the Paragon System will open up. You’ll see large squares, which are your abilities for that class. You can then spend other points to upgrade those skills as you see fit.
Each of those skill upgrades is on branching paths, and you have to choose a side. You can’t get both upgrades on a branching path, unfortunately. This Diablo 4 skill tree should offer flexibility and creativity, without just having every character max out their entire skill tree.
Finally, there’s the Paragon System progression system. Introduced in Diablo 3, it appeared in other releases too. It was a way for players to farm stat growth nearly infinitely. Instead of simply dumping points into four or five sections, players will be further enhancing their build. At level 50, the first Paragon Board opens, and for every quarter level they achieve, they will gain a Paragon Point.
Diablo 4 players will start at the center of the board and move outward, filling in blocks that connect to that center piece. There are also four types of tiles, and each gets progressively better.
Common are stat bonuses, Magic increases something slightly higher (for example, resistances), then there are the Rare and Legendary tiles. Rare tiles have a stat requirement to unlock and grant more specific powers and abilities. The Legendary tiles are the best of all and grant some truly impressive upgrades.
Each board has a Legendary tile, and it’s always in the center. Players can also expand towards Gate Tiles, which will unlock a new board to explore. They can even rotate and preview these, and should have roughly 220 Paragon Points to play with, though again, this could change.
Finally, the Paragon Boards also have Glyphs that can be inserted. These are found throughout the game, and can be socketed into the Paragon Board. Once done, they increase in power based on how many slots on the board it covers, that have filled spots.
An example is the “Exploit” glyph, which has a Medium sized radius. It grants 40.5% bonus to all nodes within its range. That means players will want to prepare for this, and fill as many spots in that radius as possible.
While it doesn’t sound like gamers will be able to infinitely build power in Diablo 4, it sounds like there’s an incredible amount of customization in how they build in the upcoming action RPG's progression systems.
These could change and be updated throughout the game’s life, depending on what the developers decide is needed as well.
