Diablo 4 Update Shows Off Character Customizations, Classes, and Monsters

Diablo IV got another of its quarterly updates on Wednesday with this latest extensive blog post [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Diablo IV got another of its quarterly updates on Wednesday with this latest extensive blog post from Blizzard focusing on the character art players will see in the game. That of course encompasses the classes that people will be playing as such as the Rogue which was revealed not long ago, but it also includes the bosses and other gruesome enemies players will encounter.

To help illustrate the points made in the post by Diablo IV Art Director John Mueller, Lead Character Artist Arnaud Kotelnikoff, and Associate Art Director for Characters Nick Chilano, we got several different videos released within the post to show different close-ups of classes and beasts that'll launch with the game. Two classes – the Rogues and the Barbarians – were focused on as far as the class-based discussions go while the monsters highlighted included a couple of different creatures.

You can find those videos below along with some commentary on the videos and the characters shown within courtesy of the statements from the developers. For full context on everything that was discussed, be sure to check out the quarterly update itself to make sure you're up to speed on the game.

Diablo IV does not yet have a release date but is not planned for a 2021 release.

Rogues

"Here is a video clip in slow motion of the Rogues, which we recorded in our real-time engine," Kotelnikoff said. "You can really enjoy the details and see how the light reacts with the materials. You will also be able to see some of our customization elements that I talked about earlier. Please note, the environment is a test scene that modelers use to look at their characters and many of these armors are works in progress and subject to change and polish."

Barbarians

"Here is another slow motion video of the Barbarians," Kotelnikoff said after showing off the Rogues. "Please note that all these armors are a work in progress and are subject to some adjustment."

The Blood Bishop

"Our game design goal for the Blood Bishop was to make a caster who would cast direct damage and create AOE bombs for area of denial," said Chilano. "As for the visual notes, we wanted a high-level boss based on vampiric blood and magic. We knew we wanted to double down on the notion of a heart shape for the function of the blood magic. That naturally led to the notion of arteries creating these blood clots that explode to cast the AOE effect design needs. An exposed beating heart was the natural visual choice. So, the organic pulsing we see, the flowing arteries, and the blood-based VFX all combined to reach an aligned goal the team could get behind."

Skeleton Lord

"This undead Skeleton Lord is made of fused skeleton and body parts, with sinew and blood connecting it together—something we felt fit our game visually," Chilano continued. "That led to a Design Lead wanting to create a fight based on this character. The Design team was able to create a unique fight based on bone visuals, summoning skeletons, bone walls to restrict pathing, and leveraging the giant staff—one attack has the Skeleton Lord smashing the staff into the ground and creating a shower of exploding bone shards."

The Spider Host

"The spindly legs and back thorax instantly tell you what it is," Chilano said. "That thin look of the legs as it moves down to a thicker body give it a nice balance to settle the shape language from top to bottom. The saturated red of the spider, on top of the cooler and more subdued body, help pop the spider visually so your eye catches it as soon as they show up on screen. When we look closer, you can see the spectacular highlights on the bloated body, the torn and pulled flesh, and the bulging pustules. So, up close gruesome details are visible from the game camera because of the clear shape and color grouping."

The Succubus

"This succubus is another great example of an interesting and clear visual read from gameplay, with finer details that don't get in the way of the game camera but really raise the visual bar," Chilano said about the succubus.

The Knight

"This Knight is covered head to toe in metal and fabric that reacts differently based on lighting," Chilano said. "You can see nice details and material breaks on the hard surfaces that your eye expects to see. This detail grounds us in a world we all visually know and understand. The difference from a scale pattern of finer metal to large, hammered iron next to gold trim is readily apparent."

Organic Surfaces

"Organic surfaces also are represented accurately in our engine," Chilano said. "Fur, bone, flesh, and blood are all visible and react to light correctly. This is a Diablo game, after all, and we know these materials will be important."

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