Monster levels ”aren’t linear any longer,” revealed Bashiok, instead the challenge ramps up with Act III and IV reserved for ”the most elite players only” if you give Inferno a whirl.
The learning curve for Inferno needed to be ”different amounts for different people.” Crazies need a ”huge ramp” but others prefer a ”milder increase” in the challenge.
“Inferno monster levels aren’t linear any longer. They get progressively more difficult. This was really a reaction to Inferno playtesting,” revealed community manager Bashiok on Battle.net. The Inferno difficulty isn’t available by default and must be unlocked by players. It’s no pushover even for hardened veterans.
“There’s a wide variety of players out there and we wanted to make sure everybody had something to sink their teeth into,” they continued. Diablo has traditionally offered unfair odds against players, for those who seek them.
”We expect that anybody with enough time and dedication will reach level 60. But the jump in difficulty to Inferno needed to be different amounts for different people. For the crazy people they need a huge ramp in difficulty, for a more ‘casual but still hardcore audience you want an obvious but milder increase in difficulty.”
The final two acts are ”really, really brutally hard, for the most elite players only now.
”You’re going to die, a lot, and you’re going to have a horrible character for quite a while. You’re not going to hit 60 and finish the game on Inferno. You’re going to be smashing your face against Act 1 Inferno for weeks.”
On the matter of class build flexibility, Bashiok has no sympathy for cry babies. ”It’s Diablo. If you can’t find a workable build without having your own perfect choices being handed to you on a silver platter at the start of the game, good luck in Inferno,” they stated. ”Actually, good luck in Nightmare. This game is hard.”
Diablo III releases on PC May 15th. Check out the newly released Demon Hunter trailer.
