Everything We Know About Diablo III

Now that we have a firm release date for Diablo III to look forward to, I suspect we’re going to be seeing an awful lot of websites capitalizing on the game’s final two months of pre-release buzz. And kicking that trend off in style is this piece on Game Informer that seeks to inform us about “everything we know about Diablo III”:

The Artisan system allows players to create powerful magical items without making them hang around in town wasting time better spent killing monsters.

Two artisans will join you after you complete certain quests within the greater storyline. They will have names and backstories of their own, but for now we know them only by their trades.

All artisans have basic vendor functionality, allowing you to buy and sell items at your camp rather than shopkeepers in town. Beyond that, their capabilities vary greatly.

The blacksmith unsurprisingly focuses on equipment supporting close combat. Heavy armor, swords, axes, and the like can all be found here. He can also add sockets to items, allowing you to place an additional stat-boosting gem into an existing item. He can also repair any damaged equipment you may have and salvage items. Common (white) items will not be salvageable.

The jeweller focuses on gems. He can combine lower-grade gems into more powerful versions, and pop a previously socketed gem out of an item (preserving both the gem and the item in the process).

To fund these powerful abilities, you’ll have to collect materials by breaking down existing items. The good news is that you can do it in the field, clearing space in your inventory by reducing bulky swag to easily stackable components. The bad news is that this has allowed Blizzard to remove town portals from the game entirely.