Hellgate: London Preview

Gamepro has previewed Hellgate: London based on the beta that’s been making its rounds. They note the game’s on the good path, but needs some work to live up to the Diablo 2 heritage.

A consistent critique of the game is that characters equipped with powerful weapons can plow through much of the combat without using many class skills. In order to test this, I made my first character an Evoker–a class which seems more or less wholly-dependent on skill use. My prognosis is positive; the weapons I can equip aren’t anywhere near as effective as the abilities. In fact, the Evoker as a class needs to equip a class-specific weapon (a “focus”) in order to use its abilities. These foci can shoot, but they’re really weak in comparison to other weapons, so I’ve only really used them thus far to whittle down puny monsters at long range, or to finish off fights when I’m low on mana. It’s safe to say that, at least for Evokers, skills are hugely important.

As far as Hunter and Templar classes go they seem to be much more weapon-reliant, but this is normal RPG convention. I need to spend a bit more time playing them, though; I’ve heard that Marksmen are pretty overpowered at this phase in the game, and I’m all about the path of least resistance.