Diablo Immortalclearly isn’t afraid to try new things when it comes to the franchise’s class roster, first with the introduction of the Blood Knight last year and once again with the game’s eighth and latest class, the Tempest. While the Blood Knight was on the darker side, tonally similar to the Necromancer, the Tempest stands in contrast as a much lighter class in alignment with Monks and Crusaders. In gameplay terms, the Tempest is a blazing-fast melee or ranged contender that obliterates foes with wind and water elemental attacks while supporting itself with Zephyr clones.
At a preview event, Game Rant spoke withDiablo Immortalsenior narrative designer Ryan Quinn and lead systems designer John Yoo about the Tempest, specifically about the team’s process for developing an all-new class forDiablo Immortaland the franchise. They spoke about the team’s criteria for determining when a class feels right and also how the Tempest class idea took shape in the beginning.
A New Diablo Immortal Class Should Support Different Kinds of Players
Of course, the most important characteristic of anyDiabloclass is its fun factor, and Yoo says that agoodDiablo Immortalclassought to have something to offer to players that favor various playstyles. The Tempest definitely seems to have hit the mark with skills that can transform it from a melee powerhouse to a high-sustain ranged combatant or a class that leans heavily into its summoned Zephyrs. Legendary items take this a step further so that Tempests with a similar skill loadout may play differently thanks to some game-changing affixes.
We want to ensure that we’re hitting different player types, whether you’re a type who likes summoning minions or you’re a type who likes to get up close and personal. We want to make sure that we provide different experiences for different types of players because everybody’s different, but ultimately, when we’re playing and especially when we’re playtesting, we feel like the classes are heading in the right direction when you can see the fun.
Early on, it’s really hard to find the fun because everything is in such a raw state. When you can pinpoint specific nuggets and say “This is definitely heading in the right direction,” you focus on that, and you keep iterating on it until you get to something that you’re happy with. Through that iteration, we really feel happy with where the Tempest landed.
One of the early challenges theDiablo Immortalteam faced was “finding the fun.” They may have a rough concept of a class in the beginning, but constant playtesting and iteration are needed to identify interactions that feel good for players. Yoo notes that the Tempest was one ofDiablo Immortal’s classesthat went through the most iterations, and the final product is a class that plays unlike any other in the roster.
Diablo Immortal’s Tempest Needed A Unique Theme
Quinn noted that developing a unique theme for anewDiablo Immortalclasswas a major challenge. After all,Diabloclasses run the gamut of fantasy archetypes, from boisterous Barbarians to zealous Crusaders, and the Tempest needed a distinct identity. Following the brutally dark themes explored by the Blood Knight, the Tempest was a great opportunity to explore a less bleak tone and a fresh personality.
Thematically, one of the things that we knew we wanted to do after Blood Knight was to do a lighter-toned class. Historically, inDiablo, our light-tone classes like Monk, Crusader, and Paladin tend to be “holy.” One of the fun narrative challenges on our side was, “Can we make a light-tone class that isn’t holy, and still have it feel special and iconic, and it does things that no other class would do?”
The first things that we really landed on were that we wanted to use what we call internally, “the northern elements,” basically water and wind, and we wanted to do passive summoning as a core ability and The Zephyrs grew out of that. The idea of it being a hybrid that danced back and forth and was really fluid in combat throughout that. Then there’s the backstory, the notion of where the Tempest comes from and what their social standing is.
The Tempest’s “northern elements” arsenal of water and wind goes a long way toward establishing the Tempest’s unique identity, complementing the fire, lightning, and ice elements employed byDiablo Immortal’s Wizard. Thanks to some surprisingly thoughtful lore writing by Quinn andDiablo Immortal’s narrative team, the Tempest’s origin story also helps it stand on its own as a strong addition to the franchise.
WHERE TO PLAY
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