This mechanic wasn’t communicated clearly, and some classes had trouble delivering the right kind of damage to break its armor. When Reaper of Souls launched, the Primordial Scavenger’s armor wouldn’t break until you’d taken off a significant chunk of its health, but only certain types of attacks were able to bypass the armor to deal damage. In addition, while a monster’s signature ability can make it engaging to battle against, sometimes it can cross the line and become frustrating. Too much Lacuni in your soup throws off the flavor. A good mix of monsters has a couple of things to avoid, a healthy chunk of basic attackers, and a little spice in the form of a big bruiser or a monster with unusual movement. Bit of a mess, right? Although we do throw monsters from different areas together in Greater Rifts, we carefully choose which monsters you see together. Imagine visiting an area and finding it packed with Moon Clan Shaman, Exorcists, Lacuni Huntresses, Blood Clan Sorcerers, Succubi, and Exorcists. Of course, when you’re playing on a difficulty level that’s easy for your character, you might not worry about the Succubus at all. It’s satisfying to use Cyclone Strike to pull several Succubi close and then Blinding Flash them all before they can cast Blood Star. They make the game more interesting by providing opportunities for your character’s abilities and legendary powers to shine. You might take an action to avoid it, like moving out of the way just before it reaches you or stunning the Succubus when you see her cast. When pushing Greater Rifts, you’d probably prefer not to get hit by that projectile. Her primary attack, Blood Star, is a fairly slow-moving, seeking projectile. We add engaging monsters like the Lacuni or the Succubus to change the fight dynamics.Īn engaging monster has the capacity to affect your behavior. Zombies are slow and predictable, so fighting one group of zombies will feel about the same as fighting another group. Progressing though a rift is about dealing with the unexpected. Today, I’ll be answering a question about rift monsters. One of my responsibilities is to make sure the monsters you fight are fun and engaging. I’m one of the designers on the Diablo III team working on gameplay systems and content like Greater Rifts. In the update, Joe talks about his work on making the monsters engaging and he specifically focuses on rift monsters. The latest Developer Chronicles article is now live and this week it comes from gameplay systems designer Joe Shely.

Diablo 3 dev talks forums