The Diablo III: Reaper of Souls beta is over, but I’m still blogging about it. I’m finding that doing this gives me the opportunity to note my thoughts about the game. Odds are, I was probably thinking the things that I am writing while I was playing the beta. Sanctuary is no place for writers, though. Too busy fighting demons!
I was playing a Crusader named Joan. In the previous blog, she just hit Level 14. Here is her adventure from Level 14 to Level 15. All of the screenshots that you see in this blog were taken on December 20, 2013.
Somewhere in the Fields of Misery, Joan the Crusader picked up something I hadn’t seen before. “Griswold’s Scribblings” is a Legendary Crafting Material. It is also Account Bound (which means that a player who picks this up cannot trade it to other players).
Diablo III doesn’t have a non-player character (NPC) named Griswold. There are two crafters in Diablo III: Covetous Shen (the Jeweler) and Haedrig Eamon (the Blacksmith). The Reaper of Souls (RoS) expansion is going to have a Mystic (who is not named Griswold).
Who is Griswold? Those of you who have played Diablo I will remember. He was the Blacksmith of Tristram and the NPC that players visited the most. He could repair items and buy the things you didn’t want. “Woll, wuht kin I du for ya?” He also had stuff you could buy, and he gave out a couple of quests. According to Diablo Wiki, Griswold appeared in Diablo II as a monster.
Griswold did not appear in Diablo III. So, what’s with this Legendary Crafting Material that has his name on it? I have no idea. My best guess is that it is going to be something that players need to collect in order to craft some really awesome weapons and/or armor. We will have to wait for the expansion to find out.
Moving on, Joan the Crusader and Kormac the Templar went through the Khazra Den. They yelled at Maghda until she disappeared and then got in a fight with Urik the Seer, Prophet of Torture. (I hadn’t noticed that “Prophet of Torture” bit until now). At this point, Joan was halfway to Level 15.
Next, I got a fun event called “The Old Man”. As you can see, Joan the Crusader and Kormac the Templar are in The Secluded Grove. They find a big, glowing, chest that is sitting next to an odd looking tree. Here is another example of the Crusader’s snarky sense of humor.
Joan the Crusader: The chest most likely springs a trap.
It looks too easy, and the Crusader is not fooled. She’s calling it like she sees it. Does she think Kormac didn’t figure that out on his own?
I guess you don’t have to open the chest. But… the loot! That’s like, half the reason to play Diablo III! The instant you try to open the chest, you get attacked by trees. That funny looking one behind the chest is The Old Man. He wants to kill you, and he called in some of his big tree friends to help him out. I’ve done this event in Diablo III before the Diablo III: RoS beta came out. It’s a good fight, if you happen to like kiling trees. (Also, I don’t think this is technically an “event”, but it feels like one to me).
I just noticed now that The Old Man is “Rooter of Corpses”. How disgusting that sounds depends on which country you come from!
During the fight, Joan the Crusader hit Level 15. I’ll pick up with her adventure from Level 15 to Level 16 in the next blog.
