This blog is part of my series about my experiences in the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls beta. The beta has been over for quite a while. I still have things that I want to share about it, so I am going to. At least some (if not all) of my blogs about the RoS beta can be used as a little “tutorial” for players who are brand new to the game. I’ve only got a few more RoS beta blogs to go, and then I can move on to blogs about the expansion.
In the previous blog, my Crusader, Joan, had just hit Level 23. This blog continues with her adventure from Level 23 to Level 24. Many of the screenshots that you see in this blog were taken on January 11, 2014. The rest were taken on January 24, 2014.
Joan the Crusader, Lyndon the Scoundrel, and The Eirena the Enchantress started with a small part of the game that isn’t technically an “event” (but feels like one). Somewhere in The Howling Plateau, they come across a “Frightened Girl”.
Frightened Girl: They’re all dead…
Frightened Girl: I’m so alone.
Click on the Frightened Girl with the exclamation point over her head, and the Crusader says: Another Illusion.
These guys pop out of the ground, and you have to kill them. Nothing happens after that. You don’t get an “Event Complete” pop-up thing. It feels like an event, though.
Not long after that, Joan the Crusader got to the part of the game where The Enchantress introduces herself and tells about her past. She starts by mentioning that she is from fifteen hundred years ago. She continues with:
Enchantress: My sisters and I pledged our service to a man of great power. We called him the Prophet.
Enchantress: He trained us and placed us in a magical slumber to awaken in this era. I am to prevent the Lords of Hell from invading.
Crusader: I think you’re dangerous. I like that. Come, join me.
That’s a rather odd statement to come from a Crusader, especially when the Crusader and the Enchantress have something much more important in common. Both were “called” by a higher power to become who they are today. The Enchantress (along with her sisters) was selected by The Prophet. She was assigned the quest of waking up and fighting against “The Lords of Hell”.
Crusaders are “called” to become a Crusader. They become an apprentice to another, more experienced, Crusader, who trains them to fight evil (in short). Each new Crusader stays as an apprentice until his or her mentor dies. At that time, the apprentice Crusader changes her name to the name of her mentor. As a result, their personal history becomes lost as time goes on. In other words, the Crusade is way more important than the individual Crusaders who become a part of it. No one becomes a Crusader “on a whim”. Every Crusader becomes an extremely disciplined fighter, capable of taking on mobs of enemies all by themselves.
It would have made sense if the Crusader respond to The Enchantress’s revelations about her past with words that indicated a kinship. The Crusader could have said something like “We share the same goal”. Or “We each have been called”. Instead, the Crusader says “I think you’re dangerous. I like that. Come, join me.” Crusaders are powerful and extremely effective fighters – but they are not “dangerous”. They are disciplined. So, why this odd response?
In Diablo III, the male and female version of each player class have the exact same dialogue. This means that the male Crusader also tells The Enchantress “I think you’re dangerous. I like that. Come, join me.” It is obvious that the Crusader is not offering to take on The Enchantress as his or her apprentice. It is also clear that Crusaders do not need to bring someone “dangerous” along with them. They do just fine on their own!
I figure that particular piece of dialogue was written with the male Crusader in mind. When he says it, the implication is that he fancies women who are “dangerous” (meaning powerful). When the female Crusader says the same line to The Enchantress – it functions the same way. The female Crusader also likes women who are “dangerous” and powerful.
My best guess is that the people at Blizzard who wrote this piece of dialogue didn’t give it much though other than how it functioned with the male Crusader. Even so, they have created the first lesbian character in Diablo III. If that was intentional – then kudos to Blizzard for being inclusive! If that was their plan all along, then it is awesome that they let it be known that the female Crusader is a lesbian, and then the game goes on as usual. It’s said. It’s not earth-shattering. On with the Crusade!
This brings Joan the Crusader to the part of the game where the player can choose which Follower to bring with. The player might have either the Templar or the Scoundrel with him or her at this point. Or, the player might not have decided to take any Follower in favor of going it alone. Either way, the game gives you the option to bring Eirena the Enchantress along. Players can choose “yes” or “no”. I highly recommend choosing “yes” because doing so will result in two Achievements.
The Comfort of Strangers: Recruit the Templar, Scoundrel and Enchantress
Me, Myself & Eirena: Use the Enchantress as your Follower
The next interesting thing that Joan the Crusader and Eirena the Enchantress found was another “event that was not technically an event”. At least, it didn’t have anything pop up that clearly stated it was, officially, an event.
Wounded Man says: Over here! Please… There isn’t much time.
Wounded Man says: Please go down there… Ensure they’re all dead… and kill that horror before it…
The Wounded Man passes out before he can finish his sentence. “Down there” means the glowing doorway that is behind him. (It technically leads to Hadi’s Claim Mine.) Somewhere “down there” is a “horror” that he wants you to kill before it… does something horrible, I assume. Joan the Crusader and Eirena the Enchantress went inside and found a bunch of Dark Cultists who were throwing magic at a big, gold, monster (with a purple name).
Dark Cultist says: We cannot control it any longer!
The horror that cannot be controlled any longer turned out to be Dervish Lord, the Bonetaker. He put up a decent fight, but didn’t last very long.
Upon leaving Hadi’s Claim Mine, it becomes clear that The Wounded Man is Hadi (and that he is still alive). However.. he is missing the lower half of each of his legs.
Hadi: It hurts…
Hadi: The ground… its shaking…
Hadi: Can’t feel my legs…
Hadi: My legs!
Seconds after that, Hadi disappears into the ground and gets eaten by Monstrous Dune Thresher, Bane of the Dunes. Poor Hadi! He had some seriously bad luck!
The Monstrous Dune Thresher dropped a Legendary item! This would be the third Legendary that Joan the Crusader found in the Diablo III: RoS beta.
This Legendary was called Essence of the Twin Seas. I had absolutely no idea what it was. This time, though, I remembered that players can go ahead and identify Legendary items all on their own (without having to return to town to do it). So, I identified it.
The Essence of the Twin Seas is a Legendary Crafting Material. It is also is Account Bound (which means I can’t give it to any other players). I have no idea which crafter wants this or what it is used to create.
Moving on, Joan the Crusader and Eirena the Enchantress fought, and killed, Sepsis the Oubliette. He had the Jailer affix, but I don’t think he lasted long enough to use it.
The next interesting thing that Joan the Crusader did was level up Haedrig, the Blacksmith. Every time you level a crafter, the screen gets extremely bright for a few seconds. The Blacksmith was now at Level 5, which earns the player an Achievement.
Iron Heart: Raise the Blacksmith to Level 5
After that, I decided it was time to stop playing for the night (on January 11, 2014). It took a while before I could play the Diablo III: RoS beta again because my computer monitor died. Fortunately, we had a spare monitor that would do until it was possible to purchase a new monitor. As you can see, the spare monitor was really old. The screenshots from here on out were taken on January 24, 2014.
The monitor wasn’t great for graphics, and was a square shape. Everything was squished together! I was determined to continue playing the beta anyway. Compare this screenshot to the cropped one at the top of this blog!
Joan the Crusader picked up a Rare Helmet. It was not a Legendary, but I thought it was worth pointing out anyway because it had a socket. I decided to put a diamond Gem into it. The diamond Gems were new with the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion, and did not appear in the original Diablo III.
The Chipped Diamond is something that was dropped by some monster that Joan the Crusader had encountered. It is the lowest on the “totem pole” of Diamond gems. What it gives you varies depending on what type of items you put it into. If you put it into a Helmet, it reduces cool down of all skills by 3.5%.
Next, Joan the Crusader entered The Ruins Level 1 and hit Level 24! She says: My faith is rewarded.
This brings me to the end of this blog. There are still a few more blogs to go about my thoughts and experiences in the Diablo III: RoS beta. The next one will pick up with Joan the Crusader’s adventure as she goes from Level 24 to Level 25. Unfortunately, it will include screenshots that were taken on a very old monitor.