Blizzard Unveils Diablo III "Paragon System"

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Blizzard Unveils Diablo III "Paragon System"


The new Diablo III "Paragon system" will give high-level players something exciting and new to strive for: even higher levels!

The trouble with Diablo III, so it would seem, is that once players hit level 60, there's just not much left for them to do. All that remains at that point is to hack and slash in search of loot, but as Blizzard admits, "Your play session may not only end without an upgrade, it can wind up being a net loss." And that's just no good.

Fortunately, in an inspired stroke of genius, the studio has come up with the solution to hitting the level cap: more levels! "Paragon levels," to be precise, a sort of tier-two level set that kicks in once character level 60 is achieved. Paragon levels are earned the same way as conventional levels - kill monsters, gain experience - and, much like regular levels, boost core stats like strength and dexterity, but they also increase Magic Find and Gold Find attributes by three percent per level.

This is apparently the big deal: Instead of forcing players to improve their odds of a big score by swapping into Magic Find gear in the middle of a fight, Paragon levels will effectively turn that percentage into a skill. Blizzard is also capping the Magic and Gold Find percentages at 300, meaning that someone at the maximum Paragon level of 100 will also have the maximum Magic and Gold Find percentages without needing special gear and can therefore focus on using items with more practical, combat-specific bonuses. "The idea is that if you're currently swapping gear in and out for the Magic Find bonuses, you can continue to do so... but gain enough Paragon levels, and you won't need to anymore," Diablo III Game Director Jay Wilson explained.

"To support the new system, Nephalem Valor (NV) will now also provide a 15 percent experience bonus per stack, applicable toward Paragon levels. The first Paragon level should take about as long as it took most players to get from level 59 to 60, and the experience requirement will rise from there," he continued. "The time to reach the upper Paragon levels approximates the long-term time investment required to get a level 99 character in Diablo II."

The Diablo III Paragon system, which will also reward high-level players with an increasingly-fancy-schmancy series of borders around their character portraits, will be released as part of the forthcoming 1.0.4. patch.

Source: Battle.net [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6968517/]


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Scarim Coral

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I think it's best to sum it up like this-

"You dawg I heard you like to grind so we added more grinds for you to grind!"

Ok yes this time the grind is more beneficial but come on! Seriously? And this is why Blizzard has been performing so poorly lately like losing members from WOW and Diablo 3.
 

NightHawk21

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Finally. I've been waiting on this since like week 1. God knows its been suggested since then. Finally nice to seem some small changes that quite frankly should've been implemented a long time ago. I haven't played since mid-June, but I gotta say this patch has me exited.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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NightHawk21 said:
Finally. I've been waiting on this since like week 1. God knows its been suggested since then. Finally nice to seem some small changes that quite frankly should've been implemented a long time ago. I haven't played since mid-June, but I gotta say this patch has me exited.
I haven't played in a while too and I'm excited for this.

Maybe they have something else planned after everyone gets used to the new system, like more levels and loots! :D
 

NightHawk21

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poiumty said:
Boudica said:
Sounds pretty silly.

Will something this shallow and pointless really keep people from leaving or win back the legion of disappointed leavers? Probably not.
No it's not, and yes it will. People have been asking for this for a long time. People aren't leaving because D3 is a bad game, but because of a lack of progression once you hit max level.
That's exactly it. D3 is a very good game up until mid 50s-60. Then it get boring. Don't get me wrong playing the same story 4 times/character isn't great but its not too bad, especially since each character at least gets different lines and a voice-over.
 

NightHawk21

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Fiz_The_Toaster said:
NightHawk21 said:
Finally. I've been waiting on this since like week 1. God knows its been suggested since then. Finally nice to seem some small changes that quite frankly should've been implemented a long time ago. I haven't played since mid-June, but I gotta say this patch has me exited.
I haven't played in a while too and I'm excited for this.

Maybe they have something else planned after everyone gets used to the new system, like more levels and loots! :D
Did you see the new legendary drops. Some of them actually look really good. Also I don't know if it still stands, but I remember people saying that there was mention of lvl 64 items once something like 10-30% of players get to Inferno.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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NightHawk21 said:
Fiz_The_Toaster said:
NightHawk21 said:
Finally. I've been waiting on this since like week 1. God knows its been suggested since then. Finally nice to seem some small changes that quite frankly should've been implemented a long time ago. I haven't played since mid-June, but I gotta say this patch has me exited.
I haven't played in a while too and I'm excited for this.

Maybe they have something else planned after everyone gets used to the new system, like more levels and loots! :D
Did you see the new legendary drops. Some of them actually look really good. Also I don't know if it still stands, but I remember people saying that there was mention of lvl 64 items once something like 10-30% of players get to Inferno.
Yeah, some of them look ridiculous, but I did see a few that look pretty badass.

I remember a mention of that but no one really explained further about it. I've been meaning to get that far just to see for myself but I stopped playing since I had other games to get to.
 

sinsfire

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So i never jumped on the D3 bandwagon. I just started playing with the Starter Pack last wekk. I am having a bit of fun but everyone seems to just hate this game. Should I even bother upgrading or should I just let this come and go and wait for SC2:HotS
 

Frylock72

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I've heard stories of what it took to get to level 99 in Diablo 2, and I am not even going to bother. I wish I could go back in time and not ever preorder this game. Ugh.
 

Compatriot Block

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Boudica said:
Grind to level 60! Now... grind some more! No, not for new story or anything, but for bigger numbers next to your name!
Have you ever played a Diablo game? That's exactly what Diablo fans want from them.
 

blackdwarf

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although the reward is not big with each lvl, it does give a feeling of progression. i like it. patch 1.0.4 looks to be a great one.
 

weirdee

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although i approve of allowing players to peel back the layers of "well we can't have a reasonable drop rate because economy herp derp" at the same time i wonder how they're going to counteract what would essentially be giving the keys to the good loot to just a few players and then wrecking the high end goods market