Diablo Immortal director Wyatt Cheng discusses on video details of the technical alpha. Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play mobile game with optional monetized Battle Passes and Crests. Read the full transcript below. Thanks, Marc.

Diablo Immortal Technical Alpha Developer Update Transcript

Hello, Everyone. This is Wyatt Chang, from the Diablo Immortal team.

While I wish we could have all seen each other at BlizzCon this year, I am happy to be able to share some exciting news. The Diablo Immortal team is making great progress, and we’re ready to move to a limited public technical alpha. What this means is that a small number of players, primarily in Australia, will briefly have access to test the game and help us look at our early leveling experience, as well as out mid-game systems.

A technical alpha also gives the team a chance to test both server stability and client performance. This is an important step in making sure the game feels great when we get it into everybody’s hands. We’re looking for feedback from alpha testers to make sure that we’re delivering on that visceral combat, epic look, and amazing moment-to-moment gameplay you’ve come to expect from Diablo.

In addition to announcing the technical alpha, we’d also like to take this opportunity to update you on some other things that we have been working on. Progress continues on our all-new storyline, which takes place in between the events of Diablo II and Diablo III.

The story begins in Wortham, and will take players through some new and familiar places. We’ll be sharing the first part of the storyline with testers in the alpha. In addition to the main quest line, participants will encounter a variety of mini quests, side dungeons, and bosses. Players will also be able to meet up with one another in Westmarch, the central hub city in Diablo Immortal.

The Diablo Immortal team has been hard at work on Itemization, including Legendary Items, which can enhance or modify skills to have game-changing effects. Some examples include a Legendary Item that turns your fireballs into Frozen Orbs that chill and slow your enemies, or one that upgrades your cleaving attack to that slain enemy corpses explode! In Diablo Immortal, all Legendary gear is self-found. Tha’s right – you’re going to find your Legendary gear yourself. Legendary gear cannot be traded. But if all the gear is self-found, what do you do with items that you don’t want?

For the first time in a Diablo game, Diablo Immortal will feature an item-leveling system. You’ll be able to salvage unwanted items into crafting materials, and then use those materials to rank up the items that you love the most. Every time an item gains a rank, its stats will improve, and at certain levels your item will gain a random bonus property. We like how this system is coming along, and we look forward to refining this system after we collect feedback.

The technical alpha will have four of our final six playable classes: the Barbarian, the Monk, the Demon Hunter, and the Wizard. For the purposes of the alpha, we’re going to be reducing the level cap to 45. You may remember the Paragon system from Diablo III. This system allowed players to continue to grow in power after they reached the level cap. We’re making some changes to the Paragon system in Diablo Immortal. There will be a variety of Paragon trees to invest in, each suited to a different playstyle. One tree might focus on slaying enemies, while another might benefit group play. We’re going to unlock Paragon levels at 45 in the technical alpha, so that we can give that system some early testing.

So beyond playing the main quest line and slashing your way through dungeons, Diablo Immortal is also going to feature Elder Rifts. Elder Rifts are similar to Greater Rifts from Diablo III, in that they are short, randomized experiences. In Diablo Immortal, players won’t need keys to enter. You’re welcome to run Elder Rifts to your heart’s content to farm XP and loot. To spice up the Rift experience, we’re introducing a new item type called Crests. If a player uses a Crest when they open an Elder Rift, that Rift will gain random modifiers. Sometimes these modifiers are going to make the Rift more challenging, sometimes easier, but always more rewarding.

Some of you have asked: “How much is Diablo Immortal going to cost?” The entire main quest storyline, and all future content updates, are always going to be free. We are not going to limit your game time using an energy system, and new classes will be accessible to everybody without requiring an in-game purchase.

Diablo Immortal will be free to play, with optional in-game purchases available. For example, we are going to have a Battle Pass, and the Crests that I mentioned earlier will also be available for players to purchase. Players should always feel that spending money in Diablo Immortal is entirely optional, and not required to enjoy the game. You can learn more by reading our blog, that goes into detail regarding our free-to-play values.

Well that’s about it for today. As excited as we are to be entering this public testing phase, I would like to remind everyone that this is a limited technical alpha, and it’s an early look at the game. We’re going to be listening for feedback and taking our time to get things right. Diablo Immortal has been a labor of love, and on behalf of the entire Diablo Immortal team, thank you, and we can’t wait until we can see all of you in Sanctuary.

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BlizzCon 2019 Panel Transcripts