Blizzard offers list of Diablo III tweaks in lieu of release date

Blizzard still won’t say when Diablo III will be released, but to tide players over, the mega-developer has offered choice details about changes to the game’s combat and crafting systems. Today on the official Diablo blog, game director Jay Wilson gave fans a run down on how item identification, crafting, and player stats will be altered from what’s currently in the beta.

First off, no more scrolls of identification. Blizzard still wants to keep the charm of “finding a present and then unwrapping it,” but it’ll no longer require you to waste inventory space on a Tome. You just right-click an item, there’s a quick cast timer, and boom, you’ve identified it. As Wilson puts it, Diablo characters are “just that badass now.”

Second, no more Enchanting, for now at least. Blizzard feels it has not been properly differentiated from the Socket and Gem system, and has opted to remove it, for now, rather than delay the game tweaking it. It is mentioned that Enchanting might be reintroduced at a later date.

Finally, the most sweeping changes have come to core character attributes, which are now Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Vitality. Forget about Defense, Attack, and Precision, they’ve all been cut in an effort to make stats “more intuitive.”

For the full explanation of Blizzard’s changes, including updates to Town Portals, the Inventory, the removal of the Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube, and a chance to howl in the comments about the lack of release date, check out Wilson's post.