Blizzard is making good on their promise to deliver quarterly updates on Diablo 4, with the first update introducing a new monster family and a list of other exciting features.
Monsters in Diablo 4 are being grouped into families, and the newest of them promises to be just as wretched and depraved as the rest. Cannibals are coming to Diablo 4 with four distinct members, each with its own design and weapons.
There are two melee fighters equipped with a two-handed greatsword cleaver and a lightweight halberd, respectively. Then there's the bruiser, which dual-wields spiked clubs to damage and stun players. Finally, swarmers are dual-axe-wielding nightmares that will take advantage of the bruiser's stun to surround and devour you. Here's an unsettling shot of some Cannibals preparing dinner:
Blizzard's lengthy dev update also details some of the ways Diablo 4 is being shaped by community feedback. For instance, you'll now be able to rebind your primary skill to another button that isn't left click. And while I can't imagine using any other key to hack through dungeons, my mouse's left click button is thanking the heavens.
Another way Blizzard is making Diablo 4 more flexible to players with different preferences is by adding gamepad support for PC players, which makes sense considering the new entry is the first Diablo game being developed simultaneously for console and PC.
The update also confirms that Blizzard is working on touching up the look and functionality of the inventory screen after hearing feedback, but says they don't plan on bringing back different-sized items ala Diablo 1 and 2.
"We hope to both home in on our goal of a gritty, realistic UI, while balancing ease of use. As the inventory screen is something our players will probably interact with the most, we really appreciate your feedback in this area," writes Angela Del Priore, Lead UI Designer.
Finally, Blizzard is working on improving couch co-op play in Diablo 4 after hearing complaints about the UI screen on one local player's screen interrupting gameplay for the other player. "For Diablo IV, we decided to focus on improving the favored 2-player co-op experience and set up our core progression UI screens such that they can be opened independently or at the same time."
Read what our sister publication Edge had to say after spending some hands-on time with Diablo 4 (warning: it's bloody).
