By Jonathan Charles | Apr 24, 2012 09:48 AM EDT
Blizzard unveiled a new class for its upcoming fantasy action role-playing game Diablo 3, called the Witch Doctor. The spotlight comes at the end of the beta's "stress test," and three weeks ahead of launch.
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This is the fourth class unveiled out of five, and Blizzard has updated the Diablo 3 website with more details on the Witch Doctor on Tuesday. The other confirmed classes are the Demon Hunter, Barbarian and Monk. The final class will be the Wizard.
"The Witch Doctor wields supernatural forces, assaulting the bodies and minds of his enemies via crippling diseases, potent alchemy and ancient rites," the spotlight video says. The Witch Doctor can cause direct damage, but indirect spells are the most effective. "Horrify for example causes nearby enemies to flee in terror, while Mass Confusion blurs the lines between friend and foe, turning even the staunchest allies against each other," the video added.
The Witch Doctor can also summon creatures, such as locusts and poisonous toads, "command savage beasts to rend the flesh of his opponents" and summon fire bats. The class can also summon the Gargantuan, a "massive abomination" that takes down heavily armored enemies.
While a new class, the Witch Doctor brings over elements from classes such as the Druid and Necromancer, which can summon enemies from the underworld and are spell-based.
Blizzard also announced beta testing will end May 1, but extended beta invitations to 275,000 additional players earlier this month.
To ensure replay value, a random level generator and a random encounter generator will feature while the game will include static and random levels. There will also be class-specific quests along with the main questline.
Other small changes are the ability to pick up gold without having to click, and health orbs drop from enemies rather than having a health bar. Instead, a skill bar has been introduced which allows for spells and skills to be assigned for quick access.
Skill runes are also new, modifying skills and sometimes completely changing them, and are unlocked, as players level up.
Diablo 3 releases on May 15, 2012 in North America and Europe. More information on the game and its classes can be found on Diablo3.com.
Check out the Witch Doctor trailer video below and let us know if you feel intimidated or not:
(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)
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