This is a review thread to keep all informed on anything relating to Character classes or appearance/stats, Monsters including AI, types, appearance and anything and everything Item related such as sockets and modifiers, types, how players interact with items etc. I will try to keep this section as up-to-date as i can, but if anybody finds anything new from a reliable source, then please post. Gogo holy grilled cheese sandwich!
Character
Feb 22, 2006
Q.We can see the point "Defenses" at the Character Panel. I'm interested in the resistances. Will they play a decisive role in Hellgate? More like it is in Diablo?
A. Specific resistances to damage types (slashing, fire, spectral, toxic, etcetera) will be important to the game, but no more so than any other action RPG out there. That is, you'll want to possess well-rounded armor and skills to help protect your character against more powerful enemies and enemies prone to dishing out specific types of damage, but constantly switching between armor types will not be a requirement.
Feb 27, 2007
1. There is no "_ALWAYS_ a supporter class." All of our classes are designed to be offensive capable, meaning no class is meant to be the equivalent of a walking potion. With that in mind, it's certainly possible to augment a character with specific skills to make him / her better at specific things, like maybe they'd be more inclined to stay away from the battle shooting things and initiating skills. They're all still weapons, though. None of our characters sit on the sidelines refilling water bottles.
2. There's a life reserve and a general purpose power reserve that determines the limitations of skill use. For instance, X skill would cost Y power. Life is pretty obvious. Defense ratings determine how much life is lost after an attack. There are not separate meters designated to specific types of armor, nor are there any action points.
3. The Templar is our equivalent of the melee oriented Tank class. While Templars are certainly capable of wielding some weapons, and have even been known to combine pistols with swords for killer akimbo combinations, they excel at cutting bloody swathes through the hordes of the underworld with nasty swords and bludgeons.
Feb 28, 2006
You can skill your character however the hell you want and use whatever you want. The game is actually designed to prevent people from finding that one character that outperforms all others. So go nuts.
March 3, 2006
Classes aren't actually based on religion. Instead of serving the Christian God, it's better to think of the Templars as those who serve The Light or The Creator of all, for all. And this despite wherefrom the name Templar originates.
In our game, class choice does not actually imply a subscription to a specific religion. Our Templars are then not necessarily religious -- they're simply spiritual and retain faith in goodness. They're also quick to dole out severe ass kickings to any shit-faced demon that tries to supplant goodness with wickedness.
March 11, 2006
One class in particular is designed to capitalize off our melee weapons. While other classes can use certain melee weapons, they will not be encouraged to. So, there is basically a tank-like melee class and then there are other classes. And while it's possible to make a grayer character that can do a number of things, it's really not going to happen a lot.
March 15, 2006
1. Our female characters don't appear to have high heels in-game. They wear various armored and unarmored boots. And you can pretty much never see any feet even if they didn't.
2. Q.Will templars have some sort of church or a grandmaster to serve?
A.Yes and yes.
3. Dismemberment does not apply to the player character. It only applies to enemies.
April 17, 2006
1. Cabalists war with the demons just like the Templars, only they choose to fight with different weapons. While Templars believe themselves to be the righteous fist of the divine -- a sword to cut through the waves of darkness and a hammer to smash hell back into the oblivion from which it came -- Cabalists believe greater understanding and an intimate knowledge of the netherworldly aggressors is the key to success.
2. The Cabalist is a type of character that teeters on the brink of damnation. By dabbling in the dark arts, the Cabalist has tapped into a well of inexplicable supernatural power, but has also exposed him or herself to the whims of the nether. That is, it is not unheard of for a Cabalist to cross the line, however unwillingly, and find him or herself a servant of the dark, mad, or consumed entirely by demonic energies. This is not to say they are all inherently evil, however. Rather, like people in general, Cabalists come in all forms. Only their occupation does imply a certain level of hazard.
3. A Cabalist is Hellgate's spellcaster and summoner and can also partly or totally transform him or herself into demon forms to be a more capable combatant.
April 20, 2006
1. As to the look of the Cabalist, please remember that the one you've seen is just one version of a general idea. Others look far more freakish and sinister. They're just not anywhere near done yet.
2. Cabalists can transform parts of their bodies into pieces from many different demons.
3. Q.Did the cabalist have the teleport skill?
A.Not right now, no. She may ultimately, though. There's little documentation that outlines the Cabalist's full skill set.
4. We haven't established a level […] cap yet. Right now we're thinking it'll be something crazy high like 99 or a million. We want people to keep getting better, always. So we encourage fast leveling and lots of it.
5. Cabalists are the ones most at odds with the Templars.
6. The Templar is the melee-centric character we've been referring to.
7. Q.how many demons will the cabalist be able to control at a time? one? some? a whole lot of?
A.Right now you can control quite a few. I had three Shriekers going, three Elementals and one Carnagor. There's no telling how that will change in the final, however.
April 28, 2006
1. 1. Max says there will be a cap, but it will be something ridiculously high like 99 or whatever. [note: max character level]
2. Q.Can the character show emotions with its face or other parts of its body?
A.Emoting is planned, yes. Like, you can grab your testicles and rub them seductively to indicate your interest in mating with a Minion. But we don't think that one is going to make the cut.
3. Q.Can a character leech life or mana with special items without a natural character attribute for this?
A.Nope.
May 24, 2006
There are pets with life bars that level up with the character. There are pets that remain active for a limited amount of time and then there are pets that vanish after performing a certain function. Those are the differences between pet types.
August 11, 2006
It is currently possible to edit:
Gender
Face type
Skin tone
Height
Weight
Hair style
Hair color
Eye color
Class
We are considering ways to make each level even more configurable. We'll see what happens.
Skills
Feb 22, 2006
Q.Will it be possible too Combinate the classes? For example like in Diablo with Item's that gives you a skill from another class, or just like in GuildWars with Primary / Secundary Class?
A.There will be crossovers and overlapping weapons / skills, but it will not be possible to simply combine classes.
March 13, 2006
1. There are skills that can be mirrored by certain weapon modifications, but they are rare. For instance, the Templar has an apply fire damage and critical bonuses to all attacks passive skill. I think it's called Holy Wrath or something like that. Obviously there are also mods that apply fire damage and critical bonuses. But this Templar skill applies it to everything, all the time. So now you have free mod slots you would have otherwise filled with fire and critical bonuses.
Most skills grant players melee attack bonuses, extra melee maneuvers, speed bonuses, aura bonuses and a lot of other more magical bonuses. Most of these skills are related to classes, so I can't talk about any but the Templar's , and even those aren't finished. Right now the Templar has defense bonuses (shield, health, damage sustain), attack bonuses (flurry, spin maneuvers, fire bonuses), and effect bonuses (enemy panic, enemy lure, aura increases). All that is subject to change and will definitely be expanded upon, but you can get a general idea of what the Templar is all about skill-wise. Basically he instills fear into the hearts of demons, lures them close, then beats the holy hell out of them.
2. Anyway, Right now we grant multiple points per level up that can be spent to increase skills. These points are separate from those used to improve character attributes. One skill point is also currently worth one skill rank or acquisition.
3. Specific skills do not get bonuses from attributes, but an attribute like Accuracy, which increases critical likelihood, will obviously apply to offensive skills.
4. Skills do not get bonuses from other skills, unless said bonus applies across the board and thus applies to another skill. For instance, I initiate a passive fire damage bonus skill and then apply my whirlwind attack skill on an enemy force. Naturally, the fire damage bonus will apply.
5. It's impossible to use more than 10 active skills at one time since we have users binding them to the numeral keys. It's likely you'll use around five at any time, though. This also depends on class.
March 15, 2006
Every class does have a different set of skills / talents. Right now skills are earned through level ups, but not all of our skills are in and the way we handle skill distribution is subject to change on a moment's notice. Furthermore, I don't believe any of our skills are shared, no.
March 18, 2006
So, one Templar skill that's active would be the whirlwind attack. Currently you bind this skill to one of the number keys and then initiate it by hitting that number key whenever you like. Your character will then perform the attack provided you have enough power to...uh...power it.
Right now there are around 30 Templar skills and about a third of them are passive. The ratio of passive vs. active will probably depend a lot more on class, too. A good amount of the Templar skills are also kick ass preset attacks, too.
April 20, 2006
The game features all kinds of skills that vary depending on class. The Templar, for instance, has active and passive defense skills, aura skills, and combat skills, among others. He has skills that trigger advanced acrobatics and combat maneuvers and he has skills that adversely impact his enemies and empower his friends. So as a Templar you can run around like a maniac triggering a dozen different skills that make you look like a superstar swordsman while you're imposing your divine will on demons and literally terrifying them to the bone with other invocations and blessings. The Cabalist, conversely, acts as a sort of spell casting, monster summoning puppeteer who can transform into demonic forms for other special perks and bonuses.
And yes, it is safe to say that 30 is not the final number of skills per class in the game.
April 28, 2006
1. we do have the equivalent of a provoke skill.
2-A. Cabalist's don't need corpses to summon anything; they can pull beasts straight out of the air or ground.
2-B. Right now summoned 'pets' are unintelligent and uncontrollable, but there's a huge debate going on about how they'll eventually be handled.
3. Q. I loved using werewolves and bears in D2...was wondering if they will have several different transformations with skill sets specific to each or universal skills for all forms.
A. Several different transformations dependant on skill. Those skills can obviously be leveled up as time goes by, too.
May 22, 2006
1. About Transformation... The abilities have not been cut; the skill tab has just been renamed. We like to rename stuff around here a lot. It can make things hard to keep track of, so I can understand the confusion.
2. We currently have both power and life drain skills available for the Cabalist.
3. In terms of other methods of regeneration, we have medic pickups and some enemies that die drop immediate health gain power-ups. We also have actual doctors at towns and there are in-instance bonuses that can be found. Additionally, some skills allow a character to regenerate health. I'm not sure how the loot pickups will work, however.
May 24, 2006
We have skill hotkey bars, fully configurable keys, and a shift key context sensitive trigger for skills. You do still have to actively trigger all active skills. Obviously, passive skills turn on for all time when you turn them on the first time.
Monsters
Feb 15, 2006
We do have exploding monster heads
Character
Feb 22, 2006
Q.We can see the point "Defenses" at the Character Panel. I'm interested in the resistances. Will they play a decisive role in Hellgate? More like it is in Diablo?
A. Specific resistances to damage types (slashing, fire, spectral, toxic, etcetera) will be important to the game, but no more so than any other action RPG out there. That is, you'll want to possess well-rounded armor and skills to help protect your character against more powerful enemies and enemies prone to dishing out specific types of damage, but constantly switching between armor types will not be a requirement.
Feb 27, 2007
1. There is no "_ALWAYS_ a supporter class." All of our classes are designed to be offensive capable, meaning no class is meant to be the equivalent of a walking potion. With that in mind, it's certainly possible to augment a character with specific skills to make him / her better at specific things, like maybe they'd be more inclined to stay away from the battle shooting things and initiating skills. They're all still weapons, though. None of our characters sit on the sidelines refilling water bottles.
2. There's a life reserve and a general purpose power reserve that determines the limitations of skill use. For instance, X skill would cost Y power. Life is pretty obvious. Defense ratings determine how much life is lost after an attack. There are not separate meters designated to specific types of armor, nor are there any action points.
3. The Templar is our equivalent of the melee oriented Tank class. While Templars are certainly capable of wielding some weapons, and have even been known to combine pistols with swords for killer akimbo combinations, they excel at cutting bloody swathes through the hordes of the underworld with nasty swords and bludgeons.
Feb 28, 2006
You can skill your character however the hell you want and use whatever you want. The game is actually designed to prevent people from finding that one character that outperforms all others. So go nuts.
March 3, 2006
Classes aren't actually based on religion. Instead of serving the Christian God, it's better to think of the Templars as those who serve The Light or The Creator of all, for all. And this despite wherefrom the name Templar originates.
In our game, class choice does not actually imply a subscription to a specific religion. Our Templars are then not necessarily religious -- they're simply spiritual and retain faith in goodness. They're also quick to dole out severe ass kickings to any shit-faced demon that tries to supplant goodness with wickedness.
March 11, 2006
One class in particular is designed to capitalize off our melee weapons. While other classes can use certain melee weapons, they will not be encouraged to. So, there is basically a tank-like melee class and then there are other classes. And while it's possible to make a grayer character that can do a number of things, it's really not going to happen a lot.
March 15, 2006
1. Our female characters don't appear to have high heels in-game. They wear various armored and unarmored boots. And you can pretty much never see any feet even if they didn't.
2. Q.Will templars have some sort of church or a grandmaster to serve?
A.Yes and yes.
3. Dismemberment does not apply to the player character. It only applies to enemies.
April 17, 2006
1. Cabalists war with the demons just like the Templars, only they choose to fight with different weapons. While Templars believe themselves to be the righteous fist of the divine -- a sword to cut through the waves of darkness and a hammer to smash hell back into the oblivion from which it came -- Cabalists believe greater understanding and an intimate knowledge of the netherworldly aggressors is the key to success.
2. The Cabalist is a type of character that teeters on the brink of damnation. By dabbling in the dark arts, the Cabalist has tapped into a well of inexplicable supernatural power, but has also exposed him or herself to the whims of the nether. That is, it is not unheard of for a Cabalist to cross the line, however unwillingly, and find him or herself a servant of the dark, mad, or consumed entirely by demonic energies. This is not to say they are all inherently evil, however. Rather, like people in general, Cabalists come in all forms. Only their occupation does imply a certain level of hazard.
3. A Cabalist is Hellgate's spellcaster and summoner and can also partly or totally transform him or herself into demon forms to be a more capable combatant.
April 20, 2006
1. As to the look of the Cabalist, please remember that the one you've seen is just one version of a general idea. Others look far more freakish and sinister. They're just not anywhere near done yet.
2. Cabalists can transform parts of their bodies into pieces from many different demons.
3. Q.Did the cabalist have the teleport skill?
A.Not right now, no. She may ultimately, though. There's little documentation that outlines the Cabalist's full skill set.
4. We haven't established a level […] cap yet. Right now we're thinking it'll be something crazy high like 99 or a million. We want people to keep getting better, always. So we encourage fast leveling and lots of it.
5. Cabalists are the ones most at odds with the Templars.
6. The Templar is the melee-centric character we've been referring to.
7. Q.how many demons will the cabalist be able to control at a time? one? some? a whole lot of?
A.Right now you can control quite a few. I had three Shriekers going, three Elementals and one Carnagor. There's no telling how that will change in the final, however.
April 28, 2006
1. 1. Max says there will be a cap, but it will be something ridiculously high like 99 or whatever. [note: max character level]
2. Q.Can the character show emotions with its face or other parts of its body?
A.Emoting is planned, yes. Like, you can grab your testicles and rub them seductively to indicate your interest in mating with a Minion. But we don't think that one is going to make the cut.
3. Q.Can a character leech life or mana with special items without a natural character attribute for this?
A.Nope.
May 24, 2006
There are pets with life bars that level up with the character. There are pets that remain active for a limited amount of time and then there are pets that vanish after performing a certain function. Those are the differences between pet types.
August 11, 2006
It is currently possible to edit:
Gender
Face type
Skin tone
Height
Weight
Hair style
Hair color
Eye color
Class
We are considering ways to make each level even more configurable. We'll see what happens.
Skills
Feb 22, 2006
Q.Will it be possible too Combinate the classes? For example like in Diablo with Item's that gives you a skill from another class, or just like in GuildWars with Primary / Secundary Class?
A.There will be crossovers and overlapping weapons / skills, but it will not be possible to simply combine classes.
March 13, 2006
1. There are skills that can be mirrored by certain weapon modifications, but they are rare. For instance, the Templar has an apply fire damage and critical bonuses to all attacks passive skill. I think it's called Holy Wrath or something like that. Obviously there are also mods that apply fire damage and critical bonuses. But this Templar skill applies it to everything, all the time. So now you have free mod slots you would have otherwise filled with fire and critical bonuses.
Most skills grant players melee attack bonuses, extra melee maneuvers, speed bonuses, aura bonuses and a lot of other more magical bonuses. Most of these skills are related to classes, so I can't talk about any but the Templar's , and even those aren't finished. Right now the Templar has defense bonuses (shield, health, damage sustain), attack bonuses (flurry, spin maneuvers, fire bonuses), and effect bonuses (enemy panic, enemy lure, aura increases). All that is subject to change and will definitely be expanded upon, but you can get a general idea of what the Templar is all about skill-wise. Basically he instills fear into the hearts of demons, lures them close, then beats the holy hell out of them.
2. Anyway, Right now we grant multiple points per level up that can be spent to increase skills. These points are separate from those used to improve character attributes. One skill point is also currently worth one skill rank or acquisition.
3. Specific skills do not get bonuses from attributes, but an attribute like Accuracy, which increases critical likelihood, will obviously apply to offensive skills.
4. Skills do not get bonuses from other skills, unless said bonus applies across the board and thus applies to another skill. For instance, I initiate a passive fire damage bonus skill and then apply my whirlwind attack skill on an enemy force. Naturally, the fire damage bonus will apply.
5. It's impossible to use more than 10 active skills at one time since we have users binding them to the numeral keys. It's likely you'll use around five at any time, though. This also depends on class.
March 15, 2006
Every class does have a different set of skills / talents. Right now skills are earned through level ups, but not all of our skills are in and the way we handle skill distribution is subject to change on a moment's notice. Furthermore, I don't believe any of our skills are shared, no.
March 18, 2006
So, one Templar skill that's active would be the whirlwind attack. Currently you bind this skill to one of the number keys and then initiate it by hitting that number key whenever you like. Your character will then perform the attack provided you have enough power to...uh...power it.
Right now there are around 30 Templar skills and about a third of them are passive. The ratio of passive vs. active will probably depend a lot more on class, too. A good amount of the Templar skills are also kick ass preset attacks, too.
April 20, 2006
The game features all kinds of skills that vary depending on class. The Templar, for instance, has active and passive defense skills, aura skills, and combat skills, among others. He has skills that trigger advanced acrobatics and combat maneuvers and he has skills that adversely impact his enemies and empower his friends. So as a Templar you can run around like a maniac triggering a dozen different skills that make you look like a superstar swordsman while you're imposing your divine will on demons and literally terrifying them to the bone with other invocations and blessings. The Cabalist, conversely, acts as a sort of spell casting, monster summoning puppeteer who can transform into demonic forms for other special perks and bonuses.
And yes, it is safe to say that 30 is not the final number of skills per class in the game.
April 28, 2006
1. we do have the equivalent of a provoke skill.
2-A. Cabalist's don't need corpses to summon anything; they can pull beasts straight out of the air or ground.
2-B. Right now summoned 'pets' are unintelligent and uncontrollable, but there's a huge debate going on about how they'll eventually be handled.
3. Q. I loved using werewolves and bears in D2...was wondering if they will have several different transformations with skill sets specific to each or universal skills for all forms.
A. Several different transformations dependant on skill. Those skills can obviously be leveled up as time goes by, too.
May 22, 2006
1. About Transformation... The abilities have not been cut; the skill tab has just been renamed. We like to rename stuff around here a lot. It can make things hard to keep track of, so I can understand the confusion.
2. We currently have both power and life drain skills available for the Cabalist.
3. In terms of other methods of regeneration, we have medic pickups and some enemies that die drop immediate health gain power-ups. We also have actual doctors at towns and there are in-instance bonuses that can be found. Additionally, some skills allow a character to regenerate health. I'm not sure how the loot pickups will work, however.
May 24, 2006
We have skill hotkey bars, fully configurable keys, and a shift key context sensitive trigger for skills. You do still have to actively trigger all active skills. Obviously, passive skills turn on for all time when you turn them on the first time.
Monsters
Feb 15, 2006
We do have exploding monster heads
