WD items

[droscoe]

Looking back at D1 (never played D2)...i know, shoot me, but looking back at D1, I remember the mage could pick up different cloaks, or capes, or hoods that enhanced his intelligence or abilities or skills.

Ive only seen one picture of a WD with some kind of purple-trimmed tribal outfit. Might be a stupid question, but will the WD (and wizard I suppose) all have their own unique armor and weapons? I've only seen armor and weapons drop for the barbarian in a video before, but never seen anything else that a WD could obtain and wear.

[Mad Mantis]

There was some talk about class specific items from Blizzard, but I don't know if they confirmed that yet.

[Farmrush]

I think they said they do want to include some class specific items but that they really don't want it to turn into "Wizards use this. WDs use this. End of story." It's about customizing equipment choices and forcing players to make decisions based on their builds and not necessarily just what class they are.

I'd like to see something ala Diablo II.

[Athanasios]

yeah thats a good question because i couldnt see a WD in full shining plate armor...haha, the poor fella is already a hunch back...

I dont know if i like the idea of class specific items...like what Farmrush said. it shouldnt matter what class you, are most items should be available to every class. Maybe they can be visualy different depending on the class you are..

[stillman]

^ I made a whole thread about the hunchback issue and whether or not the WD could physicaly fit into a suit of armor. Wouldn't the armor have to be molded for a hunched over figgure? What blacksmith in his right mind would make full plate for hunchbacks? And what about the WD's shakes and trembles? Will the WD straighten up to wear armor and look more like a prominent tribal wise man instead of something from Tekhen or StreetFighter 2 or w/e?

Or, worst case scenerio, will he wear leaves and beads only with magical force fileds making this fern armor the same def as godly barb armor? If this is the case, why have metal armor at all? Why wouldn't the barb just wear end game force field leaves or jewelry to not be weihged down with metal?

Then there's the issue of the fullplate picture morphing into leaves when handed over to a WD to wear.

Then there's the whole mask issue. When using that horrify skill, the spectre image or w/e hovering over the WD's head (which scares things) is wearing a mask. Does this mean all helms will transform into masks when handed over to a WD? The mask seems so crucial to the WD's persona...it takes up 50% of his image!

These are my issues with the WD and armor. I can't help but wonder if Blizzard dug themselves into a trap with the WD. My hope is that the WD will stand up straight and wear full plate or at least splint mail made out of bones or wood.

[Mad Mantis]

Or, worst case scenerio, will he wear leaves and beads only with magical force fileds making this fern armor the same def as godly barb armor?

According to the concepts for armor the WD will be wearing bark, leaves and beads for armor. Even full armor won't cover his entire body in leaves. Conveniently they only showed the female WD for these sketches since. She doesn't have that horrible hunch so they wouldn't have to deal with it.

[Athanasios]

Conveniently they only showed the female WD for these sketches since. She doesn't have that horrible hunch so they wouldn't have to deal with it.

I cant wait to se how this one plays out. If they go with the bushman, leaves and bark theme then i guess the witch doctor will have his own cool leaf and needle threads going on. And if thats the case whats stopping them from making all armor class dependent? Wizy with robes, barb with heavy armor and what not...

[Mad Mantis]

And if thats the case whats stopping them from making all armor class dependent? Wizy with robes, barb with heavy armor and what not...

My guess is that is how it will play out. In D2 all classes already have a unique armor look. However as you get to higher defense armor the character actually gets more armored. More metal is added to the equipment. In D3 they'll probably go for the more stylistic approach and go with more ornate robes, more leaves and more spikes and horns.

[Athanasios]

That should add an interesting twist on the game. I mean, if armor is class dependent then what will the drops in the game be? Will all kinds of different armor be dropping, or will your classes armor drop only? what i mean is like if your playing as a Barbarian will you be seeing WD armor dropping in your game? Im guessing that would be the case because if not then the trading aspect of D3 will be different the D2. If each class can only pick up or find their own kinds of armor then barbs will only be trading with barbs, wd will only trade with wd and so on(in terms of trading armor).

its a sticky situation because if they make armor class dependent then whats to stop them from making weapons class dependent. or at least putting restrictions as to what weapons each class can use.

can anyone see a wd dragging around a claymore?

[Naja]

No, I think Mantis meant that the same armor will have a different appearance per class.

So a plate armor may look heavy and metallic if worn by a Barbarian, but more covered with leaves and bones if worn by a Witch Doctor.

[Athanasios]

Ahhhh, ok lol that makes More sense.

[Doctor Salvador]

Is no one else really excited to have the big Voodoo masks? Or even the bones, shrunken heads, feathers, bark, leaves . . .

I'm pumped for the WD's look and feel, and IMO Blizz should really try to show it off, especially with his masks, which would make a great Class-Specific (unless they do the whole 'every char has his own look with the same gear' thing, which is fine).

But the WD has more than that, on the WD page at blizzard.com http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/witchdoctor.xml , some of the Doctor's concept art shows him using a flail, a very Zulu shield, spears . . . Of course there's also what others have discussed, including boomerangs, blowdarts, etc.

Any one of these could fit as a class specific, and the weapons could be anything from Caster (like the Necro's wand, or the Sorc's staff/orb) to defensive/caster (like the Necro's totem shield), a nifty melee weapon, whatever.

The Doctor has a LOT of potential, way more to be explored than the mighty Barbarian or the wise (and rash) Wizard.

Really I'm just ranting 'cause nothin' new has been released about the Good Doctor in far too long. Doc, where's the voodoo that you do?

[Grug]

One of the concept arts demonstrated what the Female Witchdoctor armor would look like from low level to high level. In each one the mask got bigger.

[Xiel Soulwraith]

Really I'm just ranting 'cause nothin' new has been released about the Good Doctor in far too long. Doc, where's the voodoo that you do?

I have to say that it is true...and it is a disturbing trend I've noticed: The good doc isn't getting the same attention as the Wizard and the Barbarian.

This happened in WoW several times (Don't hate cuz I mentioned a highly successful game) with some classes getting more dev love than the others. With Blizz not saying anything new about this class it worries me the Doc will become the "black sheep" of the D3 family.

Look at the simple fact that the WD doesn't have a complete spell list, or nearly as complete as the Wizard and the Barb. AND IT WAS ONE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT CLASSES! It's almost as if blizz has taken the two familiar classes and run with them...

Bring back the Voodoo of the Doctor and give us some d*mned info!

[Keighvin]

Well, they picked the WD for announcement even though it was not the furthest along in development, because they thought a Barb, Wizard release would be to similar to D2. So the fact that he had an incomplete spell list at Blizzcon, which was about a month behind development, I don't think shows that it is a black sheep. They have said that it was easier to come up with skills for the Wizard and the Barb because they had solid archetypes to draw from, while for the WD they have to get a feel for what skills will work for the atmosphere they want.