Diablo 4 Will Bring Back Talent Trees And Rune Words To The Series

Diablo 4 looks to recall classic Diablo in several ways, and that will include bringing back older customization systems from the series' history. At a BlizzCon panel detailing the upcoming sequel, game director Luis Barriga announced that some systems that went missing in Diablo 3 are coming back for the fourth game in the series.

"Customization is back with a vengeance," Barriga said. "We have a trifecta of customization options: talent trees, skill ranks, and rune words. We want you to play the build that's in your head. Your idea of a frost sorceress might be different than mine."

Rune words were an element in Diablo 2's Lord of Destruction expansion, letting you combine runes to imbue socketed items with enhancements. Similarly, talent trees let you customize your build in Diablo 2, but Diablo 3 traded that for an Active and Passive skill unlock system.

"Diablo 4 returns the franchise to its darker roots," wrote Phil Hornshaw in hands-on impressions. "While Diablo helped inspire the slate of loot-chasing games that have recently arisen, it looks like Blizzard is borrowing some ideas from those games to make Diablo 4 something more of a shared-world experience."