Diablo 4 Will Have More Than 150 Dungeons

Diablo IV will have more than 150 dungeons to explore, all brought to life in a visual style that seeks to stay true to what Blizzard has defined as one of the game's core design pillars--"return to darkness."

New information about Blizzard's heavily-anticipated ARPG comes via the game's first quarterly update for 2022, which dives deep into how Blizzard is bringing Diablo IV's environments and dungeons to life using props, lighting, interactives, and more.

"We approach creating the environments of Diablo IV through a darker and more grounded interpretation than earlier installments," Chris Ryder, art director for environments, writes in the latest update. "The aim is for believability, not realism…the atmosphere is almost tangible in places, with weather and lighting play[ing] a more prominent visual role in Diablo IV."

All of Diablo IV's visuals are filtered through what Blizzard calls the dual visual design pillars of "old masters" and "return to darkness."

"The 'old masters' pillar gives us a lens to filter our art through, considering the techniques of classical painters like Rembrandt used, with their controlled use of detail, tonal range, and expert use of color palettes," Ryder writes. "The 'return to darkness' pillar is a through-line in everything from dungeons to lighting and embodies the idea that Sanctuary is a dangerous and dark medieval gothic world."

Zones in Diablo IV will feature variations of lighting and weather, like fog and rain, and will feature dynamic props. As lead props and interactives artist Chaz Head points out in the update, the ships swaying in the ocean and the nets hanging in the market to dry in the game's Scosglen Coast area all exist to "breathe life into the awesome architecture and terrain work" and provide "real-world scale that the Diablo world represents." Other areas glimpsed in the quarterly update include the dusty grasslands of the Orbei Monastery and the "oppressive" medieval settlement of Kyovoshad.

The update also dives into the team's approach to bringing Diablo IV's dungeons to life. With so many dungeons set to be included with the game's launch, the team needed to change the way it made environment art in order for it to be flexible enough to be used in multiple dungeons instead of just a single location.

"In order to create so much high-quality content, we found clever ways to reuse our tile-sets and add enough variety to cover 150+ dungeons," Brian Fletcher, associate art director for environments, writes. "All while providing fresh experiences each time."

Blizzard accomplishes this by "dressing up" different tile-sets with different themes consisting of various items and props. These items are put on a layer that can be toggled on or off depending on the dungeon, resulting in a single tile-set that can be both an uninhabited dark cave or a druid burial site, depending on what is needed.

There's far too many little details in the quarterly update to list them all here, so be sure to give the full post a read. Previous Diablo IV quarterly updates have revealed the game's new endgame Paragon Board progression system as well as how the team is approaching the hand-crafted look of the game. Diablo IV does not currently have a release date. Blizzard released Diablo II: Resurrected in September 2021, with the remaster of the ARPG classic set to receive its first major balance patch in over a decade on April 14.

When Diablo IV does eventually launch, it will come amidst a dramatic period of change for Activision Blizzard. The company has been hit by numerous lawsuits in recent months in regards to an alleged culture of sexual harassment and discrimination. Activision Blizzard is also in the process of being bought by Microsoft in a $69 billion deal, a deal that is expected to be finalized by the summer of 2023.