The next major patch for Diablo III will feature dueling, according to a recent post on BattleNet. When the new patch goes live, players will be able to access the PvP mode in New Tristram by speaking with an NPC named Nek the Brawler. The Scorched Chapel will house the PvP gameplay, which facilitates one on one match-ups, or free-for-all style four player engagements. Blizzard’s Jay Wilson detailed the new mode in a recent blog post.
Blizzard said via The Diablo Blog: “The game doesn’t keep score and there are no objectives… We wanted dueling to be as simple and straightforward as possible, so we created a minimalist system — we know that even without rewards and objectives, some players just want to beat each other up. Some matchups may be one-sided, and we don’t expect that battles will be necessarily balanced. But that’s okay, because dueling in Diablo III is more about kicking ass and taking names in a no-holds-barred sort of way, and this design certainly allows you to accomplish that.”
You can expect the dueling features to be integrated into the public test realm servers shortly, according to the patch preview. The lengthy post also discusses some of the other features heading to Diablo III in the coming weeks, these include numerous class updates, crafting additions that offer new recipes similar to the Hellfire Ring, a new gem tier called the Marquise, and other changes heading out to players in the coming update.
