Diablo Wiki - User contributions [en]

Subtle Essence

2012-06-29T21:44:44Z

Rockfang: typo

[[File:Material-subtle-essence-icon.jpg|left]]
Subtle Essence is the [[Normal]] quality magical [[material]], created by salvaging magical items found on the Normal difficulty level.

It can be upgraded into the [[Shimmering Essence]] crafting material required for Nightmare quality recipes.

Subtle Essence is a required material in all [[magical]], [[rare]], [[set]], and [[legendary]] Normal crafting recipes.

* See the [[Salvaging]] and [[Materials]] articles for more details.

==Earlier Versions==

[[File:Material-subtle-essence.jpg|left]]
Subtle Essence was seen in the first reveals of the crafting and artisan systems, and it looked very different in those early incarnations. (It's the blue arc-shaped thing. The others are [[Common Scraps]] and some type of wood material that was soon removed from the game, or possibly a very early version of [[Petrified Bark]].

[[File:Salvage-items.jpg|center|thumb|600px|Early version of the Salvage Cube in action, with a before and after view.]]

[[category:crafting]]
[[category:materials]]

{{Template:Items navbox}}

Achievement

2012-04-23T05:32:28Z

Rockfang: /* Diablo III Beta Info */ some are available in the beta

[[File:Achievements-recent1.jpg|thumb|400px|Achievements interface during the [[Beta]] test.]]
Achievements are a sort of mini-game tied to Blizzard games when played over [[Battle.net]] (as Diablo III must be). When players complete various tasks during the gameplay, or special extra efforts, they will earn achievements. These do not grant an in-game reward, in terms of extra items or experience, but are simply bonuses to display on one's Battle.net account.

Achievements in Diablo III are tracked by account[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-on-d3s-end-game-and-achievements] not by character, integrated into the [[banner]] system with achievements unlocking more colors and sigals, and otherwise offering improvements and distinctive visuals to an account's banner.

* See all the [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/achievements news about Diablo III Achievements].

==Achievements in Diablo III==

There is not yet an official list of achievements in Diablo III, though the developers have often spoken of the types of achievements they hope to include. (All kinds.)

The most recent news came from the Blizzcon 2011 Gameplay panel[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-gameplay-and-auction-house-panel], where [[Jason Bender]] said that there would be hundreds of achievements, for every sort of accomplishment. Good or bad. They'll be earned for reaching Clvl 60 with multiple hardcore characters, for dying multiple times to the same monster, and everything in between.

===Diablo III Beta Info===

Some achievements are functional in the beta, though the v5 patch in November 2011 added a new icon to the lower right corner of the screen that shows recent achievements, right beside a display of your online friends list.

Other info unearthed from the beta was detailed in November 2011, in a news post on Diablo.IncGamers.com.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3s-achievements-and-profile-changes]

* Achievements in Diablo III have a UI very like that in Starcraft 2.
* They are categorized into Campaign, Cooperative, Hardcore, Classes, and Combat, and can be sorted by those and other parameters.
* A number of achievements can be designated as "showcase" achievements, which will display on a player's [[Banner]], part of their Battle.net account profile.
* All achievements are tracked in the game, with progress bars to help calculate how many a player has accomplished.
* Achievements enable appearance options on the Banner, with additional colors, sigals, border patterns, and more enabled by completing Achievements.

===Diablo III Beta Achievements===

A full of list of all 80 achievements available in the beta, courtesy of the [http://diablonut.incgamers.com DiabloNut Diablo 3 Database].

<achievement type="list">All</achievement>

==Achievement Plans==

Jay Wilson spoke about Achievements from Gamescom, in August, 2010:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-indiablo.de-part-two/]

::'''''in.Diablo.d3:''' Are we going to see achievements in Diablo III? For example, kill one million [[Fallen Ones]] with a single swipe, finish the whole game with a naked hardcore character, listen to every single [[Deckard Cain]] dialogue?

::'''Jay Wilson: '''*smiles* Those are very good achievement ideas. We’ll have them in D3, but I don’t think kill one million anything in one blow. Or ever. Those aren’t good; those are grindy. I do like the naked hardcore character completing the whole game though. I’m all over that one.

Bashiok added to this concept in a forum post in October 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/another-blue-defense-of-max-clvl-60/]

<blue>Leveling was the least important part of Diablo II. Well, aside from gold. I’m sorry but even though you may have had fun grinding to 99 for absolutely no reason, we don’t think it’s a fun mechanic to encourage. ...But guess what, achievements reach that same goal, and can actually have some meaning. What if after leveling 10 characters to 60 you get a unique item? Or dye color? Or title? Or glow? Or anything.</blue>

==Projected Achievements==
Very few specifics are yet released about the system, but looking at WoW and StarCraft II, which already have Achievements in them, logical ones reward actions such as:

* Achievement for defeating each [[boss]] on each difficulty.
* Killing X (1, 100, 1000, etc) of a specific [[monster]] type.
* Completing X (1, 10, 100, etc) [[quests]].
* Completing all available random quests in an [[Act]].
* Completing one specific quest within a time limit.
* Getting a [[Massacre]] bonus of 10, 20, 30, etc monsters.
* Killing a monster when you have less than 5% health left.
* Killing a monster when ally had less than 5% health left.

Fans have had a lot of fun inventing [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=776470%20title= potential Diablo III achievements] as well.

=="Blizzard Level" Achievement==

The Diablo 3 Achievement system will be an account-based system tied to a player's Blizzard Account ID, the purpose of which is to track achievements of all three major games: World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. When combining all the games together, a score dubbed "Blizzard Level" is gained.

==Media==

Screenshots showing off various Achievements, via the interface and in-game, from the Diablo III beta.
<gallery>
File:Achievements-tooltip-beta.jpg|Beta Achievements button.
File:Achievements-recent1.jpg|Recently earned.
File:Achievements-act1a.jpg|Act One Campaign.
File:Achievements-blacksmith1.jpg|Blacksmith related.
File:Achievements-elite-kill50.jpg|50 boss kills.
File:Achievements-general1.jpg|General category
File:Achievements-ingame-black-king1.jpg|Black King awarded.
File:Achievements-ingame-reward1.jpg|Banner upgrade earned.
</gallery>

A short video showing the Achievements interface.
<youtube>0uUkHcPzZf4</youtube>

==References==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3s-achievements-and-profile-changes News on Achievements] and Profile changes.
* [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/01/blizzard-accounts-achievements/ Jeff Kaplan interview @ MTV Multiplayer]
* [http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=19820324986&postId=198185740347&sid=3000#6 Battle.net forum post]

[[Category:Basics]]
[[Category:Reference]]
[[category:Battle.net]]
[[category:Achievements]]

Stash

2012-04-22T02:53:42Z

Rockfang: /* January 2012 */ caps fix

[[Image:Stash_chest.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The stash in-game.]]
A '''Stash''' is a chest where a player can store [[items]]. It is an important function in the Diablo franchise, since collecting items is a big part of each game. Characters can access their stashes from towns and cities in game, and the stashes are shared between all of the characters in the account, unlike in Diablo II where each character had their own individual stash.

It is important to note, however, that [[Hardcore]] characters do not share a stash with softcore characters, nor can they trade between each other.

==Shared Stash==

The reason for the development team adding in a shared stash is to prevent characters from [[mule|muling]] in drop games, where the [[battle.net]] servers may drop a player from a game, items may disappear, or a host of other issues. Put simply, it was not at all convenient or safe to trade items between characters on an account. Hence, the shared stash.

The stash is natively "unlocked" for the player. It doesn't have to be unlocked via a [[quest]] like the [[Cauldron of Jordan]] or the [[Nephalem Cube]] were. It is available as soon as the player enters [[New Tristram]].

===Upgrading the Stash===

[[Image:Inventory jan 2012.jpg|thumb|300px|left|The stash [[interface]].]]

The stash is shaping up as a promising [[gold sink]].
The player begins with 7x2 (14 squares) of inventory space, which is equivalent to seven pieces of larger gear, or [[items]] which only take up one inventory space, such as [[amulet]]s, or [[scroll]]s.
The stash can be upgraded in 4 increments of 14 squares. As of the early weeks of the [[beta]] test, this costs 2,500 gold each time, but it is unknown if this value will change. After the player has maxed out the first page of the stash, they will be able to purchase an entirely new tab for a substantial gold cost. The tab begins the same as the natural stash: 7x2, and can be upgraded further, up to a grand total of 210 inventory squares. The total amounts per tab have been calculated during the Diablo III [[Beta]] test <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?818819-Got-an-Extra-Million-Gold-Lying-Around Got an Extra Million Gold Lying Around?] - IncGamers Forum, 27-12-2011</ref> and are shown in a table below.

The stash has three tabs in total, counting the first tab that the player receives for "free".

As the stash is shared, any character on the account has access to it, assuming that they are all either hardcore or softcore. Softcore and hardcore characters cannot trade items whatsoever. Yet, any character on a single account that peers into the stash will see the exact same items.

Below is a table showing gold costs per tab for the shared stash, but as these were taken during the beta test, they are subject to change for the game's final release.

{| border="1"
|+ Shared Stash [[Gold]] Cost
! Tab !! Tab Cost !! Upgrade Cost !! Total Cost
|-
! Tab 1
| 0|| 2,500|| 10,000
|-
! Tab 2
|10,000|| 2,500|| 20,000
|-
! Tab 3
| 50,000|| 2,500|| 60,000
|-
! Total Cost
| 60,000|| 30,000|| 90,000
|}
{{Clear|left}}
===Hardcore Death & The Stash===

Hardcore characters do not have access to nor can trade with any softcore characters on the same account. If a Hardcore character dies any items they have placed in the shared stash will not be lost. All items on their person and inventory will however be lost with the character when it dies.<ref>[http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/11/1/45/850/124329/hardcore-and-stash#postId_324360 Hardcore and stash] - Blizzard, 19/10/11</ref>

==Previous Development==

===January 2012===

In [[Beta Patch 10]] the number of tabs was reduced from 5 to 3.<ref>[http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/10/1/46/857/146408/shared-stash-space-decreased#postId_396913 Reduction of Stash Tabs] - Blizzard, 1/2/2012</ref>

<blue>We reevaluated average character and account storage space requirements, and found it necessary to ensure we could handle what we anticipate will be a large amount of data very quickly after release.

Diablo III has both the benefit and disadvantage of having completely random items. Pretty much everything can roll up different affixes, if not a range of its benefits. That's obviously great because the item hunt is what it's all about, more randomization means you can keep chasing that perfect item, but that means the amount of data needed to describe an item is much, much larger than say, a World of Warcraft item, which is static and only needs a unique number to identify it.

A Diablo III item first has to say the base item, then each individual affix that it rolled up, then the ranges of each variable, and if it has any sockets. And we have to think about everywhere an item can be, an item on the ground is still an item, and so is an item on the auction house.

We obviously have room to grow if our projections are incorrect, or we just find that we eventually have the space. World of Warcraft definitely grew over the years, and that storage space didn't appear out of nowhere (although it does seem rather magical at times). We find three tabs to be plenty for at least the initial release of the game though. Not counting the items you're wearing (assuming they're the best you have), and assuming worst case scenario of nothing but 2-slot items, you'd be able to hold 405 swords per region. That's a lot. We don't expect people to be storing 405 swords... hopefully ever, because that might indicate you have an obsession with swords, but at the very least there should be enough storage to start and then we can continue to evaluate as we go.</blue>

[[File:Stash_pane.jpg|250px]] [[File:Inventory jan 2012.jpg|250px]]

An additional feature, which was a pleasant surprise to some, was the ability to select which class to view the stash as. Selecting a different class made the [[armor]] items appear different: each [[class]] has their own unique icons for armor. This also disappeared between [[Beta Patch 9]] and [[Beta Patch 10]]. In the left image above the 'Appearance' tab can be seen and in the right hand image from January 2012 it has gone.

===January 2011===

Shared stashes are confirmed as in the game and working, by an @Diablo tweet. <ref>[http://twitter.com/Diablo/status/25339141738729472 Stash Tweet] - Blizzard 12/01/11</ref>
<blue>Shared stashes are in and working. </blue>

===October 2010===

In Blizzcon 2010's D3 Open Q&A Panel, RichterLocke from DiabloWiki asked if the D3 development team had decided whether or not to implement a shared stash. After some hesitation, Jay Wilson finally confirmed it: "Yes, and that's Blizzcon-exclusive by the way."

===August 2010===

Jay Wilson spoke again about the shared stash at Gamescom in August, 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-g4tv/ Jay Wilson Interview @ G4TV] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard 28/08/10</ref>

<blue>Including a shared stash in Diablo III is, I think, everyone’s first choice. A shared stash is very easy to deal with for the player, and having it in the game creates a nice common area where characters can gather in a game. It does create a few problems, though. For one thing, it really encourages players to [[mule]] items on multiple characters. Which may just be something we have to deal with. Players who like to mule really like doing it. We kind of feel, well, we wish you didn’t have to mule. We wish there was a better way to store away spare items.</blue>

Also from Gamescom, Jay described the stash getting larger over the course of the game. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-pc-games-de Jay Wilson Interview @ PC Games.de] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard 20/08/11</ref>

<blue>The stash starts off small, but grows “ridiculously huge” over the course of the game, when gold is spent to enlarge it.</blue>

===July 2010===

The system remained undeveloped nearly two years later, as Bashiok explained in a forum post in July 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/shared-stash-still-just-a-dream/ Shared Stash Still Just a Dream] - Blizzard, 14/07/10</ref>

<blue>"No update, it’s something we hope to do, it’s not designed or in any sort of implementation phase so until we reach that point and either hit a revelation of it working or not we won’t know for sure. But yes, still hope to have some sort of easy way to share between characters. “Drop games are dumb.” - Bashiok"</blue>

===August 2008===

Finding and collecting items is a big part of the Diablo franchise, but storing and transferring those items has not always been easy. [[Jay Wilson]] spoke to this problem in BlizzCast Episode 5, August 2008. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcast-episode-5-transcript/ BlizzCast Episode 5] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard, 28/08/08</ref>

<blue>"'''Jay Wilson:''' ...we really want to make it easier for you to be able to share and trade items with other people and other characters on the same account. We’ve talked about ideas like a shared stash, or a mail system like World of Warcraft has, and we haven’t nailed down exactly which one of those we want to do, but we’re definitely going to do something like that, that’s going to make it really easy for you if you’ve got, a Witch Doctor and a Barbarian character, and you find that awesome Witch Doctor drop and you want to share it, it’ll be super-easy to do that."

'''Bashiok:''' so in other words, I won’t have to worry about my game closing after...
'''Jay Wilson: '''No, no more opening up a game, dropping items on the ground, and you know, hoping that the game stays open or getting a friend to help out, no more of that. You should be able to do it on your own.</blue>

=References=


<references/>


[[category:reference]]
[[Category:Basics]]

Stash

2012-04-22T02:51:11Z

Rockfang: /* Shared Stash */ added "were" to indicate past tense, removed an extraneous period

[[Image:Stash_chest.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The stash in-game.]]
A '''Stash''' is a chest where a player can store [[items]]. It is an important function in the Diablo franchise, since collecting items is a big part of each game. Characters can access their stashes from towns and cities in game, and the stashes are shared between all of the characters in the account, unlike in Diablo II where each character had their own individual stash.

It is important to note, however, that [[Hardcore]] characters do not share a stash with softcore characters, nor can they trade between each other.

==Shared Stash==

The reason for the development team adding in a shared stash is to prevent characters from [[mule|muling]] in drop games, where the [[battle.net]] servers may drop a player from a game, items may disappear, or a host of other issues. Put simply, it was not at all convenient or safe to trade items between characters on an account. Hence, the shared stash.

The stash is natively "unlocked" for the player. It doesn't have to be unlocked via a [[quest]] like the [[Cauldron of Jordan]] or the [[Nephalem Cube]] were. It is available as soon as the player enters [[New Tristram]].

===Upgrading the Stash===

[[Image:Inventory jan 2012.jpg|thumb|300px|left|The stash [[interface]].]]

The stash is shaping up as a promising [[gold sink]].
The player begins with 7x2 (14 squares) of inventory space, which is equivalent to seven pieces of larger gear, or [[items]] which only take up one inventory space, such as [[amulet]]s, or [[scroll]]s.
The stash can be upgraded in 4 increments of 14 squares. As of the early weeks of the [[beta]] test, this costs 2,500 gold each time, but it is unknown if this value will change. After the player has maxed out the first page of the stash, they will be able to purchase an entirely new tab for a substantial gold cost. The tab begins the same as the natural stash: 7x2, and can be upgraded further, up to a grand total of 210 inventory squares. The total amounts per tab have been calculated during the Diablo III [[Beta]] test <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?818819-Got-an-Extra-Million-Gold-Lying-Around Got an Extra Million Gold Lying Around?] - IncGamers Forum, 27-12-2011</ref> and are shown in a table below.

The stash has three tabs in total, counting the first tab that the player receives for "free".

As the stash is shared, any character on the account has access to it, assuming that they are all either hardcore or softcore. Softcore and hardcore characters cannot trade items whatsoever. Yet, any character on a single account that peers into the stash will see the exact same items.

Below is a table showing gold costs per tab for the shared stash, but as these were taken during the beta test, they are subject to change for the game's final release.

{| border="1"
|+ Shared Stash [[Gold]] Cost
! Tab !! Tab Cost !! Upgrade Cost !! Total Cost
|-
! Tab 1
| 0|| 2,500|| 10,000
|-
! Tab 2
|10,000|| 2,500|| 20,000
|-
! Tab 3
| 50,000|| 2,500|| 60,000
|-
! Total Cost
| 60,000|| 30,000|| 90,000
|}
{{Clear|left}}
===Hardcore Death & The Stash===

Hardcore characters do not have access to nor can trade with any softcore characters on the same account. If a Hardcore character dies any items they have placed in the shared stash will not be lost. All items on their person and inventory will however be lost with the character when it dies.<ref>[http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/11/1/45/850/124329/hardcore-and-stash#postId_324360 Hardcore and stash] - Blizzard, 19/10/11</ref>

==Previous Development==

===January 2012===

In [[Beta Patch 10]] the number of tabs was reduced from 5 to 3.<ref>[http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/10/1/46/857/146408/shared-stash-space-decreased#postId_396913 Reduction of Stash Tabs] - Blizzard, 1/2/2012</ref>

<blue>We reevaluated average character and account storage space requirements, and found it necessary to ensure we could handle what we anticipate will be a large amount of data very quickly after release.

Diablo III has both the benefit and disadvantage of having completely random items. Pretty much everything can roll up different affixes, if not a range of its benefits. That's obviously great because the item hunt is what it's all about, more randomization means you can keep chasing that perfect item, but that means the amount of data needed to describe an item is much, much larger than say, a World of Warcraft item, which is static and only needs a unique number to identify it.

A Diablo III item first has to say the base item, then each individual affix that it rolled up, then the ranges of each variable, and if it has any sockets. And we have to think about everywhere an item can be, an item on the ground is still an item, and so is an item on the auction house.

We obviously have room to grow if our projections are incorrect, or we just find that we eventually have the space. World of Warcraft definitely grew over the years, and that storage space didn't appear out of nowhere (although it does seem rather magical at times). We find three tabs to be plenty for at least the initial release of the game though. Not counting the items you're wearing (assuming they're the best you have), and assuming worst case scenario of nothing but 2-slot items, you'd be able to hold 405 swords per region. That's a lot. We don't expect people to be storing 405 swords... hopefully ever, because that might indicate you have an obsession with swords, but at the very least there should be enough storage to start and then we can continue to evaluate as we go.</blue>

[[File:Stash_pane.jpg|250px]] [[File:Inventory jan 2012.jpg|250px]]

An additional feature, which was a pleasant surprise to some, was the ability to select which class to view the stash as. Selecting a different class made the [[armor]] items appear different: each [[class]] has their own unique icons for armor. This also disappeared between [[Beta Patch 9]] and [[Beta Patch 10]]. IN the left image above the 'Appearance' tab can be seen and in the right hand image from January 2012 it has gone.

===January 2011===

Shared stashes are confirmed as in the game and working, by an @Diablo tweet. <ref>[http://twitter.com/Diablo/status/25339141738729472 Stash Tweet] - Blizzard 12/01/11</ref>
<blue>Shared stashes are in and working. </blue>

===October 2010===

In Blizzcon 2010's D3 Open Q&A Panel, RichterLocke from DiabloWiki asked if the D3 development team had decided whether or not to implement a shared stash. After some hesitation, Jay Wilson finally confirmed it: "Yes, and that's Blizzcon-exclusive by the way."

===August 2010===

Jay Wilson spoke again about the shared stash at Gamescom in August, 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-g4tv/ Jay Wilson Interview @ G4TV] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard 28/08/10</ref>

<blue>Including a shared stash in Diablo III is, I think, everyone’s first choice. A shared stash is very easy to deal with for the player, and having it in the game creates a nice common area where characters can gather in a game. It does create a few problems, though. For one thing, it really encourages players to [[mule]] items on multiple characters. Which may just be something we have to deal with. Players who like to mule really like doing it. We kind of feel, well, we wish you didn’t have to mule. We wish there was a better way to store away spare items.</blue>

Also from Gamescom, Jay described the stash getting larger over the course of the game. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-pc-games-de Jay Wilson Interview @ PC Games.de] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard 20/08/11</ref>

<blue>The stash starts off small, but grows “ridiculously huge” over the course of the game, when gold is spent to enlarge it.</blue>

===July 2010===

The system remained undeveloped nearly two years later, as Bashiok explained in a forum post in July 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/shared-stash-still-just-a-dream/ Shared Stash Still Just a Dream] - Blizzard, 14/07/10</ref>

<blue>"No update, it’s something we hope to do, it’s not designed or in any sort of implementation phase so until we reach that point and either hit a revelation of it working or not we won’t know for sure. But yes, still hope to have some sort of easy way to share between characters. “Drop games are dumb.” - Bashiok"</blue>

===August 2008===

Finding and collecting items is a big part of the Diablo franchise, but storing and transferring those items has not always been easy. [[Jay Wilson]] spoke to this problem in BlizzCast Episode 5, August 2008. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcast-episode-5-transcript/ BlizzCast Episode 5] - Jay Wilson, Blizzard, 28/08/08</ref>

<blue>"'''Jay Wilson:''' ...we really want to make it easier for you to be able to share and trade items with other people and other characters on the same account. We’ve talked about ideas like a shared stash, or a mail system like World of Warcraft has, and we haven’t nailed down exactly which one of those we want to do, but we’re definitely going to do something like that, that’s going to make it really easy for you if you’ve got, a Witch Doctor and a Barbarian character, and you find that awesome Witch Doctor drop and you want to share it, it’ll be super-easy to do that."

'''Bashiok:''' so in other words, I won’t have to worry about my game closing after...
'''Jay Wilson: '''No, no more opening up a game, dropping items on the ground, and you know, hoping that the game stays open or getting a friend to help out, no more of that. You should be able to do it on your own.</blue>

=References=


<references/>


[[category:reference]]
[[Category:Basics]]

Town Portal

2012-04-21T05:19:06Z

Rockfang: /* Development Cycle */ added missing end of sentence period

[[File:Town-portal-belt1.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Town Portal on the interface.]]
The '''Town Portal''' returns in Diablo 3 (after numerous changes during development), with a slightly different function than it had in previous games.

The portal is now cast directly from a button on the [[belt interface]]; no scrolls or other reagents are required. There is no longer a portal cast in the dungeon; the character is transported directly to town, after a five second casting delay. If the character moves, casts another spell, or is damaged by attack during that time, the casting animation is cancelled; these features are designed to keep players from using Town Portal as an easy escape from danger.

The familiar blue Town Portal only appears in town, and players can run into their own portal (but not one from another player) to return directly to the spot they departed from. Town Portals are no longer required to move from town to the location of other players in the dungeon, since the in-game [[Banner]] system fills that function.

* Town Portals were out of the game for some time during development, and only returned in Beta Patch 10 in January 2012. See the [[Stone of Recall]] article for details about the pre-TP system.

==Development Cycle==

[[File:Stone-of-recall-tooltip1.jpg|thumb|400px|The Scroll of Recall tooltip.]]
Diablo 3 initially featured [[town portal scroll]]s much the same as those in Diablo 1 and Diablo 2. During early development, the [[D3 Team]] decided that this feature was too easily exploited as an escape from danger, and removed it. Jay Wilson explained this decision in a 2010 interview.. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-gamespot-au/ No Town Portal Scrolls] - Interview with Gamespot.Au, 21/8/2010</ref>

<blue>Town Portals are gone. We found them to be a crippling combat exploit. We found that while they had some cooperative uses, they tended to split players up a lot. As soon as players wanted to go back to town they did, and then they had to figure out how to get back to their party. We don’t want players to ever be split up.

But the big thing is that Town Portals were a combat exploit. When players can essentially portal out of any situation, it makes it almost impossible for the designers to create a game that’s challenging and compelling, or a world that you’re really immersed in. To replace the need for town portals we’ve added salvaging and we have a couple of other systems that we haven’t shown yet that help with that. The goal is for you to not really miss them. </blue>

For a time, players could only return to town via [[Waypoints]]. To ameliorate that travel difficulty, the designers introduced various features including [[NPC]] [[merchants]] located in the dungeons, as well as the [[Scroll of Wealth]] (which evolved into the [[Cauldron of Jordan]]) to allow instant item selling from anywhere, as well as the [[Nephalem Cube]] to facilitate salvaging of items from the dungeon.

Jay Wilson commented on this subject during an interview at Gamescom 2010: <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-interview-gamona/ Compensating for no Town Portal] - Interview with Gamona.De, 20/8/2010</ref>

<blue>We’ve put in several things to offset the lack of Town Portals. The most obvious are more frequent Waypoints. These give players more opportunities to return to go back to town. We’ve also added salvaging to let players break items down into small parts that stack up in your inventory. We’ve also added a Scroll of Wealth that allows you to sell items right on location.</blue>

Those other features remained in, but eventually the need for a speedy way to return to town became too pressing to ignore, and in 2011 the developers revealed that the Town Portal function was returning the to game in a new form. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/town-portals-return....-sorta/ Town Portal Returns] - Blizzard, 28/6/2011</ref>

<blue>We’ve always been trying to see if we can create a better system than town portals, making waypoints the main travel back to town mechanic. But, it’s looking like it’s just simply more fun and a quality-of-life-nicety to be able to jump back to town from anywhere even if waypoints are all over the place. Plus it’s not really that hard to avoid the few pitfalls that TPs in Diablo II had.</blue>

[[File:Town-portal-wizard1.jpg|thumb|400px|A [[Wizard]] returning to [[Tristram]].]]
The new system was called the [[Stone of Recall]], and its function was identical to the town portal system now in the game. A character clicked on their Stone of Recall and went into a casting animation. If they were uninterrupted by a monster or by moving or casting a spell, they would warp directly to town after about five seconds.

Unlike the Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 system, there was no blue portal created in the dungeon; characters were simply warped directly to town. In town a blue portal appeared, which would take the player back to the exact spot from which they'd departed, if they passed through it.

This system seemed to be the final design, until in early 2012 the developers revealed that the Stone of Recall, along with the Nephalem Cube and Cauldron of Jordan had all been removed from the game. The Stone of Recall changed the least, as a Town Portal icon, with an identical function to the Stone of Recall, was added to the belt interface.

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==Blue Portals in Diablo 3==

There were numerous red portals in Diablo II, to take players between distant locations that weren't appropriate for Waypoint travel. There were also town portals cast by NPCs that players could not use, such as those the rescued Barbarian NPCs cast in Act Five.

These types of portals do not seem to be a feature in Diablo III, other than the ones players see in town, after returning via a town portal. Players can not cast blue portals in the dungeons for other players to use, and while the [[Barbarian]] cast such a portal for the use of [[Deckard Cain]] in the first gameplay movie, released with the June 2008 Diablo III announcement, that feature/function was evolved away from over the course of development.

==Spell Lore==

[[File:Sorportal.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Blue portal seen in Tristram.]]
[[File:Casting town portal.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A monk casts a portal back to town]]The Town Portal spell seems to be closely related to the [[Horadric]] [[Waypoint]] network, and work with similar magical components to the [[Teleport]] spell, however, it does not seem to require the same type of physical component as the runed stone of a Waypoint. The Brotherhood constructed numerous magical gateways between their mighty fortresses and settlements so that they could quickly concentrate their defences against any incursion by the [[Demon]]s. With but a thought, the Crusaders of the Light could transport themselves to predetermined destinations many leagues apart.

It's likely that there are Waypoints with additional magic infused into them to allow the use of a Town Portal spell to the vicinity of that Waypoint. A Waypoint located at a former Horadrim fortress or settlement site could be what enables Town Portal spells to bring you there. If this is the case, it might be possible for a [[Sorcerer]] with enough skill to use a similar spell to teleport directly to a Waypoint.

It could also be a completely different set of teleportation nodes, besides the actual Waypoint network, made specifically for retreating back to the nearest safe place, and nothing else.

Although the secret of creating these gateways as well as the Waypoints has been long lost, it is still possible to use the pathways that are already in place. A Portal opened by means of this spell will always take the caster to the location of the nearest gate and remain open long enough to bring the caster back to his point of origin. The [[Tristram Cathedral]] is built upon the remains of a Horadrim monastery, and has at least in the past harbored a portal gateway nearby.

==References==

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[[Category:Travel]]
[[category:interface]]