Diablo 20th Anniversary Celebration Kicks Off On January 4 For A Week Of Terror
It’s difficult to believe that we are celebrating Diablo’s 20th anniversary. The original Diablo was released on December 31, 1996, and quickly became one of many smash hits for Blizzard Entertainment. Diablo is an action-role playing game hybrid, and is one of the highest rated PC games of all time, scoring a 94 on Metacritic and a 9.6 out of 10 from Gamespot.
For the 20th anniversary celebration, Blizzard is letting the Lord of Terror reach out and infect other games. Starting on January 4, 2017, and running through the 11th, players in every other Blizzard game will feel Diablo’s influence.
World of Warcraft
In World of Warcraft, denizens of Sanctuary will cross over and interact with players in Azeroth, likely with quests and opportunities to gain a Feat of Strength Achievement: “Diablo’s 20th Anniversary: There is no cow level.”
Additionally, a rare mob called Wyrmtongue Hoarder drops Sanctuary Coins and will randomly appear anywhere on the map. The player has a set amount of time to kill the Hoarder before it channels Escape Portal and disappears. If it is killed, it will drop a random number of the coins.
In game toys will also be available, including the epic “Twelve-String Guitar,” and “Tome of Town Portal.” The Guitar will probably be something purchased from a vendor, while the Tome seems to be based on drops. To create the Tome of Town Portal, a player has to combine a Blank Diabolic Tome with 10 Scrolls of Town Portal.
When used, the guitar plays the theme song for Diablo. The cooldown for the Twelve-String Guitar is one hour and six minutes (66 minutes). Take a listen to the music that was datamined by Wowhead.
In a throwback to the original Diablo, it looks like there will be a special currency system similar to the Love is in the Air event. This event currency seems to be the aptly named, “Stone of Jordan.” For those who don’t know, in the early days of Diablo, The Ring of Jordan was used as a makeshift currency to trade to other players. Because the ring only took up one spot in the inventory grid, you could carry multiples and trade them for another piece or rare gear. The rings were also very easy to duplicate using a cheat program, which drove their value to nearly nothing in the end.
Other World of Warcraft items include a 28-slot bag called the Horadric Satchel. This is a reference to the Horadric Cube whose purpose was to transmute unwanted items into better items. The cube itself was larger than the inventory space it took up, so many Diablo players used it as a bag.
Of course, players of Diablo will recognize why these items are included. In order to get to the secret Cow Level (which does not exist), a player had to beat Diablo II, then combine a Tome of Town Portal with Wirt’s Leg inside of the Horadric Cube.
Overwatch
Players will be able to get new in-game sprays representing Diablo III classes as well as a new player icon.
Starcraft II
There will be a special Diablo-themed worker portrait released.
Hearthstone
A new Tavern Brawl will pit players against a hooded stranger who has a grim deck. It is likely that there will be a new card back that players can win in this event.
Heroes of the Storm
A new map will be released with a Diablo-themed portrait available to win. Diablo is already a hero in-game, so this will be extra fun for players who use him.
Diablo III
Finally, in Diablo III, Blizzard is releasing The Darkening of Tristram event. During this event, players will be able to replay the original cathedral levels from Diablo with some very familiar loot drops. As announced during Blizzcon 2016, all four bosses will be present. There will also be a retro-UI. This won’t affect how the game plays, so you’ll get the familiar D3 combat system. Blizzard also announced that this event will become an annual event in Diablo III, so if you don’t get all the loot or transmog items you want, there’s always next year!
Are you excited for the new Diablo event? Let us know what gear you’re looking to grab in the comments below.
[Featured Image by Blizzard Entertainment]
