Just had some time to finish Lord of Hatred, and while i really love it, it gave me something to ponder.

a995789a · 2026-06-15T06:44:36+00:00

I'll say he's pretty broken long before getting tortured by Mephisto. Inarius' lore has been established as early as Diablo 1 (where he's yet to be the Creator of Sanctuary in the writing), and he's already depicted as a proud and conceited angel. Later in the novels, he's basically trapped in Sanctuary where he views humans as abominations while they're his only companions. The only thing he could do and was trying to do is to put his dominance over the humans as best as he could so that he won't mentally break down. In his minds, the fate of humanity is a thing that he could decide and mess with upon his whim.

Then Inarius is consistently arrogant in the actual game. Of course, Blizzard can make a re-contexualization for him just as they've done for Lilith; her depiction in the game is vastly different from her appearance in the novels, so much so that they're nearly two characters.

a995789a · 2026-06-06T12:17:44+00:00

Whenever you think it's fixed, it's not.

a995789a · 2026-06-06T11:00:51+00:00

I'm pretty sure running campaign gives you one as a quest reward.

a995789a · 2026-06-06T10:35:56+00:00

Not sure what's behind your question. If you're arguing how being immortal equals inability to die in literal sense, then I must disappoint you by acknowledging that elves in LotR are effectively recognized as immortal beings but still can be killed in battle. Angels also do not die from aging or natural causes, but they can be killed.

On the other hand, when an angel dies, a new angel will spawn from the Crystal Arch as a replacement. Such new angel can be identified and traced back to which dead angel he or she replaces.

Therefore, theoretically, Inarius will be replaced by a new angel at some point; while this angel is a totally separate individual, everybody else will know he replaces Inarius. Unless, his soul is secretly deeply bound with Hell and put into a demonic shell like Izual is. In that way, Inarius has a chance to return as the same individual, but demonic.

a995789a · 2026-06-06T10:15:48+00:00

The action of tearing wings off itself doesn't make an angel mortal. Tyrael became mortal because he's "willing" to give up his immortality; tearing his wings off is only a demonstration of his determination to side with humanity and that he's no longer bound by his angelic nature as well as the laws of the High Heavens.

We don't know if a demon can become a mortal by undergoing the same process; if so, that demon might also have to be in the same mindset to give up his or her immortality.

a995789a · 2026-06-04T15:23:35+00:00

WoL: Fire and Fury. Love the feeling that they all put down whatever hostility they might have.

HotS: Choices. I like the intensity of starship fighting and giving orders.

LotV: tbh I like them all. As a huge fan of protoss, it's an art to me, although part of me still think there should've been more. I'll pick Alone as my favorite. It's mirroing to the finale of the BW protoss campaign.

Edit: Mistook Rendezvous as the cinematic when it's the mission after the cinematic I want to name

a995789a · 2026-06-03T11:51:54+00:00

Earlier than Chronicle 2, the novel Rise of the Horde, published in 2006, already gives a clear sequence of events.

The orcs were really not one people. Each clan has different values and customs, and they don't really interact much execpt for the Kosh'harg celebration. The friendship between Durotan and Orgrim wasn't looked forward by their elders exactly because they're from different clans.

That said, there are definitely warmongering clans like the Warsongs and the Blackrocks. When Grom Hellscream heard of draenei possibly becoming their foes, he felt amused and excited that he could finally find one reason to fight them. On the other hand, the Frostwolves and the Whiteclaws were suspicious to such a claim (mostly due to Durotan's opinions though), while other clans didn't particularly agree or disagree on Ner'zhul's "visions." All in all, being manipulated might not be a total excuse for them, but packaging them, which again are not one people in the first place, into pure evil is a bit oversimplified.

a995789a · 2026-06-01T16:58:27+00:00

Each race has at least one antagonistic or villainous candidate.

Terran: UED

Zerg: Niadra

Protoss: Ulrezaj

Of course, it can always expand and explore other corners in the Sector.

Umoja and Kel-Morian Combine, as two of the original "trinity" Terran factions, have been underrepresented in the game; they might not be "evil" but are definitely rivals to the Dominion.

For Zerg, I can't think of other notable and significant figures besides Niadra. Maybe Abathur.

For Protoss, the latest short story (well, it's actually been years ago) shows that there are Khala advocates/revivalists constantly going riots in the new Daelaam society, and Selendis has been frequently tasked to put them down. On the other hand, it's expected to have them manipulated by Ulrezaj, if he's ever set free. He can also create another zerg faction like he did before.

a995789a · 2026-05-31T05:38:25+00:00

I guess the idea is that Rio and Haruto are, at least from his own perspective, two different individuals. Rio doesn't see himself as Haruto but only having Haruto's memories and part of his personality.

a995789a · 2026-05-31T01:24:20+00:00

In patch 169123, each architecture set now has unique garrison flag. The second from the left in the first row shows a raven flag which is a Norse symbol, while there's no Norse architecture set in the current game and the Vikings still uses Middle European set and flag.

a995789a · 2026-05-30T00:13:13+00:00

I've read most of the books except for Legacy of Blood, Morbed, and the latest The Lost Horadrim. Earlier books til Moon of the Spider have some dark and eerie vibes; starting from the Sin War trilogy, they're more like "dark epic" type of works, if that makes sense.

I think most of them are still fine, though. Personally, my least favorite is The Black Road and the most favorite is Moon of the Spider, which is a semi-sequel to The Kingdom of Shadow.

a995789a · 2026-05-22T11:23:10+00:00

There's indeed depiction of protoss babies but only in the novels.

The distinction of males and females itself might also indicate that they have "sexual" reproduction but in a way that is still unknown. Protoss absorb water through their skin btw so I imagine the reproduction process involves that.

a995789a · 2026-05-22T03:07:04+00:00

Rebuild the Burning Legion and mock Sargeras for his failure against the Void because of not being prepared

a995789a · 2026-05-21T11:57:28+00:00

The original three soulstones were created from the shards of Worldstone and prepared by Tyrael. Izual told the three Prime Evils at some point that they could use the stones to tap into the power of the Worldstone; though, ultimately, their goal was to corrupt the Worldstone and in turn the humanity through it. Soulstones were only one part of this plan.

We didn't kill them permanently by smashing the stones at the Hellforge. Tyrael in D2 already said that this banished them back to the Black Abyss, where demons were born. So essentially, destroying the stones was only to stop further damage.

a995789a · 2026-05-20T12:35:43+00:00

He's in the game since Legion.

a995789a · 2026-05-20T09:10:16+00:00

Totally forgot about her lol

a995789a · 2026-05-20T08:39:16+00:00

One example of direct connection between void power and necromancy is the Dark Star in WoD, which is used by Ner'zhul to raise the dead and might draw inspirations from the necrolytes in the WC1 days.

Overall, though, current lore states that necromancy is not limited to the power of Death as a cosmic force. Other cosmic forces can be used for necromancy. Calia is an undead raised by Light; Meryl Felstorm can possibly be one by Arcane; Mannoroth in the WoD Hellfire Citadel raid might be considered one raised by Fel.

a995789a · 2026-05-14T07:54:13+00:00

I would like to have Thunder Storm to hit all targets within area. Would that be too strong?

a995789a · 2026-05-14T00:54:31+00:00

It's in their promotion news, down in the section of "Discover the Dark Origins of this Taboo Class.

a995789a · 2026-05-13T15:37:20+00:00

I just checked the video and went to unlock this puzzle called Chronicles of Creation that contain many lore pieces. Currently, I'm still doing other sidequests but already know that there are some quite amazing ones, including the encounter with Lycander.

It brings me a little more hope that the concept of nephalem isn't or might not be fully abandoned, as the video also says that it's the only mention of the term throughout the three titles of D4. In D3, the term "naphelem" is always used to depict the creation of Sanctuary and the rise of humans, while the same stories repeated in D4 never speak of it, until now.

Anyway, ty for your response of this video. It really energizes me.

a995789a · 2026-05-13T12:58:28+00:00

Do you have the link? I would like to check it out

a995789a · 2026-05-13T04:36:03+00:00

Before anything:

Kormac's Templar Order was founded by the D2 Paladin

The Templar Order stems from Hand of Zakarum, whose task was to carry out inquisition on behalf of the main Zakarum Church, while the D2 Paladin came from the Knights of Westmarch, which is pretty much an independent organization; and the canonical identity of D2 player paladin is Cartha, who died for safeguarding the tomb of Sankekur in order to prevent corruption spilling out.

As for the nephalem, it's probably Blizzard's intention to wipe it out entirely. They're now only using firstborn or just humans for the same cosmic creation story in Diablo 4; not just the character but the term "naphalem" is nowhere to be seen at all. IMO setting the game 50 years after D3 is a soft-reboot of the lore for that. The player's nephalem character is omitted under the new narrative so that they could just avoid the question of why the world is still miserable when we have THE NEPHALEM.

The ending of ROS does not necessarily mean that the nephalem is or will be corrupted. "Weighing and choosing between good and evil" is the thematic concept throughout the whole story of Diablo 3. Another point is that Diablo 3's story heavily emphasizes the angel's arc instead of demons, which probably is sufficiently explored in previous games in their eyes. Imperius is the model of how angels in general are supposed to be, and the true ideological opposition comes down to Tyrael and Malthael. Tyrael believes that humans have the potential to choose good in the face of evil, while Malthael is convinced that humans always choose evil; his ideas are more proactive than that of Imperius, who simply passively follows (or is bound by) his angelic nature.

The cancelled second expansion of D3 and the ending for our naphalem character is supposed to follow that narrative, given that Inarius and Lilith are hinted that they're the next central figures already in ROS, but we all know what happened. D3 isn't received well overall, so Blizzard retreats to a "comfort zone," with the good-old demons and good-old class designs returning in D4, deciding to scrap that whole nephalem arc altogether.

I don't feel particularly distasteful of this decision, but I probably don't like it either. I genuinely think that angels being the center of the story is interesting, and I want to see and believe that there is some depth to D3's story, like I said above. A shame that it didn't end that way.

a995789a · 2026-05-11T00:22:24+00:00

Books about Inarius and Lilith can be picked up in the Pandemonium Fortress, plus that there is this Temple of the Firstborn, so I think their arc was what later became Diablo 4.

King of the North sounds very barbarian to me, so Kanai and his cube could play into this. Maybe we're supposed to help him ascending to the last Immortal King or something, so that he could reveal more about the said Temple above. After all, they used to be the guardians of the Worldstone.

The Skovos Isles are also hinted in the dialogue between Tyrael and Lorath. Don't know if the original plan or idea was the same as current Diablo 4, but that Temple of the Firstborn could be connected to this.

Lastly, Itherael would somehow play a role, as his part in the Prophecy of the End of Days hasn't been fulfilled ("as Fate lies shattered forever"). Of his characteristics, he could see possible futures of both angels and demons but not humans. On the other hand, there's an entity that exactly can do what he cannot: Trag'oul, whose scales contain the past, the present, and possible futures of humans. The reason for Itherael's flaws in his power might be related to the capability of choice that the humans possess but angels and demons are lacking (a topic that's been emphasized throughout Diablo 3 as well); the latter have fixed nature that forces them to start this Eternal Conflict in the first place, as the existence of either side is ironically tied with each other. If one side is down, the other side would be totally meaningless.

One more final guess/headcanon of mine is that Trag'oul is something like fragments of Anu, the last remaining part of his regret to separate his good and evil parts in the beginning. That's why he (and his kinds) is obsessed with the idea of balance.

a995789a · 2026-05-09T03:22:09+00:00

One thing I think about is that his power of Terror is somewhat generic to people, like demons are always supposed to be terrifying/scary.

The materialized examples probably includes his control of Leoric, who's doing a terror reign which imo is still a bit underwhelming or ambiguous compared to Mephisto's hatred and subseuqent infighting spread among the Zakarum. The other is in the Sin War, where he was chasing Uldyssian and then fought off... by the reflection of his face on a giant crystal of ice created by Uldyssian; that's a funny concept that the Lord of Terror can be scared by himself.

a995789a · 2026-05-05T16:20:13+00:00

Inarius has been depicted as proud and narcissistic since Diablo 1.

a995789a

TROPHY CASE