Diablo IV's new Codex of Power is a game-changer for the Diablo franchise

Diablo IV's new Codex of Power mechanic will bring massive replayability and customization to the game.

6

Diablo IV has a new game-changing feature called the Codex of Power, which will allow gamers to specifically target buffs and passive bonuses to augment their builds. Blizzard has found a way to effectively turn in-game environments into something that is better than a legendary item; the dungeons themselves are like the prefixes and suffixes from Diablo II. Imagine being able to find some of the best buffs and stats from one item and affix them to other items.

Here's how it works: Every dungeon in Diablo IV has specific loot called an "aspect". This aspect is kind of like a gem from D3 that augments skills and abilities. The aspects are equivalent to the special buffs and powers on legendary items.

Codex of Power - Key facts

• Dungeons drop new loot called "aspects"
• Aspects are like gems with legendary powers that can be "imprinted" into existing legendary items
• Imprinting an aspect replaces existing legendary ability
• Aspects have the lowest form of a legendary power--items will always be stronger
• Gamers can "extract" legendary power from legendary items using an aspect crystal, which can then be socketed into another item
• There are over 120 dungeons in the game
• Rares can be imprinted with aspects too
• Not every legendary power can be found in dungeons
• Aspects will drop for all classes, not just the one you are playing
• Legendary powers can be swapped between item slots and item types

6

For example, one dungeon's aspect could boost the Sorceress skill Charged Bolts. Beating the dungeon will give you this aspect which can then be socketed or "imprinted" into an existing item. It's basically like a gem that has been highly customized to boost or change a specific ability.

In this way, aspects are not randomized, however it is unknown how exactly players will find out which dungeons have which aspects...and if that mapping of dungeons can be altered or changed in any way.

Imprinting of course costs crafting materials. The aspects are basically crafting materials in their own right. Blizzard confirms there are over 120 dungeons in the game, so that's over 120 aspects to discover...and they don't always drop aspects for your specific class.

Imprinting an aspect overrides the existing legendary ability on a legendary item.

The last game, Diablo III, only allowed gamers to re-roll specific stats on legendary items but did not allow users to customize these stats in the same way that the Codex of Power allows.

6

Diablo IV associate game director Joseph Piepiora explains the Codex of Power:

"The Codex of Power is a new crafting feature that we're bringing online in Diablo IV. We're really excited about it. As players are progressing through the massive inter-connected world of Sanctuary, they're going to be discovering lots and lots of dungeons as they go. At the bottom of these dungeons they're going to find what we call Codex of Power aspects," said

"An aspect is effectively a legendary power. Every one of these dungeons that players progress through in the overworld has a unique legendary power via the aspect found inside of them."

"The Codex is Power is basically a way to take these aspects and then go to a crafter in one of the major cities--our new Occultist crafter. When they go to the Occultist, they can hand off the power...and you can imbue the aspect into an existing item."

"What I love about that is you can create a new character and you can look at some of the powers that are available through these dungeons and say, "Okay, I really want to target this power. I'm going to go to this dungeon and get that power." So you're less dependent on hoping a power drops randomly," Diablo IV game director Joe Shely said.

"When we talk about legendries in Diablo IV, what we're really talking about is legendary power. That power can be moved around. You can use it to upgrade rares, and the Occultist is sort of the central point in all of that crafting," Shely continued.

6

"There are limitations in place, but that is basically the intent here, to give players some manner and measure of control over the nature of their build as they're going through those steps.

"This is a kind of deterministic way to collect a series of powers that are out there in the game for you to find. But it's not all of them. You can only find some of the legendary powers overall in the game.

There are over 120 dungeons in the game. This represents a lot of really exciting and interesting things for you to collect as you're going through these areas."

"Every time you find an aspect, you put it in your Codex of Power, and it's now available to all characters in that realm.

"So for the sake of argument, if we're playing in Season 1, every character that you make...let's say you find a bunch of werewolf Druid-based aspects, when you go and you want to build a new Druid character, you have all those aspects to play with at level 1."

6

Joseph Piepiora continues:

"One big change in Diablo IV is allowing legendary power of a particular type to roll on lots of different item slots. This gives players an interesting game of deciding where to place certain powers and make the maximum system for their builds.

"The Codex lets them put them on the slots that are perfect for that power they choose, but another limitation to the Codex of Power, in addition to not actually having the ability to collect all of the legendary powers in the game, there's many, many more to find as you're playing through Diablo IV.

"Those powers are also rolled the lowest level of power possible. So it is always better for you to always go and find the legendary item that has the power that you're interested in, and then you can choose to use that item directly, or extract the power from that item into an aspect crystal and then go and imprint into your own item of your choosing."

The developers say the Codex of Power is just one of the new mechanics that Diablo IV will offer...and so far this sounds like the most infinitely replayable Diablo ever.

Diablo IV releases on June 6, 2023 for PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, complete with couch co-op play on consoles.