Blizzard has announced that the first alpha test for Diablo II: Resurrected is set to begin this weekend. On Friday, a select number of chosen damned will play the remastered classic for the first time. The technical alpha will include only a handful of characters to play and environments to scour. But still, it’s Diablo II remastered, so anything should be more than welcome.
Invites to the alpha begin this week. Blizzard is randomly selecting a small group of players who signed up for play tests at the game’s official site. The company announced the tests in February following the game’s reveal. Diablo II: Resurrected‘s alpha is set to begin Friday, April 9 at 10 AM ET and run until April 12 at 1 PM ET.
The technical alpha is the first of two confirmed for the year. It will be single player only, consisting of the game’s first two Acts and ends at the Duriel boss fight. Participants will be able to try out three of the seven classes: the Barbarian, the Amazon, and the Sorceress. The alpha won’t include a level cap, so players should have plenty of time to take their chosen class to the limit.
Diving back into Tristram
Blizzard posted more information and a Q&A at its website. Being a technical alpha, no doubt some are wondering what limitations are being imposed. Well, Blizzard wrote that you’ll be able to capture video and even stream the Diablo II: Resurrected technical alpha to your heart’s content. Also, any story progress during the alpha won’t transfer to the main game after its launch. So, don’t get attached. You also wont’ be able to load an older Diablo II save into the alpha. Another interesting tidbit: the alpha will include the old in-game cinematics. Apparently, the new cinematics are still being worked on.
The post also includes some PC requirements. For the minimum graphics settings, you’ll want an 8 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7850 GPU. On the CPU side, minimum requires at least an Intel i3-3250 or AMD FX-4350. For the recommended settings, you’re looking at 16 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 550 XT GPU. With the CPU, you’ll want at least an Intel i5-9600k or an AMD Ryzen 5 2600. All in all, it doesn’t appear the game will be too demanding.
For those interested in joining the alpha, it may not be too late. You’ll need to head over to the official site to sign up. There will be another alpha test later in the year, focusing on the multiplayer mode.
