It was rare, it was unique, it was strong, it had so many affixes, and it felt powerful.” “We looked deep down inside and tried to remember decades ago how it felt when a legendary in Diablo II dropped. “One of the biggest questions we asked ourselves was, ‘what does it mean to make a Diablo II item in Diablo III?’” says Lee. We wanted to capture the spirit of Diablo II through an itemization-based seasonal theme, which led to the idea of Ethereals in Diablo III.” The concept of Ethereal items flourished, not only paying homage to the deep impact Diablo II had on Diablo III, its developers, and many of its players, but allowing the developers to reimagine how the iconic item line could be reimagined over two decades later.įor the Diablo III team, reimagining an iconic item line from Diablo II in its successor was an intricate endeavor. “We really wanted to make this season feel special. They iterated on several ideas, says Lee, but none of them felt as right as Ethereal Memory. When paving the groundwork for Season 24 and its accompanying theme, the team wanted to hearken back to Diablo II and the memories it left with them long ago. “You can only equip one at a time, and they have random legendary powers along with their numerous strong affixes,” says Lee. They’re instruments of prodigious potential from a bygone era that have recently resurfaced in Sanctuary to be brandished by heroes capable enough of wielding them, characterized by three preeminent attributes: they are rare, powerful, and fleeting. The Ethereal item line comprises 21 powerful weapons-three for each class-that provide meaningful damage boosts to your demon-slaughtering endeavors. One of Lee’s latest design endeavors, aided by his fellow talented designers on the Diablo III team, is the introduction of Diablo II’s renowned Ethereals to Diablo III in Season 24. I was mostly farming and trying to trade a Stone of Jordan for something, and I told my mom, ‘I’m learning valuable business skills for my future.’ Now here I am, not utilizing any of those business skills, but instead designing Diablo III.” “Funny story,” begins Frankie Lee, one of the senior game designers on the Diablo III team, “when I was young, my mom thought I spent too much time playing video games because I was on Diablo II for hours and hours.

Diablo 2 ethereal items