A Blizzard developer has explained the flavour text of a Diablo 4 item players are praising for helping brighten up their day.
Redditor Wholesome_Meow posted an image of the Mark of the Conclave amulet, highlighting its recently carved description: “Healing is a journey. A series of steps. Some days you may stumble, but so long as you continue to put one foot in front of the other, you will reach your destination.”
The post, currently on over 1,000 upvotes in the Diablo 4 subreddit, sparked a number of positive responses from those within the community, and it didn’t take long for the writer of the flavour text to notice.
Responding to Wholesome_Meow’s post, senior quest designer Harrison Pink took to Twitter to explain the thinking behind the text: “I wrote this flavor text for this person. I wrote it for me and I wrote it for you. I wrote it hoping against hope that it might help someone remember that things will get better.”
Mark of the Conclave is a reward for completing a side quest called A Series of Steps. It revolves around a witch doctor called Taissa who helps an NPC deal with grief after losing his son. In a follow-up tweet, Pink explained the thinking behind the quest.
“I created this quest to be about overcoming grief and trauma, and how you cannot force healing, or always slay your demons, but by accepting who you are NOW, you can continue to heal and move forward,” Pink revealed.
(I created this quest to be about overcoming grief and trauma, and how you cannot force healing, or always slay your demons, but by accepting who you are NOW, you can continue to heal and move forward)
— Harrison G. Pink 💙 (@GilesPink) June 20, 2023
Across social media Diablo fans have thanked Pink for the quest and the item description, with many praising the positivity it has generated. “I always hesitate about being emotionally vulnerable online but, in this instance I think it’s important,” Pink responded to one user.
In IGN’s 9/10 review we described Diablo 4 as “a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down”. Be sure to use our interactive map to keep track of your progress as you play.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].