Your miniature guide to getting a Diablo 3 beta key

Diablo 3 Demon hunter concept art

So you want to get your hands on the Diablo 3 beta but you think it is impossible and that only a small number of people will be selected. Well you are wrong, the initial batch of testers picked by Blizzard is just the start, this is a beta designed to test their servers, mass test the game (find the bugs that hundreds couldn’t find but hundreds of thousands can find), create hype for the game, and test the game on a wider range of PC specs than is available in house at Blizzard. There will be more invites but while you wait for them there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting one.

First and probably the most important thing you can do is log into your Battle.net account (which probably means stealing it back from a hacker if you are me) and opting to be in the Diablo 3 beta. This can be done on the Battle.net website. You should also update your pc specs so that Blizzard knows what hardware you are running, it’s painless and takes less than 30 seconds.

Beyond being patient and waiting for that wonderful email in your inbox you can proactively seek out invites. While programs like this haven’t started yet companies like IGN, G4, and Gameinformer have already announced that they will be giving out beta keys as a promotional campaign for Blizzard, so check in with them frequently to see if you can get your hands on some. Other than actively searching for the keys or having the patience of the thinker you are pretty much sol.

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Diablo 3 skill tree calculator

Diablo 3

Recently the creators of Diablo 3 released the full skill trees for each of the 5 classes in their (hopefully) upcoming game. You can find them on the Diablo 3 website (a link to which will be provided at the bottom of this article). While I was never invited to the Diablo 3 betas and Blizzard has repeatedly told me that they would call the police as I attempted to climb the fence into their facilities, I have to thank them for finally giving us some real news about the game we all so patiently wait for.

The skill trees they have set up show that we will have the choice of choosing 6 active skills for our character which can be customized by runes to make each character truly unique. The tree also shows us what power sources each class will pull upon whether it is hatred and discipline for the demon hunter, arcane power for the wizard, spirit energy for the monk or the classic mana for the witch doctor. With a full list of skills, passive skills, and the ability to actually customize the skills with runes what is next for Blizzard? How much more can they taunt us with without actually releasing the game? Fortunately for them, this is good news after the generally unaccepted announcement of real money influencing a section of the auction house earlier this year. 

P.S. Diablo 3 beta went live yesterday and Blizzard has forsaken us by not giving us beta keys (yet).

Here is the skill calculator so you can have something to play with while you pray for a beta invite.

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