Many veterans of Diablo 3 are currently checking out the Steam hit Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem. At first glance, it seems like a clear choice. But there are some differences that aren’t immediately obvious. We will compare Wolcen vs. Diablo 3, looking at what new players need to know.
This is the uniqueness of Wolcen: The indie game has been in Early Access on Steam for years, but only now at the release are many getting involved with the action RPG. The newcomers start from scratch, without having spent a second engaging with the game beforehand, because they’ve heard what a hit Wolcen is and it doesn’t cost the world at around €35.
Wolcen looks, at first glance and even on the second, like players from Diablo 3 or Path of Exile can find their way around immediately, and therefore jump in and start defeating the first mobs, without delving deeper into the game. I felt the same way, but I painfully learned that I was missing some important information.
I want to share these “Aha” moments with you.
5 Things I Wish I Knew About Wolcen
There are 2 slots for gloves and shoulders: At first glance, it seems a bit strange, but in Wolcen, there isn’t “a pair of gloves”, but two separate gloves – the same goes for shoulders.
Anyone who only equips their gloves with a right-click, as they know from Diablo 3, will miss out on one slot. If you click on the glove in your inventory and press Shift, you will see the second slot.
You can buy and upgrade skills: The right vendor in Stormfall, the “town” of Wolcen, is responsible for skills. Here, you can level up skills by spending a resource you get when you find and redeem “duplicate skills”.
It’s a good idea to level up the skill that deals the main damage. This is a way to strengthen your character when you are stuck on a boss, such as Edric, the first real skill and gear check in Wolcen.
You can modify every skill and should press “S” regularly. This probably becomes apparent quickly when you press “S”. However, the system needs an explanation:
- Because each skill has points that you can distribute into these runes.
- Over time, you gain more points and more options on which skills to invest those points.
Therefore, you should keep pressing “S” regularly and see if you can deactivate old runes and activate new ones that have been unlocked.
You can carry two healing potions. In Diablo 3, you have one slot for a healing potion, but in Wolcen there’s nothing stopping you from carrying two healing potions. They are on different timers. This can save lives – especially your own.
There is an “Oh Shit” button that makes you glow yellow. After the first act, a special form of the hero is unlocked, which comes with special abilities. You transform into this hero by pressing the “R” key.
These are certainly not mind-blowing secrets, and a Wolcen veteran won’t be blown away by them, but these tips would have saved me some deaths before starting Wolcen, and maybe they’ll help you too.
If you want to dive deeper into Wolcen, we recommend our article on builds in Wolcen.
