Followers in Diablo III
Bashiok, Community Manager Blizzard Entertainment, recently discussed the followers that will accompany your player in Diablo 3. In concept they will act more as a buff than an additional player but stipulations will be held.
"When we first announced the follower feature we revealed that these unique characters would accompany your hero on an adventure to save Sanctuary, but that they would only be able to survive in Normal difficulty." Bashiok said. "The amount of positive support the follower feature received, as well as the number of players who wanted to be able to keep these companions throughout the game -- even into the toughest difficulties -- left us wondering if it would be possible."
In later game-play Diablo III will be "brutally difficult", so players should really take advantage of their followers, as noted by Bashiok.
"Followers won’t follow you into co-op games because you’ll already have the superior firepower of your friends to help you, but playing alone you’re going to want to take advantage of their benefits. We’ve made the later difficulties of the game brutally difficult, and we realize that for those attempting to tackle these later difficulties alone, they’re really going to actually want some additional support in the form of the followers."
Mercenaries were discussed on a related note.
"Some players didn’t like their experience with mercenaries in Diablo II. We took feedback regarding mercenaries very seriously when designing Diablo III followers, and they differ from mercenaries in a few key ways that we think set them apart and resolve many issues."
In Diablo 3, there will be no resurrection or cost after a follower's death
The other big change players can expect to see is that when their hero dies, so does their follower.
"These aren’t characters that can hope to compete or continue on without you. While some players prefer to be the lone wolf taking on the forces of evil, our intent isn’t to dilute the hero aspects by adding more wolves to your wolf pack. We want followers to be an extension of your bad-assery, not a liability. The followers could almost be considered automated buffs/damage skills, but of course with quite a bit more flavor and customization options."
