Changes

The appearance and function of way the belt interface are two sides controls work has been modified somewhat in Diablo 3. As of the same coin. The appearance serves the functionAugust 2009, and both mesh with the various belt shows 4 skill and play style changes made in Diablo III. The [[D3 Team]] is designing Diablo III to be played with 6-8 active skills on each character. There are many more [[skills]] than thaticons, but specializing in a half dozen or so with each character build is potion slot, the route to success. Therefore, rather than throwing in 16 hotkeys, as in Diablo II, there are just half that many in Diablo IIIleft and right mouse buttons, and skills are being designed to be more useful. The team doesn't want characters to be "one-skill wonders" as so many were in Diablo II, where most skills were either overpowered or uselessthe Tab key.

The other main goal of the Diablo III interface usual control method is to be easier to use and more visual. Hotkeys were easy to use in Diablo II once a player knew how, but to a new user they were not immediately evident. There was no way to see which custom keys were set as hotkeys without opening a different interface, and only the put active skills could , ones your character will be seen using constantly, on the mouse buttons.* The '''left and mouse button''' (LMB) skill remains there all the time, unless/until you drag another skill down to replace it.* The '''right mouse button icons''' (RMB) has two skills; you switch between them by clicking the '''Tab '''button, or by rolling the mouse wheel. These are usually the secondary skills, but ones you wish to use almost constantly.* The D3 Team wants '''1234''' buttons cast whichever skills are mapped to open up that functionthose buttons. These are generally ** You may also map potions, and it appears that they haveelixirs, from what we can see or scrolls to the 1234 buttons.* The '''5''' button is reserved for a potion; healing by default. If you use up all of whatever type of healing potion is mapped to the interface in screenshots5 button, another quality of healing potion will be automatically mapped to 5, for your convenience.

Casting a spell or skill from the 1234 buttons works just like casting it from the mouse button. You could, in theory, play entirely with the 1234 keys, only using the mouse to target. Generally, players put support skills on the 1234 buttons. Summoning spells, buffs, debuffs, and so forth. Direct attack skills can be mapped there as well; it just takes some practice to get used to casting these with keyboard buttons, instead of (in addition to) the mouse buttons. There are no skills in D3 (yet revealed) that work simply by being active on the RMB, as the {{iw|Paladin Paladin}}'s Auras did in Diablo 2. It would seem that such skills won't be supported in Diablo 3, since with just 2 skills to cycle through on the RMB, the whole control system conspires against that game mechanic. (True, many Paladins in D2 keep the same aura active all the time, but with the effort the D3 team is putting into adding variety and strategy to gameplay, it seems unlikely that they would repeat that control system when only two auras could be conveniently cycled between.) ===Controlling the Skills=== Mapping skills to the controls is very easy in Diablo 3. You just open the [[skill tree]] and drag skills down to the buttons you wish them assigned to. To change around skills, you drag a new one to an occupied slot (RMB, LMB, Tab, or 1234) and drop it. This puts the previous skill on your cursor, where you can drag it to a new spot or drop it anywhere else to discard it. ====Active Skills Window==== In addition to the skill tree, there's an icon that opens the "active skills window." This is a small pop up window that appears just above the belt interface, which displays the icons for the active skills your character can use. Only the active skills; no passives, no skills without points in them yet, etc. This makes it very easy to see which skills can be assigned to the 7 skill places on the belt.  ===Skill Hotkey Theory=== The appearance and function of the belt interface are two sides of the same coin. The appearance serves the function, and both mesh with the various skill and play style changes made in Diablo III. The [[D3 Team]] is designing Diablo III to be played with 5-7 active skills per character. There are many more [[skills]] than that, but specializing in a half dozen or so active skills is the intended route to success. Therefore, rather than throwing in 16 hotkeys, as in D2, there are only half that many in D3, with the design theory being that characters will have maxed out their points in a handful of skills which they will use constantly. (And respecing will allow changes, if necessary.) They want the controls to support the half dozen skills characters use a lot, rather than allowing the unbalanced one-skill wonders we see in D2, or requiring D3 players to juggle a dozen or more skills for some builds, as is the case in D2. The other main goal of the Diablo III interface is to be easier to use and more visual. Hotkeys were easy to use in Diablo II once a player knew how, but to a new user their technique was not immediately evident. There was no way to see which custom keys were set as hotkeys without opening a different interface, and only the active skills could be seen on the left and right mouse button icons, which forced players to memorize their skill setup. The D3 Team wants the skill menu to be much more visual and visible during play. There's some debate about this approach amongst experienced Diablo II players. Some fans are skeptical, wondering if the D3 Team is going too far to make it easy for beginners, and watering down the controls and over-simplifying things in the process. Play Early play testing during at BlizzCon and other gaming shows has yielded positive feedback, and the guys on the D3 team play the game every day and they like the new design. It won't be until the beta test should answer this questionthat gamers get a chance to spend enough time at the controls to form an educated opinion.