For Diablo 5, Blizzard is looking to classic party-based role-playing games of all places for a new feature. The new caravan is meant to feel a bit like the camp in Baldur’s Gate or Dragon Age.
Traditionally, Diablo is all about demons, epic loot, and dealing as much damage as possible. Hours-long conversations with your companions around the campfire, on the other hand, belong more to a different corner of the role-playing genre.
In Diablo 5, these two worlds are now set to converge—at least to some extent. That’s because Narrative Director Jennifer Hepler cites Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age—of all things—as inspiration for a new feature. And that’s no coincidence: Before Hepler joined Blizzard, she worked at BioWare for years and was involved in the Dragon Age series, among other projects.
Your Caravan Becomes a Mobile Home
The reason for this unusual comparison is one of the major new features in Diablo 5: your caravan.
The starting point in the next installment looks pretty bleak, even by Diablo standards. The heroes of the past have failed, Diablo has won, and Sanctuary is already under his rule. You play as the heir to Westmark and travel through a world that’s being actively reshaped by the Lord of Terror.
Consequently, your survival will no longer be tied to cities or conquered outposts as it used to be. Instead, you’ll gradually build a caravan of survivors who travel through Sanctuary alongside you.
This includes merchants, but also combat-ready companions. According to Blizzard, these characters have their own stories, goals, and backstories. Examples already mentioned include a former sister of the Hidden Eye and a stranded treasure goblin. The latter apparently faces a bit of an identity crisis after gold suddenly becomes not worth much in the fallen world.
Here’s Where Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age Come Into Play
At BlizzCon, Hepler told GamesRadar that her experiences with classic role-playing games had a direct influence on this system. The Caravan brings some of “the best elements of traditional RPGs” into Diablo’s action-RPG framework. As a comparison, she specifically mentions the camps from Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age—places where you can reunite with your companions after your adventures and learn more about them.
However, anyone already expecting romances, a morality system, and a wardrobe for the treasure goblin should temper their enthusiasm a bit. Hepler clearly distinguishes the system from Dragon Age. The companions aren’t meant to become full-fledged party members whose abilities you level up and whose gear you manage down to the last detail.
Instead, the main focus is on giving them distinct personalities and allowing you to interact more deeply with the characters in your caravan between battles. That would still be a remarkable step for Diablo. While earlier installments also featured companions and recurring NPCs, the focus has traditionally been more on the hunt for the next piece of better gear. Or does anyone here remember off the top of their head what the three companions from Diablo 4 are called?
We don’t yet know, however, just how extensive the conversations and personal stories will actually be. That goes for a lot of things surrounding Diablo 5 anyway. According to Blizzard, the game is still in an early stage of development. Further insights into the development are set to follow starting in 2027, with the release planned for spring 2029.
What do you think of this approach? Are you looking forward to more story, or would you rather get back to hunting demons as quickly as possible in Diablo?
