Diablo: Hellfire is the expansion pack for the video gameDiablo, developed by Synergistic Software, a Sierra division, and published by Sierra On-Line in 1997. Despite the objections of Blizzard Entertainment, the Hellfire expansion was produced, permitted by Davidson & Associates, their parent company at the time. Blizzard North, who was developing the sequel Diablo II, thus imposed numerous restrictions upon Synergistic Software's development of Hellfire. Hellfire was re-released alongside Diablo in 1998 in a bundle called Diablo + Hellfire. Hellfire was released digitally by Blizzard Entertainment on June 5, 2019 as a free add-on with every purchase of the original Diablo on GOG.com.
Overview
Hellfire is a single-player expansion to Diablo. While there are some multi-player modes that can be unlocked, Hellfire is not playable on Blizzard's online gaming service Battle.net, and its changes do not transfer to online characters. However, the expansion does offer many new features as a single-player game, and also does not interfere with a user's ability to still play Diablo with Blizzard's service. Hellfire integrates into Diablo, and because of its design as a "optional, off-the-beaten-path foray", its dungeons can be avoided entirely. Hellfire's storyline occurs as an aside to the main story arc of the original game. A sorcerer, while performing a ritual, unknowingly releases the demon Na-Krul unto the town of Tristram, but before it can completely escape, the sorcerer magically seals the doors. The player is later tasked with venturing into Na-Krul's lair and vanquishing it. In order to gain access to the dungeons, the player must speak with Lester the Farmer, who is north of Tristram, near the herd of cows; however, if the player speaks to Lester before reaching a certain point of the main Diablo quest, he will be hesitant to ask them to enter the new dungeons. The expansion pack adds several enhancements to Diablo, including two new dungeon settings, additional quests to undertake, several extra game items, runes that can be placed as traps, a new page of spells, new affixes for weapons and armor, new shrines, new mini-boss enemy names, a noticeable boost to Diablo's strength and power, and a number of interface improvements. The Monk was the only character class that Synergistic Software was permitted to add; the Monk class is meant to be proficient with the staff in melee combat, gains defense bonuses from lighter armor, and is more effective than other classes fighting barehanded. There are also two hidden character classes, the axe-wielding Barbarian and the dual-wielding Bard, which can be played using a file tweak. As unfinished characters left in the game code as easter eggs, they utilize the art of the Warrior and Rogue, respectively, and have no lore. The rest of the expansion integrates more fully into the main adventure. Objects like oils, new weapons, rings and armor, and runes drop amid other more common kinds of items, and the new spellbooks, including books for two previously existing spells that did not have books, and scrolls are found in the same kinds of places. New shrines are found where shrines would normally be found. Hellfire's dungeons are populated with new enemies that do not appear in the main Diablo quest, while the difficulty of Hellfire dungeon floors 1–8 mirror those of levels 9–16 of the main Diablo quest, requiring experienced characters to explore. Some of the newer convenience features include the option to move more quickly around town using the "jog" toggle found in the options menu; a spell that highlights objects lying on the floor as though the cursor was placed over them; and a spell that teleports the player to the nearest staircase found on that level of the dungeon. These were approved by Blizzard North and some would be adopted for Diablo II.
Reception
Hellfire was a finalist for Computer Gaming Worlds 1998 "Best Add-On" award, which ultimately went to .
