Diablo lore starting point.

[Jimmybob117]

So Diablo 3 will be coming out Soon(ish)™ and I was wondering, where is a good place to start with diablo lore?

I blundered into WoW, without knowing any of the lore, and never really appreciated. I decided to pick up one of the books one day, and just start reading it, and I didn't realise how much story there was behind it. To me back then, Thrall was just some dude who sat on a throne. Sure he was warcheif and all, but he just sat there. It wasn't until I read about him and his story that I realised, he had a pretty bad ass history.

But I don't want this to happen with Diablo. I've never played any of the previous Diablo games, but I plan on picking up Diablo 2 with the Diablo 3 collectors edition on the USB stick. Where would be a good place to start with the Diablo franchise though? I looked on the Blizzard store, and there a lot of reading material out there, but I just don't know where to start. I know there's the book of cain coming out soon as well, would that be a good start?

Any help would be appreciated

[ragnarokvr1]

I've been a blizzard fan since 1996, and I've always found the best place to learn about their lore is in their games, and game manuals which come with the games, but especially the games. Metzen, regardless of the stupidity of the things he's allowed in WoW, is a class A storyteller and creator when it comes to the Starcraft(1), Warcraft 1, 2, 3, and Diablo 1 and 2 franchises. (dunno about 3 yet).

In all honesty, pick up Diablo 1 and start doing all the quests and then move on to Diablo 2, for me it was an unforgettable experience. I tried the Last Guardian and War of the Ancients books, and they never appealed to me as much as the games, probably because they weren't truly written by Metzen. Liberty's Crusade was pretty good though for Starcraft.

I dunno, Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft stories work really well in-game. So I recommend you at least try Diablo 1.

[Dispirit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(series)

Book of Cain that was just released sounds like the best read to catch up on all the lore too.

[Jimmybob117]

Yeah I've found that too, I learnt so much from warcraft 3. Does it really matter what order you read the books in? I know the warcraft ones don't matter to much, but is it the same with diablo? If it is, I'll probably just pick up book of cain

[Cernunnos]

Sin War Trilogy first, after that, it doesn't matter so much.

Legacy of Blood, The Black Road Kingdom of shadow, or Moon of the Spider after that in any order doesn't really matter.

[Dispirit]

Yeah I've found that too, I learnt so much from warcraft 3. Does it really matter what order you read the books in? I know the warcraft ones don't matter to much, but is it the same with diablo? If it is, I'll probably just pick up book of cain

Since D3 isn't made by the same people that created D1 and 2, book of cain is supposed to kind of tie all the lore together as smoothly as possible...that's how i've interpreted it but i could be wrong. Book of Cain does sound like a must own though to be caught up on what direction the lore is going from here on.

[Jimmybob117]

Since D3 isn't made by the same people that created D1 and 2, book of cain is supposed to kind of tie all the lore together as smoothly as possible...that's how i've interpreted it but i could be wrong. Book of Cain does sound like a must own though to be caught up on what direction the lore is going from here on.

Ah right, maybe another book is a better idea for getting the overall story, I'll probably pick up book of cain anyway to get the hardback version, but yeah.

Thanks for the advice

[Archangel Tyrael]

read bookf of cain, and if you can have access to the games play them... thought i'm not sure where you can find diablo 1.

[An_Unoriginal_Name]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(series)

Book of Cain that was just released sounds like the best read to catch up on all the lore too.

This is probably the best way. I think it has an overview for every bit of Diablo "lore", or at least wherever Cain has been involved (i.e. all the games). This is probably the cheapest method too, unless you want to spend a lot on books or games heh.

You could always find a synopsis of any of the books on the internet and any other tidbits of lore. I'd link you a good Diablo Wiki website or something but I'm not sure which one is the best, there's quite a few fan made Diablo websites I think.