Everyone loves Easter eggs! Especially at Easter.
Ok, maybe these aren’t the kind filled with chocolately goodness, but they’re still pretty enjoyable!
With the recent announcement of Diablo III on home consoles, I thought it would be a nice time to revisit the game and check out some of its hidden extras.
Here they are, starting in ascending order.
Please note: there are video accompaniments to each of these Easter Eggs and they may contain some in-game spoilers. If you haven’t completed Diablo III, or you want to avoid potential story spoilers, the descriptions will give you a brief overview of the requirements and nothing more.
#5 Whimsyshire
Probably the worst kept secret in gaming, but still fun to find. Whimsyshire is a hidden area along the Old Tristram Road, which can be accessed after acquiring the Staff of Herding. In order to get the Staff, you’ll, of course, need to craft it. Sounds easy? It’s not. The staff of herding requires the following items:
- Plan: Staff of Herding
- Black Mushroom
- Leoric’s Shinbone
- Wirts Bell
- Liquid Rainbow
- Gibbering Gemstone
Here’s the fun part. Each one of these items spawns in a certain area at a random time (except the plans which drop from Izual, a boss in act IV). For example, the Gibbering Gemstone can be found in the Caverns of Frost, a random dungeon that spawns in the Fields of Slaughter during the Machines of War quest in Act III. If you’re lucky enough to have the dungeon spawn, you then have to find a creature called Chiltara who also spawns randomly. Even if she spawns, there is still a chance that she won’t drop the Gibbering Gemstone. Tough stuff, but well worth it.
Once you acquire all of the ingredients and make the staff, you can enter Whimsyshire, a land for of Unicorns, flowers, teddy bears and rainbows which you can mercilessly butcher at your own free will. There’s no room for cute in a world tyrannized by the king of hell.
#4 The Lich Kings Helmet
Blizzard made some other game apart from Diablo. Something to do with Orcs, Undead, Worgens and Pandas. The name escapes me. Oh, well.
Anyway, they made a brilliant little homage to it in Diablo 3 by featuring its notorious villain: Arthas, The Lich King. This secret can also be found in the Fields of Misery, only this time it’s in the Icefall Caves. Once in there, you need to look for a dip in the wall where you will see the Lich Kings helmet. I loved seeing this little easter egg and thought it was a great homage, and cool reference to the other brilliant works of this elite developer. Being a big fan, this was definitely a top 5 easter egg moment for me.
#3 Cute Bunny
It wouldn’t be an Easter Egg without a bunny, and frankly, if bunnies don’t make your heart melt, I don’t know what will. For this little easter egg, head to Caldeum Bazaar in Act II. Once there, head north through the gate until you see a little boy running around with a cute little bunny rabbit following him. If you follow him for long enough, he will eventually run up to one of the towns guards and…well lets just say the guard has a less than favorable attitude to our hoppity friend.
# 2 Bashiok
Bashiok! Destroyer of Worlds! Or Blizzard’s Community Manager, whatever you want to call him. Bashiok can actually be found in Diablo 3 on the Hell difficulty if you head to Dahlgur Oasis and do the following things:
- Make sure you’re on the Betrayer of the Horadrim quest.
- Start the Shrine of Rakanishu event which randomly spawns and acquire the Rakanishu blade at the end.
- Respawn at Dahlgur Oasis until you find Bashiok
- Equip the sword and remove the skill you have for the left mouse click and attack him with the Rakanishu blade so that it is a standard melee attack
Once you hit him with the sword you should unlock the achievement “Bashanishu.” I guarantee not all of your buddies will have that one.
#1 Development Hell
Without question, the best secret in Diablo III is Development Hell. This features all of the Diablo III team as NPC’s.
In order to get there, you first need to be on Hell difficulty. On Act I, head to the Cemetery of the Forsaken. There should be three doors that lead to the Defiled Crypt. As I mentioned for the Whimsyshire secret, the game randomly spawns dungeons, meaning if you don’t find it, you have to reload. Once you find a fourth door that is labelled “Development Hell” enter. Inside, you will find low-level zombies named after members of the Diablo III development crew, stating their name and role on the game. These are easily killable.
As you progress through the dungeon, you will come across a boss NPC named Jay Wilson, who served as Game Director. He isn’t too hard to kill, but once you do, you’ll unlock the achievement “Smash! Jay, Smash!” another hidden achievement to add to your collection
And there you have it. Diablo III has loads more secrets and easter eggs, but these are the coolest ones I’ve found. They’re definitely worth the effort, so log-on and take a look!
Have I missed your favourite? Know any other good ones? Feel free to share them in the comments section
(Credit to GambitsEnd, Syiler The Guide Guy, Benjiwaa, Sille Scott Games and Aumerle for the videos)
