Pandemonium Fortress...Connection to D2?

#1 - Nov. 13, 2013, 8:04 p.m.

Hello,

I forgot to ask this question during the D3 panels at Blizzcon, but hopefully I'll get a blue response outta this.

So, the penultimate section of Act V, where we get to take the fight to Malthael and kick his butt/take his name is the Pandemonium Fortress, right?

The "hub" area in D2 was the Pandemonium Fortress.

Is this the same place? I seem to recall that being "The Heavens' only foothold in Hell", with the walkway that leads straight down to the Outer Steppes, and from there you go onto the Plains of Despair, City of the Damned, etc.

So, which is it? Is the Pandemonium Fortress in Pandemonium, the battleground where Angels fought Demons before Sanctuary became the site for their current (D1-3) guerilla warfare? Or is the Pandemonium Fortress the foothold Heaven has on Hell? Are they one in the same? Will this be explained, or just a retcon of what came before?

#5 - Nov. 14, 2013, 6:46 p.m.

So, which is it? Is the Pandemonium Fortress in Pandemonium, the battleground where Angels fought Demons before Sanctuary became the site for their current (D1-3) guerilla warfare? Or is the Pandemonium Fortress the foothold Heaven has on Hell? Are they one in the same? Will this be explained, or just a retcon of what came before?

Great question! I reached out to Brian Kindregan, our lead writer for Reaper of Souls, about this. Here's his answer:

The realm of Pandemonium is the ancient battleground where much of the Eternal Conflict took place. The reason for this is twofold. One, it is connected to both Heaven and Hell, but belongs to neither place. Two, it was the site of the Worldstone, the most powerful artifact in existence. So the angels built the Pandemonium Fortress in that realm. When the Worldstone was stolen by Inarius and Lilith, the main reason for the fighting disappeared. Since then there have still been some limited fights in Pandemonium. (And there are still angels and demons lost in the vast landscape, fighting battles that ended millennia ago – they just don’t know it yet.) But the Fortress has mostly sat abandoned – until Malthael moved in.

The quote is: The Pandemonium Fortress is the last bastion of Heaven's power before the Gates of the Burning Hells. This is still absolutely true – when the angels control the fortress, it is the furthest extension of their power – closer to hell than any other angelic possession.

At the time of Reaper of Souls, the Fortress is under Malthael’s control and as it always has, the Fortress’s appearance shifts and changes to reflect whoever possesses it. So it may look quite different from the rooms you saw in Diablo II.

Hopefully this helps. :)