In Diablo III, you’ll find it quite easy to switch from playing solo to joining other players in slaying demons that are more powerful and offer greater challenges. The benefits of playing with others co-operatively are legion. When opening a chest, slaying a demon, or rolling over a rotting corpse, each piece of gold or shiny item that may pop out is yours and yours alone. If you’ve decided to forego some killing power for bonuses to find extra gold or magical items, those bonuses likewise only apply to your drops. If you decide to be a generous murderer of demons, you can drop items you’ve found back on the ground and anyone in your party will be able to see them and pick them up. This is of course in addition to the regular trade window and your options to sell, salvage, or put items on the Auction House. Sharing amongst your buddies is the best way to offset someone’s unlucky drops and keep a group of friends on equal ground.

Most importantly, although monsters get tougher as additional friends come to help bash the demonic hell spawn lumbering toward you, you’ll kill more monsters faster as long as you stick together, which means playing with others is going to result in more loot for each player.

Co-op gameplay comes in three varieties designed to allow you to quickly create groups and come together in Sanctuary.

Call on your friends.

There is no faster or easier way to group up with other players in Diablo III than making a party of character level friends or Real ID friends. With a couple of clicks you’ll be able to invite people to your current game, join your friends' games, or broadcast to all of your friends that you’re looking for more. Anyone who sees your broadcast can accept the offer with one click and automatically be added to your game. As you and your friends join one another, the game seamlessly adjusts the difficulty of enemies so your group can get right to work, and by clicking on a friend’s banner in town you’ll be instantly transported to their location to add your sword or spells to the current battle.

Take it public.

Diablo III includes a robust public game finder for those times when you’re looking to meet some new adventurers. This feature will bring you together with players based on their level and the part of the game they’re looking to play through. By opening up your game to the public, anyone playing Diablo III can choose the Public Games option and automatically be placed in your game to help on the current quest. This is a perfect option for those looking to benefit from the increased killing speed of a full party, but who may not have any friends on at the time. It’s also a great way to make new friends! By using the Recent list in the Social window, you can see everyone you’ve recently played with and -- if you enjoyed slaughtering monsters with them -- send them a friend invite.

So you wanna fight?

That’s all you had to say! Simply create a party and choose Versus (rather than Campaign) as your game type. If you don’t have a specific friend to fight when you choose a player-vs.-player experience, the game will automatically group you with others who wish to do battle together in the PvP arenas based on level and skill. The matchmaking system will rapidly get you exchanging blows for the fast, fun, and furious PvP action.

There’s nothing better in Diablo III than standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other players and bringing the pain to Diablo’s minions, unless it’s going toe-to-toe with each other!

Do you intend to primarily play solo, with friends, public groups, or PvP? Tell us about it in the comments below.