User blog:Danrr/Caravans, artisans and much more revealed at Gamescom 2010

Today, at Gamescom, Blizzard unveiled many new features of the upcoming Diablo III. A caravan consisting of NPCs will accompany the player throughout Sanctuary setting up at convenient places to assist the player. Artisans, a new type of NPCs similar to the blacksmiths from Diablo II, will be part of the Caravan and craft items for the player. Multiple items can be queued before leaving for the wilderness and upon returning the items will be crafted. There are different Artisans for different tasks: New recipes for Artisans to learn drop from monsters. After learning a certain recipe, Artisans can produce that item as long as the player has the ingredients and gold necessary. Ingredients are gained by salvaging items, a process which breaks them items down into its ingredients, using a chest that can be obtained through the course of the game, similar to the way the Horadric Cube was obtained. This can be done in the inventory screen anywhere in the game world, reducing trips to vendors and adding incentive to pick up items that would be otherwise ignored. Crafted items have both set and random attributes.
 * The Blacksmith makes and repairs armor and weapons. He can also add sockets to items.
 * The Mystic creates magical items such as potions, scrolls, magical weapons (wands and staves), skill runes. He can also enchant items.
 * The Jeweler can combine gems to create higher quality ones. He can also remove gems from items.

Artisans also gain levels by practicing with the materials given to them, producing better items as they gain experience. The upgrades also improve the way the Artisans workshop looks. Another piece of new information is the complete removal of Town Portals.

Note: In the video below the Monk's resource orb is, in fact, the 's orb. The change was made because Blizzard didn't want to reveal the Monk's energy system, which is still undergoing development.

Video
A video released by Blizzard showcases the Artisans:

Video:New Diablo 3 Artisan Crafting Feature

Higher quality video on Blizzard's Facebook page.