Dear Blizzard & Blasters,
Here are some of my thoughts for Season 5. I am not a streamer or content creator - just your average Joe enjoying the grind, the blasts and the high and lows.
I have played every season from launch with passion and love. I entered the Diablo universe with limited knowledge about the systems and interactions, and like many others, I stumbled and struggled at the beginning. As the game matured and more information became available through content creators and community interaction, I learned and improved. My goal for each season is to have at least one character of each class reach level 100, with all glyphs maxed out and items min/maxed to comfortably interact with all end-game content. However, as most players will probably agree, this is not always possible.
I am both thrilled and worried. My feedback below is based on the key principle that we consume a season over ~3 months and start fresh with a new season.
Limiting Progression Through Hard Caps
This is one of my main concerns. ARPGs generally revolve around gaining power through leveling, itemization, and skills. The more effort and time you invest, the higher the reward. We consume seasons over three months before our heroes transition to the Eternal realm or get deleted to make space for new ones. The proposed caps on nodes, whether on the skill tree or the paragon board, take the fun out of the grind.
With a three-month seasonal perspective in mind, why cap anything? Why not incentivize more ways to continue the power journey, like you did with the Tears of Blood glyph? Give us something to scale, making it challenging enough to require conscious and dedicated effort. The caps will end up as mere checkboxes, leaving us with a bland and uninspiring stat pool for our characters. If the intent is to limit power creep, then reduce the base number, not the ability to scale with effort.
Is Diablo 4 a Multiplayer Game?
If the answer is yes, then don’t punish team play like you do in the Pit. Additionally, make it easier to team up with others without having to relog the game multiple times a day due to errors when inviting someone to a party. I’ve had a ton of fun engaging with other players in D4, and I hope you make an effort to smooth out the team/co-op side of the game moving forward.
Class Balancing – Nerfs and Buffs
I realize that Season 4 has left us feeling power-high and hyped, and I think most people understand that things like the permanent Flame Shield for sorcs and unkillable barbs with a million health are a bit too much. However, with a three-month seasonal timeframe in mind, please tone things down without completely killing them.
The most fun builds I played in Season 4 were Bash/Bleed Barb and Heartseeker Rogue. In previous seasons, Twisting Blade Rogue in Season 2 and Ball Lightning – both bugged – were the most enjoyable to play. Now, it seems like all of these are being nerfed. Why? Where will we find the same sensation of power and fun in Season 5? I understand that bugs need to be fixed and that we should not need Tibault’s Will on every single build, but there must be a balance between gutting a build and slightly toning it down.
Last but not Least
- Infernal Hordes : This concept looks great but needs a massive rework. Why would anyone invest time in this with such uninspiring rewards? You have an amazing opportunity to do something completely crazy in a small and isolated sandbox environment, yet it looks bland and uninspiring. Make this fun! Do crazy stuff with the boons and banes, turn things upside down. The rewards, or lack thereof, speak for themselves. For Lilith’s sake, Blizzard, let your devs’ inner creative demons loose!
- Item Drops : You promised us fewer items in Season 4. You’re halfway there – but please give us even fewer items. Instead, blend in more materials, gold, and other valuable items in the drops.
- Pit Enhancements : The Pit is awesome, but give us more map sceneries and diversity. Balance the mob-to-boss ratio, and make it more rewarding (materials, drops, or both) to push higher levels. There should be some incentive to go beyond level 101. Also, avoid introducing boss damage stacks with the bosses unless the boss health is drastically reduced.
- Profane Mindcage : This should just be in the game. Even better, why not turn it into a shrine instead of a consumable? We need more of this, and it’s okay to keep some seasonal and some static. The Profane Mindcage consumable is rewarding without breaking the game, so consider keeping it, perhaps with a reduced drop rate or making it harder to find.
- Class Performance : Make Sorc and Druid great again. I don’t understand why these classes are kept from performing better without relying on bugged synergies and unintended interactions. I see your attempts to juice things up here and there, but there is a need for an overall review of these classes and how they should fit into the wonderful world you have created.
To our community & the Blizzard team, from the bottom of my heart - Thank you for an amazing year of fun!