My Thoughts on Fixing Diablo Immortal in the Long Run
First and foremost, I want to clarify that everything below is based on my personal experience as both a player and a technical specialist. These are my observations and assumptions. I am not attempting to speak on behalf of the player base, nor am I questioning the expertise of the development team.
I came to Diablo Immortal from another Blizzard MMO, World of Warcraft—yes, I’m aware that DI was developed by NetEase, and that’s part of the problem. From day one, WoW (like most MMOs at the time) included a combat log by default. This feature was—and still is—fundamental to the game. Over the years, it has allowed the development of numerous addons and external tools to track performance, measure DPS, and fine-tune class balance.
Why Does This Matter?
Because Diablo Immortal doesn’t have one. Nothing is logged on the server side until it is first calculated on the client side. This is why client latency and hardware performance play a crucial role in determining the top DPS players.
You can easily test this by fighting any Helliquary boss with a long immunity phase—keep attacking, and you’ll notice that your damage numbers continue increasing even though the boss isn’t actually taking damage. This happens because damage output is calculated before the game verifies whether the target can receive it.
Why Is This a Problem?
When everything—including damage calculations—happens on the client side, victory often comes down to two factors:
- Who calculates faster (hardware performance)
- Who sends packets first (network latency)
In other words, the best-performing players aren’t necessarily the most skilled—they just have better hardware and internet connection.
Additionally, this client-based system is why the developers struggle to implement proper diminishing returns (DR) on crowd control (CC). Without server-side calculations, CC durations can only be adjusted on a player-by-player basis rather than being applied universally across all sources of CC.
How Would a Server-Side Combat Log Fix This?
- Improved Device Performance & Stability – Offloading combat calculations to the server would reduce the processing load on individual devices, minimizing crashes during intense fights.
- Accurate DPS Tracking – Damage calculations would be based on what the target actually receives, rather than what the source assumes it’s dealing. This would allow for fairer and more transparent damage comparisons.
- Proper CC Diminishing Returns – Server-side calculations would make it possible to implement a consistent DR system across all CC effects, significantly improving PvP balance.
What Would Be the Impact?
I understand why the game was designed this way—lower server load, reduced maintenance costs, and overall cheaper operation. A true fix would require millions of dollars in investment and dramatically increase the game’s total cost of ownership (TCO).
Furthermore, switching to server-side calculations would require rebalancing nearly every core system:
- Class abilities and essences
- Gems and their interactions
- Primary and secondary stats
- Damage calculations and scaling
- Various effects and proc mechanics
The Big Question: Will It Ever Happen?
Let’s be honest—this change is highly unlikely unless Blizzard is willing to invest significant resources into making Diablo Immortal a true Blizzard-quality product rather than just another outsourced project with monetization tricks.
The only realistic scenario where this would happen is if the company prioritizes long-term player retention over short-term profit. This would require:
- A massive financial investment
- Thousands of development and testing hours
- Continuous engagement and feedback from the community
A Call to Action for the Battlegrounds Update
If you truly want to fix PvP—and every other core aspect of the game—don’t just copy Chinese Battleground maps. Do the real work. This is your chance to make things right!
Since every Battleground runs on its own server instance, this upcoming Battlegrounds Update presents the perfect opportunity to test a server-side combat log in a controlled environment. Use this as a proving ground for a better, more balanced future for Diablo Immortal!