At the online-only BlizzCon 2021 event, Blizzard revealed new information about Diablo 4, the next mainline game in the loot-based ARPG series Diablo. Though its predecessor Diablo 3 eventually transformed into a great game, this was not always the case, as it suffered from major launch and balancing issues. It appears that Blizzard is striving to avoid these issues in Diablo 4, and has assured fans that the new mainline game will be a return to familiarity.
However, even though Diablo 3 was turned around through its updates and DLC Reaper of Souls, one of the biggest elements that the Diablo series lacks is its endgame content. Compared to other loot-based ARPGs like Path of Exile, Diablo games rarely incentivize players to continue far into the endgame, and the balance between grinding and progression can be frustrating. With Diablo 4 currently in development, Blizzard should look to make a stronger endgame for their newest mainline title.
Diablo 3's Current Endgame
Launch problems aside, Diablo 3 mostly accomplished what it set out to do for the franchise. Changing the direction of the game may have been off-putting for some fans but, ultimately, made the game more accessible for newcomers. While Diablo 3 at launch suffered from balance issues, a poorly implemented auction house, and bad drop rates, these mechanics were eventually changed and the game is in a good place as of the Reaper of Souls DLC. However, one of the biggest problems that remains for the franchise is the lack of endgame content and that remains true for Diablo 3.
As it stands, the majority of the endgame content in Diablo 3 is repetitive, as players will take on more increasingly difficult rifts or bounties while slowly improving their gear. However, the problem is that there aren't always defined goals for players, and it quickly becomes a huge grind as many of the upgrades aren't guaranteed. Moreover, the scaling difficulty in Diablo 3 feels more like a chore than a challenge at times because the character build progression rarely outscales the content itself.
On the other hand, games like Path of Exile have defined endgame goals and content for players to reach. Instead of repetitively doing the same content over and over again, there are mechanics to master and bottlenecks in the builds to overcome. However, once players have overcome these bottlenecks with their build or skill progression, the endgame content in Path of Exile can be a lot less of a grind.
What Path of Exile Excels At
One of the key differences in Path of Exile is how it utilizes its leagues compared to Diablo 3's seasons. In Diablo 3, players are able to hunt for new items, attempt to reach the leaderboards, or engage in minor mechanic changes called season themes. While these offer some interesting changes, they are rarely substantial enough to warrant new runs each season.
On the other hand, Path of Exile features challenge leagues which introduces new major mechanics for players to try and eventually become incorporated into the standard league in some way. Not only does this allow Path of Exile to create new endgame content on a consistent schedule, the number of new mechanics introduced to the standard league vastly outnumbers Diablo 3 and allows players to choose the content they enjoy doing.
For example, the main component of Path of Exile's endgame comes from completing maps, which are areas where players kill mobs and bosses to gain loot in order to progress their builds. However, there are also a number of other alternatives introduced in previous leagues which allow players to continually progress their gear if they ever lose interest in mapping. The variety of endgame content ensures that Path of Exile has a solid endgame foundation while giving players the freedom to decide how they want to reach their goals.
While Path of Exile is naturally geared towards the hardcore audience and will inevitably offer a deeper endgame, Diablo 3 often feels like a repetitive grind once players are accustomed to rifts and bounties. There are rarely big enough changes to incentivize players to start a new run for the season, and much of the progression in the endgame content is limited to a few mechanics. The Paragon system introduced in Diablo 3 helped with the lack of endgame content, but players are ultimately limited in the options they have to progress their Paragon levels.
Endgame Content For Diablo 4
Of course, it's unreasonable to expect that Diablo 4 will mirror Path of Exile in terms of endgame content. After all, the target audience for both games are quite different, and Path of Exile offers more build variety simply due to its massive skill tree. At the same time, though, the Diablo series lacks options for endgame content and there are no incentives for players to return each season. Instead, players will often leave the game months at a time simply because there isn't enough new content to explore. Blizzard should look to Path of Exile as an example of how to do seasonal challenges better.
While it's unlikely that Diablo 4 will introduce new major mechanics every season, there should at least be more options for players to progress their builds other than rifts and levelling gems. Introducing new seasonal events that allow players to progress their characters, or even adding more depth to builds will give hardcore players more goals to achieve. For example, since Diablo 3 has almost infinite scaling difficulty, ineffective builds will eventually become a source of frustration leading to a set number of meta builds that progress the most difficult content.
Diablo 4 might not be released anytime soon but it's important that Blizzard add more diverse endgame content for the series. The Diablo franchise excels at gameplay and the multiplayer experience, which is a large part of why it has become the face of the ARPG genre. However, the endgame content pales in comparison, and for many players, the seasonal changes rarely offer enough content to give a different experience.
It's inevitable that the endgame in loot-based ARPGs become a grind but there are ways to mitigate that issue and give it more variety. For this reason, Diablo 4 should take inspiration from Path of Exile's endgame content to look at how build variety and diverse seasonal challenges can help make progression more interesting for players.
Diablo 4 is in development.