As noted in my previous post, I decided to try the Capstone dungeon after completing the campaign (doing this with average gear); as expected, the key mobs hit like a truck (the main objective elite mob which I needed to kill to collect the animus, easily took off a third of my health). So I had to slowly kite the dungeon sections at a time, and switched to using Deep Freeze (playing sorceress) for those particular elite monsters. I was to eventually clear the first part of the dungeon by playing slowly.
The next section were mini-bosses (all spawned simultaneously); that was semi-chaotic because they would occasionally spawn trash in between phases. Basically, a lot of that fight was managing my cooldowns (Frost Nova being a key due to it being my main vulnerability skill). The biggest issue with sorceress is resource (without all of the proper legendary aspects + Paragon board nodes; I hadn’t yet hit level 50). I eventually got through that phase (nearly died a few times when I fat fingered hitting the health pot).
The next section was easier because the mob type (a lot of skeletons) plus density (and larger open area) worked in my favor (Frost Nova and then Ice Shard proccing that easily wiped them out; the elite ones, I used Deep Freeze after). The final boss was next; my first try didn’t go so well (since I hadn’t switched out Deep Freeze). My next attempt went better using my usual set of skills (Frost Nova, Ice Armor, Flame Shield, Firewall) where I managed to get him down to between a third/quarter of his health (where he then starts spamming more of his abilities at a faster rate).
Since this dungeon is mostly a gear check, you can get around it with patient game play and a lot of dodging in the boss fight (as someone who plays ultra casually now, I’m no longer into tedium). For the gear side, there is a pecking order for this once you complete the campaign; that is the Tree of Whispers system (D4’s version of D3’s bounty system). For most players, it’s something they should do to get better gear for this gear check dungeon. The other thing that will also help is getting a few levels given how drops work (and scale). The dungeon itself does not restrict how soon you can enter since it is only contingent on completing the campaign (and some players have completed it before they even hit level 40). Most drops will be a few levels below your own (so far at level 50, the highest level gear that has dropped for me is level 48; most of my gear pieces are in the level 35-42 range though).
Most of the better gear drops (when it comes to tier 1/2) have come from doing the strongholds. What I am doing is leaving a few of the strongholds uncompleted since you can farm the mobs there and also get decent experience. While most hardcore/efficiency minded players are going to want to get to tier 3 as soon as possible (since that is where the real end gear drops), I’m not in any particular rush (I just want to get to a more decent breakpoint to reduce the Capstone dungeon friction). The Tree of Whispers caches are great for getting salvage material or aspects that can assist with getting a farming build going (which will help in better transitioning to farming tier 3).
And this brings me back to the actual end game grind (from someone who years ago, enjoyed the loot grind, but is now very much a casual potato), and my perspective on it. D4’s current endgame isn’t that much different than D3’s. You have that bounty system (Tree of Whispers) with objectives that you can do in different parts of the world. You then have Nightmare dungeons that are akin to rifts in D3 (where you push the tiers up with better sigils (akin to the old rift key system), while also leveling up your glyphs in those Nightmare dungeons (this is akin to leveling up legendary gems in D3).
One main difference though are the Helltide events (something that was introduced in Diablo II: Resurrected) that occur periodically in the overworld. That’s the fastest avenue for acquiring the Sacred tier of gear (that is more appropriate for tier 3). Similarly, tier 4 (and the current highest gear tier) has Ancestral gear. And within all of this, are the usual magic (blue), rare (yellow), legendary (orange), and unique (brown) grades. I look at this gear tiering in a similar fashion to how there were distinct tiers in D3 (ilvl 61-64) where in vanilla D3, original Inferno had distinct gear checks (ilvl 63/64 only dropped in Acts III and IV, but were initially needed to clear Act II; remember that early on, elite mobs and bosses had enrage timers that enforced that gear check). Similarly, the gear that drops on tier 1/2 in D4, is your starter end game gear (so it can be a rough transition especially if certain pieces are still below level 40, and one doesn’t have a semi-working build).
Basically, Nightmare dungeons is the current end game activity that will present the most challenge (since their tiers can be pushed up to 100) while open world events like Helltide, are supplemental. Personally, I disliked the entire bounty and rift system in D3 (especially greater rifts where you are running against a timer). Since I’m no longer into this kind of loot grind (where you spend hours re-running the same dungeons or areas over and over again), I’m not in any rush to get to tier 3.
I do however get some of the complaints about the “friction” (what I usually like to refer as designed breakpoints) that exists where some players are having trouble with bosses (like the ones in strongholds or the Capstone one). The design however requires semi-functional builds (since you need those damage multipliers) since you cannot just use core skills to do “traditional” game play. Synergies are unlocked with aspects (both from dungeons or from legendaries which are better) that enhances what these skills can do. Basically, part of the game play is unlocking these puzzles and making them functional with aspects. And when it comes to legendary aspects from gear, RNG plays a huge role.
Doing some strongholds, I’ve slowly gotten a few missing pieces (legendary aspects) to make my build work better. Again, the main issue I’m having on sorc is running out of resources and having too long cooldowns; I don’t see this being resolved until I get deeper into the Paragon boards though. So given my now casual potato preference, I’m not sure how long the end game loop will keep me engaged. My initial engagement was in relation to completing the campaign. My current engagement is getting better gear and a few levels to narrow the gear check gap for the Capstone dungeon (which isn’t that much since I was almost able to complete the boss). But I know that once in tier 3, it’s basically this grind to get to tier 4. And recently in most games, my play time tapers off dramatically once I start hitting that part of a game.
This was one of the reasons (out of many others) that I initially wasn’t planning on playing (and thus purchasing) D4 (again, I am playing it since it was gifted). I know that it being an ARPG, that repetitive grinding is a huge part of it (and something I am no longer into UNLESS the game play loop is fun). And I wasn’t too keen on buying the game just to play the campaign (or to level and play multiple classes). But sort of like Honkai: Star Rail, I’m trying to keep an open mind by giving the end game portion of D4 (at least what currently exists) an objective try.
Inevitably, the comparison with previous versions of Diablo will always come about (and especially with its most recent predecessor, D3). Right now for myself, I cannot even judge the game objectively without actually delving into tier 3 content. However, I can say the game is in a far better place compared to where D3 was during its launch phase with connectivity issues, and where its end game was highly flawed. While early access fared well for D4, there were some official launch day issues (but still nothing of the magnitude of error 37). The itemization is what it is (I didn’t expect a return to something like D2’s which for Blizzard’s objective of reaching a broader demographic, isn’t ideal). I’m definitely not a fan of gating the access to the higher tiered content with this Capstone dungeon (since it is too much of an “in your face” gear check). This shouldn’t be surprising since I disliked the enrage timer gear checks in D3 Inferno. But that is probably my biggest complaint with the entry point of end game right now.
One thing that they need to fix is the mount. I thought the horse mounts in Lost Ark were bad (especially the dash), but this one is worse. It’s janky as heck (getting stuck on way too many things including mobs), and your mouse cursor placement determines how fast the mount sprints. The dismount (at terrain transitions requiring climbing, jumping or ropeway crossings) is also not the smoothest. I hate to say it, but the mounts in Devilian felt and moved better in any isometric style game to date (IMHO).
As for the other things people are complaining about with regards to the monetization (like the battle pass, cost of Platinum, and the other micro transactions), I’m sort of indifferent to that after years of playing Korean MMO’s, and also playing gacha monetized games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Tower of Fantasy (but not really spending the kind of money that some folks dump into them). One known is that Blizzard does tend to update their games over the years. With prior versions of Diablo, players got years of entertainment value out of the original prices (and D3’s attempt at ongoing monetization with the real money auction house, ended up failing given how it impacted the core game). With D3, there was years of updates after Reaper of Souls with seasonal content that was all free. There was a time (prior to the aborted 2nd expansion) when I thought they would implement limited forms of cosmetic micro transactions in D3 (since they built an entire system for the Chinese version); that never came to pass though (and probably would’ve been viewed as negative by an already jaded player base).
Do I feel that Blizzard was over pushing it a bit with some of the promotions heading into the launch (like the KFC tie up for weapon skins or having to sub to two Diablo Twitch streamers for a mount)? Sure, but they are making the most of the opportunity to make money for themselves and various partners while they can early on. And that is just smart from a business point of view.
Overall, my initial 7.5 out of 10 still stands (and I don’t really expect that to change unless they make some revisions to the game like with more end game activities for progression).
