It’s no secret that people love to grind Diablo. It’s a community filled with dedicated players who optimise builds, speedrun to max level and then ravenously (and sometimes vocally) await new content from Blizzard. It’s at the point where the game’s Associate Director Joseph Piepiora issuggesting that players “take a break.“And you know what? He may be right. At the very least, players should slow down just a little.
There’s a growing sentiment among the Diablo community thatDiablo 4has attracted a lot of new fans who are more content than the old guard with what the base game has to offer. Anecdotally, I would say this is true, as I happen to be one of those new fans, and I’m having a great time without worrying about Season 1, or the ‘grind to Level 100’ rat race.
One month after release, I am sitting pretty at level 31 mid-way through the third act on the lowest world tier. I’ve been taking my time, smelling the roses (metaphorically, of course, given that Sanctuary probably smells more like rotting flesh than flowers). I’ve even done a few side quests, an unthinkable frivolity for the min/maxers of the Diablo player base. Not to mention the fact that I’m winging my build, meaning it’s certain to be unoptimised.
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I enjoy playing through the quests, travelling to the next area and watching the plot unfold. I’ve become quietly enamoured with the narrative and lore of Diablo, my prior experience with the series being just a small slice of Diablo 3.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having a different playstyle. Veterans of the Diablo series are playing hardcore mode, or they’re preparing to do the most difficult dungeons and bosses with a group of seasoned warriors. But I think I speak for a notable portion of the community that is happy to play through the game at a leisurely pace, enjoying the world and lore as they progress. That way, we’re not just powering through and itching aggily for that next big content drop.
Glance at any related Reddit thread, andyou’ll find complaintsabout the dearth of content in Diablo 4. Once this point is raised, someone will respond by saying the perception that there isn’t enough content comes from players rushing through the game with optimal builds, skipping side quests and maximising efficiency. This discussion is especially prevalent given the upcoming launch of Season 1.
I certainly haven’t experienced everything Diablo 4 has to offer yet, but according toHowLongToBeat, Diablo 4 takes between 35–40 hours to complete at a semi-leisurely pace while doing some side quests. This isn’t an egregiously small offering for a triple-A RPG that offers seasonal content at no additional price (battle pass notwithstanding).
It’s also been announced that you won’t be able to participate in seasonal content with pre-existing characters, meaning everyone will be on the same playing field come July 20 anyway. My point is, I know grinding to maximum efficiency is in the DNA of Diablo, but there are other ways to play: you can treat the game like the enjoyable, lore-rich aRPG that it is without panicking about being at the same progression as everyone else.
If you find yourself becoming overly frustrated with not having anything else to do in Diablo, then it may be time to take associate game director Joseph Piepiora’s advice and take a break to be fresh for next season. You don’t need to speedily squeeze every morsel of content out of a game to have a good time with it.
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