I hope that the Paragon Board gives us a bunch of diverse and interesting builds, and that itemization further complicates the matter. One reason why Diablo 3 feels like such a shallow game is that every season everyone just rushes out, grabs their tier set, and is 95% of where the top players are with 5% of the effort. I was able to try some interesting builds in the beta, but without the paragon board and even some of the classes' specialization quests, it's all still very simplePOE currency trade  .

(Image credit: Blizzard)
I'm at my absolute happiest playing an ARPG when I've got my headphones blasting, I'm crushing Hell Mephisto runs in 45 seconds, I'm offscreening a million mobs with explode BV and clearing t16 maps in a minute, or I'm facetanking Uber Elder with a Molten Orb jugg just because I can. These games let me indulge my inner loot goblin, grow my character to ridiculous heights, and blast stuff. Trudging slowly through a sparsely populated overworld picking herbs or backtracking the same dungeon I've run a thousand times to place the same orb on the same pedestal is probably not going to do it for me.

Diablo 4 is still a gorgeous game with a lot to like. The atmosphere is back to the grim, hopeless feeling that was established all those years ago when we first visited Tristram. The combat is snappy and responsive, and on the builds I made that actually have better movement skills (Twisting Blades/Dash Rogue was a treat), extremely satisfying. If Blizzard can incorporate MMO elements smoothly without losing the sense of speed and pacing of Diablo 2 or Path of Exile, there's potential for greatness here. In the meantime, if you need an ARPG fix, go check out Last Epoch. It's excellent!

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By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Path of Exile devs 'feel very bad' for their Diablo 4 counterparts, but that's live service for you and why they're 'going more in the Elden Ring sort of direction'

Diablo 4's magnificent stallions may be more powerful than ever, but the game itself is in a tough spot. It's always had its disgruntled players, but the blow done to its reputation by the almost universally reviled pre-season 1 patch has seriously soured the mood in the game's community. Although Blizzard apologised for the update's disastrous launch, it didn't totally backpedal on it, and the mood in spaces like the game's subreddit—once a hive of hype— is still bittr buy POE chaos orbs .