Less Forgiving Progression
4 Things We Want to See in “Diablo 4”
Diablo 3 offers unprecedented freedom in the series as far as character building goes. You can mix and match skills, and passive traits from any skill “tree” that your chosen class had access to. This has led to some very creative builds that are able to take advantage of powerful set bonuses. Certain builds have risen and fallen as the meta has shifted, but there’s nothing that stops players from trying out any combination of abilities that they want.
While there are certainly some benefits to that approach, what it gave up in return was strategic pre-planning of your character and tough decision making it when it came to picking abilities. Leveling up is essentially just a small hurdle you have to clear before the endgame of finding the right set pieces to match a build you find online for clearing rifts quickly.
We’re not suggesting that Diablo 4, or whatever is next, go full reverse into permanent choices for everything, but there is probably a balance that could be struck between flexibility and creativity, and some permanent choices that give you a sense of attachment to a character you’re working on.
