Fans have literally gone through hell and back several times in their decade-long wait for Diablo 4. As is expected with the series, the latest Diablo installment will have some epic endgame content to keep hardcore fans engaged for hundreds if not thousands of hours. However, live-service games haven’t had the best reputation lately. Unlike many years ago, players aren’t as receptive to games that rely on a constant cycle of new content to maintain player interest. Blizzard Entertainment is aware of this change in the market, which is why it’s working hard to make sure that Diablo 4 isn’t just a never-ending grind-fest with little to no reward.
Specifically, fans are concerned about the “Nightmare Dungeons” that Diablo 4 will introduce. Blizzard designed these new areas to challenge players and test their build against powerful enemies. The said enemies will scale beyond level 100 and it is what is making some players worry. But, Blizzard guarantees that Diablo 4 will have a difficulty ceiling and a “pinnacle boss encounter” that will push the best and most powerful builds to their limits.
Diablo 4 associate game director, Joe Piepiora, joined GamesRadar+ to talk about the Nightmare Dungeons. According to him, Blizzard didn’t design Diablo 4 to scale endlessly. There’s a point in Diablo 4 where players will finally get their hands on “the maximum power of gear.” Once that happens, Diablo 4 will let players reroll and respec until they achieve the next level – an integral part of the grind for Diablo 4.
Piepiora is challenging fans by telling them that it will take several tries for players to have a chance to clear the Nightmare Dungeons.
Mind you, it isn’t like you’re playing through this endgame content to get your hands on more powerful gear. Piepiora says that this is a place for players to test their ultimate build and gear, saying:
That’s the point, is to say, ‘I have managed to get an extremely powerful character build together. This is my capstone, this is the goal that I have for myself within like a period of time after I’ve reached level 100’. You know, that’s the aspirational piece, we want players to chase. There’s cosmetic things, there’s other rewards you can get from that encounter. But it’s not about getting more gear at that point. Like that’s kind of like the point of getting the gear is to fight that that particular boss.
Piepiora stopped short of naming the endgame Diablo 4 boss for now but it wouldn’t surprise us if it’s a form of Diablo, the titular villain.
Regardless of the name, what Piepiora just revealed has fans fired up and raring to have a shot at this nightmarish creature. The way that Piepiora describes it suggests that it takes more than just an endless amount of hours grinding to defeat this boss – you need to have a deep understanding of Diablo 4, its combat mechanics, and your preferred character build.
TLDR; you can’t just brute force and grind your way through Diablo 4.
Diablo 4’s endgame isn’t just about beating a big bad boss. Another huge part is the Fields of Hatred, which are PvP zones Blizzard described as a “chaotic realm of danger and threat.”
Whether you’re the terrorizer or the terrorized or you prefer to strategize, think, and build your character, Blizzard appears to have thought of everything.
All that’s left is to find out if Diablo 4 can deliver. The game is coming out on June 6. Before then, you can check out Diablo 4 for one last time in what Blizzard refers to as a “Server Slam” event.
