Diablo 5 Aims to Make You Feel Powerful, Not Just Stronger

Blizzard wants Diablo 5 to let you feel your power, not just see bigger numbers. Game director Joe Shely explains the shift away from automatic scaling.

Ever grinded for hours in Diablo 4, finally optimized your build, only to feel like the monsters scaled right along with you? You're not alone. Blizzard heard that feedback loud and clear, and for Diablo 5, they're taking a different approach.

Speaking to PC Gamer, game director Joe Shely explained that the team wants you to actually feel the might of your newly earned power on the battlefield. "Diablo is a game that, in many ways, is about your character getting stronger and when the monsters get stronger at the same time, especially outside of your control," Shely said. "You've filled the experience bar, you get stronger, you should feel awesome now, a wave of light pulses out from you, a bunch of monsters die."

That feeling of dominating the battlefield is core to the Diablo experience, but Shely admits that automatic scaling can get in the way. "Sometimes automatic scaling can get in the way of that feeling, which is so core to it," he said. "And so, we're going to take a somewhat different approach to that in Diablo 5."

If you played Diablo 4 at launch, you know the pain. The aggressive level-scaling meant that even with the best gear and skills, you never really felt ahead of the curve. Paragon points had diminishing returns, gear upgrades became scarce, and there was no safe place to farm better loot to prepare for tougher zones. It felt like running on a treadmill that kept speeding up.

Blizzard eventually adjusted the system to make Diablo 4 feel less like an uphill battle, but Diablo 5 is aiming to get it right from the start. How exactly they'll implement these changes remains to be seen, but we should start hearing more details next year.

Combat is also under the microscope, with Blizzard aiming to make it feel better than ever. And the return of set items should help feed into that power fantasy, giving you more ways to feel like a demon-slaying badass.

Diablo 5 isn't coming until 2029, so there's plenty of time for Blizzard to fine-tune the experience. But if they can nail that feeling of raw, unstoppable power, it could be a game-changer for the series.

What do you think? Are you glad Blizzard is rethinking scaling, or did you enjoy the challenge in Diablo 4? Let us know in the comments!