WithDiablo 4set to release next month, Blizzard has explained how the level scaling will work in the next installment in the series.Diablotitles have been released since 1996, and since then, numerous improvements have been made to the franchise, withDiablo 4potentially modernizing things even more with its level scaling.
WhileDiablo 2had numerous levels of difficulty that have beenretained in modernDiablotitlesthrough Nightmare and Hell modes, the game didn’t feature level scaling. Because some olderDiablotitles didn’t have level scaling, many players were able to turn areas that used to be difficult to drudge through farmable by getting progressively more powerful gear. Continuing a tradition that began withDiablo 3, Blizzard will be implementing level scaling inDiablo 4that may provide appropriate challenges for players despite their level or inventory.
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According toDiablo 4Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora, the game’s level scaling is an attempt to prevent early parts of the Blizzard action RPG from becoming “utterly trivial.” The first twoDiablogames had areas that eventually became trivial for some players which is something that theDiablo 4team was seemingly conscious of when developing the latest installment. Joe Piepiora has stated that the more difficultDiablo 4locationswill still be at a higher level than the player is with the level scaling system that the team is using, but skipped campaign moments can be visited later without feeling too easy due to what advancements may have been made.
Recommending that players still challenge themselves with quests that are higher level than themselves, Joe Piepiora used an example of a level 25 character with a powerful legendary and build going into a level 32 area. TheseDiablo 4players may be able to exceed enemies by a “couple of levels” in any given area, but the level scaling will activate to keep battles againsttheDiablobestiaryengaging. This ultimately means that the aforementioned level 32 area will never become as easy as it was challenging when a player arrived, ensuring that exploring these zones isn’t a cakewalk despite any progress that has been made.
While players often didseasonalDiablo 3bounties or rifts to see early zones in an entirely new light,Diablo 4is seemingly taking a different direction by incentivizing returning to such zones through scaling.Diablogames aren’t the only experience that Blizzard has with level scaling asWorld of Warcraftreceived the feature with theLegionexpansion, and it has had its own tweaks in the years since.
Diablo 4releases for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on June 6.
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