Key Takeaways
- Diablo 4’s Spiritborn class is the most powerful in the game.
- Diablo 4 general manager Rod Fergusson polled players on whether they wanted the class balanced sooner or later.
- Fergusson understands the need to balance fun and the meta.
It’s a strange timeline, isn’t it? It used to be that when a company nerfed a build or strategy, we all just accepted it and got on with it. Sure, we mumbled and grumbled. I wasn’t happy when they took Soraka out of lanes in League of Legends way back in the day, but I just moved on to the next flavour of the month off-meta pick. However, these days, companies can be brutally punished for nerfing strategies that players are having fun with.
Granted, most of these complaints are in player-versus-environment (PvE) games rather than player-versus-player (PvP) games. The logic is that nerfing something unfun to play against is fair game, but nerfing something that’s only being used on NPCs is another matter as it isn’t ‘hurting’ anyone. Helldivers 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 are recent victims of these attitudes, and both have been review-bombed in the past because of nerfs. All in all, saying that you don’t need to nerf strategies in PvE games shows a gross misunderstanding of game balance.
To Nerf or not to Nerf…
Diablo 4 is a game that is constantly tweaked and, while it is a PvE game, there are competitive aspects of the game that mean Blizzard can’t just leave broken strategies unchecked, even if they are ‘fun’. However, letting the meta breathe for an extended period is completely fine and Diablo 4’s general manager, Rod Fergusson, understands this (thanks, GamesRadar+)
The Spiritborn class that released with the Vessel of Hatred expansion has quickly become the game’s strongest class. It’s the strongest when using exploits, such as one that allows you to do quadrillions of damage, but it’s also the best when playing the class normally, too. This prompted Fergusson to take to social media to ask players in a “non-binding poll” whether they would like Blizzard to bring the class closer in power to the other classes or to leave it as players are having fun with their new toy. The poll’s results were in favour of keeping the class as is, with over 60 per cent of the vote.
In a follow-up post, Fergusson went on to say “Interesting some people don’t know the difference between ‘fix’ and ‘nerf’. I’m not saying we’re not doing anything, I’m just saying that a class that’s been out 3 weeks versus 16 months is going to have some issues that need to be addressed. Real question is when.”
Fergusson is essentially saying that changes are inevitable, but he’s willing to wait a while longer while players experience the initial power of Spiritborn, before Blizzard moves in to balance everything. It’s a commendable approach, and one I wish other games took note of. It’s perfectly fine to balance the meta, but you need to allow new strategies to breathe rather than artificially gut them as soon as they’re discovered.
An action RPG from Blizzard, Diablo 4 follows on from Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, taking place 30 years later. Lilith has returned, and as a Nephalem, you must prevent further destruction.