Dear SMM specialists — and possibly developers,
Watching the trailer, I realize that you’re once again resorting to self-copying content, and in three months, nothing genuinely new or fresh has been added to the game.
What’s new in Season 9:
You’re introducing what you call “new content”: Horadrim charms, updated nightmare dungeon affixes (essentially minor tweaks of affixes from Seasons 1–4), strongrooms, and a new seasonal boss.
I welcome new bosses with interesting mechanics. However, it’s clear that in this genre they quickly become mere farming targets rather than true challenges. Everything else feels too formulaic… As a player, I enjoy the lore and new mechanics at the start of a season, but within a week I realize nothing has changed. There are no groundbreaking innovations or truly engaging content.
Current gameplay and content:
Now I’d like to go through everything in detail. Below are some suggestions (not professional opinions, just ideas from an average player):
- Builds
Each season or off-season you release fixes for specific classes and builds. But why? Why not focus on making other builds equally interesting instead of nerfing the viable ones? That would foster real diversity and give players a choice, rather than forcing everyone down a single path just to complete seasonal objectives comfortably.
Couldn’t you add new perks to the skill trees every 1–2 seasons to freshen up gameplay? You surely have creative directors, people who play Diablo or competing titles, a massive community — a powerful idea generator — and, finally, AI tools that could help generate creative ideas. With all that, you could significantly increase replayability.
Stop nerfing builds. Bring the rest up to a playable and engaging level — and add new perks to keep the gameplay fresh.
- Mercenaries and Vendors
I) Mercenaries
Honestly, when I first saw the mercenary announcement, I thought they were porting them from Diablo II and improving them somehow. Instead, you added a placeholder that brings absolutely nothing interesting. There’s no way to change their gear, no real interaction, no proper upgrade path — just an AFK NPC that runs around and occasionally reminds you he supposedly can do something (he can’t). You desperately need to redo mercenaries, because right now you can’t even properly copy what you already had (though you did manage to assign a new price tag).
Add the ability to equip mercenaries, overhaul their upgrade system, redesign their base, and introduce events featuring special missions with mercenary companions.
II) General Vendors
They are present in every town but serve almost no purpose. Their inventory is poor. Their main function is to buy our loot and give us gold.
Why not expand their selection? Let players buy something useful at the start of the game. For that, you might need to revisit your item level and rarity systems. You could also add rare and legendary consumables in limited supply needed for certain crafting (see point 3.I), and include a trade-in option where I could exchange resources and gold for something rare in the late game. Add daily/weekly tasks that reward useful items.
III) Jeweler Vendor
No critical issues here. It’s annoying that unlocking runes requires paid DLC, but that’s monetization. Still, there’s a lack of gem variety and crafting depth.
Maybe add gem fusion. For example, in WoW various crystals combine to provide different modifications.
IV) Occultist Vendor
My main issue right now is the lack of understanding of what sigils are even for — their purpose, destruction, and crafting. In the past, you could craft sigils of different levels or a special one to summon the Beast in the Ice boss.
Add diverse items that can be combined with sigil powder to craft unique sigils (see point VI). Consider introducing occult rituals where the player can perform rites that grant temporary buffs — or debuffs if the ritual fails — imbue items with forbidden enchantments using materials and life resources. Let players make deals with demons or angels to gain unique modifiers while risking the wrath of the side they reject. This is just a glimpse of what’s possible. Add consumables that allow players to modify item rarity.
V) Blacksmith Vendor
Possibly the only vendor frequently used and relevant in endgame content.
VI) Alchemist Vendor
All the Alchemist does is sell potions and incense. Overall, pretty useless.
Add some mini-games (a classic alchemy lab where you study and unlock aspects, then use knowledge and resources to craft special potions, elixirs, incense, and items).
General idea for all vendors: Introduce crafting of special items needed for other crafting (see point 3.I).
- Dungeons and Events
There’s a catastrophic lack of content variety. Essentially, we have:
- Nightmare Dungeons
- The Pit
- Infernal Hordes
- Helltide
- Dungeon Bosses
- Legion Event
- World Boss
- Seasonal Activity
- Two with DLCs: the Dark Citadel and the Undercity.
Why not break down all the content? For example, divide dungeons, crafting, and seasonal features into micro-tasks that unlock (or close) specific events. This would increase player engagement and extend the time needed to complete the season.
I) Nightmare Dungeons
While layouts vary, the dungeons are globally dull. Players enter a few times for Obducite — and that’s it. Affixes for gold and XP feel like an odd choice since it’s much more efficient to level up in Helltide or seasonal activities. Your preset affixes are unlikely to save the experience.
Why not make the sigil-crafting process more complex? Involve vendors, the Occultist, the Blacksmith, and the Jeweler. Add a ritual altar (2×2, 3×3, etc.) where players place various offerings to craft unique sigils. It would be great to see combinations of offerings, along with several random negative/positive affixes, so players don’t end up farming the same materials in a loop. The key is to introduce a wide variety of offering items and combinations, rather than just adding 10 and forgetting about them for several seasons — or forever. Add procedural dungeon generation, too — running the same layouts season after season gets tedious.
II) Legion Event
Honestly, I enjoy large-scale events where lots of players participate. But unfortunately, the Legion event is painfully boring in terms of gameplay: kill mobs, kill bosses, kill the final boss. That’s it.
I believe you need to diversify these kinds of events — take some inspiration from WoW and its activities. Give players interactive mechanics, meaningful decisions, and even mini-games. At the very least, introduce a variety of Legion patterns and give them different names to make them feel even slightly distinct from one another.
III) World Bosses
Again, cool activity with many participants. But there’s no incentive to go — the chest loot is poor, so it’s only good for boss materials.
I’d like more varied bosses with more interesting mechanics. Reworked loot, and new items for other crafting. Perhaps collect boss particles, flesh, and other materials to use with vendors (please refer to point 2).
IV) Helltide
An hour-long event where the player just sits stone-faced, chasing demons across the screen. The mechanics are dry and monotonous — pure grind for the sake of grind. It feels like the developers either haven’t played their own game or don’t realize how underwhelming it is to have a major event span two zones with nothing engaging to offer. This urgently needs improvement.
Add a range of varied objectives and difficulty levels to the Helltide. Within the hour, players should have to clear multiple layers (zones) to descend into the depths of hell and defeat a boss together. Not all players should be able to reach the lower floors immediately — some might lack resistances, levels, specific enchantments, or potions. They’d need to grind resources on upper levels to craft the gear or consumables needed to go deeper.
Introduce a wide variety of resources used by vendors and in crafting systems (see point 2). Add different Helltide patterns, each with unique thematic elements and resource drops. Include sigils that send players into solo Helltides, where they gradually cleanse territory. During the run, players would have a “light charge” that can be enhanced at an altar to unlock additional abilities. The more Hell sigils a player completes, the deeper they can descend into the underworld.
As a reward for progression, grant special currency spendable with unique roaming merchants within the Helltide — offering items that can be used with standard vendors as well.
V) The Pit
This is essentially an endgame challenge — some players might enjoy testing how deep they can go. But please make the “Challenge” tab permanent, not just seasonal. Let solo, duo, trio, and quad players compete as they wish.
For high-level players, consider adding hardcore Pit modes. Completing them could grant unique cosmetic rewards — nameplate styles, weapon and character skins — or even a rare resource used to craft a new item rarity tier beyond mythic.
VI) Infernal Hordes
This is one of the most interesting activities — if only the developers had fully fleshed it out! The idea of introducing a roguelike experience is fantastic. But sadly, the developers’ laziness or lack of willingness to expand ruins it.
Just add more dungeon patterns, greater variety in offers, and end content with infinite waves and limited lives. Introduce a competitive mode and showcase top players in the “Challenge” tab. Make it feel like a game within the game — something I’d want to sink time into. Expand the item and resource pool dropped by hordes. Add a unique altar that passively buffs your character but only within the Hordes. Let players craft Nightmare Infernal Hordes through the Occultist.
VII) Seasonal Activity
Each season you add a small seasonal activity that gets boring after 1–5 runs. Honestly, it seems the creative team doesn’t care how players perceive the game (maybe they lack ideas — then why are they employed?). Split seasonal activities so I feel I’m playing a truly new season, not the same game I paused a year ago and just revived. It’s careless and disheartening to plan a new season this way.
No ideas? Look to competitors and borrow if you must — there’s nothing wrong with that, and you’ll see you’re years behind them.
VIII) Undercity
The paid DLC introduced this new activity. At first glance, it’s not bad, but it also lacks variety or deeper features. Essentially, it’s the same useless sigils, with a deal to boost affix or rarity drops. But honestly, there are no special new materials — nothing to hook the player, nothing mentally engaging, nothing offering fun.
Undercity needs a rework, like the nightmare dungeon (see 3.I). Just split this event, add varied recipes, and more.
IX) Dark Citadel
Interesting concept adding an MMO element. In practice, it’s a mini-raid where 2+ players must cooperate. The main issue is players are used to SOLO play. To me, most players prefer solo. The biggest challenge developers likely face is how to encourage and reward players to find groups and communicate via voice. It’s a risky but bold initiative. I hope it develops, with at least one new mini-raid each season. Maybe it will grow into something larger. The key is not to make this content mandatory in the future but to gather tons of player feedback to decide whether to revamp or keep improving it as MMO-style.
4. Summary
In conclusion, I love this game series — that’s why I’m writing this feedback. I care about its future, but it’s obvious the developers don’t care about players’ opinions. Those in charge don’t seem truly invested in the game’s evolution; rather, it feels like a second-rate title created just to fulfill some Microsoft exec’s quota. Developers, you have a wonderful community that can provide fresh ideas, help integrate mechanics from competitor games, and support you wholeheartedly.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, mess up, or do things your producers deem “unprofitable.” Pour all your creativity into the game and release rich, vibrant seasons. Because what’s been happening over the last eight — or even nine — seasons feels like a disservice to your own creation.
A sincere plea to the developers:
It’s better to listen to loud player criticism than to witness a loud game failure.
Dear players, dear community, I would be truly happy just to hear your ideas, thoughts, and criticism, because I am 10000% sure that you are an incredible source of creativity.
I’d be even happier if someone from the Diablo dev team, the community managers, or anyone close to the company heard and saw this. Thank you!