Diablo 4 Will Be "Like the First Chapter of a Book", Diablo May Not Even Show Up

[Logwyn]

If anything, i read this as an actual confirmation that Diablo WILL be in the game, just not at the beginning. And the reasoning is pretty much this - if Diablo is the ultimate evil to beat, why in every game we beat him and then a worse opponent appears?

This reason is my one gripe when you start taking humans into the realm of gods/devils/demons/galaxy destroyer/titans/etc. level of power. HOW can there ever be the most powerful if there is always someone else to beat. It starts getting silly.

[NoiseTank13]

Wasnt it because Malthael honestly believed in his cause being righteous?

I'm pretty sure they retconned that part of El'druin, but yeah, otherwise that'd mean Malthael was just in his actions.

[Verdugo]

I'm pretty sure they retconned that part of El'druin, but yeah, otherwise that'd mean Malthael was just in his actions.

I swear there was a gossip prompt where Tyrael explains that Malthael might be just.

[NoiseTank13]

I swear there was a gossip prompt where Tyrael explains that Malthael might be just.

You may be right, I cannot find anything that strictly stated it was a retcon and I was pretty sure of that myself. Oh well, won't be the first nor the last.

[Coldkil]

This reason is my one gripe when you start taking humans into the realm of gods/devils/demons/galaxy destroyer/titans/etc. level of power. HOW can there ever be the most powerful if there is always someone else to beat. It starts getting silly.

Well, in Diablo they got rid of the issue with permanent resurrection. You never truly defeat them, only their corporeal forms. Plus Nephalem are just a shadow of what they were compared to Rathma for example.

This way relative powers stay always the same, and there's only alternative/different menaces.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Well, in Diablo they got rid of the issue with permanent resurrection. You never truly defeat them, only their corporeal forms. Plus Nephalem are just a shadow of what they were compared to Rathma for example.

This way relative powers stay always the same, and there's only alternative/different menaces.

Considering how Diablo died in D3( I mean his corpse didn't fall back to Sanctuary. It kinda just disappeared and the Black Soulstone is all thats left. Not to mention being powerful doesn't mean you can't die form something that is *mortal* Power isn't a binary thing.

[Beefhammer]

I actually like it. Places and enemies that you can't just waltz in to are much, much scarier - including those you can't visit at all but about which there are whispers. It sparks the imagination and, if the description is scary, the feeling of dread, which is exactly what Diablo 4 needs.

Diablo in D3 wasn't scary precisely because, as the interviewee suggests, you can just run into his room and smash him to pieces - even at level 1.

I don't mind that he's not in the game right away. It's just not a big deal to me. What matters is that he doesn't become trivial, ever.

For starters, no one could get to Diablo at level one prior to Adventure mode. In Adventure mode, unless you were on a trivial difficulty like normal normal or hard or using hundreds of paragon points and cubed items and gems, diablo is not pushover.

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Considering how Diablo died in D3( I mean his corpse didn't fall back to Sanctuary. It kinda just disappeared and the Black Soulstone is all thats left. Not to mention being powerful doesn't mean you can't die form something that is *mortal* Power isn't a binary thing.

I said I'd have no problem if Diablo isn't even in the game at all. I think the Lillith holding Diablo's skull statue/art has some importance. If he does show up ut will be way down the road when Lillith, Rathma, or even Inarius finds a way to resurrect him to help their side win.

[Claymore]

Not only is NOT bringing back Diablo a good move, I think, but I would argue that Diablo would feel a lot more menacing if he became something "bigger".

What if, somehow, he managed to embed a sliver of his essence into every living human or "nephalem" in Sanctuary? That every night, he attempts to wrest control of their minds through nightmares, a constant blight, occasionally causing people to "snap" and go on murdering sprees?

I feel like that would be a super cool "vibe" for Diablo. Not some normal, physical threat, but instead something that causes constant pain and fear for the world. He could essentially be "the source of all nightmares", and that when the nightmares become too unbearable, those people become possessed or driven mad, basically serving the same purpose.

Just this constant, lingering threat that you KNOW still exists, but there's just nothing you can really do to stop him. And he could be constantly gaining more influence and power for however many years, or millenia, until he decides to physically manifest once more.

[Mister K]

or only allow Diablo to come out during X times a week/month or Halloween only where players could attempt to defeat it.