Diablo Immortal Pay-To-Win Disaster

Although the new Diablo game has some good things in its favor, it's clear that the Diablo Immortal pay-to-win mechanics have angered the whole player base. If you spend money in the game, you will grind and level up way faster and easier than if you don't, and players are not happy about it.

 Diablo Immortal pay-to-win disaster coverThe latest Diablo game has become a hot topic in the gaming world, and it’s not without reason. Blizzard announced the latest game of the franchise 4 years ago and fans have been quite skeptical; as Diablo III wasn’t their best ever release, and Immortal would be their first-ever mobile game. Yet, no one expected a Diablo Immortal pay-to-win game.

Reviewers have run to get their hands first on the game, and they have already shared their views on the topic. While they point out different positives in the game, most conclude that the worst part of the game is the pay-to-win mechanics. So how terrible are they?

Diablo Immortal’s pay-to-win system

When you start the game you are introduced to a tutorial mission in which you have to liberate a city from demonic chaos. While in it, you don’t have access to the shop, but you do once you complete it. Now, the shop will of course try to make you spend money on it with flashy deals and interesting bundles.

The core aspect of the system is that it is (supposedly) there to help the player. As such, the things you can buy in the shop will not automatically make you overpowered, but it will save you time. For example, said things can increase the chance of you getting legendary items (which can give you powerful effects such as elemental damage). The grind to get to that impressive loot is incredibly hard and tedious (unless you pay, that is).

Legendary crests will increase you chance to receive a legendary gem (which heavily improve your combat abilities) to 100%

Legendary crests will increase your chance to receive a legendary gem (which heavily improves your combat abilities) to 100%

Still, it’s important to note that the game doesn’t make you buy anything, you can complete the whole game without purchases. But, if you wanted to, what could you buy?

Pay-to-win goodies

If you pay, you can buy two important things to ease your way into the top-tier players. These provide different rewards, but mostly just make you more overpowered, allowing you to create and/or get legendary gems (which provide your abilities with extra effects), to purchase different great items… but what are they?

Eternal Orbs

These are the main premium, in-game currency, which you can use to buy a whole lot of other goods. They are the main point of Diablo Immortal’s pay-to-win system, as the items you could buy without them would be achievable for free. You can purchase them in different quantities, ranging from 60 to 7,200.

Eternal orbs are Diablo Immortal's pay-to-win core, and its price ranges from 60 eternal orbs for 0,99$ to 7,200  eternal orbs for 99,99$

Eternal orbs are Diablo Immortal’s pay-to-win core, and its price ranges from 60 eternal orbs for 0,99$ to 7,200 eternal orbs for 99,99$

Then, eternal orbs don’t really do anything by themselves, you need to buy other objects to buff your character with. As such, the game has 3 main things to buy with eternal orbs:

Platinum

It is another in-game currency that players can only buy with eternal orbs. This currency is very useful in-game, as platinum allows you to purchase items in the marketplace, purchase echo crystals (needed for crafting gems), craft or create legendary gems, and buy legendary crests from the crest merchant. Yet, they can also be obtained by playing the game, unlike eternal orbs, so you don’t need to spend your life savings on it. However, if you do, here’s what it’s going to cost you a few eternal orbs.

In Diablo Immortal's pay-to-win system, you can spend a lot of money on eternal orbs to then buy platinum, which in turn, you can use to buy important in-game materials

In Diablo Immortal’s pay-to-win system, you can spend a lot of money on eternal orbs to then buy platinum, which in turn, you can use to buy important in-game materials

Special stones

Also called reforge stones, they provide unique effects to your gear. They are unlocked once you upgrade your gear in the blacksmith and provide your gear with special abilities. Yet, they are divided into different groups, called families, and are 6. There is the Wildfire, the Tremor, the Jolt, the Vengeance, the Barrier, and the Ravager. Each family has different, unique effects and you will get one of those effects (at random) once you upgrade your gear with the stone. They can be purchased in the shop for 100 eternal orbs each.

Legendary crests

You can basically see them as reward enhancersIn Diablo Immortal, the players can complete elder rifts, which are replayable, short dungeons that give good rewards. Said rewards can be improved if the player uses a crest before they start their quest. Now, there are rare crests and legendary crests, the first adds rune rewards and increases the chances of getting a legendary gem, but the latter does the same and assures you a legendary gem. Thus, you want to get as much as you can, and the easiest way to do so is through the shop; where you can buy 1 legendary crest for 160 eternal orbs or 10 for 1,600 eternal orbs.

Legendary crests are one of the most wanted items of the game, as they assure you a legendary gem (which can make your character crazy good)

Legendary crests are one of the most wanted items of the game, as they assure you a legendary gem (which can make your character crazy good)

Premium battle pass

Secondly, we have the battle pass, the other main thing to buy with proper money. At this point, we all know what a battle pass is, but what does this one reward? Well, this depends on what version you buy; as you have the free battle pass, the empowered battle pass (for $4,99), and the collector’s empowered battle pass (for $14,99). Most of the rewards that the battle passes provide are in-game resources to improve your character. However, the paid battle passes offer better resources, more prizes to acquire through more quests, and a bunch of cosmetics.

Then, are they worth it? Well, That’s for you to decide, and will heavily depend on how much time you dedicate to the game. Yet, if you plan to spend as much time as you can on the game and are able to spend some money, you can go for it.


All in all, the main resources of the game can be obtained for free, so that’s good. The issue is that some can really be a pain, or almost impossible, to obtain. For example, to obtain legendary gems (the main way to improve your character) you need legendary crests or a whole load of luck. Furthermore, there are some important issues with the use of micro transactions. As an analyst-fan found out on Reddit, in order to fully power up the legendary gems that have been mentioned before, a player would need to spend around 50,000$. Said purchases would include around 20,000 legendary crests to obtain and level up the gems. Of course, this is subject to changes, and will mostly do so; but as of now, would you spend 50,000$ on Diablo Immortal?

1 Comment

  1. Avatar photo

    haters gonna hate

    Reply

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