Like many battle passes for live-service games, Diablo IV lets you earn some of its premium currency as you grind your way through each of the tiers. And while fans might be ready to take the pass’s sweet 666 platinum to their wallets, they certainly won’t be taking it to the in-game shop, as that’s not enough to afford even the cheapest item up for sale.
Last week, Diablo IV kicked its live-service mode into full gear. It hasn’t gone well. At first, Blizzard rolled out an update that turned out to be a proper disaster. Blizzard had to activate its Damage Control skill, hoping to cool down the community with a “we didn’t mean to upset you, babe” livestream. And while it remains to be seen if and how Blizzard rights this ship, fans are also pointing out how unfair the premium currency situation in Diablo IV is.
As a post on Reddit from a few days ago spells out, the most affordable item in Diablo’s microtransaction shop is 800 platinum. That leaves players who complete the battle pass 134 platinum short. And since battle passes cost 1,000 platinum, that 666 won’t even be enough to get next season’s battle pass, assuming its cost doesn’t decrease. Battle passes in many live-service games, such as Fortnite, Call of Duty, and even Halo Infinite, typically reward you with enough premium currency that if you save your digital goods, you’ll have enough to snag next year’s season.
If Diablo IV continues to reward just 666 platinum and keeps its battle pass cost the same, the situation is only going to suck more, as one Redditor points out. If the math remains the same and you save up your battle pass spoils, you’ll eventually be able to afford season three’s pass with 1332 platinum. Then once you earn the next 666 coins, you’ll be at 998, two shy of 1,000. So you’ll have to possibly wait until season five to afford the next one with your base earnings.
Diablo IV’s first stab at this live-service format is turning out much like the first Rogue I built: full of bad decisions that got me mauled to death by ghouls. Time will tell if Blizz can respec its way out of its own bad build.