Diablo 4's latest Gauntlet mode is fun for about 10 minutes, then the reality of farming Uber Uniques and max rolls will kick in
It's not enough to keep me hooked.
Diablo IV's Gauntlet mode, which was somewhat delayed, is finally here. And the bad news is that it's not worth the wait, especially considering the current Season of the Construct is already nothing much to shout out about.
You enter with your current character into a set dungeon, and try to kill as many monsters as possible to score points. Opening chests and killing bosses also reward points.
At the end of a run, you get a rank based on your score, and it determines the loot you get when it resets on midnight Wednesday (+8 GMT) every week, where you get rewards.
It sounds fun, in theory, but it's limited. Once you're done with a run, and hit the highest rank possible, the only thing left to do is repeat it again to try to get a higher score to rank in the leaderboards. The top 10 every week get immortalised in a permanent leaderboard. The Top 100 get a mount trophy, too.
While you can optimise your route, and plan which shrines to activate to max out your score, it's really down to your gear. If you don't have the uber uniques, or maxed out gear, your score will never be as high as those on the top.
And to do that, you have to grind out a ton of materials to farm the boss that drops them, and that's honestly a chore.
The drop rates aren't the best, but at least you can now salvage your extra uber uniques to craft the one you need. But again, the drop rates aren't the best, so you'll need all the luck you can get.
You get caches as rewards during the reset with a promised Ancestral Legendary at 925, but you can already grind for those in Nightmare dungeons.
So, I'm not sure it's worth the effort to keep plugging at it just to be at the top of the leaderboard.
Compared with games such as Helldivers 2, which offers global objectives that let players co-operate to achieve, Diablo IV's competitive Gauntlet mode doesn't really impress.
The Abattoir of Zir from the previous season at least felt more rewarding to grind, as you could level up your glyphs quickly, and you'd feel more powerful by attempting the dungeon.
You don't get anything from finishing the Gauntlet, and there's no way to get back out to entrance. You have to town portal back to town, then run all the way back to the entrance again.
It's silly time wasting design. And did I mention that the Gauntlet's entrance is set in the worst designed town of Gea Kul?
Honestly, I think I'm done with this season. My season journey is almost done too. I hope Blizzard has better plans for Season 4. It's been a lacklustre season as it is, and without something fun or cool, Diablo IV is going to be low on my list of things to play.
Aloysius Low is an ex-CNET editor with more than 15 years of experience. He's really into cats and is currently reviewing products at canbuyornot.com
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