Diablo 4's launch has already been a great success, to the point that it became the fastest-selling game in Blizzard's entire history - and that says a lot about both the quality of the game and the marketing strategy that the company employed. As for the latter, Diablo 4 went the opposite route as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by not holding information back and even allowing players to play the game across three different betas. When it comes to what Diablo 4 has to offer, there's a lot to discuss, especially seeing how its approach to the gameplay experience sets a new bar for ARPGs and the gaming industry as a whole.
One of the main perks of the game is that Diablo 4's open world allows it to do two things - have an entirely connected map that shows how big and full of content Sanctuary is, as well as fill it with characters and additional in-door locations to make it more lively. Among the various characters that players can meet on their journey, the Blacksmith will always be a staple of every trip back to town in order to dismantle some items and either repair or upgrade some others. While the Blacksmith's utility is undeniable, Blizzard could up the ante on this feature in post-launch content.
Diablo 4 Could Go The Extra Mile With Customization Through the Blacksmith NPC
Diablo 4 is getting two expansions in the future, as confirmed by Blizzard, but that's not all. It's likely that Blizzard took a close look at Destiny 2's live-service success story when developing its ARPG, and it shows - Diablo 4 will come with seasons and additional storylines and content drops every few months, and that's on top of its already confirmed expansions. This means that players are looking at a game that will probably be playable for years to come, and it will always come with something new.
The Blacksmith could be vastly improved upon in the future, as Diablo 4's first season and those that will follow could try something interesting by adding seasonal affixes, for example. These could be modifiers that can only be obtained on set items during that particular season, which would both be an incentive for gamers to hop into Diablo 4 and a great way to innovate on one of the biggest parts of the ARPG, and that is buildcrafting. Builds in Diablo 4 can go quite deep into the rabbit hole, with players being able to virtually customize every single aspect of their characters and the gear they find.
Some NPCs in Diablo 4 already do this, such as allowing players to reroll a given affix on an item and get a new, random one, essentially acting as a way to perfect armor and weapons in the long run. Players can also toy with sockets, with the Jeweler having the option to add more sockets to an item, which players can then fill with gems that add further benefits. Then again, the Occultist grants players the ability to imprint Diablo 4's Legendary Aspect onto other items or even extract them as they please.
With all these options already available, the Blacksmith could continue a heyday for Diablo 4's customization. This could be the only NPC in the game that allows players to craft specific affixes onto items of their choice, but maybe do so at a hefty cost to justify the level of freedom this could afford. Alternatively, the Blacksmith could replace a random affix on an item with one players can pick from a list of available ones, which could include seasonal modifiers and standard ones alike. There's a lot that Blizzard could do with this NPC, and with what's currently available in the game and what's to come, the sky is the limit.
Diablo 4 launches on June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
