Investing in resistance is futile, as Diablo 4 players have realized that the stat would need astronomical buffs to compete against Armor and Damage Reduction in its current iteration. Though the itemization in Diablo 4 has some thrilling standouts such as Vulnerable, it rarely feels good to receive a stat that offers false benefits. Resistance scales with Intelligence, and on paper, helps reduce incoming damage from elemental sources. In practice, however, the amount of damage reduced is incomprehensibly low when compared to the benefits provided by Armor.
Diablo 4 seems to struggle with level scaling, as many players find its current system to be too rigorous on character progression. In many occasions out in the open world, such as during Helltides or World Bosses, it is preferable to group up with low level characters to kill enemies more easily, which feels counter-intuitive for a hack-and-slash roleplaying game. By leveling up, players become weaker relative to the world around them, and the only way to keep their power level steady is to keep earning good loot. Unfortunately, the problem is further exacerbated by an itemization system that largely favors Skill Cooldown Reduction over anything else.
Kripparian, one of the most influential Diablo streamers of all time, made a video where he broke down the numbers behind Resistance as a stat in Diablo 4, and came to the conclusion that its current scaling subjects elemental resistances to an extremely high degree of diminishing returns. Effectively, this means equipping an item that has a 52.2% Cold Resistance bonus only applies a 2.2% damage reduction from cold damage. In its present shape, it discourages stacking Resistance as an attribute, as players are far more likely to benefit from Life, which scales linearly, or Damage Reduction, which scales more favorably.
A hotly-debated topic since beta, non-physical resistances remain an unresolved issue in Diablo 4, especially now that players have had a chance to experience the hardest challenges that Diablo 4 can offer. A possible solution proposed by fans has been making Resistances a hard number instead of a percentage, with every point roughly providing a 0.1% decrease to damage from its associated elemental source. It is important to remember that World Tier 3 and above reduces the final value of Resistances by 40%, meaning that players will never be able to have a value higher than 60% in endgame.
Realistically, it may take several months for Blizzard to figure out a solution to the most egregious parts of its itemization, but the developers have shown a willingness to listen and implement changes. Kripparian is considered to be the main reason why Paragon levels were introduced in Diablo 3, and his feedback remains highly valued in the Diablo community by both the players and the team at Blizzard Entertainment. Hopefully a solution can be found sooner rather than later, as Season 1 of Diablo 4 is merely weeks away.
Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
