It sounds like a slightly ridiculous question about a series built around hitting demons until increasingly colourful objects fall out of them, but it has become one of the more interesting debates surrounding Diablo V. Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson recently questioned whether modern Diablo has drifted too far toward reflexes and moment-to-moment execution, and now Diablo V Senior Game Director Joe Shely has provided a surprisingly clear answer about where Blizzard wants the next game to sit.
Yes, Diablo V will require some player skill.
But the build is supposed to win the fight.
Diablo V Will Be More INT and STR Than DEX
Shely describes Diablo V's combat philosophy using traditional RPG attributes. There will still be what he calls DEX mechanics, meaning positioning, timing and moment-to-moment execution. But overall, Blizzard wants Diablo V to behave more like an INT/STR game, where planning, investment and character construction matter more.
Most importantly, Shely says Blizzard is designing around a fundamental ARPG principle: any challenge should be beatable with the right build.
That matters because Chris Wilson's surprisingly hopeful reaction to Diablo V came with one major reservation. He believes Diablo combat has become increasingly "arcadey" since Diablo III, shifting some of the emphasis away from character preparation and toward the player's ability to dodge, position and react quickly.
There is nothing inherently wrong with action-heavy combat. Diablo IV can feel excellent when movement, attacks and enemy mechanics all click together. The concern is what happens when mechanical execution becomes more important than the collection of skills, equipment and terrible statistical decisions you have spent 80 hours assembling.
Your Build Is Supposed to Be the Solution
Shely's answer suggests Blizzard understands the distinction.
A difficult boss may still require you to move out of something glowing ominously on the floor. You will probably still have to aim attacks, react to enemies and occasionally discover that standing directly underneath a giant demon's axe was not an advanced strategy.
But Diablo V wants character building to remain the actual solution.
That philosophy fits neatly with several other systems Blizzard has already discussed. We know Diablo V wants loot to borrow more ideas from Diablo II, including meaningful stat requirements and stronger item identity. Blizzard is also building a more procedural version of Sanctuary, where revisiting an area may not produce exactly the same layout or situation every time.
Then there is the enormous class roster. Diablo V is planned to launch with more classes than any previous Diablo game has ever contained, which only works if those classes support genuinely different ways of solving problems rather than simply providing different animations for the same dodge-and-attack rhythm.
This Does Not Mean Diablo V Is Becoming Diablo II Again
It is worth keeping expectations under control.
Diablo V is still targeting a Spring 2029 release, and Blizzard has repeatedly stressed that many systems remain early in development. Shely has not revealed how bosses work, how severe movement mechanics will become or whether Diablo V will reduce the sort of level scaling that Wilson has also criticised.
What we have is a design principle rather than a finished combat system.
Still, it is a useful principle.
Diablo has always been at its best when the answer to an impossible encounter is not simply "press dodge better."
Sometimes the answer should be finding a ridiculous sword, rebuilding half your character, discovering an interaction nobody sane would have predicted and returning twenty minutes later to turn the monster into soup.
According to Joe Shely, Diablo V still believes that is what an action RPG should be.
