For some time now, there has been a mod for the old hack-and-slash Diablo 2. It’s called Path of Diablo and combines elements of Diablo 2 and Path of Exile. The mod is now already entering its ninth season, complete with trailers and even more features.
What is Path of Diablo? Path of Diablo is a mod for the expansion of Diablo 2: Lords of Destruction. The mod takes elements and features from Path of Exile and transfers them to the graphical interface of Diablo 2.
The idea behind the mod is to keep Diablo 2 alive and enhance various adjustments, skills, and builds that were not “viable” back then. Path of Diablo does not change as much as the huge Diablo mod Median XL.
The balance is supposed to remain as close as possible to the original Diablo 2: LoD. After a long time, the developers have released a first trailer:
In the foreground are “Quality of Life” changes such as larger chests. Path of Diablo is dedicated to a multiplayer experience. Players are supposed to play together, which the upcoming Season 9 of the mod will show. You can find out more about the mod on the official website of Path of Diablo.
Fans want Diablo 2 but enjoy Path of Exile
What changes with the new season? Some of the further changes include direct teleportation to hard dungeons via items. This works similarly to the endgame in Path of Exile.
Now, Path of Diablo will receive an expansion of online trading with the start of Season 9 on January 24, 2020. In PoE, many players spend part of their time trading particularly valuable items and thus increasing their wealth.
With Trade 2.0, everything is supposed to work faster, better, and more straightforward.
In addition, Path of Diablo will get widescreen support with the season. There is also a trailer for the new update:
Is this the way for Diablo 4?
This is how well everything is received: The interest in Diablo 2 and specifically Path of Diablo is relatively high. The mod has its own subreddit with over 16,000 subscribers. Apparently, there are still many fans who reminisce about Diablo 2 but also wish for features from PoE.
The subreddit even has more users than that of Diablo 4 (7,900 subscribers), but significantly fewer than that of Diablo 3 (161,000 subscribers). It is therefore difficult to estimate whether these are merely hardcore fans of Diablo 2 or players who are generally enthusiastic about Diablo.
Diablo 4 has not yet been released, and information about the release is rare. We already know from the gameplay that Diablo 4 will probably lean towards MMO.
Nevertheless, the features adopted from PoE are certainly a sign that many players want “more PoE” in Diablo and likely a reason why the game is so successful. However, according to its developers, PoE players will probably buy Diablo 4 anyway:
Note: In an earlier version of the article, we drew comparisons to a real-money auction house in Diablo 3. That was misleading. In Path of Diablo, care is taken that no items are sold for real money.
