History YMMV / DiabloIII

** The Necromancer is the most versatile class in the game by a wide margin. This, consequently, makes him [[MasterOfAll able to handle every situation with ease.]] While nominally specializing in AoE damage and pets, the Necromancer can easily switch out his build to favor tankiness, burst damage, lifesteal, or any combination of major archetypes to form several different viable builds. Where other classes mostly specialize in their archetypes, such as the Demon Hunter being various forms of FragileSpeedster, the Necromancer can basically build to whatever he wants and remain effective. Due to fluctuating Season gear changes he's never permanently on top, but using him in the story is a sure fire way to demolish anything incredibly difficult by midgame.

** The game continues the tradition of murderous Act 2 bosses with [[spoiler:Belial]]. Up until his fight most players really get around with just punching stuff until it falls over, and for the first half of the fight, it seems to be applicable. It's a perfectly reasonable standard boss fight with mooks, like every other boss fight to that point... But then [[spoiler:Belial goes OneWingedAngel and becomes the first real enemy where that doesn't really work, turns into the equivalent of a ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' raid boss, complete with phases where he AOE spams the entire narrow platform where you fight him, and you are required to keep moving to avoid being instagibbed by his meteor spam]]. This comes without a warning and with absolutely no hint on how to counter it. Most people who steamrolled the game up to this point experience their first group wipeout exactly at this point. Even on Normal difficulty it's bad, especially for the squishier classes like the Wizard. Even ''after'' knowing what's coming it's a pain in the ass, because [[TimeLimitBoss his Enrage]] is ''brutal'', as it involves [[spoiler: Belial using a more powerful, faster, [[BuffySpeak spammier]] version of the meteor spam]] until the fight ends.

* IKnewIt: In February 2018, Blizzard [[https://twitter.com/Blizzard_Ent/status/968727468675809280 posted]] a video of a nightlight in the shape of the eponymous villain being ''switch''ed on and off, and many fans took it to mean that they were working on a UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port. Blizzard denied that a port was in the works and that the video was just a "conversation piece", but it didn't stop people from speculating. Sure enough, a Switch port would later be announced for real. Once again, Blizzard staff asserted that the "lightswitch" video was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the port, though some remain skeptical about that claim.

* OlderThanTheyThink: A console port that tweaks and streamlines gameplay mechanics for the controller format? This was held as a big deal for ''Diablo III'', but in reality the classic UsefulNotes/PlayStation port of ''VideoGame/Diablo1997'' actually did this very same thing over a decade prior, and even turned the game into more of a straight-up action title as a result despite being the same core game at heart. It's entirely likely that Blizzard drew inspiration from such an unusual port for this very reason.

* VindicatedByHistory: Big time - even '''before''' ''Reaper of Souls'', the overhauled loot system and the console versions seem to have done this. Even more so when the initial positive reception of ''VideoGame/DiabloIV'' hit rock bottom within ''months'' of its release in response many hated aspects like FakeLongevity, many ''Diablo'' players went back to playing ''III'' thinking that they were too harsh on it as it was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sDgZ4ewIYM actually a more complete game]].

* OlderThanTheyThink: A console port that tweaks and streamlines gameplay mechanics for the controller format? This was held as a big deal for ''Diablo III'', but in reality the classic UsefulNotes/PlayStation port of ''VideoGame/DiabloI'' actually did this very same thing over a decade prior, and even turned the game into more of a straight-up action title as a result despite being the same core game at heart. It's entirely likely that Blizzard drew inspiration from such an unusual port for this very reason.

** Equip [[https://us.diablo3.blizzard.com/en-us/item/spaulders-of-zakara-Unique_Shoulder_102_x1 an item]] that causes all your other items to become indestructible. Enter a situation where normally your items' durability would be a limiting factor on how many tries you get. Laugh (or cry--unlimited lives and ThatOneBoss who randomly spawned are not fun) because you now have as many attempts as you want on that dungeon.

* ThatOneAchievement: Seasons have objectives called Conquests, ultra-hard quests which require a lot of time to clear. Some of them aren't too bad, like clearing Greater Rift 75 Solo (the equivalent of Torment XVI) and clearing Greater Rift 45 Solo (Torment X) with no set items equipped. But some of the Conquests are damn near impossible. If you want the Guardian rank for any season, you've got to do three of these Conquests; only twelve show up with every season, six for normal players and six for Hardcore players. Which three Conquests you're going to do boils down to which three won't make you pull your hair out or take dozens of hours to clear.

** Equip [[http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/spaulders-of-zakara an item]] that causes all your other items to become indestructible. Enter a situation where normally your items' durability would be a limiting factor on how many tries you get. Laugh (or cry--unlimited lives and ThatOneBoss who randomly spawned are not fun) because you now have as many attempts as you want on that dungeon.

** The Whimsyshire Secret Level contains several [[ShoutOut ShoutOuts]] to Franchise/MyLittlePony. Creator/AthenaKarkanis, the voice of the female barbarian, now has a major part in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyMakeYourMark'' as Opaline.

* RewatchBonus: The beginning of Act III has Azmodan talking to Leah about how he will not fall under the same trap as the other Evils. [[spoiler: He's actually talking to [[SealedEvilInACan Diablo who's dormant inside Leah]].]]

* VindicatedByHistory: Big time - even '''before''' ''Reaper of Souls'', the overhauled loot system and the console versions seem to have done this.

* VindicatedByHistory: When ''VideoGame/DiabloIV'' initial positive reception hit rock bottom within ''months'' of its release in response many hated aspects like FakeLongevity, many ''Diablo'' players went back to playing ''III'' thinking that they were too harsh on it as it was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sDgZ4ewIYM actually a more complete game]].

** One of the demons in Act IV (meaning [[spoiler:he works under Diablo himself]]) is called Dale Hawthorne, which is this trope for Ace Attorney fans, as [[spoiler:Ace Attorney has a villainess named Dahlia Hawthorne, who is the closest being to a demon in the series, both in terms of evil and becoming an evil spirit.]]

* TheScrappy: One criticism a lot of fans tend to agree on is that [[WickedWitch Maghda]] made for a really lackluster StarterVillain. Most of her dialogue comes off like it was taken straight out of a Saturday Morning Cartoon, her character design having butterfly-like wings makes her look extremely non-threatening to the point that people call her the "[[FanNickname Butterfly Lady]]," and almost everyone hates the fact that such a minor villain of the overall story of Sanctuary got to be the one to [[spoiler:kill off a character as iconic as Deckard Cain]].

* TheScrappy: One criticism a lot of fans tend to agree on is that [[WickedWitch Maghda]] made for a really lackluster StarterVillain. Most of her dialogue comes off like it was taken straight out of a Saturday Morning Cartoon, her character design having butterfly-like wings makes her look extremely non-threatening to the point that people call her the "[[FanNickname Butterfly Lady]]," and almost everyone hates the fact such a minor villain of the overall story of Sanctuary got to be the one to [[spoiler:kill off a character as iconic as Deckard Cain]].

* BrokenBase: The game's atmosphere might be a bit brighter and the playable character storywise is so incredibly strong that they can kick copious amounts of asses and retain their own spirit. This splits the fanbase, because on one camp, the fans associate ''Diablo'' with dark atmosphere-induced horror, and the brighter atmosphere and more powerful hero betray that image, making the game look more like an action hero game (which might fit other settings, but for this camp, it didn't fit with the ''Diablo'' series). But on the other camp, the game is liked because it gave out a lot of SugarWiki/AwesomeMoment of humans advancing enough to be able to punch out supernatural beings and stomping down those who threaten them, and seeing that humanity is basically a WoobieSpecies in this setting, they see it as a sorely needed breath of fresh air after many many bleak atmosphere of the preceding games. They also point out that the complaints about the hero's power level fall flat when you were a one man army in the previous titles despite the darker, bleaker tone of the games.

* TierInducedScrappy: Witch Doctors are being loathed for being far tankier than both Wizards and Demon Hunters while somehow still dealing the most DPS out of the six classes, to the point where some players are calling the game ''Reaper of Witch Doctors''. The fact that they are also the easiest class to learn does not help. Crusaders aren't much further behind after their buffs received in 2.0.5, though nowhere as game-breaking.

* BrokenBase: The game's atmosphere might be a bit brighter and the playable character storywise is so incredibly strong that they can kick copious amounts of asses and retain their own spirit. This splits the fanbase, because on one camp, the fans associate ''Diablo'' with dark atmosphere-induced horror, and the brighter atmosphere and more powerful hero betray that image, making the game look more like an action hero game (which might fit other settings, but for this camp, it didn't fit with the ''Diablo'' series). But on the other camp, the game is liked because it gave out a lot of SugarWiki/AwesomeMoment of humans advancing enough to be able to punch out supernatural beings and stomping down those who threaten them, and seeing that humanity is basically a WoobieSpecies in this setting, they see it as a sorely needed breath of fresh air after many many bleak atmosphere of the preceding games.

* OlderThanTheyThink: A console port that tweaks and streamlines gameplay mechanics for the controller format? This was held as a big deal for ''Diablo III'', but in reality the classic UsefulNotes/PlayStation port of the original ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' actually did this very same thing over a decade prior, and even turned the game into more of a straight up action title as a result despite being the same core game at heart. It's entirely likely that Blizzard drew inspiration from such an unusual port for this very reason.

* HilariousInHindsight: The Whimsyshire Secret Level contains several [[ShoutOut ShoutOuts]] to Franchise/MyLittlePony. Creator/AthenaKarkanis, the voice of the female barbarian, now has a major part in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyMakeYourMark'' as Opaline.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The removal of the Auction House was seen as a welcome change, as being able to just buy anything you wanted made it trivially easy to get the right build. It helped that this removal coincided with the "Smart Loot 2.0" system, which greatly improved rewards for questing and was generally seen as a good move. And just to make absolutely sure that there couldn't be the kind of rampant abuse of the item system that ''Diablo II'' had, a lot of things were made account-bound so players couldn't just drop the best items for low-level players to break the game with.
** The Firebird set for the Wizard originally had an odd quirk where players could be punished for causing too much damage. The set needed a player to "Ignite" enemies by hitting them with fire damage to add damage modifiers. To get the best benefits of the set, this required getting a certain number of enemies burning at one time; this meant [[DoWellButNotPerfect a Firebird Wizard had to find the right balance between "can survive long enough to burn the enemies" and "won't kill the enemies too fast"]], which made it needlessly complicated and tough to work with on the higher levels of Torment. The set was redesigned in 2021 so the Disintegrate spell applies Ignite all by itself when it hits, making it much easier to Ignite enemies. In addition, the set was changed to give a buff to Teleport's cooldown, it added a defensive element when a single enemy is Ignited, and the damage modifier was changed to be based on time spent casting Disintegrate instead of how many enemies are Ignited. These changes put the Firebird set into the top-tier builds for the Wizard, and got some much-deserved praise from the playerbase for removing the set's most annoying aspects.
** The "Error 37" message that pops up when servers are full earned MemeticMutation status among the ''Diablo'' fanbase when the game was released, simply because nobody could play it. When the ''Reaper of Souls'' expansion was released, Blizzard did everything it could to ensure that everyone could log in the moment it went live; indeed, there were no reported problems at all of ''Reaper of Souls'' players getting stuck waiting.
** The three hirelings -- the Templar, the Scoundrel, and the Enchantress -- were largely seen as not worth the trouble to keep around on higher difficulties. They were extremely fragile (especially the melee-focused Templar), with the only reasonable method of keeping them alive being equipping them with an accessory that prevents them from dying. And even then, their abilities never caused much damage and weren't very useful. An update in 2021 made the hirelings have full armor slots, their abilities were changed to scale to their stats, and each hireling was given an ability that saves you from death if you take fatal damage. Finally, certain legendary items and sets were given the "Emanates" perk, which means you still get the bonus when it's equipped on your hireling instead of you. This could include such items as The Flavor of Time (doubles Pylon duration in Rifts), Gloves of Worship (Shrine effects last ten minutes), and the Sage's Armor set (doubles the number of Death's Breaths that drop). These changes were seen as a massive improvement that made hirelings much more powerful and certainly useful enough to keep one around when playing alone.

* TastesLikeDiabetes: Parodied with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQzJC-vS40 Whimsyshire]] as a TakeThat towards complaints about early screenshots being "too colorful."

* NightmareRetardant: Azmodan's projection messages would be pretty intimidating, but most of the time he does them, he also [[BondVillainStupidity reveals his plans in the process]], making him sound less like an intimidating general and more like he's literally asking to lose.

** Many people disliked the fact that only ten auctions per account were allowed on the gold Auction House -- if you had alts or played AT ALL you would quickly exceed that limit, and combined with the limited character and joint character inventory it could be a pain. As a result, most gear you found was turned into VendorTrash because it would take up too much space. That gear sold for so little, and giving it to the blacksmith to turn into items for him was pointless as most blacksmith items were terrible.

** Look for a guide giving you a possible build for your character. Chances are that said guide lists Convention of Elements in the ring slot. Said ring cycles through all elements available to your character, giving a 200% damage boost to the selected element. If you time your attacks with the right section of the cycle, the damage boost is impressive -- but it forces a playstyle that not all players like (waiting for the right element to come up before unleashing your strongest attack), in detriment of a more fluid, active playstyle. A common opinion about the subject is "the ring itself is fine, the lack of options is the problem": you may not like said playstyle, but there's not much more of a choice for your ring slot.

** Followers can get one of three perks with a legendary Follower Token: cut all of their cooldowns in half, gain access to all their skills instead of MutuallyExclusivePowerups, or make them invincible. Pretty much all guides on Followers will tell you to equip the last one, as having a Follower who can always contribute is a BoringButPractical way to make use of them. Even with buffs to Followers that gave them full armor sets, their survivability is fairly low, meaning it's all but required on higher levels of Torment mode. What's more, giving the Follower the Unity ring (which shares evenly all received damage among all wearers of the ring) as well, and equipping another Unity yourself, is equivalent to your main character having double Toughness.

*** Vortex elites can yank you right into melee range, which can be aggravating if you're trying to keep away from them.
*** If an enemy mob has the Reflects Damage ability, you are not going to like being in melee with it. Full stop.

*** Horde yellow elites spawn with more minions than normal. If their minions pick up other obnoxious abilities, it could be a very tough battle. You thought two or three Arcane Enchanted, Shielding, and Molten enemies were bad? Try dealing with eight of them.

* DesignatedVillain: Zoltun Kulle never does anything evil to you, keeps his word, and gives sound advice. This is in spite of most of your allies treating Kulle like a CompleteMonster. According to his journals, Kulle's main goal was to elevate humanity to a status that would free them from the influence of demons and angels, which is more or less what the nephalem are doing (although it's implied Kulle would have ruled over creation if he could). The only "evil" act mentioned in the game is his creation of the Black Soulstone, which the protagonists themselves seek and use with no qualms. The worst thing Kulle does is act like an InsufferableGenius when he comes back in Adventure Mode, insulting your intelligence every time you use Kanai's Cube. But that's hardly enough to qualify Kulle as the monster which the game treats him as. Supplemental material claims that he used his wife's soul to create the Black Soulstone, but this never comes up within the game itself, leaving Kulle as a character that the player is told to hate without giving a reason as to why they should hate him.

** Zoltun Kulle, whose MagnumOpus is the Black Soulstone, a Soulstone he created himself with the intention of elevating humanity back to the status they had when they were nephalem, and is notoriously hard to kill; the first time, his body, blood, and head all had to be separated to keep him down, the second time, [[DeathIsCheap he just comes back as a spirit and mocks the player for being so sloppy in their kill]]. Having an [[LargeHam impressive performance]] by Creator/SteveBlum and a lot of snarky lines helps. So...Evil Is [[{{Pun}} Kulle]]?

** The Auction House, which essentially destroyed the point of the game; killing monsters and collecting loot. Why do that when you could just buy more powerful gear by either farming gold or buying it [[BribingYourWayToVictory for real money]]? It didn't help that drop rates for loot were artificially low when the game started (i.e. you didn't get much loot, and ''almost none'' of what you got was for your character type). It was trivially easy to go to the auction house, look for an item, then sort by "lowest price" to find some generous soul selling something they didn't need for a pittance of in-game currency. Blizzard decided to close the Auction House for this very reason in March 2014, eventually creating a "Smart Loot" system that made drop rates more manageable.

** The nature of the "Fallen Star" in Tristram is technically a mystery, but since it's revealed so early on, few people still treat it as a spoiler.
** Even though he was killed in the previous game, [[ForegoneConclusion you fight Diablo]] at some point. Players might still spend much of the game wondering exactly ''how'' this comes about, but it's not exactly a stretch to say that Diablo's in here somewhere.

** The eponymous Diablo's damage output is pretty low, especially in his first phase. In Phase 2, the clones of your heroes he summons are more deadly than his shadow. His most dangerous attack is a giant laser that can drain your health very fast, but it's so slow that it can be dodged fairly easily. He also never seems to shut up about how much you're going to lose, which ends up [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration being a little hard to believe when you can whip the tar out of him without much trouble]].

* ArcFatigue: The Zoltun Kulle part of Act II is obnoxiously long. You have to find Kulle's head, go through a dungeon to find a crucible for your new jeweler, go through two more dungeons to find Kulle's blood, find his archives, go through three more dungeons to get your hands on every part of his body, and finally get to fight him for the Black Soulstone. And Kulle isn't even that hard when you finally do get to fight him, making the whole battle feel rather anti-climactic.