Having spent well over 200 hours purely in Diablo 4’s endgame—yes, I actually counted—I’ve come to appreciate both the brilliance and the rough edges of Blizzard’s latest ARPG. I’ve played every Diablo title since childhood, but Diablo 4 feels like the first one that genuinely tries to mix cinematic world-building with a deep endgame loop. The problem is, the longer you play, the more the cracks start to show.

One crack stands out above all others: the avalanche of loot.

When you first hit World Tier 3 and see your first few Sacred or Ancestral items, it’s magical. Every drop feels like a door to a new build possibility. But by the time you’re pushing high-tier Nightmare Dungeons or diving into seasonal mechanics, the magic gets buried under mountains of junk rolls and gear that has no chance of fitting your build.

A few weeks ago, I had one of those moments that perfectly sums up the issue. I cleared a room in a Tier 80 dungeon—my screen exploded into orange and gold lights like I’d triggered a firework show. For a second, I felt that nostalgic rush. And then I sighed. Because I already knew what was coming: five minutes of sifting, comparing, discarding, and debating whether I should keep a “maybe useful” amulet that would inevitably sit untouched in my stash.

I’ve chatted with some of my UK friends who’ve tried Diablo 4, and many bounced off the endgame for this exact reason. Not because the combat felt repetitive or the bosses too tough—but because the admin work was exhausting.

What’s ironic is that Blizzard has built a strong foundation for long-term play. The expansion adds variety, the bosses are genuinely challenging, and the class updates make builds feel fresh each season. But the one thing that never changes is the clutter. You can remake skills, aspects, paragon boards—but you can’t escape the grind of checking gear one by one like some medieval accountant.

Loot filters would fix this instantly.

Imagine your game only showing you items that match the attributes you care about: your core skill, your damage bucket priorities, your resource generation needs. It sounds simple, but it would transform the game completely. PoE has shown this for years. Even small ARPGs do it better diablo 4 gear.

What keeps me playing despite this flaw is the core experience. I genuinely enjoy the feel of combat. I love testing new versions of my Barbarian and chatting with friends about which boss modifiers are the least annoying this season. There's something undeniably satisfying about perfecting your rotation and seeing the impact in real fights.

Still, I can’t pretend the current loot chaos doesn’t drain some joy out of the experience. Diablo 4 deserves to lean fully into its strengths, and that means cutting away the busywork. If Blizzard ever implements a real loot filter, I honestly think it would extend the lifespan of the game dramatically.

Until that day comes, I’ll keep pushing dungeons and refining builds—but I’ll also keep complaining about picking up my fifteenth useless two-handed axe in a single run buy diablo 4 gear.