Diablo 5 Game Director Promises a Return to Methodical Character Builds, but Players Don't Believe Him

Diablo 5 is still a couple of years away, but that hasn't stopped the speculation on how the game will actually play. People certainly expect a lot of elements from Diablo 3 and 4 to carry over to the new game, but Game Director Joe Shely has suggested a return to more methodical gameplay.

Seemingly in response to the video Path of Exile's Chris Wilson released about Diablo 5, Shely took to Twitter where he promised "while Diablo 5 will continue to feature some DEX (moment-to-moment execution) mechanics, on balance the game will be an INT/STR game (planning and investment)."

While Diablo V will continue to feature some DEX (moment-to-moment execution) mechanics, on balance the game will be an INT/STR game (planning and investment). We are designing to the core tenet of ARPGs that any challenge can be overcome with the right build.

— Joe Shely (@JoeShely) September 29, 2026

There has been a lot of discussion around Blizzard invoking …