To play barbarian better in Diablo IV, dare the controller on PC

Clichés exist in video games. We tend to think that PC gamers always prefer the keyboard and mouse, while their console counterparts are relegated to the controller (even for genres less amenable to them). For a game like Diablo IVcoming from a saga historically linked to computers (the first three installments were first offered on Windows), the control scheme combining a keyboard and a mouse is obvious.

But for the first time in its history, Blizzard is simultaneously releasing a Diablo on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X. A limitation that forced the developers to immediately integrate two modes of play: keyboard/mouse and path. On console, we don’t ask the question. On the other hand, PC players have a choice: what if they gave up their keyboard and mouse for the controller (good PC controllers exist)?

This migration can make sense depending on the class one is playing as indicated gaming pc in an article published on June 7 and Julien Cadot, a member of the editorial board, who plays a barbarian Diablo IV.

Just because you’re playing Diablo IV on PC doesn’t mean you should rule out controller play

Advising a PC user to play the controller seems like bad taste. You may be laughed at. But Julien has serious arguments to convince you: “ I cast Barbarian because it’s a class I’ve never played in Diablo and I loved the Crusader from Diablo III. I played Diablo III fully on PC on the keyboard and rediscovered it on Switch, where the controls blew me away. Suddenly I completely lifted the psychological barrier of playing a Diablo with a controller. In Diablo IV, the change took me 10 minutes: keyboard/mouse management became a handicap. »

” The barbarian has techniques that require you to hold down a button. For example, the tornado on the trigger, it’s great, you press and it’s right. The same goes for the boost mechanics: we launch the tornado as a trigger and we polish ourselves with the cries without releasing the trigger “, he notes. ” Finally, dodging has become very important in Diablo IV and in close combat it’s essential to be able to use it to avoid big hits. The keyboard/mouse lacks the responsiveness to press all these keys at once. Finally there’s a bit of a nagging action game à la Hades when you play Barbarian. »

PC Gamer’s Morgan Park shares a similar view: After reaching level 24 of my almost exclusively gamepad barbarian, I’m starting to think this is the best option for melee classes. All keys are already reconfigurable and there is a customizable wheel for quick access to certain actions. Moving is also easier. Walking with a cane is very natural, an observation supported by the fact that you can walk by slightly tilting the cane. »

Morgan Park has nevertheless identified some biases in the controller, such as inventory management, which is much slower. But after a few hours Diablo IVhis choice is to play with both patterns: 90% of the time on the controller and 10% on the keyboard/mouse at certain specific times (when you have to spend a lot of time in inventory, for example).

Does this mean you have to play the barbarian with a controller on PC? No. Rémy Pivois, commercial director of Humanoid, has been completed Diablo IV playing a keyboard/mouse barbarian. The idea of ​​playing with a controller didn’t even occur to him out of habit. As he explains: I’ve always done hack’n’slash with a mouse and I’m 39 years old. The joystick is not a reflex for me. It has a lot to do with muscle memory. If you change anything for me, I’m lost. Not to mention the malicious fun of frantically clicking the mouse to kill lots of monsters. However, he does not rule out trying it later.

In short, Blizzard leaves the choice, and that’s all that matters.

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