The Hidden Frustration Behind Diablo 4’s Loot System

After spending so much time in Diablo 4, I’ve realised something that I didn’t fully appreciate when I first jumped into the game: the loot system is both the game’s biggest strength and its biggest frustration. When I chat with my mates in the UK about why I keep playing, I usually talk about the combat or the atmosphere. But the truth is, the loot cycle is what keeps me hooked—and also what drives me completely mad.

In the early levels, every drop feels exciting. You pick up each item, read it carefully, compare it with your current setup, and it feels like every upgrade matters. But once you reach the endgame, especially after a few seasons or after diving into the expansion content, that excitement gets drowned under an ocean of useless diablo 4 gear.

I remember a night when I was farming Tier 70 Nightmare dungeons. The run itself was brilliant—my build felt sharp, the pacing was great, and everything died fast enough to keep the adrenaline high. But when the boss died, the ground lit up like a Christmas tree gone mad. Dozens of legendaries scattered everywhere, and I just stared at them. Not with excitement, but with mild dread, because I knew exactly what was coming: ten minutes of sorting through gear I didn’t want.

It sounds ridiculous, especially for a game built around loot, but there’s a difference between rewarding and overwhelming. Diablo 4 crosses that line far too often.

What the game desperately needs—and what players have been asking for from day one—is a proper loot filter. Not a simple toggle, not a “preferred item” option, but a real, player-defined filter that lets me hide irrelevant items and highlight the ones I actually want to chase.

I want the floor to matter again. I want to feel something when I see a drop. Right now, it feels like 90% of my endgame time is spent in my inventory instead of in combat. And that’s the part that frustrates me the most, because the combat is fantastic. The bosses are fun, the builds are interesting, and the game has so much potential—but that potential is buried under clutter.

What’s funny is that despite all of this, I still play the game almost every night. I still enjoy the challenge of tweaking builds, testing new aspects, and trying to push deeper dungeons. Diablo 4 does so many things right—but the lack of a loot filter is such an obvious hole in the design that it becomes impossible to ignore once you’ve passed the honeymoon phase Diablo 4 gold.

I genuinely believe Blizzard will add proper filters eventually. They’ve been improving the game steadily, and they’ve shown they’re willing to make big changes. But until that happens, every long play session ends the same way: piles of loot, a full stash, a tired brain, and me telling myself, “Just one more run,” even though I know I’ll be sorting rubbish gear again five minutes later.