Diablo Immortal was announced way back in 2018 by Blizzard as its next big Diablo game, although it has since announced Diablo 4 for both consoles and PC to scratch the itch of hardcore fans.
For those looking to play some Diablo on the go, though, Immortal is out now and making waves with tens of millions of registrations and downloads. If you're just about to set out on your Diablo Immortal journey, here are some tips to help you get started.
You can make multiple characters
When you're faced with picking a class from the options Blizzard gives you as you start the game, you might not know which to go for - that's fine! You get to choose between Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer and Wizard.
The good news is that you can run multiple characters on the same account, so you're not locked into any one playstyle. You can try them all out before really focussing in on whichever you enjoy the most.
Your purchases are per-character
As a mobile game, Diablo Immortal unsurprisingly has a hefty range of microtransactions available at any one time, with more currency systems than you can count at times. You can play the game for fun, and you won't be locked out of any of the main quest, but this will likely become a factor if you get to really high-level play.
Something to know right out of the gate, then, is that anything you buy in Immortal will only be for the character you buy it with - so don't buy something assuming you'll unlock it for all your characters, much as we wish that was the system.
You can change a bunch of settings
Depending on what phone you have, the size of your display and more, you'll likely want to tweak a bunch of settings early on in your time with Diablo Immortal. Rest assured that you can easily do so, and we were very quick to hide chat previews on any topic so that we didn't have a chatbox cluttering up our screen.
Even if you're playing on a powerful flagship phone, for example, you'll start on the default 30FPS mode, but there's a 60FPS option that's like night and day when you try it, so we also recommend switching to that if you're not too worried about battery life or overheating.
Don't sweat over loot for hours
If you're new to the series, you might find yourself reading the fine print of every new item you pick up to work out if it's worth equipping, but you'll eventually figure out this isn't worth the time. For your first hours, just go with anything that has a green arrow next to it, and ignore or salvage the rest at the blacksmith.
This will save you loads of time and effort, since you'll only really start to get into the territory of finding gear that is worth poring over in detail once you've finished the main questline.
Team up
Immortal has a lot of multiplayer options built into it, and from quite an early point you'll start seeing other players running around in your world, fighting the same monsters and completing quests. While you'll occasionally drop into solo dungeons in the story, almost everything can be done together.
The game's Warband system is an easy way to make a party if you've got some interested friends, so consider using it if you want to play some multiplayer together.
Don't be pressured into purchases
Diablo Immortal has rightly been the subject of scrutiny over how many ways it employs to encourage players into microtransactions and purchases despite its free to play structure. While it's perfectly possible to play without paying at all and have fun on your own terms, or to pay in moderation, be warned that the game offers opportunities to buy expensive packs without many limits.
If you've fallen into that pitfall before in other games, mobile or not, we recommend steering clear of Diablo Immortal entirely - Diablo 4 is right around the corner, and will offer all the same thrills in a complete package, while Diablo 3 is always out there waiting to welcome you back.