When it comes to Diablo Immortal, the game has been making millions while criticisms over its monetization continue. Previously, some estimated that in order to fully max out a character, you would have to spend over $110,000. Yet, after the discovery of a mechanic, a new estimate is pushing that up to over $540,000.
An analysis shared over at Reddit points to the discovery of a hidden mechanic that opens up more ‘opportunity’ to buy additional gems and continue spending in order to push your character to fully geared out glory.
“But apparently there’s a hidden whale “mechanic” when you upgrade a 5/5 star gem to level 10 that is attached to a piece of gear above rank 6 that five/ five star gem would undergo a process called “awakening” when a 5/5 star gem awakens, it gains an additional 5 slots around it, which allows an additional 5 legendary gems to be slotted into it which the gems have to be individually upgraded again to rank 10.”
What this means is that instead of that comparatively cheap $100k and needing six leveled 5-star gems to max your character, you’ll need 36 of them. Along the way, there’s also a cash shop item you’d have to buy. “To awaken a gem you’ll need to purchase an item that’s only available in the cash shop for purple orbs called dawning echos, which cost you around 1000 eternal orbs, roughly around 30$ per gear awakening,” the explanation continues.
The $540,000 estimate is based on being somewhat lucky and getting the gems you need quickly, but if that doesn’t happen, this could creep up quickly.
Blizzard, when asked about what’s next for Diablo Immortal, responded that they’ll have more in the coming weeks. The rep emphasized that ‘core’ features will stay free (though in our review, Robin noted that you generally have to pay to do something as basic as form a clan).
