Diablo IV Finally Hints at a Real Loot Filter — But Is It Too Late?

Blizzard finally talks loot filters for Diablo IV – here’s why it matters

This caught my attention because it’s the one quality-of-life request Diablo veterans haven’t stopped asking for since launch. In a recent Burning Questions video, Diablo IV’s live-service design director Dan Tanguay said the team is “seriously” discussing a proper loot filter after hitting the limits of their “smart filtering” systems. No date, no confirmation-just a real acknowledgment at last. With Season 10 currently slated for September 23, the timing could be pivotal… or a reminder that Blizzard is still trailing the ARPG pack.

• Blizzard admits “smart filtering” isn’t enough and is actively talking loot filters.
• No timeline yet, and it might not land for Season 10.
• Path of Exile (and now PoE2) plus Last Epoch already treat robust filters as standard.
• A good filter could reduce endgame grind fatigue and make build-crafting smoother.

Breaking down the announcement

In Blizzard’s own words, the demand is impossible to ignore. As Tanguay put it (translated): “We have clearly heard player feedback. We’ve already implemented several ‘smart filtering’ systems, but we’re hitting the limits of that approach. So yes, we are talking about loot filters, even if I can’t say more for now.” It’s not a greenlight, but it’s the first time Blizzard has publicly conceded that their current approach just doesn’t cut it.

Why the resistance until now? Blizzard’s item firehose is baked into Diablo IV’s economy-salvaging feeds crafting, tempering, and masterworking. The studio has argued that forcing players to eyeball a lot of drops keeps that loop alive. The problem is, at high tiers—Nightmare Dungeons, The Pit, Helltides—the ground turns into Skittles. Players don’t feel clever wading through a sea of yellow and orange; they feel tired. That’s not engagement; it’s friction.

The real player problem: loot bloat, not loot joy

Since Loot Reborn, itemization is cleaner, tempering is meaningful, and masterworking gives you a clear upgrade chase. Great changes. But the volume of gear still drowns the signal in noise. Stash search and filters help once items are in your chest; on the ground, though, the game offers beams, icons, and a few visibility tweaks—nice, but not surgical. You still end up scooping armfuls of rares to salvage, praying one affix line hits your build instead of just wasting time.

A proper loot filter flips that. Instead of picking up everything to check later, you predefine your priorities: ancestral only, item power thresholds, specific affixes (e.g., +Ranks to [Skill], Damage to Close, Cooldown Reduction), resist rolls above X, or class-specific bases. Suddenly your play session becomes about killing and crafting, not crouching in a sea of labels for five minutes every pull.

ARPG standard: PoE, PoE2, and Last Epoch already do this

Path of Exile set the tone years ago with community-curated filters (Neversink’s is basically ARPG plumbing at this point), and PoE2 doubles down with granular control, sound cues, and visual hierarchy that let you instantly triage drops. Last Epoch, still growing fast, shipped with a robust, friendly filter that new players can grasp in minutes. In 2025, “good ARPG” and “usable loot filter” are synonymous. Diablo IV being the outlier has always felt odd, especially on PC.

And yeah, the timing stings. PoE2 is here (even in Early Access) and it’s eating hours from the exact players Diablo IV wants to keep in its endgame. When your competition lets me highlight a perfect +2 skill staff with a triumphant sound while muting 99% of the trash, going back to label-juggling in Sanctuary feels outdated.

How Blizzard should build it (so it actually helps)

If Blizzard wants this to land, it needs two tiers of control:

• Simple presets for console and casual play: “Show only Sacred/Ancestral,” “Hide all junk by class,” “Highlight potential upgrades,” and “Endgame mats only.”
• Advanced rules for PC and power users: affix-based filters, min/max roll thresholds, item power gates, class toggles, color/sound customization, and shareable strings/presets.

Crucially, it must respect Diablo IV’s economy. That means separate toggles to always show crafting mats and high-value salvage (e.g., items that reliably yield Forgotten Souls), plus a “temporary reveal” button so you can quickly unhide everything if you’re chasing a niche roll. Controller-first UI matters too: fast d-pad tabs to switch between presets on the fly would be a win for couch players.

One caution: a half-measure that only hides non-Ancestral rares won’t cut it anymore. Players want to surface specific affixes that synergize with their build, not just fewer drops. Blizzard already re-centered itemization around fewer, stronger affixes; a filter should complete that vision by letting us define what “stronger” means for our build.

What to watch heading into Season 10

Blizzard says there’s no timeline, so I wouldn’t bet on a full filter launching with Season 10 on September 23. But the public shift in tone is meaningful. At minimum, expect incremental steps—more ground label controls, smarter “junk” hiding, maybe stash-to-ground parity for filters. The real win would be official, shareable presets per class so creators can publish build-specific filters alongside guides.

Bottom line: this could genuinely improve Diablo IV’s day-to-day play. It’s just late. A lot of endgame grinders have already slid to PoE2 or Last Epoch for that clean loop of kill, check, craft. If Blizzard delivers a serious, flexible filter, it won’t magically solve every pain point—but it will remove one of the last big excuses not to log back in.

TL;DR

Diablo IV’s devs say they’re seriously discussing a real loot filter after hitting the ceiling on “smart filtering.” No date yet—don’t count on Season 10. If Blizzard does this right with both presets and advanced rules, it could shave hours of junk management off the grind. But with PoE2 already showing how it’s done, the clock’s ticking.