The existence of Diablo 4's rarest items has been confirmed, but now a debate as to whether to bother looking for them is raging at the heart of the community.
Last week, lead class designer Adam Jackson confirmed that six top-tier items can be found in Diablo 4. Only available once you've progressed beyond level 85, they remain incredibly rare, and while some players are setting their sights on eventually unlocking them, others are pointing out just how unlikely that is.
Harking back to the rarity of Diablo 2's infamous 'Shako', one player suggested that "people who are talking about target farming these super rare uniques are just [...] 'ignorant' of just how abstract the mathematics are on getting these items." They go on to suggest that the odds are so close to 0% that "it's just not going to drop for you."
You're vastly more likely to die falling out of bed than to get Shako. from r/diablo4
Other players have been sharing that sentiment. Streamer Maximum suggested that these items are so rare that "they basically don't exist," noting that most players will have to pour in thousands of hours to find them. Journalist Paul Tassi joked that the rarity is so high that "you are not farming, you are trying to get struck by lightning." Others have pointed out that the items are so rare that Blizzard has felt the need to actually confirm their existence rather than letting them be uncovered naturally by the community.
There's something in that - in the cumulative hundreds of millions of hours that Diablo 4 has been played so far, only two of these items are thought to have dropped. Granted, relatively few players will be as high as level 85, but we're still talking about thousands of hours of community grinding at that top level with basically nothing to show for it.
That's not holding some people back, however. Other players are pointing out that these things are called 'chase items' for a reason. The concept of a bizarrely powerful item with an equally bizarre drop rate appears to appeal to some people, and that duality of man has kept the argument over these items raging for several days. Personally, I'm on the side of those suggesting there's no point searching - as that original post points out, the rarity is as such that if you did ever find one, "it would be financially irresponsible not to sell your account."
If you're on the Diablo 4 gear grind, this cheat sheet should make life a lot easier.
