Hell never looked so good thanks to a recent ray tracing update that was pushed out to Diablo IV on PC. The update brings Blizzard’s devilish romp through Sanctuary into a better spot in a few different ways. The game has had its ups and downs since launch which mostly stem from the content (or lack thereof depending on who you ask), but visuals weren’t really a complaint for most players. The game looked good even at launch.
The visuals are more dark and foreboding than those of its predecessor from 2012, Diablo III. The updated graphics and effects also still bring that sort of flashy charm that was so cool about Diablo III. Just, more flashy and much, much prettier. However, the game looks better than ever before now that the ray tracing update has been rolled out. It not only adds a boost to lighting and shadows, but it also boosts performance. And for anyone playing on a mid-range PC or a machine with the bare minimum specs, any performance boost is a welcomed one, surely.
Diablo IV ray tracing update boosts performance by up to 3x
Updated lighting from ray tracing is no doubt going to be popular with a lot of players. But the performance boost for better frame rates is going to be the most important part of the update. Because you’ll benefit more from smoother-running gameplay than better-looking graphics. Thanks to this update, Diablo IV now has a boost to performance by up to 3x thanks to DLSS 3.
Of course, there’s the tiny catch. If you want the 3x better performance, you’ll need DLSS 3. And for you to have DLSS 3, you’ll need an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series GPU. If you don’t have one of the 40-series graphics cards, you should still see a performance boost with DLSS 2. But it won’t be as noticeable. Still, it does run smoother. After testing the game on my RTX 30-series graphics card I definitely see an uptick in the frame rate.
You can see for yourself what the game looks like with DLSS 3 and RTX On in NVIDIA’s official video below. NVIDIA confirms that DLSS 2 Super Resolution is supported too and that RTX 20-series and RTX 30-series graphics cards also support NVIDIA Reflex. So you will definitely get a bump in performance across the board. You can also see the DLSS 3 benefits if you have a GeForce NOW subscription, where you can play Diablo IV in the cloud with an Ultimate membership that uses RTX 4080 SuperPOD servers.
On-screen events are mirrored in suitably reflective surfaces
This is, at least visually speaking, the coolest part about the ray tracing update. You can see on-screen events mirrored in suitably reflective surfaces. What this means is that pools of blood and bodies of water, as well as other similar surface types in-game, will now show on-screen events happening. Things like ability effects and enemies are accurately reflected in those surfaces which really adds a special something to the game’s already super fun combat.
So sit back and take notice. Pay a little more attention to the reflective surfaces around you the next time you unload one of your most powerful attacks on a horde of demons. Chances are you’ll find the new visuals quite enjoyable indeed.
