Blizzard plans to adjust the enemy leveling mechanics in Diablo V, no longer having monsters always scale in sync with the player. Game Director Joe Shely stated that the new title will abandon the design approach used in Diablo III and Diablo IV.
Each zone in Diablo II has a fixed level range. As characters level up, players can gradually widen the power gap against original enemies, tangibly feeling their character grow stronger. Later titles switched to dynamic level scaling, where monsters scale with the character, meaning the power disparity usually doesn't expand significantly until top-tier gear is acquired.
Dynamic scaling can keep the game challenging, but it also diminishes the feeling of suddenly becoming more powerful. When players level up or acquire powerful gear, the monsters they face also become stronger, making these growth milestones feel less significant. Blizzard's adjustment aims to make the changes brought by leveling up and acquiring gear more noticeable.
Diablo V was officially announced at BlizzCon and is expected to launch in about three years. Currently, Blizzard has only released a trailer without gameplay footage, and other project details remain undisclosed. The specific rules for the new enemy leveling scheme have not been revealed yet, but the development team's clear direction at this stage is to reduce the sense of level "flattening" in combat, making character progression and gear upgrades more apparent.