How to Install 'Diablo IV' on Your Steam Deck

How to Install 'Diablo IV' on Your Steam Deck

Shivering, I climbed up a cliff overlooking the ruins of a sprawling fortress. The winds howled and stung my cheeks, but through the blizzard I could make out shadowy figures dancing amid the ruins. Hundreds, thousands, of cackling demons eagerly waiting to shred me like pulled pork. And they did. They shredded me on my couch, on my bed, in a café, and even once while I was waiting for a bus. Installing Diablo IV on your Steam Deck is a game changer.

Frenemies to Lovers

I’ve had a Steam Deck for a few months now, but it’s mostly gathered dust. I just hadn’t found the right games for it, and I even started thinking about putting it on eBay. But after grinding out a stronghold (unsuccessfully) for the nth time, I decided I’d rather become a giant spider’s next meal while I was cozy on my couch, not sitting at my desk. Since then, the Steam Deck has been my constant companion. I’m talking Nintendo Switch launch day with Breath of the Wild-level obsessed—like Pokemon Go in July 2016 level all-I-can-think-about-hooked.

Diablo IV feels purpose-built for being scaled down for the Steam Deck. The isometric top-down camera angle puts some distance between you and the finer details of the game world, which means you have some flexibility in scaling back those graphics settings.

AMD’s FidelityFX really comes in handy here, because what it does is scale down the resolution when you need a boost to your frame rate—like when you’re fighting hundreds of little demons onscreen at once. In the heat of combat, the extra frames are a welcome addition, and the momentary dip in resolution is almost imperceptible. Because FidelityFX kicks in as a response to a heavy graphical load, you get to keep all those close-up details during in-game cutscenes.

OK, that’s enough about why Diablo IV is sickening on the Steam Deck.

How to Install Diablo IV on Steam Deck

If you search around, you’re going to run into a few different ways to get this working. I’ve tested most of them, but with my Steam Deck I’ve found the manual install method to be the most reliable.

If you’ve ever installed a game on a PC before, both methods should be pretty familiar. My first time doing the manual install took me about 10 or 15 minutes (not counting how long it might take to download Diablo IV).

Step Zero: Install a Web Browser
Microsoft via Jaina Grey

If you already have a browser on your Steam Deck you can skip this step! If not, read on!

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