How Stellar Blade's Relic Machines Compare to Diablo 4’s…

Summary

Stellar Blade offers a variety of ways to gather upgrade materials, including supply boxes and relic-hunting machines.
The game draws inspiration from Diablo 4 with its relic machines, adding a unique twist to the familiar mechanic.
Despite similarities, Stellar Blade's relic machines differ by dropping fixed items for gear upgrades, making them worth pursuing.

Stellar Blade has a lot of collectibles for players to discover, with most of them acting as crafting material for weapon and gear upgrades. As players explore the world of Stellar Blade, they are likely going to come across a variety of different ways to obtain these necessary upgrade materials, such as from supply boxes, damaged car hoods, and even the bodies of fallen Airborne Squad members. Additionally, Stellar Blade features a type of enemy machine that collects rare relics that will be useful to players, seemingly drawing inspiration from Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins in their design.

It's clear that Stellar Blade combines elements of several different games from the action RPG and Soulslike genres, including titles like Nier: Automata and Elden Ring. However, it's surprising to see Stellar Blade take a page out of Diablo 4's book, given that the game doesn't focus on obtaining new gear and loot as much as Blizzard's ARPG. Despite this strange inclusion, the use of relic machines as the source of upgrade materials works to keep players engaged in their quest to discover everything the game has to offer, even if they are not as exciting as Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins.

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By Josh Cotts

Stellar Blade’s Relic Machines Feel Similar to Diablo 4’s Treasure Goblins

Diablo fans are likely familiar with the series' Treasure Goblins, who originally debuted in Diablo 3 but also appear in Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4. The rare enemies can spawn randomly throughout the world of Diablo 4 and will run away almost immediately when spotted, requiring players to chase them through potentially dangerous hordes of enemies to defeat them before they escape into a portal. It's well worth the player's time to chase these goblins down, as they have a tendency to drop a massive amount of loot, often including some of the game's rarest items.

Stellar Blade adopts a similar mechanic with its relic machines, which appear as little robots with balloon-like sacs on top of them. These machines are also rare and hard to spot, usually fleeing from the player as they approach them, similar to Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins. Additionally, they do not attack the player, but it is in the player's best interest to defeat them, as they also drop important resources used for upgrading EVE's gear, a vital resource as players reach some of Stellar Blade's tougher sections.

How Relic Machines Differ from Treasure Goblins

EVE holding an Alpha Core in Stellar Blade

There are some pretty apparent differences between Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins and the relic machines found in Stellar Blade. The primary way these relic machines differ from Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins is in the type of loot they drop, with Stellar Blade's relic machines dropping fixed items like the Tumbler Expansion Modules used for increasing the number of charges in EVE's health-restoring Tumbler. On the other hand, Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins follow the game's randomized loot system, dropping anything from gold currency to Diablo 4's legendary and unique gear, with the type of gear varying with each Treasure Goblin defeated.

Another difference between Diablo 4's Treasure Goblins and Stellar Blade's relic machines is their capture difficulty. Treasure Goblins are infamously hard to catch in Diablo 4, often leading players on a chase through hordes of demons the moment they are spotted, whereas Stellar Blade's relic machines are fairly easy to catch but are harder to find, often hidden off the beaten path around a corner which they will tend to run into when approached by the player. Although these relic machines don't create the same level of excitement that finding a Treasure Goblin in Diablo 4 does, they are worth keeping an eye out for, since they drop useful upgrades for Stellar Blade players.