Diablo 4 Companion

What it is

Diablo 4 Companion (github.com/josdemmers/Diablo4Companion) is an open-source desktop application by josdemmers that acts as a visual loot filter for D4. The app runs in the background while you play and, via OCR + image recognition, identifies items with affixes matching your defined criteria and highlights them visually.

Features:

• Affix filter: define lists of "wanted" affixes per class/build.
• Visual highlighting: items matching your filters get highlighted on-screen.
• Build presets: import community filters (top build presets).
• Multi-build: switch between filter presets based on current character.
• Open source: auditable code, community contributors.

What problem it solves

D4 in-game has a basic loot filter (rarity-based) but not by affix. For players farming ancestrals/mythics with specific affixes for their builds, evaluating each drop manually (open inventory, hover, read 4 affixes, compare with current gear) takes 5-10 seconds per item. In an hour of Helltide farm 50+ items drop, easily 1+ hour lost on evaluation alone.

Diablo 4 Companion automates that. Only items matching your criteria stand out. The rest you ignore visually.

How it differs from D4Builds Overlay / Mobalytics Overlay

• D4Builds/Mobalytics Overlays: desktop companions showing builds and guides in overlay. They do NOT do automatic filtering.
• Diablo 4 Companion: visual filter based on affix matching. Different functional category.

The overlays show info. Companion filters loot. Complementary, not competitors.

What people actually use it for

Helltide farming: 50-100 drops per hour. Companion identifies the 5-10 that match.

Targeted gear hunting: looking for a specific affix for build optimization. Companion alerts when it drops.

Multi-character economy: with multiple active chars, switch filter preset per char.

Sharing presets: top builds share Companion configs on Discord.

Passive quality of life: once set up, runs in background without interaction.

Who it's NOT for

• Casuals without specific gear targeting: if you play casually and any drop is OK, doesn't add anything.
• Those who avoid third-party software: technically unaffiliated with Blizzard. TOS gray-area risk (no one's been banned for normal use, but the plugin technically infringes TOS).
• Mac / Linux users: Windows native only.
• Console players: PC-exclusive.

How it's actually used

1. Download the app from GitHub releases or source build.

2. Configure filters per character: wanted affixes, weights, threshold.

3. Launch D4 with Companion running in background.

4. Matching items get highlighted visually on-screen.

5. For community presets, browse the repo releases or community channels.

Honest limitations

TOS gray area: Blizzard doesn't approve third-party. In practice no one's been banned but technical risk exists.

Windows only: macOS/Linux not supported.

OCR fragility: depends on UI scaling and in-game text rendering. Post-patches can break until community updates.

Setup overhead: configuring filters per build requires initial time investment.

Doesn't replace manual inspection: the filter highlights candidates. Final manual validation is still recommended for important drops.

Community plugin sustainability: depends on open-source maintainer activity.

How to get started

1. Download from github.com/josdemmers/Diablo4Companion releases.

2. Read setup guide in README — includes game UI scaling configuration.

3. For your first build: import a community preset from Discord or create a simple filter (e.g., "+max life", "+all stats", "+armor").

4. Run D4 + Companion. Verify wanted items highlight correctly.

5. Adjust threshold according to your standards.

6. Share presets with your group if useful to community.