Is Diablo as Strong as Rimuru? Demons vs. Slimes

In raw power and growth potential, Rimuru far outpaces even the mighty Diablo. However, Diablo still likely exceeds Rimuru in pure technique thanks to eons of focused combat experience honing his skills beyond perfection.

Backgrounds – A Quick Compare

Diablo is an ancient demon specializing in highly-optimized build strategies from the MMORPG Yggdrasil before being summoned into the world of Tensura. His precise techniques and min-maxing reflect a Chinese pro gamer‘s dedication towards damaged-focused DPS roles over countless years:

• Ancient existence – Lived for tens of thousands of years
• Specialized DPS Build – Focused entirely on damage-dealing to maximize this strength
• Flawless Technique – Has practiced the most efficient ways to unleash his full power
• Strategic genius – Carefully tailors his approach against any foe after analyzing their abilities

Rimuru Tempest, formerly a human corporate drone, relies more on absorbing abilities, gaining unique skills through chance, and exponential evolution. His rapid growth comes from unlocking new forms through absorbed energy and skills gained through circumstance:

• Young existence – Only lived a couple years in Tensura‘s world
• Jack-of-all-trades build – Absorbs abilities from defeated enemies to expand his skillset
• Imperfect technique – Still gets flustered; lacks experience fighting different enemies
• Instinctual improviser – Adapts in the moment based on new skills; thinks on his feet

Growth Potential – Rimuru‘s True Strength

Diablo‘s power seems set while Rimuru‘s potential outpaces even fellow Demon Lords.

• Diablo‘s specialized his skills over tens of thousands of years. He likely reached their near max optimization ages ago
• In contrast, Rimuru is constantly evolving and gaining new broken abilities
  • Demon Lord Seed -> Demon Lord -> True Demon Lord -> Pseudo-True Dragon -> Ultimate Slime -> Manas: Ciel -> Godly aura, etc.
• Rimuru also gains innate power from all of his subordinates via Food Chain
• This exponential growth trajectory suggests Rimuru will continue growing until at least he equals Veldanava

In essence, this is a contest between infinite improvement versus skill maximization – and improvement will always surpass any limited potential.

Hax Abilities – Matchup Specific Advantages

Both gain certain advantages in a matchup depending on the situation:

In general, Rimuru‘s skillset has greater versatility, but Diablo specializes strongly against magic users thanks to his ancient demon heritage and min-maxed abilities.

Subordinates – Multipliers of Strength

As leaders of impressive armies, their forces also represent multipliers of their military might:

• Rimuru leads the Jura Tempest Federation – home to thousands of goblins, dwarves, orges, lizardmen, and an awakened Veldora
• Diablo commands the inconceivably powerful Nazarick proving him capable of commanding even greater forces than currently shown.

In particular, Rimuru benefits even more from his subordinates‘ growth in strength due to his Food Chain ability granting him extra stats and energy from those sworn to him.

Thus Rimuru also likely overwhelms Diablo once subordinate forces are accounted for in their total strength calculation.

In total fighting capacity, Rimuru far exceeds his mighty subordinate Diablo. From exponential growth rates to skill diversity to leadership, the slime hero surpasses the optimized floor guardian.

However, in specialized technique and tactics, Diablo‘s tens of thousands of years honing lethal skills likely let him still exceed Rimuru who remains comparatively inexperienced in combat applications of power.

Yet Rimuru‘s ever-increasing abilities suggest in time, he may even bridge this last remaining gap. For now, Rimuru likely wins thanks to hax and sky-high potential while Diablo still shows greater technique and focus – though not even that may last long.