[HOW TO] Use Battle.Net on Zorin (Diablo 3, Diablo 4)

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This post will guide you through running Battle.Net, Blizzard's proprietary launcher, on Zorin OS. With Battle.Net, you can install and run Diablo 3 and Diablo 4, and likely other Blizzard games though I've not personally tested them. Heroic Games Launcher and Bottles will be covered. Both methods assume the user has done no initial set up.

At this time, it doesn't seem to be possible to get Lutris to work due to outdated Proton-GE libraries, but if I become aware of a method, I will include it.

Bottles
  1. Install Bottles from the software store in Zorin.
  2. Install ProtonUp-Qt from the software store in Zorin. (You may already have it from getting GE-Proton-23 for Lutris.)
  3. Launch Bottles and step through its first time screens.
  4. Close Bottles. This part matters! Don't do step 5 if Bottles is running.
  5. Use ProtonUp-Qt to install GE-Proton-9-23 for Bottles. You can select Bottles from the drop down menu at the top of ProtonUp-Qt.
  6. Start Bottles again.
  7. Click the + in the top left to create a new bottle, and name it Battle.Net. Choose Gaming when it asks what the bottle is for.
  8. If you new bottle didn't open automatically, click it to open it.
  9. In the Runner menu, select GE-Proton-9-23. Bottles will warn you that Proton is meant for Steam. Check the box that says "I got it," then click Use Proton in the top right.
  10. Back in the bottle's main window, click "Install Programs..." There's an automatic installer for Battle.Net that will make this much easier.
  11. When the installer finishes, if it launched Battle.Net for you, just log in and all should be good. If it didn't launch Battle.Net automatically, you should see it listed in the bottle's main screen:
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  12. Click the triangle to launch Battle.Net. That's also how you launch it going forward, though the three dot menu provides some options for convenient shortcuts if you prefer.

Some notes:

  • Logging into Battle.Net, you may notice that there are boxes to type, but some of the login screen is missing. This is normal. Just enter your username and password and hit enter.
  • The game itself should run fine, but starting Battle.Net may look like it froze. Be patient. My computer is very fast, and I still have a delay here. Once the Battle.net client is properly loaded, it behaves very nicely.
  • As of January 20, 2025, Diablo 3 and 4 are confirmed working when running from Battle.Net installed this way.
Heroic
  1. Install Heroic Game Launcher from the software store.
  2. Run Heroic Game Launcher.
  3. On the left side of the window, click Wine Manager.
  4. At the top of the right side of the window, click PROTON-GE
  5. In the table that appears, click the download button for Proton-GE-Latest and let it download.
  6. On the left side of the screen, click Library. Click the blue ADD GAME button.
  7. A window will appear. Enter "Battle.Net" for Game/App Title, then click Show Wine Settings farther down the screen. Take note of the folder under WinePrefix; it's needed later.
  8. Set Wine version to "Proton - Proton-GE-latest"
  9. In a web browser, go to the Battle.Net website. (The name in this line is a link.) Download the Battle.Net installer from here and save it in your normal downloads folder.
  10. In Heroic, click RUN INSTALLER FIRST and point it to the Battle.Net installer you just chose. You shouldn't need to change anything; accept all defaults during the install process.
  11. When prompted for to log in, use your normal Battle.Net username and password.
  12. Once you're on the Battle.Net main screen, exit Battle.Net entirely. Don't install games yet.
  13. Back in Heroic, the button that said RUN INSTALLER FIRST will have changed, to show that it was running the installer. When it goes back to RUN INSTALLER FIRST, click the little folder icon under Select Executable (it's just above the FINISH button.) Select the Battle.Net executable here. If you chose defaults during installation and used Battle.Net for the title, the file you want is: ~/Games/Heroic/Prefixes/default/Battle.Net/pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Battle.net/Battle.net Launcher.exe
  14. Click FINISH.
  15. Run Battle.Net from your library in Heroic, and you can install games and play normally now.

As you can see, setting these up is a fair bit more work than using Steam. Bottles is probably the easier of the two since it includes an automatic Battle.Net installer, but Heroic can automate installing and running games from GOG, EGS, or Amazon, so if you use those services, it may be the better choice. If anyone installs other Blizzard games using these methods, let me know and I'll update the post to make it more searchable.

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Just a heads up that Diablo 4 is having a free weekend this weekend if anyone cares to poke at it. It's changed drastically since launch. Some of that is good, some of it is bad. Can't say I'm a fan of the game as it is, but free is free, and something to learn Bottles or Heroic if you're inclined but didn't have a reason at the time.

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EDIT: Proton 10 has been released and resolves this problem. The original instructions in this thread can be used again as long as you select a Proton 10 based runner.

It seems I can't edit the original how to, but as an FYI, Blizzard recently updated Battle.Net's update agent which seems to have undermined Linux support. Using Proton 10 and running Battle.Net as a non-Steam game is currently the easiest way to get it running. I've read that using a Wine 10 TKG runner may also work for Lutris, but I haven't tried it. Proton Experimental may also work, however Steam just fixed a bug that was disappearing people's cloud saves in Experimental. It shouldn't be used for general purposes anymore; it's really experimental.

If you have Battle.Net already installed from the original steps above, you can go to your library in Steam, click Games, Add non-Steam game... and find Battle.net Launcher.exe wherever you originally installed it. Choosing that and confirming it will add Battle.Net to your Steam library, but you won't have Proton 10 because it's still a beta. To add Proton 10, search your library (that is, with the actual search bar) for Proton, and all available versions will show up. Install Proton 10 as if it were a game. After that, you'll be able to set Proton 10 beta as the compatibility tool for Battle.Net by right clicking it in your library, choosing Properties, Compatibility, checking "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" and choosing Proton 10 (beta) from the dropdown.

If you don't already have Battle.Net installed by one of the methods above, instead of adding Battle.Net as a non-Steam game, you need to download the installer from Battle.net's website, and add the installer executable as described above, and follow the same steps as if you were setting it up as a non-Steam game. Run the installer from your Steam Library, let it go through its process, and then follow the steps above for adding Battle.net Launcher.exe. It'll be wherever your Steam Library is, I expect, but I haven't personally gone this route. (I already had Battle.net installed.) Once Battle.Net itself is listed as a non-Steam game, you can remove the installer from your library to clean up.

This entire bit will likely become unnecessary in due time as Proton 10 based runners make their way to other tools like Heroic and Lutris.

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