So you need to install the Battle.net application on Arch/Manjaro, but are having issues?
Follow this guide and we’ll have you up and running in no time!
NOTE BEFORE PROCEEDING: You should be installing all of this onto a drive formatted with the ext4 format, as getting games running in Linux when they’re installed on an NTFS-formatted drive will not work!
First thing first, install Lutris itself.
Open up a terminal, and use the following command:
sudo pacman -S lutris
Hit y to the prompt and this will install the base Lutris package.
If you run Lutris at this stage it will complain about missing Vulkan libraries, so close it and we’ll sort that out next.
We need to install the dependencies that the Battle.net app requires in order to work. Lutris won’t install these, as they need installed prior to installing the BNet application.
Installing Wine
First up, we need to enable the Multilib repository. We do this by editing a text file to remove a # sign.
Use a text editor (I prefer Nano (sudo pacman -S nano) a terminal-based text editor, but any will do, such as mousepad) to edit the /etc/pacman.conf file to remove the # sign in front of it like so:
[multilib]Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Just ensure you run the text editor as sudo, as otherwise you won’t be able to save any changes. You may very easily find it’s already enabled by default (I re-installed Manjaro in a VM this morning and it was enabled). Either way save changes and close down the file.
Next run a system update & refresh the mirrors:
sudo pacman -Syyuu
Next, type (or copy & paste) the following command (yes all of it as one block) to install Wine and its dependencies:
sudo pacman -S wine-staging giflib lib32-giflib libpng lib32-libpng libldap lib32-libldap gnutls lib32-gnutls mpg123 lib32-mpg123 openal lib32-openal v4l-utils lib32-v4l-utils libpulse lib32-libpulse libgpg-error lib32-libgpg-error alsa-plugins lib32-alsa-plugins alsa-lib lib32-alsa-lib libjpeg-turbo lib32-libjpeg-turbo sqlite lib32-sqlite libxcomposite lib32-libxcomposite libxinerama lib32-libgcrypt libgcrypt lib32-libxinerama ncurses lib32-ncurses opencl-icd-loader lib32-opencl-icd-loader libxslt lib32-libxslt libva lib32-libva gtk3 lib32-gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs lib32-gst-plugins-base-libs vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
Installing Graphics drivers & DXVK/Vulkan
We’ve already installed the Wine dependencies, we also need a Vulkan capable GPU (anything made in the past 5-6 years should be fine), as well as a driver supported by DXVK.
So next we need to install the DXVK (Direct X to VulKan) dependencies.
If you’re an AMD GPU user, don’t worry. Drivers for AMD cards are built into the Gnu/Linux kernel as they were made open source a few years back. Also, Mesa (OpenGL & 3d Driver) is installed as a part of the Manjaro installation.
To install Vulkan for AMD, you will run the following command:
sudo pacman -S lib32-mesa vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-radeon vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
Some of these will be the same as what we installed earlier, but don’t worry just proceed with the installation.
Now, if you’re an Nvidia user things may be a bit trickier, as Nvidia have not made their proprietary drivers open source, and as such aren’t included in Manjaro installations by default. In the terminal, use the following command:
sudo pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-settings vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
This will install nvidia-specific drivers, libraries and vulkan drivers.
REBOOT.
Installing Battle.net dependencies
Next we install separate dependencies required by Battle.net:
sudo pacman -S lib32-gnutls lib32-libldap lib32-libgpg-error lib32-sqlite lib32-libpulse
NOW you can proceed to install the battle.net application via the install button on the Lutris webpage:
https://lutris.net/games/world-of-warcraft/
Hit the silver Install button just below the banner. Yes, it’s the WoW Installer page, but this will install the Battle.net application only. Installing WoW will be done separately afterwards.
Pay attention to the installer, and specifically the part where it says NOT to login when the Bnet login window first appears during installation. This login window will disappear and it will carry on with the rest of the installation.
Install should take about 5-10 minutes depending on your storage medium (SSD vs HDD), and it will visibly complete and say it’s done when it’s finished.
When it’s done you can now login to the app and either proceed to install WoW as normal, or point the Bnet app at your current WoW installation if it’s already sitting on another drive and it will update if needed and allow you to play.
Again, always try to ensure that games in Linux are sitting on a drive formatted as ext4, as running them on NTFS-formatted drives will give major issues with both Lutris-installed games, as well as Steam games, as Linux has to use an NTFS driver to read the drives, and it causes games to fall over.
Happy gaming!
