In preparation for the first season of Diablo IV, which starts tomorrow, update 1.1.0 has now been deployed and it has a long list of changes on board.
Not just a few fans of Diablo IV are eagerly awaiting the start of the first season tomorrow, but they have to get used to a whole series of changes today. Blizzard released update 1.1.0 in the evening and that changes a lot in the game, but at the same time brings new items and aspects into play.
Aside from a very long list of bug fixes, there are numerous revisions. For example, Lilith Altars are now unlocked account-wide, as well as revealing the card now being account-wide rather than per-character. Furthermore, there are some changes in the world rankings. More gold and items drop in world rank 2, while in 3 and 4 the monster levels have been adjusted.
Monsters will at some point begin to lag behind the player in level (up to a maximum of 5 levels behind). This change does not affect World Bosses, Legion Events, Fields of Hatred, Helltide, or Nightmare Dungeons.
Example for World Rank 3:
If the player’s level is below 55, the monster’s level is 55.
If the player’s level is 56-60, the monster’s level is 55.
If the player’s level is 61, the monster’s level is 56.
If the player’s level is 62, the monster’s level is 57, etc. (from that point on, the monsters are always -5, until the maximum world level III monster level is 70).
Example for World Tier 4:
If the player’s level is below 75, the monster’s level is 75.
If the player’s level is 76-80, the monster’s level is 75.
If the player’s level is 81, the monster’s level is 76.
If the player’s level is 82, the monster’s level is 77, etc. (monsters are always -5 from this point on).
At the same time, the experience points for monsters whose level is higher than the player will also be increased. There are also massive adjustments to class balancing, which pretty much overturns the current meta. Numerous rarely used skills have been significantly buffed, while the components of some extremely strong builds are being nerfed. Blizzard said in a statement that “these changes are necessary for the overall health of the game.”
In addition, critical damage and vulnerable damage have been massively reduced. “We see that critical damage and vulnerable damage are often seen as tough requirements for a build to be successful in Diablo 4,” Blizzard explains in the developer notes. “We believe this is a step towards helping more builds succeed and will continue to make changes to support that goal.”
The list of fixes and changes is immense complete patch notes you can read through on the Blizzard website. In view of the nerfs, it holds up The joy of the players is currently rather limited and the whining on Reddit is huge, right down to allegations that the patch ruined the game. Blizzard plans to hold another Campfire chat on Friday to shed more light on the background of the changes.
Get your first glimpse of the new boss, Varshan the Consumed, in a new trailer for Diablo IV: Season of the Malignant.
