With the release of Vessel of Hatred, Diablo IV has seen its most significant changes since its original launch in June 2023. Adding a completely new region, Nahantu, along with a wealth of added characters and modes and a brand-new story, the expansion pack is the very definition of a game changer. But it goes even further than that, bringing in entirely new ways to upgrade items, a revamp of the World Tiers, new animal-morphing classes, and a new level cap. However, we meet change without fear, offering a litany of guides to get you up to speed.
For instance, Diablo IV now has NPC Mercenaries you can hire to come with you on your brawling, but you’re only going to find them by following a specific series of quests. Then there are those Spiritborn classes that let you pick between being able to possess the powers of a Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, or Centipede…Wait, centipede? No, we’ve checked, that’s definitely correct—and apparently one of the best choices for end-game content.
And this all follows on from piles of massive changes earlier this year, which saw the introduction of loot-fest The Pit, a new way to improve loot called Tempering, the addition of Mythic Uniques, and Infernal Hordes to battle. It’s mayhem!
But worry not, as here we’ve collected every guide we’ve published for Diablo IV’s big changes, which will see you flying toward the new level cap in no time at all.
Image: Square Enix, 505 Games, Capcom, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios / Sega, Blizzard, Sega, Blizzard, Kojima Productions, Screenshot: Capcom
It’s the start of a new month, which means there’s a host of hot, new games coming your way. It can get overwhelming, scanning through the various game marketplaces to decide what you should spend your hard-earned money on, so we’ve gathered 34 games coming out this month that we’re stoked for. We’ve also spotted some great sales you may want to take advantage of, like Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, the original Resident Evil trilogy, Diablo 4 ahead of its huge expansion, and a bunch of turn-based RPGs at a steal.
We also beg you to check out Yakuza 0 before watching the upcoming Amazon Prime series, let you in on the things we wish we knew before playing the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, and highlight everything Hideo Kojima is working on. Click through for all the helpful hints of the week. You’re welcome.
Microsoft has officially rolled out Game Pass Standard, the Netflix-like subscription service’s new middle tier, and with it revealed which games will and won’t be included at the start. Among those missing are Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 3, Diablo IV, and some other notable blockbusters like Starfield.
The Week In Games: What’s Coming Out Beyond Starfield
Announced earlier this summer, Game Pass Standard is $15 a month and includes access to online multiplayer as well as a library of hundreds of games that can be downloaded and played on-demand. The big difference between Game Pass Standard and Game Pass Ultimate, the now $20 a month version, is that the former won’t include certain day-one additions to the library until up to 12 months later or even longer in some cases. The most notable example is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which will only be part of Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass PC when it launches on October 25.
But a list of the existing libraries for each tier also reveals other discrepancies for games that already came to the service. Modern Warfare 3, added last month, is notably absent. As is Diablo IV, added in the spring with a new expansion, Vessel of Hatred, coming October 8. Valorant, Riot Games’ hero shooter that recently came to console, is free-to-play but locks certain characters behind a paywall. The Game Pass version that unlocks them all for free is part of Ultimate but not Standard.
There are some smaller day-and-date games missing as well. Flintlock, the colonial-era Soulslike, came to Game Pass in July but isn’t included in Standard’s library. Neither is Another Crab’s Treasure, the cartoony Soulslike that joined in April. Still Wakes The Deep, the horror walking sim that arrived in June, is also absent. It seems like a lot of recent day-one Game Pass releases, including Microsoft’s own Age of Mythology Retold, won’t be hitting Standard anytime soon, despite arriving on the service before the split was official. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II isn’t there either, nor Starfield which came out over a year ago.
When will we see these games and others make it to the middle tier? That’s the most confusing part of all. For now there doesn’t seem to be one standard approach, with all releases being staggered by the same number of months. Even for Microsoft’s own first-party releases, it seems like their arrival on Standard will happens when it happens. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, for example, might not hit Game Pass Standard until it first arrives on PS5 in the spring.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s now possible to quickly and easily play the original 1997 Diabloon your PC or phone via a simple website. Just load it up on your browser and you can start killing demons and skeletons like it’s the ‘90s all over again.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
The original Diablo was developed by Blizzard North and released in January 1997 for PC. Its single dungeon, evil monsters, creepy town, and loot-filled catacombs forever changed the action RPG genre. Today, the OG Diablo might seem a bit small and simple compared to the wild open-world adventure we find in 2023’s Diablo 4. But Diablo’s vibes are still unmatched by any of its sequels, and now you can experience the classic ARPG for free on your phone or PC browser.
As spotted by PC Gamer, a new website has popped up that lets you play the shareware version of the original Diablo in your browser. This new web-based port of the game was built using Diablo’s original source code, which was previously reconstructed by GalaXyHaXz and the Devilution team and can be found on GitHub.
Blizzard / Izie
Now, keep in mind that unless you own Diablo and upload the “DIABDAT.MPQ” file, you won’t have access to everything found in the retail release. Still, the shareware version of Diablo lets you play as a warrior who can’t talk to NPCs, but can kill demons and loot weapons in the dungeon under the church in Tristram.
In my testing, this browser-based port of Diabloplays really well. I had no issues exploring the dark corridors and killing zombies and skeletons. Just toss your old Diablo save and DIABDAT.MPQ file onto a service like Google Drive or a USB stick and you can play Blizzard’s seminal ARPG anywhere with an internet connection.
In fact, you could be playing Diablo right now on the device you are currently using instead of working or reading the last sentence of this blog.
Arguably the biggest addition, though, is Diablo 4 on March 28, the first new Activision Blizzard title to hit Game Pass since Microsoft’s acquisition of the company was completed last year. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that players shouldn’t expect all Activision Blizzard games to drop onto Game Pass the moment the deal was finalized, but this signals the start of more additions to come. New Diablo 4 players will also have plenty of time to play this RPG for dozens of hours before the paid DLC Vessel of Hatred releases later this year.
There’s also Supermassive Games’ The Quarry, a previous PS5 console exclusive and spiritual successor to Until Dawn. This time, a group of teenage counselors have to survive a night at an abandoned camp while being stalked by violent creatures and mysterious locals. As the player, you have to make a series of choices on behalf of all the characters to try and ensure everybody makes it out alive. (Spoiler alert: It’s very unlikely you will succeed.)
If none of those games are for you, this is still a very packed list of new titles for the rest of March into April. Here’s the full list:
Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) — March 19
MLB The Show 24 (Cloud and Console) — March 19
The Quarry (Cloud and Console) — March 20
Evil West (Cloud, Console, and PC) – March 21
Terra Invicta (Game Preview) (PC) – March 26
Diablo IV (Console and PC) – March 28
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged (Cloud, Console, and PC) – March 28
Open Roads (Cloud, Console, and PC) – March 28
Ark: Survival Ascended (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) – April 1
F1 23 (Cloud) EA Play – April 2
Superhot: Mind Control Delete (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 2
As you can imagine, with the release of MLB The Show 24, last year’s MLB The Show 23 will be leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of the month, along with two other games:
Hot Wheels Unleashed (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Infinite Guitars (Cloud, Console, and PC)
MLB The Show 23 (Cloud and Console)
Xbox Game Pass costs $10.99 a month, while PC Game Pass costs $9.99 a month. PC Game Pass includes EA Play access, which offers another 70 games on PC. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, at $16.99 per month, gives subscribers access to everything — the PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass libraries, EA Play on both console and PC — as well as access to online multiplayer. Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly called Xbox Live Gold) costs $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year.
Diablo 4 season 3 is going from medieval horror to medieval… machinery? The latest season for Diablo 4 adds robots called constructs, vaults to plunder, and a little buddy that follows you around as a companion.
Here’s when Diablo 4 season 3 starts in your time zone, and details on what to expect from Diablo 4 season 3.
What time does Diablo 4 season 3 start?
Diablo 4 season 3 starts at 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday, Jan. 23, according to a Blizzard blog post. Here’s when that is in your time zone:
10 a.m. PT for the West Coast of North America
1 p.m. ET for the East Coast of North America
6 p.m. GMT for the U.K.
7 p.m. CET for Western Europe/Paris
3 a.m. JST on Jan. 24 for Tokyo
Note, however, that Diablo 4 season 2 was delayed by a few hours due to a problem with the update. Blizzard quickly fixed the issue and launched Season of Blood that same afternoon. If Diablo 4 season 3 is similarly delayed, we’ll update this post with the season’s new release window.
What’s new in Diablo 4 season 3?
Much like the seasons before it, Season of the Construct is all about adding new items, activities, and temporary features to Diablo 4. And while this isn’t a full expansion (that’s not coming until later this year, so don’t expect a new region or class just yet), it looks like there’s still plenty of stuff to tuck into with Diablo 4’s first robo-season:
Zoltun Kulle — that jerk from Diablo 3 and one of the first Horadrim — and his infernal machines will be the focus of a new questline
Season of the Construct adds Diablo 4’s first ever companion: a customizable little robot pal called the Seneschal
Vaults are a new activity where you can dive in and attempt to avoid traps for a chance at some bonus loot
Take on new construct enemies in a new outdoor activity: Arcane Tremors
Helltides are now always available, with only a short, five minute break between runs — one of many quality of life changes this season
Leaderboards and the new, weekly Gauntlet dungeon come to Diablo 4 in February.
The Seasonal Realm will once again feature both a free and paid version of the battle pass, each granting various cosmetics.
In 2023, Blizzard opened up Overwatch’s world for third-party collaborations. The first was a set of skins and other cosmetics based on the anime/manga One-Punch Man, which naturally turned Overwatch’s own “one-punch man,” Doomfist, into the titular hero with a new skin. The cape is luxurious, but he’s not the only hero who got to cosplay during the event. Soldier: 76 gets to ride a bike as Mumen Rider, Kiriko’s green wig is wigging as the Terrible Tornado, and Overwatch’s resident cyborg Genji naturally becomes One-Punch Man’s cyborg Genos.
Looking back, the collaboration was strange because One Punch Man hasn’t really been doing much as of late, with the third season still in development and the last one having come out in 2019. But there’s a surprising amount of love shown in the skins, highlight intros, and other cosmetics, as silly as it is seeing Soldier: 76 pedaling like his life depends on it.
The second big collaboration was with K-Pop girl group Le Sserafim, and it was an absolute banger of an event. Take my hand, walk with me. Have you heard the good word of Le Sserafim’s catchy as hell bop “Perfect Night”? Have you basked in the glory of Tracer, Kiriko, Brigitte, D.Va, and Sombra geared up for a K-Pop concert, serving some of the most glamorous skins Overwatch has ever seen? And did you watch the music video, in which all the previously mentioned girlies attend a Le Sserafim concert and use their various abilities to have their own perfect night? It ruled. I’m still wearing the Sombra skin when I play her, and have no plans to take it off.
Le Sserafim / Blizzard Entertainment
While Blizzard looked outside of its stable for crossovers, it also looked to the other side of the office and had a Diablo crossover, as well. Moira mains rejoiced as she finally got a decent skin out of the arrangement, though the Diablo-themed co-op mode was extremely mid and tiresome. Also, John Cena showed up in a viral marketing campaign for some reason, though that had no impact on the game itself.
Even if you don’t watch One-Punch Man or jive with Le Sserafim’s music, Overwatch 2’s collaborative events have felt meaningful, not like they’re just cheap crossovers. The team at Blizzard has done a lot to capture the vibes of its partners without it coming at the expense of its own identity. Crossovers can be exhausting, as games like Fortnite can lose their entire sense of self as they clutter their worlds with pieces of other properties. But so far, Overwatch 2 has found a happy medium in paying tribute to something within its own framework. — KS
The Shard of Dawn Aspect is a brand new Legendary Power added in Diablo 4’s Midwinter Blight holiday event. It features a complex buff: Night’s Grasp.
This new power increases your movement speed and attack speed under certain conditions, but can be very difficult to understand when reading the tooltip. Thankfully, we’re here to help.
In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll show you how to get the Shard of Dawn Aspect and explain how the Night’s Grasp buff works.
How to get the Shard of Dawn Aspect in Diablo 4
Image: Blizzard Entertainment
You can buy The Shard of Dawn Aspect from Gileon’s shop in Kyovashad in the Fractured Peaks for 10 Midwinter Proofs.
In order to get Midwinter Proofs, you’ll need to exchange one of three currencies at the Collection Table in town: Blighted Fragments, Lost Heirlooms, and Red-Cloaked Trophies.
You’ll find each of these currencies out in the world of the Fractured Peaks during the Midwinter Blight event. Hop onto your horse and ride around killing enemies (which typically drop Blighted Fragments) and destroying theFrigid Husk ice statues (which drop Lost Heirlooms).
The most efficient way to farm these items is in a new event called Blighted Revelry. As you ride around, look for an event where a bunch of little freaks are jumping around in a circle around a broken cart. Kill the little freaks and interact with the cart to start the event. Protect the cart until the fire gets large enough to unfreeze the Frigid Husks nearby. Use this method to destroy all five Frigid Husks to spawn the Red-Cloaked Horror. Defeat this big goat boss to finish the event, get some loot, and pick up the Red-Cloaked Trophy.
Back in town, you can convert 300 Blight Fragments, 30 Lost Heirlooms, or one Red-Cloaked Trophy into 1 Midwinter Proof. Once you have 10 Midwinter Proofs, you can buy the Shard of Dawn Aspect from Gileon.
If you need more Midwinter Proofs for cosmetics or if you don’t yet have enough for the Aspect, just head back out into the Fractured Peaks to explore (and maybe do the“Secret of the Spring” quest while you’re out there), kill monsters, and collect the currencies that you can exchange for more Proofs.
How Night’s Grasp works in Diablo 4
Image: Blizzard Entertainment
The Shard of Dawn Aspect reads like stereo instructions if you haven’t progressed far enough into the Midwinter Blight event. And even then, it’s hard to understand. Let’s break it down.
After 30 seconds of Night’s Grasp, gain Dawn’s Haste, increasing your Attack Speed by 25-35% and Movement Speed by 20% for 12 seconds. While empowered by the Midwinter Ward, killing an enemy reduces Night’s Grasp’s duration by 1 second.
There are three buffs mentioned in that description, but it only tells you what one of them does.
First, let’s talk about Night’s Grasp. This is a buff that appears on your character when you’re in combat and wielding the Shard of Dawn. However, it doesn’t do anything. All it’s there for is to denote that you don’t have the Dawn’s Haste buff currently active on you. But once you’ve had Night’s Grasp on you for 30 seconds, you’ll gain the benefits of Dawn’s Haste, which increases your attack speed and movement speed for 12 seconds. Once Dawn’s Haste ends, Night’s Grasp returns and the cycle starts over again.
Dawn’s Haste is a pretty slick buff, as attack speed is desirable for most generator/spender builds and movement speed is valuable for all builds. To wit, you want to lower that 30 second window if at all possible. That’s where the Midwinter’s Ward buff factors into the Shard of Dawn, as it reduces the 30-second cooldown between Night’s Grasp and Dawn’s Haste by 1 second each time you kill an enemy.
Midwinter’s Ward is a buff that you can acquire from a special totem inside Kyovashad, next to Gileon’s shop. However, you’ll need to upgrade your Midwinter Tribute level to Tier 3 before it even appears in town. To gain Tribute experience and level up, all you need to do is exchange the Midwinter Blight currencies for Midwinter Proofs at the Collection’s Table. Once you’ve leveled up all the way to Tier 3, you’ll be able to acquire the Midwinter Tribute buff, which lasts for about six minutes and also gives you some bonus damage against Blightfiends and the Red-Cloaked Horror.
Finally, it’s worth noting here that the Shard of Dawn Aspect does not appear in the Codex of Power. Instead, you’ll need to repurchase it for 10 Midwinter Proofs every time you want to apply it to a new piece of gear. So make sure you choose your gear piece carefully when applying the Aspect at the Occultist.
Just in time for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Blizzard is letting you playDiablo IV for free for one full week on Steam right now. That’s a pretty sweet deal among a crop of other pretty sweet deals that Valve is offering as part of the PC gaming store’s massive annual Autumn Sale.
Blizzard tweeted on November 21 that the action-RPG has a free trial going on until November 28. If you head toDiablo IV’s Steam page right now, you can get the demon-slaying, loot-hunting game for the low until the end of the week.
“Give thanks and drag your friends to Hell,” Blizzard said. “Play Diablo IV for free on Steam, from now until November 28th at [10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET].”
This free Steam trial coincides nicely with a gold and XP bonus Blizzard is also running in Diablo IV. Dubbed Mother’s Blessing Week, folks playing the game will earn 35 percent more gold and experience points until November 27. This bonus applies to everyone, including people running amok in the Eternal and Seasonal realms, as well as players across all four World Tiers (Diablo IV’s interpretation of difficulty setting). Blizzard really wants this game to take over your Thanksgiving holiday, it seems.
Diablo IV—out now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox—is running its second season of content, the Season of Blood. The new update, which brought the game to Steam on October 17, adds gameplay changes (like revamping inventory management) and story content while promising an easier grind so folks can level up faster. It’s the first of many seasonal drops, which will be interspersed between yearly paid expansions. The first DLC, Vessel of Hatred, arrives next year, bringing with it a new class to play and a new region to explore.
While patch 1.2.2 already delivers some new exciting content in the form of Unique rings with effects from Season of the Malignant, Greater Rifts will return in Diablo 4’s patch 1.2.3.
New Endgame Pinnacle Dungeon Event
Image Source: Blizzard
Called Abattoir of Zir, these new pinnacle dungeons, by far, represent some of the most challenging content in Diablo 4. Functionally, they are very similar to how Greater Rifts work in Diablo 3. Specifically, Diablo 3 veterans will notice the need to kill a certain amount of monsters in a Nightmare Dungeon while a timer ticks down. If they succeed, then a boss will spawn. Once slain, we hope the boss will become a literal loot fountain as they did in Diablo 3.
However, these pinnacle nightmare dungeons shouldn’t be taken lightly since they will likely represent some of the most challenging post-level 100 content in Diablo 4. This is on top of the fact that these dungeons will have 25 tiers that boost enemy levels past 200!
How to Find and Enter these Nightmare Dungeons
Well, you don’t find these dungeons as much as you make them. But before that, players must finish all seven tiers of their season journey. Once that’s completed, you’ll travel to the occultist, and they will give you access to a new recipe, Bloodforged Sigils. You’ll make the first-tier sigil, costing you 800 sigil powder and 60,000 gold. From there, the sigil will be consumed, and a blood-red portal will open in Ked Bardu. Rinse, repeat.
The Reward for Completing the Abattoir of Zir Dungeon
Image Source: Blizzard
Completing the Abattoir of Zir for the first time will grant you a Unique Glyph called Tears of Blood. Now, its stats are noteworthy because for every 5 Core Stats purchased within range, you’ll gain 2.0%[x] increased damage. It also grants a +50% bonus to all Rare nodes within range, increasing by 10% every ten levels. Finally, the Tears of Blood Glyph has a level cap that is 10 times higher than normal Glyphs.
It’s looking like end-game players will be able to run the Abattoir of Zir over and over to level this Glyph and gain huge amounts of power. This whole Pinnacle dungeon event system partway through the season seems like a great way to incentivize players to get to level 100 and beyond. Hopefully, we will see a system like this return in every new season going forward.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
Diablo IV Update 1.22: Patch Notes, Bug Fixes, and Improvements Revealed – Top Buzz Trends
A new update has been released for Diablo IV Update 1.22. You can find out all the details of the Game Update, Bug Fixes, improvements, and Patch Notes below.Diablo IV Update 1.22 is now available for download, for all platforms, including PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. The file size may vary depending on the platform.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from redeeming their Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass after upgrading to the Ultimate Edition of Diablo IV.
The next batch of cross-over operators was just announced for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone, and it includes none other than Diablo IV’s Succubi queen Lilith and fallen archangel Inarius. Plus a bunch of other horror stars like Spawn and Evil Dead’s Ash Williams. No doubt it will be another bloodbath.
Why The Hot New Redfall Gameplay Trailer Left Us Feeling Cold
Activision revealed the season 6 operators on Thursday alongside teases for other horror-themed content, including the return of The Haunting event in October. The seasonal update goes live on Septmebr 27 and will even include a Doom-themed bundle complete with a chainsaw. Al Simmons will be one of the new operators alongside a host of Spawn-related skins, including a couple for the superhero himself as well as Creepy Clown and Violator.
Lilith, Diablo IV’s main antagonist, and Inarius, the hooded asshole, will be separate purchases added to the shop, joined by Skeletor (He-Man), Ash Williams (Evil Dead 2), and Alucard (Hellsing). I can’t wait to see how they play in the Call of Duty sandbox alongside rapper Nicki Minaj, NBA star Kevin Durant, and the Burger King guy. The upcoming event should make the time go a little faster until Modern Warfare 3drops on November 10.
For those who might not be aware, Call of Duty has been going fullblown Fortnite for quite a while now, mixing things up with wild cross-overs from across the pop culture landscape. In July it was characters from Amazon Prime superhero dramedy, The Boys, with Temp V abilities like Homelander’s red eye lasers torching every player in sight.
Some have bemoaned the silliness of it all for undermining the “very-serious” war shooter. Others enjoy the changing party costumes, if not always the seasonal grinds and prices that come with them. The weapons at least, like the Doom bundle, will carry over into Modern Warfare 3.
During Gamescom’s Opening Night Live presentation, Blizzard took to the stage alongside host Geoff Keighley to announce that Diablo IV’s next update, Season of Blood, will start on October 17—just in time for Halloween.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
Much like Diablo IV’s current update, Season of the Malignant, Season 2 will introduce five new and returning endgame bosses, and will also come with changes to renown rewards, gem and stash storage, and resistance and status effects. While the studio didn’t divulge details on what those updates will be just yet, Blizzard came through with a new trailer showing off what to expect come this October.
If you thought that looked kinda gruesome, well, I’m right there with you. With vampire hunter Erys at your side, it’ll be up to the two of you to put an end to a new threat roaming the lands of Sanctuary. Erys is voiced by Gemma Chan, who you might recognize from Captain Marvel (Minn-Erva), Raya and the Last Dragon (Namaari), Crazy Rich Asians (Astrid), and Eternals (Sersi), among other films and TV shows. Revealing that this is her first video game performance, Chan, alongside Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson, briefly talked about the “badass warrior companion” Erys, some “cool vampiric powers” at your disposal, and a “big bad vampire lord” you’ll face at Season of Blood’s end.
But that’s not until October 17. For now, Season of the Malignant is still going on, and unfortunately, things haven’t been going well. After a controversial change to player power level, the studio addressed the community by promising to not make classes weaker, which Blizzard is aware leads to a “not fun” experience overall. Here’s hoping things go better with Season of Blood.
It’s been two months since Diablo IV came out and players are airing their frustrations with the game, particularly now that season one is underway. One of the most contentious aspects of the loot-hunting action-RPG right now is inventory management, which has become a hot topic in the community.
Diablo IV, like previous entries in Blizzard’s storied franchise, features a massive amount of loot; expect a constant deluge of gear drops from bosses and chests and dungeons as you travel the world of Sanctuary. With a total of 110 inventory slots, your bag will inevitably run out of space. And that’s fine, until you need to make room for that awesome armor or weapon you just snatched. There are some options for clearing your inventory, but the process is so cumbersome and tedious that players are feeling burnt out from over-micromanaging their wares, a feeling I’ve experienced during my own playtime.
The problem with managing Diablo IV gear
The Diablo IV subreddit is inundated with folks decrying inventory management. With post titles like “Comparing items and clearing inventory is overwhelming” and “Inventory management is burning me out from this game,” it’s clear folks have grown weary of frequently rummaging through the in-game bag. Part of the problem is you can’t dismantle or salvage items anywhere in the world. Maybe it’s to make the game feel more lifelike, but to break gear down into other resources, you must travel to a blacksmith at any of Sanctuary’s many towns. This not only interrupts the loot-kill-loot loop by forcing you back to a borough to tend to equipment, it also wastes time as you head back to a town by either backtracking on foot/horseback or sitting through a long loading screen when teleporting. Either way, with a full inventory, looting becomes impossible until you clear more space in your inventory.
Diablo IV’s Strongholds Are A Great Way To Level Up This Season
Diablo IV’s Strongholds Are A Great Way To Level Up This Season
Aside from salvaging, you could drop useless things to make space for better loot. However, while doing so is easy with a few button presses, it’s ultimately a self-defeating endeavor as every piece of gear can be sold or broken down, which is far better for your longer-term bottom line. Maybe you can’t use that level 75 dagger with your Sorcerer, but the iron or cash you can turn it into are necessary and vital for character growth, particularly for upgrading your current equipment. And this process of inspecting every item to determine whether to break it down, drop, or sell has been at the forefront of players’ minds.
Diablo IV players are tired of rummaging their bags
In a popular August 8 Reddit post, user FullStackNoCode joked that fiddling with inventory in Diablo IV is “like having to pee every five minutes.” They went on to explain that they’re “tired of running to town” just to manage the bag, saying a solution could be to allow players to sell or scrap items immediately.
“That’s all just busywork anyway, and highly annoying,” FullStackNoCode wrote. “Then, our bag space could be reserved for things that we want to be looking at/thinking about.”
Image: Blizzard
Another popular post from July 21, a day after Diablo IV’s Season of the Malignant started, saw user jlarue2010 say this new content update should be called “season of inventory management.” This is in reference to malignant hearts, season-exclusive items offering statistical buffs for your characters such as strength or defense that also happen to take up inventory space.
Players are also bumping up against the limits of their item stash, a separate area which lets you easily transfer items between your characters. A popular July 26 post from user Protocide559 explained how they won’t start a second character due to their stash already feeling tight just from saving gear for their current Druid. Diablo IV’s seasons require you to start new characters to participate, but because of the limited storage space, Protocide559 said they’re sticking with their pre-Season One Druid and refusing to play multiple characters like they did in previous Diablos.
“[Blizzard will give you a chance to buy more storage space. Don’t worry,” user vague_diss joked in reply.
Diablo IV’s inventory will get better, just at a later time
For its part, Blizzard has addressed some parts of bag management. Gems, items that can be slapped onto gear to provide buffs such as health on kill or additional gold collecting, will take up less inventory space in a future update. The company also said storage upgrades are coming, but again, at a later time. It’s great that inventory management will become less frustrating as time goes on, particularly considering how tedious it was in previous Diablo games. In the first Diablo, for example, your inventory was divided into a grid. A gem would take up one slot while an axe might take up three, thus filling up quicker. The series has moved beyond grid-based inventories, but Diablo IV’s inventory limitations are still finding ways to annoy players and interrupt game flow.
This happens to my partner and I all the time. We’ll grind dungeons for minutes on end, only to stop right in the middle of it to scour our inventories to make space for the new thing that just dropped because we ran out of space. We do this for what feels like every 10 or so minutes as our bags fill up nonstop, repeating the process of inspecting and culling. It becomes draining after a while, especially when Diablo IV can’t stop spilling loot all over the place.
As promised, Blizzard held a livestream today, July 28, going over what Diablo IV players ought to expect from the game’s upcoming 1.1.1 patch. During the stream, the developers laid out their overall philosophy behind the expected changes, and got into some specifics about what to expect when it lands on August 8, 2023.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
The Diablo IV community hasn’t been particularly happy with recent changes to the wildly popular action RPG. Shortly before the game’s first season, Blizzard pushed a patch that made sweeping changes to classes and quality of life features that’s been largely seen as a net negative. Players felt that the unwelcome adjustments made the game grindier, among other things. Last week, Blizzard acknowledged that the changes weren’t great and promised to never release a patch of that nature ever again. While full notes for the upcoming patch are expected to arrive next week, August 2, today’s stream gave a good sense of what to expect, with some changes to player power and a few reversals of controversial changes. You can watch the whole stream here:
Blizzard
Sorcerer’s and Barbarians, patch 1.1.1 is for you
Early on in the stream, lead class designer Adam Z. Jackson said that the Sorcerer and Barbarian will see the most changes.
“We know that Sorcerers typically have a tough time when they start getting pushed into later Nightmare Dungeon tiers, so we’re going to be looking at ways to increase [late game survivability] specifically.”
Jackson also said that the team is pinpointing what they call “kiss curse mechanics,” which is when the player gains “a really cool power or effect and then we kind of take something or nerf some other part of you, usually for balance reasons to make sure that it’s not out of control.” One example of this is an expected change to the Serpentine Aspect:
“[The Serpentine Aspect] is the one where you can spawn an additional Hydra, but it reduces the duration of your Hydras. That’s no longer going to reduce the duration. It’s actually going to increase it.”
Jackson said that the Barbarian’s early game experience will also get a boost. One concrete example of this is an improvement to Fury generation. In a slide shown during the stream, Bash, Flay, Frenzy, and Lunging Strike all see their Fury increased.
Screenshot: Blizzard / Kotaku
Jackson said the Barbarian ought to expect other improvements to the late game experience with alterations to Unique items that’ll swap existing effects for more useful ones.
Screenshot: Blizzard / Kotaku
While the other classes can expect some updates, they won’t be as comprehensive as Sorcerer and Barbarian. Still, increases to Spirit gains for the Druid ought to be welcome.
Screenshot: Blizzard / Kotaku
Blizzard aims to start expanding build options for Diablo IV in future updates
During today’s stream, Blizzard expanded a bit on how it wants to see build options change for Diabo IV. Jackson spoke to this directly:
“Vulnerable and Crit are really, really strong right now. A lot of the meta is about [making] an enemy vulnerable, and then you do bonus damage to them, and then you stack as much Crit Strike damage chance and Crit damage as you can, and then you blow them up. [Diablo IV] actually was foundationally made with other types of builds that aren’t only those in mind. We have “Damage Over Time” […] we also have “Overpower” as a mechanic in our game. [We want those damage types] to have parity with Vulnerable and Crit Damage.”
Jackson said that the long term goals with Diablo IV are to ensure that “if you’re an Overpower build, or a Crit build, or a Damage Over Time build, you’ll be relatively equal in power to all the different types of ways to play. This will be in addition to improving how skills and effects scale as players increase in level, potentially opening the door to late game builds that make use of typically discarded abilities. What might that look like? Jackson gave a couple of examples:
“We have a lot of legendary powers and effects that spawn ‘a new thing.’ An example of this is the [Barbarian’s legendary power that] spawns earthquakes or dust devils. Another one is the Necromancer [can] leave shadow trails on the ground that deal damage. These [effects] deal what we call ‘flat damage’ which is [where] we give it a damage number and then that’s how much it does. And that damage number scales with player level. But we find is that a lot of these [effects] are really good in the early and mid game […] but then when you get to the really late game, they kind of fall of really hard. And what we want to do is find ways to add scaling so that the player can opt into making a build out of these things. So if I want to be an ‘Earthquake Barbarian’ or a ‘Dust Devil Barbarian’ I can actually do that.”
Another key way the team is looking to expand build options is to mitigate how many skills require specific scenarios to function. One such is the Sorcerer’s chain lightning, which currently sees bonus damage when the lightning bounces off of you. 1.1.1 will change things so that you gain bonus damage when Enhanced Chain Lightning bounces off of anything.
Teleporting out of dungeons will take 3 seconds again and treasure goblins are getting better
In a complete reversal, the controversial change from dungeon teleportation from three to five seconds is getting reversed. Game Designer Joe Shelly said that the original intention of the change was to mitigate players teleporting themselves out of tough encounters and boss fights. Given the community’s reaction over this change, however, teleports are back to three seconds.
And while associate game director Joe Pieopiora discussed how the Treasure Goblin’s Legendary drop rate was actually 50 percent, player frustration over infrequent encounters with them led to a perception that it was far lower. Starting at level 15, Treasure Goblins are now guaranteed to drop a Legendary.
Other quality of life updates
As discussed during last week’s stream, monster density for Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides are going up. During the stream, the devs showed off a slide of what the increased monster presence will look like.
And while bosses will see their health boosted, at level 35 and up you’ll be guaranteed a Legendary item drop. Legion events will also see a guaranteed Legendary drop.
On the technical side, patch 1.1.1 is also expected to address a specific VRAM issue for PC players, so the game should be more stable.
Patch 1.1.1 is expected to arrive on August 8, with final patch notes coming on August 2.
While exploring dungeons in Diablo IV, you might encounter The Butcher, a terrifying and hard-to-kill demon boss who’s been a staple of the series since the original game in 1997. But if you get lucky, you might be able to easily kill this legendary baddie if he gets stuck behind a locked door. I’d feel bad for the guy, but he’s been getting trapped like this for nearly three decades now.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
Released in June, Diablo IV is the latest entry in Blizzard’s popular and long-running demon-killin’ action-RPG franchise. The game offers mostly the same classic looting and dungeon-crawling action you’d expect from a Diablo game, with some of the same enemies and classes from past titles returning for this latest entry. Also returning is one of Diablo’s most famous bosses: The Butcher.
This big demon first appeared way back in 1997 and also showed up in Diablo III in 2012. He’s a fan of big cleavers, killing adventures and asking for fresh meat. He’s scary and has been wrecking Diablo IV players when he randomly (and rarely) shows up in a dungeon or basement. However, old-school Diablo players might already know his weakness: doors. And it appears not much has changed in 2023.
What makes this funnier is that back in the first Diablo, The Butcher was known to commonly get stuck on random bits of terrain or even, like in 2023, get trapped behind doors. And just like today, back then players would take advantage of the helpless Butcher and beat the demonic shit out of him until he died and spit out some loot.
As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a reliable way to force the ol’ Butcher to spawn behind a locked door. But if it happens to you, don’t feel bad as you murder him. You’re just taking part in an old, time-honored Diablo tradition.
If you’re jumping into Diablo IV for the very first time, you may not know which class to start with. And since each season in Diablo IV requires you to make a new character, if this isn’t your first rodeo you might want to check out a class you haven’t played before.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
Either way, it can help to brush up on some basics, review what your class options are, and take a look at some solid builds.
How to pick a Diablo IV class for the very first time
Diablo IV is a game with a lot of numbers and choices, but don’t be too intimidated by the wide variety of builds and opportunities available to you.
The Necromancer is an excellent first choice for beginners. We’ve got a list of three solid Necromancer builds that give you a variety of options for commanding the forces of the undead.
Between the exploding Corpse Necromancer, Summoner Necromancer, and Bone Spear Necromancer, you’ll get a solid grasp of how to build out and wield this class.
How to build a Sorcerer in Diablo IV
The Sorcerer is a satisfying and approachable class to jump into a new character with. We’ve put together a list of three different Sorcerer builds focusing on different elements for your consideration.
Whether you pick the Fire, Lightning, or Frost sorcerer, you’ll be able to take your character to level 50 with our builds, bending elemental forces to your will.
Our guide covers the Storm Druid, Pulverizer Druid, and Shapeshifting Druid with specific considerations for werebear and werewolf form.
Barbarian builds for Diablo IV
The Barbarian might be a very straightforward, kill-everything-in-your-way class to pick, but don’t let that fool you: Like other classes, they’re surprisingly versatile. But if you just want to cover your basics, take a look at our guide for Barbarian builds. We focus on the Whirlwind, Bleed, and Upheaval Barbarian in our list.
The extreme amount of damage output makes the Barbarian an essential role in just about any party. But even if you’re playing solo, you’ll have a blast mopping up room-fulls of enemies.
But don’t let the Rogue’s steeper learning curve turn you away from what can be a very fun class to throw down with. You might stumble a bit in the beginning, but once your Rogue starts demolishing their foes, it’ll feel that much more rewarding.
Diablo IV’s multiple options for character builds, which can combine to create some unique synergies in a multiplayer party, might be complicated to understand at first. Once you build your first character, however, you’ll get a better sense of what ability types to focus on and will find more opportunities to experiment with future builds.
The last 48 hours of Diablo IV has been a little chaotic following wildly controversial changes to player power level in the game’s first pre-season patch. Now, developer Blizzard is doing a bit of damage control, taking to a livestream on July 21 to try and explain its decision-making process, as well as what changes it’s making in response to the overwhelmingly negative feedback.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
Diablo IV’s latest patch, 1.1.0, dramatically reduced player power across the board. Changes include reductions to XP earned for various activities, as well as a diminished role to status effects like Vulnerability that have played a central role in class builds. It was a tumultuous set of changes to say the least, all documented in an exhaustive list of alterations via the official patch notes. As promised, Blizzard held a livestream today to address these changes, as well as provide some updates on future changes to the game—particularly in response to the negative feedback on the previous patch. You can watch the whole stream here:
Blizzard / Diablo
Reducing player power: ’We know it is bad. We know it is not fun.’
On the stream, Blizzard’s associate director of community management, Adam Fletcher, immediately responded to the overwhelmingly negative feedback in response to the patch, acknowledging that missteps were made and that the reduction to player power has wrecked the fun of the game for some players.
While Fletcher stated that Blizzard had specific goals in mind with the most recent patch and that it wanted an opportunity to explain why it made these changes, some good news is that the team doesn’t “plan on doing a patch like this ever again.”
Blizzard plans on ‘always providing patch notes well beforehand’
While the most recent patch did dramatically reduce player power and strike at the heart of the developing meta, one of the most chaotic elements of it all was how suddenly the patch notes arrived, how lengthy they were, and how it felt like there was absolutely no heads up as to what was going to happen going into the game’s first season, which started on July 20.
As a way to get ahead of future issues like that, Blizzard has promised to provide patch notes “well beforehand,” estimating that notes will hit about a week before a new update. The game’s next patch, version 1.1.1, is expected to arrive sometime soon, and Blizzard will discuss the specific details of that patch in another livestream chat next Friday, July 28.
Changes to player power explained
Though some may find Blizzard’s explanations for the dramatic, across-the-board nerfs lacking, associate game director Joe Piepiora explained that the reductions to player attributes like cooldown rates and status effects like Vulnerability were done to try and amplify player choice. On the cooldown rates specifically, Piepiora said:
[Cooldown reduction (CDR) is the most powerful stat] in Diablo IV, and the reason for it is obvious: When you’re able to get CDR to a certain point when using certain class mechanisms, you’re able to get effectively instantaneous active skills. That can give you unlimited resources, can give you unlimited movement speed, can give you unlimited damage resistance, and it begins to dwarf the effectiveness of other options when you start trying to take these things into account.
During the stream both Piepiora and game director Joe Shely recognized that overpowered builds and mowing down tons of enemies is core to the action-RPG power fantasy. However, the team is presently concerned that player choice in builds is dying in favor of go-to metas, meaning that if you don’t emphasize cooldown reduction, or optimize builds to send foes into Vulnerable status, you’re operating at a disadvantage.
Vulnerability, which saw its damage modifier reduced significantly in patch 1.1.0, according to Piepiora, became the only way to really start dealing damage to enemies at certain levels of play. This, the team said, is not in line with their vision of the game, and in many ways they believe it’s the result of the outsized influence of high-level Nightmare Dungeons, which Piepiora said is one of the areas of endgame content that tends to demand very specific builds without much room for customization and choice.
The reality is that Nightmare Dungeons are dramatically overtuned from where they actually need to be based upon the role they fill in the game itself. So Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons are excruciatingly difficult for most classes to be able to actually get through and as a result it begins to winnow the opportunities and options that players have when they begin to engage with content at that Tier. You need to lean on very, very specific builds, very specific setups with access to things like near-instantaneous cooldowns for some skills in an effort to actually make it through those spaces. And that was never really the intent of that content.
Apparently Nightmare Dungeons will see changes on at least two fronts: The density of hordes will be increased to play into the power fantasy of destroying vast amounts of enemies and, in respect to Piepiora’s statement that the crushing level of difficulty they pose is having too much of an effect on build choice, difficulty will be reduced, bringing Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons down to about the current difficulty level of Tier 70 Nightmare Dungeons.
Patch 1.1.1 is expected to address some of the concerns
During the stream the team stressed that the goal was not, in fact, to reduce the speed of the game and slow progress, though many have felt that changes to game systems like an increase in the amount of time it takes to teleport out of dungeons seems to suggest otherwise. Commenting on that very change, Shely said the team will continue to evaluate changes like this, but stopped shy of saying why, exactly, that specific change was instituted in the first place.
The next patch, 1.1.1, is expected to address a wide variety of the issues present in the current build of the game. Blizzard revealed some such changes, like an extra tab in stash size to mitigate concerns over inventory management, and a 40 percent reduction in respec costs so players can more adequately respond to changes in the game’s meta while also having more choice over build variety as the game progresses. Other specific details, such as changes that have wildly reduced the power level and strength of certain classes more so than others, will be explored more in depth in next week’s livestream.
The team stressed that it doesn’t want to take powerful skills and items away as abruptly as it did with the most recent patch, and pledges to offer more alternatives when potentially sweeping changes come about in the future. A hotfix is scheduled to arrive later today (July 21), with patch notes expected to hit Diablo IV’s website shortly before it goes live.
It’s not uncommon for live-service games to make sudden changes like Diablo IV did here, but community frustration over poorly communicated and executed changes can easily build up over time to create burnout and resentment. Time will tell how quickly Diablo IV recovers from this latest kerfuffle.
With the gift of magic, Sorcerers can set things on fire, freeze their enemies, and create wondrous demonstrations of lightning’s lethality. Reminds me of when I was a teen, really. As a result, the Sorcerer is a hell of a lot of fun to play and very versatile thanks to their many options for direct damage, area of effect damage, and healing.
The Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Diablo IV
That in mind, here are three powerful but straightforward builds for the Sorcerer, with Frost, Fire, and Lightning specializations.
Frost Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15
Kick things off with Frost Bolt, Enhanced Frost Bolt, and Flickering Frost Bolt. Flickering will make frozen enemies Vulnerable for three seconds. A universal truth across almost every Sorcerer build (and probably every class for that matter) is that the more you can send enemies into Vulnerable status, the better.
Next up, grab Ice Shards, Enhanced Ice Shards, and Greater Ice Shards. Greater Ice Shards helps us plan ahead for the next upgrade. Select Ice Armor, Enhanced Ice Armor, and Mystical Ice Armor. Here, we’re looking to stack as many opportunities as possible to freeze and make enemies Vulnerable. After Ice Armor, get yourself Frost Nova, Enhanced Frost Nova, and Mystical Frost Nova. To wrap up your first 15 levels, continue investing skill points into previously acquired skills, and consider unlocking Teleport and Enhanced Teleport. You can leave Teleport at Enhanced for a while if you want, otherwise consider Mystical Teleport if you want to up your damage output or Shimmering Teleport for some damage reduction. If you grab the second Teleport upgrade, go ahead and grab Glass Cannon or Devastation. Ideally you should have both before you reach level 50.
Once you hit level 15, take on the “Legacy of the Magi” quest which will automatically appear in your quest log. That complete, it’s time to start building toward 50, taking additional skills and powering up existing ones.
Fire Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15
For our Fire Sorcerer, start with Firebolt, Enhanced Firebolt, and Glinting Firebolt. (Glinting Firebolt is the better choice here as it’ll have you outputting more damage over time.) You’ll find that fire builds benefit greatly from abilities with the “Burn” keyword. Following Firebolt, grab Fireball, Enhanced Fireball, and Destructive Fireball. Because it’s so useful, grab Teleport and Enhanced Teleport next. Unlock Flame Shield, Enhanced Flame Shield, and Mystical Flame Shield. You should also take Glass Cannon.
Continue investing in previously unlocked abilities until you hit level 15 for the Sorcerer’s class quest, “Legacy of the Magi.” Now it’s time to aim for level 50, unlocking additional abilities and investing further into existing ones along the way.
Lightning Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15
For a Lightning-focused build, start with Arc Lash, Enhanced Arc Lash, and Flickering Arc Lash. After that, grab Chain Lightning, Enhanced Chain Lightning, and Greater Chain Lightning. Now you’ll want to get Teleport, Enhanced Teleport, and Shimmering Teleport. You may also find Mystical Teleport to be useful if you’re not satisfied with your damage output. Few Sorcerers can live on Lightning alone, however, so you’ll also want to unlock Ice Armor, Enhanced Ice Armor, and Mystical Ice Armor. You may also wish to grab Frost Nova or Fireball and be sure to unlock Glass Cannon and try to put at least two skill points into it in your first 15 levels.
Finish the Sorcerer class quest “Legacy of the Magi” that unlocks at level 15, and then proceed to level 50 by juicing current abilities and unlocking new ones.
Frost Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50
As you progress toward level 50 as a Frost Sorcerer, consider the following abilities:
Deep Freeze > Prime Deep Freeze > Supreme Deep Freeze
Avalanche
Upgrade as much of these as you can, prioritizing anything that increases your ability to deal more damage to Vulnerable enemies, such as Ice Blades.
Fire Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50
In the run-up to level 50, consider these abilities:
Devastation
Hydra > Enhanced Hydra > Summoned Hydra
Firewall > Enhanced Firewall > Mage’s Firewall
Meteor > Enhanced Meteor > Wizard’s Meteor
Align the Elements > Mana Shield and Protection
Inner Flames > Devouring Blaze and Crippling Flames
Inferno > Prime Inferno > Supreme Inferno
Fiery Surge > Endless Pyre > Warmth
Esu’s Ferocity
Increase these as necessary, when you’ve acquired all the skills you think are necessary, start investing into the AoE and healing skills you find yourself using most.
Lightning Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50
As you level up your Lightning Sorcerer to level 50, consider the following abilities:
Unstable Currents > Prime Unstable Currents > Supreme Unstable Currents
Coursing Currents > Conduction > Convulsions
Vyr’s Mastery
Feel free to experiment with skills from different elements for the Lightning Build, especially ones that’ll stun or freeze enemies in place, making it even easier to chain lightning off of them.
These elemental specializations merely scratch the surface of Sorcerer build possibilities, but they’ll help you get a taste of the many different arcane arts at the class’s disposal. As demonstrated by the hybrid aspects of the Lightning build, combining different elements can make for even more destructive possibilities.
Diablo IV has six Uber Uniques that are the rarest and some of the most powerful items in the game. Players have spent hundreds of hours without ever coming across them—until now. A trick for easily earning them was recently discovered and Blizzard has now removed the items from the game entirely to try and stop the madness.
Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build
Previously only farmable in Nightmare dungeons, Uber Uniques were added to the game’s Helltide event in the latest patch, an in-game event where a particular zone on the map turns blood red and fills up with extra tough enemies. Players quickly found out that there was a way to significantly increase their chances of getting the Harlequin Crest, better known as Shako, one of, if not the, most powerful item in Diablo IV. That’s because characters like Barbarians don’t have many Unique helmets, meaning Helltide chests that only give out helmets are much more likely to grant those players Shakos instead.
“Just do Helltide and open the helm chest over and over and over and these are dropping like candy,” said YouTuber Raxxanterax in a how-to video about the trick. Players rushed to try and snag their Shako before Blizzard nerfed the exploit, and the Diablo IV forums and subreddits immediately began to fill up with success stories and memes. Players who chose the night of July 6 to not log on to the game were kicking themselves, while others who got Shako called on Blizzard not to take their cheesed Uber Uniques away.
It didn’t take long for Blizzard to step in and remove Uber Uniques, including Shako, from the game entirely until a hotfix goes live. Naturally, there were debates about whether this actually constituted an exploit, versus players just seizing on a seeming oversight in the game’s design following the latest patch. Others complained about how fast Blizzard reacted to what is arguably an innocuous issue when other quality of life features are still missing from the game.
On the bright side, once the hotfix goes into effect, Uber Uniques like the two-handed sword The Grandfather and the Ring of Starless Skies will be easier to earn overall since they’ll now drop in Helltide activities, as well. While players still might not earn them even after dozens of hours of end-game farming, at least they can have a change of scenery from their standard Nightmare dungeon runs.
Diablo IV’s first season, meanwhile, goes live on July 20. Players will have to start entirely new characters but also have access to a whole new raft of season-specific abilities and builds. Hopefully the action-RPG’s most devoted players manage to earn at least one or two of their most coveted Uber Uniques by then.
Update 7/7/2023 7:38 p.m. ET: Blizzard has released the hotfix and brought Uber Uniques back online. It says only 142 accounts in total earned them while the Helltide chest exploit was live and the studio doesn’t plan to take them away from players. However, if something like this happens again in the future it might in order to keep things fair. Here are the full patch notes:
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where Uber Unique items had an unintended higher chance to drop from Helltide Chests.
Developer Note: With the above change, we have re-enabled Uber Unique drops in Diablo IV. In total we have discovered that only 142 accounts obtained an Uber Unique between the launch of 1.0.4 and when we disabled Uber Unique items from the game on the evening of July 6th. We do not plan on removing these items from the accounts. In the future, we may need to take action to maintain fairness within the game when a bug or exploit impacts the gameplay of others.
Gameplay Changes
Helltide Chests will now have the chance to drop any Unique and not be restricted to specific item slot limitations from any chest.
Developer Note: With the above change players will now be able to find Unique items from ALL Helltide Chests. Uber Unique items also have a chance to be found from all chests.
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