Blizzard Entertainment is taking feedback from its recent open beta for Diablo 4 into account and making major changes to dungeons, classes, UI and more before launch. The game held two beta weekends last month with players offering plenty of feedback regarding class balancing, calls for better UI, improvements to dungeons and gear drops and plenty of other criticisms. Blizzard has now detailed all the changes coming to the game at launch.
“After the Early Access and Open Beta weekends concluded, the development team read through all your feedback and reviewed gameplay data,” wrote Blizzard in a recent post. “Using this information, we have made a variety of fixes and updates to various systems in Diablo 4, all of which will be present in the version of the game that launches on June 6.”
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First and foremost, some dungeons in Diablo 4 will now require less backtracking as that was a problem reported by several players during the beta. The following dungeons will now be tweaked so it eliminates most repetitive backtracking objectives:
- Caldera Gate
- Defiled Catacombs
- Derelict Lodge
- Forbidden City
- Hoarfrost Demise
- Immortal Emanation
- Kor Dragan Barracks
- Maulwood
- Rimescar Caverns
Dungeons will also be adjusted to accommodate more events, the odds of one have been boosted from 10% to 60%. A number of gameplay updates have been also been designed to “streamline and vary the experience of completing objectives.”
Classes in Diablo 4 will also receive some changes before launch. According to Blizzard, many Legendary powers will be made more effective with all classes confirmed to “have access to sufficient skills that remove control impairing effects.” It will now take twice as long for effects like Stun and Freeze to proc on Elite Monsters. Additionally, each class will have its own set of nerfs and buffs:
- Barbarian: The Barbarian class will receive a 10% nerf to passive damage and another nerf some damage duration effects. The Whirlwind skill will now deal more damage but will take more Fury, while the Double Swing skill enhancement refunds its full Fury cost when used on stunned or knocked down enemies.
- Necromancer: The Necromancer is getting some major nerfs. Summoned minions will now die more easily and Corpse Explosion will have its damage reduced. Many Book of the Dead bonuses will be buffed. The brightness of the Skeletal Warriors and Mages will be reduced for less strain on your eyes.
- Druid: The Druid class will get a few noteworthy buffs, namely companions’ skill damage being “heavily increased” while all Ultimate skills will get reduced cooldowns. Additionally, “usability improvements have been made to Maul and Pulverize” while “using a non-shapeshifting skill will now transform a Druid back into their human form.”
- Rogue: The Rogue class is getting buffs in the form of Subterfuge Skill upgrades having their bonuses increased as well as several passives. However, Imbuement Skills will now have bigger cooldowns.
- Sorcerer: The Sorcerer is getting both nerfs and buffs in key departments. Charged Bolts will now deal more damage and takes less mana but Chain Lightning damage will be reduced, including its effectiveness against bosses. Incinerate’s Enchancement bonus will reduce its cooldown while Firewalls will be buffed to spawn under enemies more frequently. Finally, Meteor’s Enchantment bonus is more likely to score a Lucky Hit.
Those hoping for improved UI might have to wait a bit longer as it looks like most of those changes will only be bug fixes. However, players will be able to tackle Cellars with the increased chance of getting a chest upon completion. The Butcher boss is also getting its difficulty buffed for World Tiers 3 and 4 including other bosses like T’chort, Malnok, and Vhenard who will all have changes to attacks and fight mechanics.
Diablo 4 launches on 6 June 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment
