With Season 11 comes a new seasonal crafting system in Diablo 4. A player has tested it on the PTR and after 61 items draws a rather sobering conclusion.
What is this new crafting system? Sanctification is one of the central mechanics in Season 11. It is a crafting system that allows you to change your equipment in unpredictable ways. Many players find it reminiscent of Vaal Orbs from Path of Exile.
Possible outcomes of Sanctification:
- The item receives an additional legendary aspect.
- An affix is upgraded to a GA (greater affix).
- An additional affix from a pool of special sanctification affixes is added.
- An existing affix is replaced by a new “sacred” affix.
- The item becomes indestructible and no longer loses durability.
Currently, the PTR (public test server) for Season 11 is running on Battle.net. A player seized the opportunity and hunted 61 items through sanctification to test the new system.
Season 10 is currently well received by players. Whether the new season with its changes and new features will succeed as well, remains to be seen.
Current implementation of sanctification is said to be “pure lottery”
This is what the player found out: The user “Angren1991” shared his results from the PTR with the community in a post on Reddit. Overall, he sanctified 32 Mythic Uniques and 29 Uniques of his Spiritborn and tried to derive probabilities for the various outcomes.
The results for the 32 Mythic Uniques (maxed out and socketed):
- 13 items received additional aspects (40.6 %),
- 6 items received greater affixes (18.8 %),
- 6 items received the addition “no durability loss” (18.75 %),
- 5 items received additional affixes (15.6 %)
- 2 items received new affixes that replaced old ones (6.3 %)
The results for the 29 Uniques (also maximally completed and socketed):
- 17 items received additional affixes (58.62 %)
- 5 items received the addition “no durability loss” (17.24 %)
- 3 items received greater affixes (10.34 %)
- 3 items received new affixes that replaced old ones (10.34 %)
- 1 item received another aspect (3.4 %)
After his evaluation, Mythic Uniques seem to have a higher chance of additional aspects. The probability for normal Uniques is rather “disappointing”. He also criticizes that the “sacred” affixes are often just regular affixes from the existing pool, such as cooldown reduction on helmets. Here Blizzard needs to enhance and incorporate more exciting bonuses.
The player feels that the current implementation of sanctification is a “pure lottery”. Essentially, it creates more frustration than dopamine and is even worse than the old system. Especially hardening has been frustrating many players in Diablo 4 for months.
“No one says you have to use it” – Community reacts divided
What do other players say about it? The reactions on Reddit are rather mixed. Some players feel that the system is fair, as crafting is about risk and reward. Those who want strong new bonuses must also live with setbacks. Others are already annoyed. For example, Zaphod392 writes in the post: “Oh boy, I can hardly wait to like this system even less than the current hardening system!”
Especially the addition of “no durability loss” is causing discussions. Many consider it unnecessary, as items in hardcore mode cannot be repaired anyway, since death means the end of the character. In standard mode, damaged items can simply be repaired at the blacksmith.
Some players argue that the seasonal crafting system is optional and one can decide whether to take the risk. Duckwizzle states: “If you can’t afford the loss of the item, then don’t take the risk, it’s that simple.”
However, others see it differently: since sanctification is the central mechanic of the season, it is almost “mandatory” to use it. Those who skip it miss the core content of the new season. Some readers at MeinMMO emphasize that the system is essential for squeezing out the last percentage of gear and mastering truly challenging content. You can read more about it here: Players criticize the RNG in crafting in Diablo 4, soon getting a system with a new randomness principle
