Season 8 brings new rewards in Diablo 4, but one of them drew a lot of criticism – because it was linked to the hardest difficulty level. Now Blizzard is responding and accommodating the community.
What was the criticism? In the new season journey, you can earn various rewards again – including player titles and Smoldering Ash, which used to be in the Battle Pass. Additionally, a new loot pet awaits you in Season 8. The problem: The pet was only available in Chapter 7 of the season journey. And to complete it, you should play on Torment level 4 – and according to Blizzard, that may no longer be accessible for everyone.
Many fans found this unfair, as many casual players reach a limit on Torment 2 or 3 – and still, they are supposed to miss out on rewards here. The criticism grew loud, and Blizzard has now announced a short-term change in the official forum.
Loot Pet no longer only at the last stage of the season journey
What is Blizzard changing now? Community Manager Adam Fletcher explained on April 29 in the Blizzard forum that a change to the rewards from the season journey was made just before the start of Season 8. The loot pet “Iris” and also the Smoldering Ash that you use for various bonuses will now be available in earlier chapters.
Specifically, Fletcher writes:
Iris, the new pet reward animal from Season 8, is now available after completing Chapter 6 instead of Chapter 7.
We are confident that these changes will simplify progress and enable more players to unlock Iris over the course of the new season.
And this is how the new distribution of Smoldering Ash looks:
- Chapter 2: 2 Ash upon completing the chapter
- Chapter 3: 2 Ash upon completing the chapter
- Chapter 4: 3 Ash upon completing the chapter + 1 Ash for the chapter goal
- Chapter 5: 3 Ash upon completing the chapter + 1 Ash for the chapter goal
- Chapter 6: 3 Ash upon completing the chapter + 1 Ash for the chapter goal
- Chapter 7: 3 Ash upon completing the chapter + 1 Ash for the chapter goal
Fletcher also explains that some tooltips for the season journey may still show incorrect information for now – the correct data will be provided in a later client update. More information is expected soon.
How is this received by the community? In a Reddit post by the official Diablo account, the community in the Diablo 4 subreddit discusses the quite spontaneous change – because Season 8 starts this evening. The general sentiment is that the adjustment is well received.
Heartbroken_nerd writes: “Awesome adjustment, guys! No more Torment 4 needed to get the pet in Season 8.” And free05ct says: “Yay, I don’t have to watch a guide to get the cool pet. I can make my own build and reach up to Torment 3. […] I’m one of those casuals who is satisfied with Torment 3, but I wanted the cool pet for the season. Thank you!”
The community manager also chimes in again in the thread – and thanks for the feedback.
Some users seize the opportunity to also criticize the new Battle Pass. Some demand that Blizzard should “revert” the recent changes to it. Especially the free Battle Pass has lost value.
With Season 8, Blizzard is changing how the Battle Pass works in Diablo 4. Players are supposed to be able to avoid unwanted rewards. But according to fans, there is simply less to gain overall. More information can be found here: Players fear that the new Battle Pass in Diablo 4 is a hidden price increase, calculating the rewards
