Shortly before the release of Season 4, Blizzard released a video about the new itemization in Diablo 4 and the endgame. In it, the developers explain the new crafting systems again and show how many materials you will really need to grind.
This is the change:
- Through the two systems Tempering and Masterworking, you can improve your items in the endgame of Diablo 4.
- On the PTR, there was a chance that an upgrade attempt would fail. Blizzard changed that: Every Masterworking works guaranteed, which was very well received.
- However, you need crafting materials and a lot of gold for crafting. After the change, even significantly more than on the PTR.
Here you can find all info about Season 4.
How expensive is crafting now? In the latest video, the developers briefly show the steps of Masterworking. However, only 4 of the total 12 steps are visible. Each step shows higher costs. At level 12, you previously needed:
- 30 Neathiron
- 2 legendary crafting materials
- 12 Shrouded Crystals
- 1 Forgotten Soul
- 525,000 gold
The new costs are:
- 250 Neathiron
- 20 legendary crafting materials
- 50 Shrouded Crystals
- 10 Forgotten Souls
- 10 million gold
The costs have almost increased twentyfold. Other steps look similar. You can find the detailed list with the colleagues from wowhead. Keep in mind that these are provisional numbers and may still change before the release.
10 million gold sounds enormous, but previously you only had a 20% chance for crafting to succeed at all. Now each step is 100% guaranteed. Players say: This is definitely better.
You can get Neathiron and other materials from the Mine, the new endgame dungeon. You can read more about it in our big interview about Season 4 with Timothy Ismay and Deric Nuñez. In the video, the developers explain the changes:
“Better higher costs than unhappy fails”
Although the costs are now significantly higher and seem extremely expensive, the change does not seem to bother anyone. The community has said so far that they would rather pay more materials but not waste any materials due to failures (via Reddit).
Casual players might still complain, but that is their problem – the system is now good as it is. In any case, you should consider carefully what you want to master:
I think many people who complain about the costs overlook that you should really only master gear that is already perfect to give it the final touch. If you master everything you wear just to find a better item, you are doing it wrong. This is an endgame system.
Ubergoober166 on Reddit
The developers explain in the interview what the new loop will look like:
- A basic item will only have 2-3 stats.
- Through Tempering, you will then add additional stats. A random stat will be chosen from a list. You can find the recipes in the world.
- The degree of tempering determines how often you can add or reroll affixes, similar to crafting in Last Epoch.
- Fully tempered items can then be refined.
- Refining improves the value of all affixes, at levels 4, 8, and 12 an affix will also be further enhanced.
- If you don’t like the result, you can reset the item to level 12 and start over.
The best items you can improve are those that already have 3 strong “major affixes”. Major affixes are 1.5 times stronger than normal affixes and can only appear on legendary items. The developers mention two sources: drops and the Obolus merchant, who will be much more important in the next season: A merchant will be much more important in Diablo 4 Season 4 – You should already hoard his currency while leveling
