After the test phase for the upcoming Season 11 for Diablo 4, Blizzard has once again significantly refined the content, especially the balancing. In an interview, the developers explain what improvements will happen between PTR and release.
Where does the information come from?
- The Diablo expert Rob2628 spoke in a one-hour video with Senior Game Designer Zaven Haroutunian and the Lead Live Game Designer and community favorite Colin Finer.
- The interview focused particularly on various balancing aspects of the classes and items, but also leveling, quests, and the new crafting system from Season 11. Most comparisons were related to the short test phase of the season.
- You can find the full video in English (1 hour 18 minutes long) on Rob’s channel or embedded here:
Changes to the classes: Very late in the interview, Rob asks about the classes. In the current Season 10, they are quite strong, in the tier list of the best classes there are a lot of S-tier builds: “The power level was extremely high […] now with Season 11 it seems to be a bit more grounded.”
You don’t need builds that deal two quadrillion damage, but there is still some concern that the selection in Season 11 will be greatly restricted. Rob asks how exactly the balancing will take place here. Colin Finer responds:
A change we are making after the PTR is that we will reduce the pit scaling. This should allow every build to reach about 5-10 tiers deeper into the pit. […] We probably won’t reach a point where everyone can complete level 100, but we are targeting levels 80 to 85.
Colin Finer in the interview on YouTube, around minute 52:48
Finer emphasizes that they want to work on various systems like Paragon glyphs, skill trees, legendaries, and more – everything where multiplicative damage comes into play and where it becomes confusing. There should be “crazy builds” that far exceed expectations, but what is currently considered the goal is a “healthy balance.”
Blizzard removes the most annoying affix in crafting, nerfs enemies and bosses
Another highlight in the interview is the improvement of the sanctification system. The new mechanic from Season 11 allows you to finally improve an item again after hardening and completion.
On the PTR, it could happen that an indestructibility affix was added as an additional affix, basically the zonk of the results, since it has no practical use. Exactly this affix should no longer be possible with sanctifications.
Sanctification should not be a necessary step, the developers emphasize. It should be a bit of a gamble to squeeze out the last few percentage points from a build, with a high dopamine reward when it works – but also the danger that you have to consume some strong items beforehand to get the desired result.
Additionally, the developers are also adjusting the world scaling. All enemies at level 50 should have about 60% less health points. Bosses in capstone dungeons no longer have resilience, meaning they are not as “tanky,” but are more dangerous. Further information from the interview includes:
- Changes to some items like the Melted Heart of Selig and general loot: Gold should now primarily come from monster drops, rather than through selling items.
- The tower as a new leaderboard feature will have two reward paths, where rank-1 rewards are available only for the respective character, not the entire account.
- Numbers, especially regarding defense and attack, should become more transparent in order to better assess the strength of one’s character. Caps ideally disappear, but they are still working on that.
On December 11 during the Game Awards, you should definitely tune in because a big announcement is likely to occur. What it will be has not yet been revealed. In general, Rob shows enthusiasm for the changes, and there is also a lot of support on Reddit for the responses. Blizzard seems to be very responsive to criticism at the moment: Crafting in Diablo 4 drives players to despair – now Blizzard is listening to its fans
