After major criticism of patch 1.1.0 and season 1 in Diablo 4, Blizzard spoke with the community during an emergency stream. There, the executives explained how the patch came about, what improvements are being made now, and promised that something like this will never happen again.
The key points from the stream:
- Nighmare Dungeons will be nerfed soon: Level 100 should be as hard as Level 70 is now. Instead, new content is coming that is meant to “test” you.
- If builds are completely OP in the future, they will remain so until alternatives can be designed, rather than being nerfed directly.
- Significant balance and meta changes should come at obvious times, such as the start of a season. Patch notes should be released at least one week in advance.
- A patch like patch 1.1.0 should never happen again.
When will the changes come? So far, there are no concrete dates for any of the changes. However, a hotfix is expected to come during the night (German time) that adjusts the Nightmare Dungeons. Patch notes for this will follow.
Moreover, patch 1.1.1 is supposed to be released in “the next few weeks.” More information will be available on Friday, July 28, during the next campfire chat. What we already know will be read shortly on MeinMMO.
The developers also explained during the stream why the changes were made and answered questions from the community. They have already revealed some of their plans for the future.
“If it’s no longer fun, we have failed”
Associate Game Director Joe Piepiora and Game Director Joe Shely talked in the stream about the reasons for the nerfs in patch 1.1.0, as well as about the changes that are yet to come.
As previously mentioned in one of the earlier talks, the short explanation is: nerfs occur because they are necessary. Vulnerability and reduction of cooldowns were too strong traits that restricted build possibilities. This is precisely what they want to ensure.
The biggest problem here is, that especially strong multipliers lead to immense numbers that can only be reached in this way. However, builds should not work this way; there should always be alternatives.
Nerfs like those of the Sorceress and the Barbarian are not productive in this regard. Fun must be maintained, even with adjustments. Specifically, they stated: if a build is OP, then it should remain so until alternatives can be provided. Only in the case of “game-breaking” issues will they react immediately.
The goal is always to ensure a wide range of builds that players can experiment with. No “mandatory” skills like everything with vulnerability should be necessary. Furthermore, patches should better adjust the dials in the future and be announced early.
Loads of new content for the future
Following the explanations, there was a Q&A with the community. You can watch the full video on YouTube; we have summarized the key points for you here:
- Leaderboards will come in season 3 with newly created content for that.
- The notorious Uber Uniques are meant to remain rare but not so rare. The drop rate will be slightly increased at some point, but the idea is that they should not define a build.
- There will be more tools against control effects from enemies.
- Leveling will be easier; the required XP from level 50 to 100 will be adjusted, and there will be more opportunities and challenges at world tier 4.
- Adjustments to some of the most annoying creatures like skeleton archers and charging monsters are coming.
- Resistances that are currently virtually useless will get an overhaul for season 2.
- Campaign bosses will come back in some form as opponents, but the developers are not allowed to say how and when yet.
- It will become easier to find item upgrades and things like loot filters.
- Crashes and technical problems on PS5 and Xbox will be fixed.
- New ways to customize and craft equipment will be introduced.
- Builds focusing on companions will be improved. This concerns druids and necromancers.
There were also questions about features like build loadouts and a group finder. Both are things that the team is discussing repeatedly, but nothing concrete can be said yet. So these features are definitely still far in the future, if they come at all.
Several hotfixes have already been made that reverted changes from patch 1.1.0:
Blizzard nerfs one of the best ways to obtain legendaries too harshly, immediately rolls back
