To date, I have invested a ridiculous amount of time into Diablo IV. Between betas, the review build, the launch version, and Season 1, I can’t even begin to calculate how much time I’ve spent slaying baddies and the amount of enjoyment I have received from the base game. In Season 1 though, the end game and especially the itemization is starting to show some serious cracks in my otherwise love for the game. With a launch on the Steam platform, the Season of Blood the second season of the game, there will be huge amounts of QoL improvements and some new content for us to sink our teeth into.
Now, any improvement is a welcome one. Be it additional bag space or inventory slots, UI options and improvements, new uniques, etc. That being said, is it enough? I believe it’s a great start of a long journey. I have expressed before and am definitely convinced now that Diablo IV is already great game. In a year from now, it will be even better. A couple years from now? Fantastic. With QoL improvements hitting each season, that helps on that front but I believe itemization fixes are going to take much longer.
What needs immediate and dire attention is that after about level 60, there is little to no reason to chase loot because uniques are severely underpowered, 99% of drops are just trashed, and Nightmare Dungeons are just not that fun to run over and over. We need either a new tier of items to hunt and/or some serious stat boosts in late-game loot. I do believe, this will improve over time. For now, check out all the goodies coming to Season 2, later this month.
SEASON OF BLOOD
In this season, team up with Vampire Hunter Erys, voiced by actress and film producer Gemma Chan, to take on a brand-new bloodthirsty threat to Sanctuary. Through their journey, players will be able to harness Vampiric Powers that provide a wide variety of dark, powerful skills for your character to fight like a vampire. Gain these powers with a new resource called Potent Blood, and the required matching Pact Armor.
All new monsters have appeared with the arrival of the vampire Lord Zir. Take on corrupted enemies called Blood Seekers who look and behave like player characters and use tainted class skills.
The Blood Harvest Season Event is home to the highest chance of receiving Potent Blood and Pact Armor drops. In these events you will face armies of vampires and Blood Seekers across multiple regions of Sanctuary.
Once Season of the Malignant ends, all Seasonal characters will transfer to the Eternal Realm and all items in that Season of the Malignant character’s stash will go into a new Withdraw Only Stash tab in the Eternal Realm.
Five endgame bosses will be available to challenge in the forms of The Beast in the Ice, Dark Master, Varshan, Echo of Duriel, and Grigoire, The Galvanic Saint.
QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATES
New players can now Skip the Campaign and jump into seasonal content immediately after finishing the Prologue, so they can join their friends when the season launches.
Renown rewards you earn (such as potion charges, extra skill points, extra paragon points and murmuring obols), either in the eternal or seasonal realm, now carry over from season to season. Unique rewards gained from renown will now persist for new characters players create within the same game type. Hardcore renown rewards will be account bound to a player’s other hardcore characters, and non-hardcore characters will have rewards bound to that character type.
Gain XP and reach Level 100 approximately 40% faster compared to Season of the Malignant.
Improvements to Nightmare Dungeons include teleportation to the interior of the dungeon, increased monster density, more durable NPC companions, and reduced backtracking.
Endgame experience has been greatly enhanced with the introduction of the Boss ladder, as players will be able to target farm the new and returning 5 Endgame bosses for Uniques and Uber Uniques which drop at a much higher rate. Legion Events and World Bosses will spawn more frequently, among other end-game improvements.
Lots of Item and inventory management adjustments, such as making Gems a crafting material, reduced overburdening inventories and causing unnecessary trips into town, and preventing players from losing their progress on a Hardcore character from connectivity issues via changes to Scrolls of Escape.
Mounts now move faster, are more agile, and have the ability to charge through blockades.
And much more, including updates to towns, improvements to Events and monster density, changes to Elemental resistances and status effects, and UI and UX features.
