The latest Diablo 4 Campfire Chat is dedicated to the Patch 2.2.0 PTR and we’re live-blogging the highlights!
Highlights
Mid-Season Patches
- Blizzard no longer plans on doing mid-season balance updates. Instead, the developers will react to egregious things that pop up early in the season.
- They will also be buffing seasonal powers that miss the mark.
Pace of the Game
- The progression in Season 7 is a lot faster than expected. They felt like the 15-17 hours to reach max level was ideal in Season 6.
- In Season 7, they missed the mark by quite a lot. It took 9 hours on average to reach level 60. Changes will be made to bring the season leveling experience closer to S6.
Itemization: Smoothing Out the Leveling Curve
- Players were getting a legendary every 3-4 minutes within an hour of playing.
- Don’t like feeling of Legendary item quality being the only quality so early.
- They are making the following adjustments:
- Legendary drops during level-up reduced.
- Magic items can have up to 2 affixes.
- Rare items can have up to 3.
- Legendary is still the best quality at max level.
Torment Progression Changes
- Overall progression speed and number of players reaching Torment 4 has over doubled.
- On average, it only takes 15 hours (from level 60) to hit Torment 4.
- 50% of players hit Torment 4.
- They are adjusting:
- Torment 1 now starts at Pit Tier 10.
- Torment (and Pit scaling) is increased by 20%.
- Torment 4 will be equivalent to Season 7 Pit 76.
Season 8 Details
Season 8 focuses on the lair boss system. They are adding new bosses, new mechanics, quality of life updates, and a revamped materials loop.
The highest challenge will be Belial, who’s returning as a pinnacle boss.
- The Harbinger of Hatred is also joining the likes of Duriel and Andariel.
- Belial also has a “baby form”.
- Defeating bosses will have a chance to trigger an attack of Belial, which provides double the loot of the boss you’re fighting.
Summoning Material Changes
- Summoning materials are being repurposed in their role as lair keys, making all bosses free to summon.
- Lair keys grant access to their Hoard Loot.
- Example: You summon Andariel for free, who now drops lair keys when defeated that grant access to the loot, and when you get a Belial ambush, you will receive double the loot.
- Stygian Stones can be crushed into your lair key of your choice.
Quality of Life Changes
- All the boss icons are now easier to identify.
- Tooltips have been updated for clarity with names of bosses living in the dungeon.
- There’s a list of required items in the tooltips.
- You can now directly teleport to the bosses. No longer do you need to teleport to the nearest travel point.
- Existing lair bosses are getting a boost in their performance (buffs) and new abilities to keep things fresh. Duriel will now eat you. Everything can be tested out on the 2.2.0 PTR.
- The Belial ambush is the sole source of keys to access his Supreme Hoard. The hoard mimics loot of other bosses.
- Belial also guarantees once Ancestral Unique per kill and he’s a great source of Infernal Compasses.
- All the changes to summoning materials and the UI will be permanent.
Season-Specific Stuff
- Apparition Incursions: Fast-paced boss-rush style event.
- 10 Apparition Bosses (randomized)
- Showdown against Belial.
Seasonal Powers: Collectible Boss Powers
- In Season 8, players can collect 24 Boss powers that are collected from the first-time kill of targeted bosses.
- Each power has 2-sides to activate Main (x1), and Modifier (x3)
- Here’s the seasonal power UI, you have 1 main slot and 3 modifier slots. The powers can be upgraded and they proc off your abilities.
- Duriel’s Burrow alters your Evade, briefly burrowing you underground. While underground, you gain immunity to damage and can move freely until the effect ends.
Class Changes
We’ve got a ton of class changes for all classes in Season 8.
Character Class Changes (Generic Stuff)
- Ultimate scaling has been capped.
- Incidental crowd control has been toned down.
- Damage Over Time effects have been renamed.
- Shadow -> Corrupting
- Lightning -> Shocking
- Cold -> Frostbite
Barbarian
- Barbarian’s Physicality
- Double Swing
- Whirlwind
- Mighty Throw
- A new Unique Gloves and an Aspect are coming in Season 8 to promote Barbarian’s physical damage abilities.
Druid
- Address Cataclysm Snapshotting
- Focus on Stone Burst
- Gathlen’s Birthright (New Unique Helm)
Necromancer
- Blood Wave – they still want these builds to be powerful, but not the only S-Tier build.
- Blood Lance – has been reliable in multi-target, but you run to a boss and it falls flat. They are doing improvements on that front to make it more viable for bosses
- Minions – a new Unique that empowers Minions is being added.
Rogue
- The focus in S8 is to empower their Trap builds.
- Poison Trap vs Death Trap
- Scoundrel’s Leathers has been reworked. Every 10 seconds when you cast a trap, you will get a bonus Death Trap.
- Bands of Ichorous Rose are new Unique Gloves, empowering Poison Trap.
Sorceress
- The goal is to improve some quality of life for the class.
- They are happy with the place of the Sorceress in Season 7. They would like all classes to be in the same balance space.
- They want builds to feel coherent.
- A new Unique Helm for Ice Shards is being added -> Hail of Verglas.
Spiritborn
- The Spiritborn was in a good place in Season 7. They are looking at making tighter synergies between the builds.
- They looked at Rushing Claw and they’ve updated the two upgrade choices to be transformative, which promotes different builds.
- They looked at how Storm Feathers interact with the new Unique item the Sunbird’s Gorget.
Closing Thoughts
- Patch notes are coming right after the stream with all the changes.
- 2.2.0 PTR starts next Tuesday, March 11, and will run for one week through March 18.
- A pre-download will be available for the PTR build one day before it starts, on March 10.
- The PTR boost won’t be available immediately on the PTR since the devs are looking for feedback tied to the new leveling curve planned for Season 8.
- The Battle Pass will be reworked into “The Reliquary“. A detailed breakdown of what the Reliquary is will be available before Season 8 starts.
- The Diablo 4 roadmap is actively being worked on and will be out before Season 8.