Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred has made a ton of improvements to the overall life and quality of current-day D4, but there’s still a ton of room for improvement. One such feature fans have been requesting for multiple seasons now is some adjustments or even skips for Strongholds.
Players Want Stronghold Skips
Strongholds have been a feature since Diablo 4 launched and initially offered players a solid challenge, but the community now sees them as inconvenient roadblocks. With a handful of Strongholds having unlockable Waypoints, having to reclear them every season just to certain locations is becoming a growing pain.
There have been several renovations to similar systems over the past few expansions. Now players start with all Waypoints unlocked, and their class questline is skipped if they previously completed it, plus a handful of other skips. Still, Strongholds haven’t received any meaningful updates or any ability to choose to skip them.
Diablo 4 Needs to Rework Strongholds
Alternatively, some players will point out that Strongholds are a decent method to gain XP while leveling. But this becomes less and less relevant with every season, as newer and better ways of XP farming come with each season. Plus, the main reason why many players avoid strongholds is due to the unskippable dialogue or story events that happen within each Stronghold.
If Blizzard intends to make Strongholds unskippable, there should be a rework attempt. Systems always go through reworks eventually, especially in Diablo 4, so perhaps there is a way to turn Strongholds into a more meaningful and challenging activity.
For example, Strongholds could become another world activity similar to Helltides or Legion Events. Soloable, but enhanced by being in groups. Either way, the rewards need upgrades, or at least give players who have already completed the stronghold the option to skip it.
Do you think Strongholds need a rework or another change we haven’t mentioned?