Following the release of Diablo IV, Blizzard immediately started issuing hotfix patches. However, the first real update is yet to come, and a few key developers (Diablo franchise GM Rod Fergusson, Associate Production Director Tiffany Wat, and Game Director Joe Shely) sat down in a campfire chat to discuss what will be in this update and other changes coming to the game.
The first major patch includes a ton of changes, as evidenced by the 13 pages needed to list them all. Optimization improvements will be included, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Players who have already unlocked Nightmare dungeons (available via Nightmare Sigils, the first of which is given to you by the Tree of Whispers after completing the first 10 Grim Favors) have been clamoring for Blizzard to increase the experience gained in this endgame activity. The developers confirmed they’re doing just that. Moreover, the Nightmare Sigil will also function as a fast travel ability to immediately get to the chosen dungeon. Players will be able to activate a new Nightmare Sigil as soon as they have completed the last Nightmare dungeon. These changes are expected to be implemented in Diablo IV before the start of Season 1, which is currently targeting mid to late July as the release window.
Other fixes planned to go live before Season 1 include Druids getting more unique drops for their class, thanks to an adjustment of their loot tables, and an increase to the current cap for materials.
All players should also be glad to hear that Gems will be moved to the materials section, meaning they won’t be taking inventory space from that point onward. However, this change is currently targeting Season 2. The same can be said for the Resistances, which Blizzard acknowledged are too weak and not really desirable as mitigation stats on items. In Season 2, they’ll become more important, especially when playing in higher World Tiers.
Another issue mentioned during the Diablo IV campfire chat is related to deaths caused by disconnections. From Season 2, as long as the players’ inventories have at least one Scroll of Escape, the game will use it upon disconnection to transport the player character safely into town.
Speaking of the Seasonal characters, Blizzard said the map discovered in the Eternal Realm will apply to Seasonal Realms, and the same will apply to Renown and Altars of Lilith, which players won’t have to unlock and discover again.
Endgame players had also asked to change the level 80 requirement to open World Boss Caches in the fourth tier. This will be changed in an upcoming update, though Blizzard didn’t say which one.
Lastly, the developers provided an update on the community’s progress. Over 350 million hours have been played, up from the 276 million hours reported five days ago, when Blizzard said it had earned over $666 million as of June 11th from Diablo IV. That said, most players still haven’t finished the main campaign.
