Diablo 4 Receives Exciting Balancing Changes for All Five Classes

The release of the new patch notes for Diablo 4 has sparked discontent among players, as not only has the most popular Barbarian build been nerfed, but a multitude of other builds as well. Previously, the community had expressed hope for the game and provided valuable feedback to the developers, expecting Season of the Malignant to address the imbalances in certain classes.

Regrettably, public opinion took a turn for the worse upon reviewing the patch notes for Update 1.1. Even though Sorcerers in Diablo 4 only had three viable builds for endgame content, they too were subjected to nerfs in the latest update. Furthermore, compared to other classes, they received an underwhelming Unique Wand which came with additional disadvantages. As a result, the overall survivability of most classes has been severely compromised, particularly with the negative impact on the Disobedience Legendary Aspect.

With significant nerfs to Hammer of the Ancients, Cooldown Reduction, Critical Strike, and Vulnerable Damage, numerous endgame Barbarian builds have been completely destroyed in terms of the Eternal Realm. Even though it remains to be seen if Malignant Hearts will address the new weaknesses of the Barbarian class, this undeniably deals a major blow to Diablo 4 players who had hoped to excel as the franchise's most iconic class.

All five classes seem to be suffering from the effects of the new patch notes as the issues players have with Diablo 4's itemization will be exacerbated by the significant reductions in their benefits. Alongside the reduction in value for the three most crucial stats in Diablo 4, the latest update introduces Barrier Generation, Lucky Hit Chance While You Have Barrier, and Mastery Skill Damage for all classes. Consequently, numerous Diablo 4 players have expressed concerns about the increasing difficulty in obtaining viable gear.

Another aspect being affected across the board is the open world, with power leveling being removed from Diablo 4. In Season of the Malignant, if a friend escorts a Level 1 player to World Tier 4 and positions them at the entrance of a Level 100 dungeon, the player will only gain experience from Level 11 monsters instead of Level 100 monsters. Moreover, in higher World Tiers, monsters will consistently lag behind players in terms of level, significantly slowing down the leveling process.

Following the recent buffs that were widely praised by the community, the Helltide rewards in Diablo 4 have been nerfed in the new update. The cost of the Tortured Gift of Mysteries has been increased from 175 to 250, leading to confusion and shock among fans. The impact of these changes on gameplay in the upcoming Season of the Malignant is yet to be determined, but the patch notes have undoubtedly left players feeling forlorn.

Diablo 4 Update 1.1 Patch Notes

Barbarian

Improved the issue that allowed players to cast Iron Maelstrom more than 3 times in quick succession by casting War Cry.

Resolved the problem where combining the Berserk Ripping, Skullbreaker, and Anemia aspects enabled players to inflict excessively high amounts of damage.

Fixed an issue where the outer edge of the quakes granted to Hammer of the Ancients via The Aspect of Ancestral Echoes was dealing far more damage than intended.

Aspects

Aspect of Disobedience maximum stacks reduced from 100 to 60, reducing maximum Bonus Armor % from 25%-50% to 15%-30%.

Aspect of Retribution bonus damage to Stunned reduced from 20-40% to 10-20%.

Exploiter's Aspect bonus damage to Unstoppable reduced from 20-50% to 20-40%.

Starlight Aspect Resource restore increased from 10-20 to 20-40.

Monsters

Increased monster HP scaling from 85% to 100% bonus per extra player in a party.

Miscellaneous

Adjusted the scaling of the Greed Shrine to improve its effectiveness throughout the game.

World bosses now drop potions more often.

There is no longer a limit to how many materials you can refine into higher materials at once.

Item Affixes

Control Impaired Duration Reduction: Can now appear on Pants.

Barrier Generation has been expanded to include all Classes and will now start dropping at a later stage in the game.

The Lucky Hit Chance when equipped with a Barrier is now available for all Classes. The chance is decreased by approximately 12% when the Barrier is on the Helm, and by approximately 20% when it is on the Amulet or Offhand.

Mastery Skill Damage: Newly added; can appear on Sorcerer Weapons. Scales identically to Core Skill Damage.

Resistance to All Elements: Can now appear on Shields.

Strength: 50% Stronger when on Weapons → 25% Stronger when on Weapons.

Dexterity: 50% Stronger when on Weapons → 25% Stronger when on Weapons.

Intelligence: 50% Stronger when on Weapons → 25% Stronger when on Weapons.

Willpower: 50% Stronger when on Weapons → 25% Stronger when on Weapons.

Cooldown Reduction: Reduced by ~30%.

Imbuement Skill Cooldown Reduction: Reduced by ~30%.

Trap Skill Cooldown Reduction: Reduced by ~30%.

Critical Strike Damage: Reduced by ~17%.

Lightning Critical Strike Damage: Reduced by ~17%.

Critical Strike Damage with Bone, Earth, Imbued, and Werewolf Skills: Reduced by ~17%.

Vulnerable Damage: Reduced by ~40%.

Cooldown Reduction (Inherent on Offhands): Reduced by ~35%.

Critical Strike Damage (Inherent on Swords): Reduced by ~50%.

Vulnerable Damage (Inherent on Crossbows): Reduced by ~65%.

Helltides

Helltide monsters are now 3 Levels higher than the player instead of 2.

The Tortured Gift of Mysteries chest has had its cost increased to 250 Aberrant Cinders from 175.

All interactable objects in Helltide zones now have a small chance of dropping Aberrant Cinders.

Diablo 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Source: Blizzard