Diablo 4: Did Patch 1.1.1 Make Endgame Events More Fun? - My Personal Opinion
Posted: Aug 10, 2023 Views: 1739
In the latest patch 1.1.1, Diablo 4’s endgame gives you some power fantasy that the game lacks. With this simple change, Blizzard managed to make Diablo 4’s endgame a lot more interesting.
In patch 1.1.1, the creature density of Nightmare Dungeon and Helltide was greatly increased. This indirectly alleviated a lot of our complaints. Of course, I still wish we had more endgame events, but this is a first step in the right direction!
Perfect Power Fantasy
First, let’s talk about the most obvious aspect, which is dungeon fun. One of the main fun factors of a game like Diablo 4 is the power fantasy and how the game makes you feel.
Before the patch, if you weren’t playing Sorcerer and trying to survive, Nightmare Dungeon would most likely bore you. And the complete loop is to walk for a while, reach a group of 6-7 mobs, kill them and harvest Diablo 4 Gold that drops, then move on.
Also, it makes the game’s evil forces feel a little flat, which is a shame. But luckily, the character designs and models are great, evoking that sinister, dark feeling.
Now, after the patch, I’m running another Nightmare Dungeon, and I’m having even more fun with it. Hordes of enemies rushed at me, and I smashed and sliced them furiously. It starts to give you the power fantasy you want in a game of this type. Not only does this help in that regard, but it also makes dungeons more engaging, since there’s less walking and more smashing.
Earning XP Easier
Another important aspect is earning XP from Nightmare Dungeons. This means that the more monsters you kill, the more XP you receive.
Though I’m still a little disappointed that they nerfed XP gain of Nightmare Dungeons at the start of Season 1. But it’s a welcome change that offsets our previous XP loss. Of course, it would be even better to increase monster density and gain XP from preseason. But it’s a step in the right direction for the game.
One thing I really hope Blizzard doesn’t do is change the drop rate for Diablo 4 Items. Because killing more monsters also means we get more loot. If you get more loot, you have more opportunities to level up. You’ll also get more Diablo 4 Gold because you have more stuff to trade and you have more resources to upgrade your items.
Cinders Drop Rate Increased In Helltide
Moving on to another major endgame event, Helltide. Before the patch, I usually had to ride around for a while, find a bunch of mobs, kill them, collect Cinders, and move on.
Now, once we enter Helltide, there is a horde of demons rushing towards us. We no longer have to wander around on mounts and struggle to find monsters to kill.
Also, I tested how long it took me to get 250 Cinders. It took me about 20 minutes. It took me about 30-40 minutes to get these Cinders before patch 1.1.1 came out. So it’s quite possible that Blizzard increased the drop rate of Cinders.
Now, Helltide gets interesting, with a massive demonic invasion charging and destroying the land. We could get that power fantasy by jumping right into the middle of monster hordes and smashing them into pieces.
So overall, I’m happy with this patch. It improves the player's experience and feel in the game. And the two main endgame events, Nightmare Dungeon and Helltide, are now even more interesting in patch 1.1.1. So what are your thoughts on the increase in monster density? Are you satisfied with the patch? I want to know your opinion. See you in the game.
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Diablo 4 Season 9 Best Build Recommendations: Which Ones Will You Choose?
Season 9’s PTR has ended, and it has brought a lot of surprises to players. Horadric Spells look much more interesting than Boss Powers and are more flexible. Many powerful builds in PTR are inseparable from Horadric Spells.
Season 9 weakened Overpower mechanism, which has affected many builds, even your Eternal character. The damage caused by Overpower mechanism has been weakened by about 70%. If your builds mainly rely on Overpower to cause damage, you will find that it is not as good as before in Season 9.
So in short, the builds rank in Season 9 will definitely go through a new round of reshuffles, so which builds will stand out in Season 9? Some builds in PTR have shown strong potential.
Barbarian
Barbarian was particularly strong in previous seasons, and there is no change in this in season 9. Barbarian’s damage-dealing abilities are way ahead of other classes, allowing him to reach the level 150 of The Pit.
Barbarian’s builds in Season 9 can go in many directions, from using Flay’s power-ups with Horadric Spells to deal high damage, to using Call of the Ancients and Whirlwind to quickly clear monsters.
Barbarian’s strong survivability makes him the best class in the past few seasons, and as long as you find the right Diablo 4 items for him, he can deal high damage.
Recommended builds:
- Flay Bleed Barbarian build (S9 PTR)
- Whirlwind Minion Barbarian build (S9 PTR)
- Flay Whirlwind Barbarian build (S9 PTR)
Sorcerer
Sorcerer may not be the most powerful builds this season, but it is definitely the most fun build. This is all thanks to the new unique item Ophidian Iris in Season 9. This unique item completely changes Sorcerer’s Hydra ability, allowing you to summon more and more powerful Hydras.
Hydra Sorcerer build is very simple to play, and you basically just use your Hydra once it’s ready, and you can keep making explosions in dungeons and get a lot of Diablo 4 gold or items. You can think of it as a summon build, but your Hydras are more flexible than Necromancer’s summons.
This build has no damage cap like Barbarian, and it allows you to get to 120th floor of The Pit. Even if it is nerfed after Season 9 officially goes live, it can still get you to 100th floor. But in terms of fun, this may be the most fun build in Season 9.
Recommended builds:
- Hydra Sorcerer build (S9 PTR)
- Lighting Spear Sorcerer build (S9 PTR)
Spirtborn
Spirtborn is also very good in season 9 because of the new unique item Balazan’s Maxtlatl in Season 9, which brings an enormous boost to Spirtborn. It allows Spirtborn’s attacks to trigger Thorns damage, which is the main source of your damage.
A tremendous advantage of Thorns Spiritborn compared to other builds is that it does not rely on mythic unique items. Many players are tired of farming mythic unique items because it really wastes a lot of your time.
Thorns Spiritborn build only requires unique items and legendary aspects to complete the build, and the difficulty of obtaining them is much lower than the difficulty of obtaining Mythic unique items.
Recommended builds:
- Thorns Spiritborn build (S9 PTR)
- Quill Volley Spiritborn build (S9 PTR)
Necromancer
Necromancer is still an excellent class. If you play Blood wave Necromancer or Blood Spear Necromancer, you can successfully reach level 100th floor of the Pit.
But Necromancer has suffered a fatal nerf, which the shield provided by his Soulrift skill is gone, which makes Necromancer very vulnerable.
Season 9 strengthens Necromancer’s Skeleton Mage, but its damage is still limited, and it can only take you to around 90 floors of The Pit. If you really want to play summon builds, it is recommended that you play Hydra Sorcerer.
Recommended builds:
- Blood wave Necromancer build (S9 PTR)
- Blood Spear Necromancer build (S9 PTR)
Druid
Druid in Season 9 may become the weakest class. First, Cataclysm has been weakened, and the new unique items cannot bring much enhancement to it. Even if you have perfect Diablo 4 items for him, he can only reach level 80 of The Pit.
The new items that Druid got in season 9 are almost no improvement for him, because the new unique item Rotting Lightbringer for Druid can only trigger once per second and has a lower resource cost. This not only makes the splash effect trigger slowly, but also makes the character unable to get the bonus of Ancestral Guidance.
Recommended build:
- Earth Sprike Druid build (S9 PTR)
Rogue
Rogue is in a slightly better situation than Druid, although the new unique item he got is also very difficult to use. Deathmask of Nirmitruq is the new unique helmet on Rogue, which increases Flurry’s damage by consuming health.
If you give up Flurry Rogue and go for Death Trap Rogue, you will have no problem reaching level 100 of The Pit.
Recommended builds:
- Death Trap Rogue build (S9 PTR)
- McFlurry Rogue build (S9 PTR)
The above is the information brought to us by Season 9 PTR. If it is officially launched, it may be adjusted. I recommend you to play the Hydra Sorcerer build in Season 9.
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Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR Rogue Builds: Who Is The Best? - Top 3
With the end of Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR last week, some players have tried out the game content that has been greatly changed, such as the new mechanics and greatly improved loot drops and spawn rates, which have all been well received by players.
Unfortunately, from the feedback of players, many of the combos and some passive skills that Rogue class previously had with super high damage capabilities have been greatly weakened. Although this has not had much impact on its original flexibility, it has also caused some builds to be far less effective than in previous seasons.
In order to meet the wishes of players who are keen on the super high mobility and deadly elemental damage capabilities brought by Rogue and still want to maximize its effectiveness in Season 9, this guide recommends the 3 best Rogue builds that have been tried in D4 S9 based on community feedback, actual player testing and some information from PTR.
These builds have different game styles. Whether you want to pass the level quickly or enjoy casual play, you can find the most suitable one among them. By the way, some of the attributes and statistics introduced here are likely to change in Season 9 Sins of the Horadrim, which will be officially released on July 1. Everything is subject to the official release.
1. Barrage Rogue
Since Diablo 4 focuses on the challenge of players in Nightmare Dungeons in Season 9, the first best build recommended here is Barrage Rogue build that can effectively clear this monster-dense area.
After you put Barrage and Shadow Imbuement into your build, your character has super strong continuous blasting potential, in which you can quickly farm Diablo 4 Gold and some high-quality loot.
Not only that, after choosing Dash and Caltrops, which have super high mobility skills, this build will have good survivability. But it is worth noting that it can only focus on fighting group enemies and is at a disadvantage when fighting against high-health bosses or single-target damage output.
In addition, you also need to accurately control the cooldown of Shadow Imbuement during the battle to maximize its effect. So it will be more suitable for you to use it when you farm those group monsters in the middle and late stages to enter the endgame content faster.
Recommended Gear
- Word of Hakan (Unique Amulet): Allows you to automatically apply all Imbuements when casting Barrage.
- Grasp of Shadow (Unique Gloves): Helps you spawn additional shadow clones after hitting an enemy with Marksman or Cutthroat skills.
- Aspect of Branching Volleys: Allows you to perform spread shots with Barrage fire, increasing the area of effect.
- Umbrous Aspect: Generates Dark Shroud after you cast a critical hit to increase your defense.
2. Flurry Rogue
In Season 9, the developers added a unique helm called Deathmask of Nirmitruq to Rogue, which greatly increases the damage of Flurry’s important skill in the new season, so the combination of it and Trapper variant has become one of the most popular options at present.
In this combination, there is stable range damage and control ability, which allows you to fully release the burst damage you have on the group of enemies. According to the recommendation of the player community, the damage caused by Poison Trap and Death Trap will be higher.
However, the placement requirements of these traps are very high, and you need to master the placement mechanism and position proficiently in order to maximize the subsequent damage. And because your construction focuses on traps, the mobility of the entire construction may be lower than other constructions.
So it may be more suitable for use in battles with smaller arenas such as Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides, or in team PVE for farming experience points or trying construction options.
Recommended Gear
- Deathmask of Nirmitruq (Unique Helm): This is a new Unique added in Season 9. It allows you to increase the damage and movement speed of Flurry by consuming health points when using it, allowing you to overexert.
- Eyes in the Dark (Pants): When Death Trap hits only one enemy, its damage is significantly increased.
- Exploit Glyph: It can enhance the damage ability of Flurry to vulnerable targets.
- Aspect of Surprise: Throwing Stun Grenades when you cast Dodge can perfectly synergize with your trap settings.
- Aspect of Synergy: Increase the damage of your traps when you use normal attacks.
3. Twisting Blades Rogue
In the previous seasons of Diablo 4, Twisting Blades Rogue has always been the first choice for those who are keen to kill enemies quickly and win loot.
In PTR, it can be seen that the developers did not weaken it on a large scale, but instead strengthened the duration of Shadow Clone that can match it and improved the energy generation mechanism.
This greatly increases the damage and cleaning capabilities of Twisting Blades Rogue build, making it extremely suitable for farming monsters and clearing dungeons quickly.
However, it is worth reminding you that you need to invest more D4 Gold in Shadow Clone to make your survivability stronger, and you also need to have a higher level of operation of Twisting Blades to maximize its damage ability.
Recommended Gear
- Condemnation (Unique Dagger): It can make this build generate combo points faster and provide you with additional damage when it is full level.
- Bladedancer’s Aspect: Twisting Blades spin around you and return, dealing melee damage.
- Aspect of the Expectant: After using a basic attack, your core skill damage is increased.
- Aspect of Inner Calm: While stationary, it deals with some damage.
The above are the three best Rogue builds worth trying in Diablo 4 Season 9, which are currently recommended for you based on PTR and player feedback. I hope that with their help, you can have the best gaming experience in the new season launched on July 1, and earn more loot and rewards in the newly added mechanisms to enhance your status among players. I wish you a happy game!
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Diablo 4 Second Anniversary Event Reliquary: Why Is It So Disappointing?
Dear wanderers, it has been two years since the release of Diablo 4 in June 2023. Since last year’s anniversary event was very lively, this year’s event is naturally not far behind.
To celebrate the second anniversary of Diablo 4, the developers launched a new Event Reliquary and returned to Mother’s Blessing Event, bringing a massive experience value boost! From June 3rd to the 17th, you will get more Diablo 4 gold and XP drops, and win new special accessories that can only be obtained in Anniversary Event Reliquary.
Here, we will take a look at what rewards this two-year anniversary event brings and talk about what we think of this reward.
Event Rewards
Anniversary Reliquary
First of all, for this anniversary reliquary, if you like accessories and like to get them for free, I think it is still worth participating. Because during the event, you can claim the entire Event Reliquary for free, or more precisely, you can get all the items for just 150,000 gold - all the items in it add up to 150,000 gold.
Unlike the recent Berserk crossover event, this event does not require players to spend any additional special currency or paid tokens. Players can unlock these cosmetic items directly using Diablo 4 gold.
To be honest, this is a rare thing in Diablo 4, because almost all cosmetic items in the game have been obtained through drops, reputation rewards, or in the in-game store using the game’s premium currency Platinum. Maybe this really breaks my stereotype that Diablo 4 developers are just looking to make money! Just kidding!
There are a total of 8 accessories for players to collect in this 2nd Anniversary Event Reliquary, but please note that if you have already obtained the following accessories, you will automatically unlock Burning Dawn Mount Armor and complete Reliquary.
- Sunflame Lantern Mount Trophy
- Burning Dawn Banner Mount Trophy
- Sunraiser Sword Cosmetic
- Sunflame Sword Two-Handed Sword Cosmetic
- Burning Barbs Polearm Cosmetic
- Burning Dawn Bow Cosmetic
Mother’s Blessing
In addition to Anniversary Reliquary, Mother’s Blessing XP and gold boost event from previous years will also return, and this time it will also bring additional rewards. In addition to receiving 35% more XP and 50% more gold during the event, players can also get additional Collection of Chaos Whisper Cache by turning in Grim Favors, which can obtain more items and materials.
If you can seize this opportunity, you may be able to overtake in Season 8 and accumulate more advantages entering the next season.
What Do You Think Of This Event?
Now that we have talked about the rewards, are the rewards of this event really worth your time?
Positive Review
First of all, I have to say that being able to exchange gold for cosmetic items is a welcome new feature. After all, the previous disastrous Berserk crossover event rewards were ridiculous, and you had to pay $25 for each cosmetic item. Many players thought that was completely unreasonable. Therefore, this change may be that the developers have finally learned a little from their past mistakes.
Hopefully, the developers will make more use of this feature in the future. Since most players probably have a lot of idle gold, it seems natural to let them actually spend it.
Negative Review
However, more disappointment is still in the rewards of this event. To be honest, season 8 was terrible for all of us, and players often expressed concerns about the lack of content in Diablo 4 and its aggressive monetization strategy. Therefore, the developers do plan to bring more content to players in this new 2nd Anniversary event, thus addressing the complaints that often appear in the community.
What they did add some mount skins and weapon skins to the Reliquary system to help players collect cosmetic elements, and hopefully continue to provide regular free content updates for their action RPG.
This update does make sense, but I don’t understand why, 2nd Anniversary should be a big celebration, a milestone for the game, but it feels the opposite. Compared to last year’s anniversary, this year feels very bland. While exchanging gold for items is better than boring goblin events or something, I still hope there will be an event that does something cool instead of just some free event-exclusive items.
For these cosmetics, if you always have a lot of extra gold accumulated, you can probably get all of them faster than I can pronounce their names. The only thing to note is that you have to claim them before June 17th, what a joke! After all, you only need a few seconds to complete the event.
Besides the cosmetics, the return of Mother’s Blessing event is probably the only good thing about this anniversary. Maybe after claiming the rewards, everything will return to the mundane regular farming, which is meaningless.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my opinion that to me this Anniversary Reliquary doesn't feel like a celebration at all, and the bland, easy-to-get cosmetics don't really add anything exciting to the game progression. What do you think of this 2nd Anniversary event? See you next time!
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Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR Escalating Nightmare Dungeons: How Does This New Feature Work?
Recently, everyone’s attention must have been focused on the upcoming Diablo 4 Season 9. Since players have been complaining about the boring endgame content, the developers have been working hard to bring more interesting challenge modes to players to win back lost players.
And an important new feature launched in the latest Season 9 PTR may break the current bad situation of the endgame and bring new possibilities for Diablo 4 to regain its vitality. This is Escalating Nightmare Dungeons.
Escalating Nightmare is an endgame activity that connects three Nightmare Dungeons with random attributes to increase the difficulty and obtain more generous rewards. In the end, players will start the final boss battle with Astaroth. In a new endgame battle full of challenging mechanisms, you will face Mephisto’s Acolyte and Amalgam. This battle will be a great test of your character build and strategy, but the rewards are definitely worth your struggle!
How To Enter Escalating Nightmare?
So how do you enter these Escalating Nightmare Dungeons? Let’s take a look!
To start these dungeons, you need to prepare some Escalation Sigil. These Sigils can be dropped from Horadric Strongrooms.
Sigil functions similarly to Infernal Hordes Compass, and it will automatically open the first Nightmare Dungeon in the series. After completing this dungeon, a portal will be generated that will teleport the player to the second dungeon. When we complete the last dungeon, players will be able to open a new boss battle through the portal.
Horadric Strongrooms are another new feature added in Season 9 PTR, which is a kind of micro-dungeons in Nightmares and Escalating Dungeons.
They offer limited-time challenges with powerful enemies and obstacles, and finally a boss battle. But taking the time to complete Strongroom is definitely worth it, because not only will you get a Horadric Cache and Horadric Attunement, but you will also have the chance to get a powerful Elixir. Even if you don’t need Elixir right now, it can still earn you a ton of Diablo 4 Gold, as these consumables are in high demand on the market.
How To Run Escalating Dungeon?
To get back to the point, you can get these Escalation Sigils from Horadric Strongrooms. Once you find Sigil, you can right-click on it like any other Nightmare Dungeon Sigil, and that will open Escalating Dungeon.
However, unlike Nightmare Dungeon, Escalating Dungeon does not end after you defeat the first boss of the first dungeon.
When you complete the first dungeon, you’ll get loot like in a normal Nightmare Dungeon. However, you’ll be teleported to the next dungeon via a pillar, and there are three dungeons in total, with an Astaroth boss fight at the end.
Dungeon Affixes
Also, it’s worth noting that the affixes in Escalating Dungeon are randomized each time, meaning that when you start a new dungeon, there will be new affixes.
The number of both positive and negative affixes increases as you run the dungeon, and they stack as you progress, meaning that the first dungeon will have one negative and one positive affix, and by the third dungeon you’ll have three of each. I guess that’s where the name Escalating comes from.
However, the difficulty doesn’t really change between dungeons, because if you have a good enough character to farm Torment 4 difficulty, you shouldn’t have any trouble killing monsters even in the third dungeon.
Once you complete a dungeon, you’ll get similar loot to a normal Nightmare Dungeon. But at the end of the dungeon, there will be a pillar that you can click on to reach the second floor or the second dungeon of Escalating Nightmare. Also, this pillar will tell you the random affixes you’ll see in the next dungeon.
Astaroth Boss Fight
Once you complete the third dungeon, the pillars will reappear, but this time you’ll be taken to Astaroth’s Lair, where the final battle will take place.
And, as we mentioned before, you can find Horadric Strongrooms in these Escalating Dungeons, just like in regular Nightmare Dungeons, and you can always tell which affixes will affect your current dungeon by looking at the map.
In my experience, Astaroth boss drops a lot of loot, including a lot of crafting materials, such as Obducite. Additionally, there will be special affixes that affect Astaroth loot drops, however, these are random and you can’t change them as needed. Whether this will bring new fun to your dungeon runs or put us in a new cycle of endless farming is still unknown.
But if you want to get an advantage in your dungeon runs, it is absolutely necessary to get some high-level gear and resources, and here are some iggm coupon codes that may help you!
Final Thoughts
That’s it, that’s all we know about Escalating Nightmare Dungeons in Season 9 so far.
To be honest, running multiple Nightmare Dungeons in a row like this and having a special battle at the end is indeed an update that the community has been calling for a long time.
However, some people may worry that running multiple Nightmare Dungeons in a row will become awkward and boring, but some people think that Escalating Nightmare system should bring a breath of fresh air when running dungeons and greatly simplify the entire process. In any case, let us look forward to what this new season update will bring!
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Diablo 4 Season 8 Belial’s Return Is Disappointing: Why Is It So Far From The Theme Of Lord Of Lies?
Dear Diablo fans, I believe you all know that the theme of Season 8 is the boss season, and since S8 preheating, the most concerned character among players is Belial who returned from Diablo 3.
To be honest, the image of this Lord of Lies has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so many players are excited about his strong return. This lesser evil has finally received the attention he deserves under the new engine and modern narrative. But after experiencing it, I just want to say that how much we expected Belial’s arrival, how disappointed we were with him.
Today, we will compare the image of Belial in Diablo 3 and why the developers’ previous portrayal of Lord of Lies is far better than Diablo 4 Season 8.
Background Of Belial In Diablo 3
Let’s go to the great city of Kehjistan, Caldeum, Jewel of the East. It has been conquered by Belial, one of the last lords of Hell. Our goal is to liberate the city.
Before we get to that, let’s take a look back at Diablo 3, specifically Act II. Belial is the mastermind behind the chaos in Caldeum, and his influence is evident from the moment you step into the city. The rumors and the feeling that almost everyone around you is an illusion are all manifestations of his manipulation of people’s hearts and minds.
Mind you, he didn’t just appear out of nowhere, he planned this all carefully. He disguised himself as Emperor Hakan II of Kehjistan, a seemingly benevolent ruler trying to help his people. But it was a perfect lie that took advantage of the people’s desperation. He used the power of deception to turn the people in the city against each other, sowing distrust and chaos from within.
In fact, the entire story revolves around this scene. As you continue to follow clues and witness strange events, the tension rises.
When Belial finally removes his disguise, it is a shocking and dramatic moment. He has not only transformed, but also revealed his true face as the architect of all the lies you have encountered. Even during the fight with him, he constantly tries to trick you with illusions and ground effects, which reinforce his persona - a master of deception!
Belial does exist, but his actual power has always been in his manipulation. His dialogue is arrogant, sarcastic, and full of half-truths. He is a true Lord of Lies, because this is the only boss whose most powerful weapon is not violence, but psychological warfare. He is elusive and you never know when he will suddenly attack you.
Belial’s Appearance In Diablo 4 Contradicts Its Theme
Now, let’s see how Belial performs in Diablo 4 Season 8. The name itself is exciting! What will we see?
Belial we see is just a glorified world boss, a mob leader for random ambushes, and a babbling, conceited villain who will insult you.
So, where are the lies in Belial? Where is the deception?
In Diablo 4, Belial is an openly aggressive character. He sends out Apparitions to break his enemies, rather than mentally manipulating them with clever lies. He reappears randomly every 5 seconds. So instead of Lord of Lies, we get a haunting nuisance!
The developers say his purpose is to control reality, but the way he’s presented, he seems to be everywhere, and the fight starts the moment we see him. This really undermines his identity as a master of deception.
He’s no longer a manipulator behind the scenes, but a guy who speaks his mind and keeps talking. This completely subverts his core identity as a master of deception.
Remember in Diablo 3, you had to uncover him off as a liar? But in Diablo 4, he's literally screaming at you at the top of his evil voice: I'm Belial, the Lord of Lies, come fight me to the death!
Honestly, it’s too direct and completely lacks the subtlety that makes his character so fascinating.
Additionally, the developers used the same Belial model from Diablo 3, which is a minor issue, but it only exacerbates the feeling of reused material and the lack of creative direction for the character.
And the threat Belial poses is quickly neutralized! He was supposed to be one of Great Evils, an important character, but now feels like a stepping stone to other goals.
And the foreshadowing of him in season 8 also felt less impactful. The player is just told that he is affecting everything, but we don’t feel the insidious nature of his lies like we did in Caldeum. It’s just a new boss ladder, a new set of abilities, and Belial as the protagonist.
Why Did Belial Perform So Poorly?
So, what went wrong? I think it’s because the developers seem to prioritize season mechanics, Boss Ladder and Boss Power over a powerful Belial and character-driven story.
They just want Belial to be a recurring boss and a way to farm Diablo 4 gold, which makes him feel less like a unique threat and more like a glorified elite monster.
Diablo 3 understood that Belial’s power came not from his size or direct combat prowess, but from his ability to warp perceptions and sow discord. He was terrifying not only physically, but psychologically.
Instead, Diablo 4 simply tried to make him a more active villain, robbing him of his unique and terrifying essence. This missed a great opportunity to expand his story in a meaningful way. Instead of a cunning, manipulative enemy that could really mess with your mind, we got a boastful brawler.
You May Like: Will Sorcerer's Hydra Skill In Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR Continue To Be Strong Or Adjusted?
While the new Boss Powers are cool, they don’t make up for the story damage to such an iconic character.
Ultimately, for me, Belial in Diablo 4 is no longer the same. He went from a master of manipulation to a generic demon boss who only taunts. This is a perfect example of how a lack of focus on the core identity of even a beloved character can lead to a disappointing portrayal.
So what do you think? Do you like Belial’s return in Diablo 4, or do you think he’s better now than in Diablo 3? See you next time!
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Diablo 4 Season 9 Horadric Spells: What New Content Will This Mechanism Bring? - Catalysts, Infusions And Arcana
In our previous Campfire Chat about Diablo 4 Season 9, we got a sneak preview of Horadric Spells, a powerful new customizable spell that will bring some interesting experiences to all classes. It’s a Borrowed Power system, but the customization is very high.
In this new system, you need to combine 3 magical conduits: Catalyst, Infusion and Arcana, to form the spells your character needs. Here’s everything we know about Horadric Spells in Diablo 4 Season 9 so that you can use them to make a powerful build when the new season starts next month.
1. Catalysts
In Horadric Spell, Catalysts can be considered the foundation of the entire system, as everything needs to be built around it. Catalysts trigger specific Action Bar Skills based on where you place them, and emit purple light. Here are the names of all Catalysts and their specific effects.
Celestial Surge (Astral Magic)
It awakens an Oracular Rune, which pulls all enemies around your standing position into a radius. After that, A Torrent of Stars skill will randomly attack this radius 20 times, with a 30% chance to trigger Lucky Hit.
When you upgrade it to level 10 with Diablo 4 Gold, these stars will periodically fall around you and hit enemies who are about to attack you, causing the same damage.
Celestial Surge has an initial cooldown of 15 seconds, which will gradually decrease as you level up, so when you reach level 20, the cooldown is 11.2 seconds.
Disintegrate (Arcane Magic)
This helps you form an Arcane Conductor and fires a beam between you and it for 8 seconds, dealing very high lightning damage with a 9% Lucky Hit chance.
At level 10, enemies in the beam you create will have their movement speed reduced by 50%. This Catalyst has a shorter cooldown of 10 seconds, and only 5.3 seconds at level 20.
Propulsion (Arcane Magic)
It causes you to create a mana blast that deals some damage to all enemies and knocks them back, and enemies that collide with each other will take additional damage with a 15% lucky hit chance.
According to feedback from many players, the favorite Catalyst is Propulsion, because at level 10, enemies that are knocked back for the first time will cast a low-level mana blast of their own, which is very effective for dealing with group enemies.
It has an initial cooldown of only 9 seconds, and at level 20 it is only 4.3 seconds. If you put some gear in your build that has been maxed out with a lot of D4 Gold, it can be cast indefinitely.
Astral Pillar (Astral Magic)
It creates an Ethereal Column in the arena that taunts enemies over 3 seconds. Piercing waves then burst out of it for more damage, which lasts until you create another Ethereal Column or get too far away from it.
You have a 12% chance of a Lucky Hit during this set of damage, which is quite impressive. When you upgrade it to level 10, the taunted enemies will become more vulnerable and move faster.
Unlike the previous ones, the cooldown of Astral Pillar is not affected by level and is always 7 seconds.
Cosmic Anomaly (Astral Magic)
This Catalyst is the most special one because it has both active and passive effects. When it is triggered, it will help you summon up to 5 Anomalies and release particles, causing very high damage in 4 seconds.
In addition, it will control your Anomalies to gather and explode in the center, causing unpredictable explosion damage. There is no cooldown here but a spawn time, and you can complete a summon every 5 seconds.
When it reaches level 10 and has 5 Anomalies, you will be Unstoppable, and the next explosion will cause double damage, with a 20% chance of Lucky Hit.
2. Infusions
Infusions change the damage type of your Horadric Spells, and you can think of them as modifiers. And, at level 5, each Infusion can help you disable a specific type of Monster affix, preventing enemies from making an attack that puts you in danger for a while. Here are their specific names and their effects.
Smoldering Ember
- Bonus Damage Type: Fire/Burning Damage
- Effect: Helps you destroy enemy structures in the arena and has a 10% chance to ignite the ground beneath your enemies. This causes you to deal 150% Burning damage over 5 seconds equal to your highest damage type bonus.
- Disabled Monster Affix: Chilling Winds
Corrosive Vapor
- Bonus Damage Type: Poison Damage
- Effect: Enemies previously damaged take 150% Poison Damage over 4 seconds, triggering once every 3 seconds per enemy. Your Poison Damage is equal to your highest Damage Type Bonus.
- Disabled Monster Affix: Vampiric
Thunderous Particle
- Bonus Damage Type: Lightning/Sparking Damage
- Effect: Each damaged enemy deals 150% lightning damage to surrounding enemies, triggering once every three seconds for each enemy. Your lightning damage bonus is equal to your highest damage type bonus.
- Disabled Monster Affix: Suppressor
3. Arcana
Arcana is the final part of your Diablo 4 Season 9 Horadric Spells and comes in a variety of rarities to give your spells more powerful effects. Alternatively, you can place three Arcana on a spell, and their effects will scale based on your chosen Catalyst. Here are Arcana included in each rarity.
Magic Rarity
- Tendrilous Bundle
- Tranquil Stone
- Shifting Powder
- Luminous Gem
- Murky Essence
- Invigorating Helix
- Bottled Wind
- Jagged Bramble
- Reactive Ooze
- Volatile Crystal
Rare Rarity
- Gleaming Conduit
- Fractured Core
- Sapping Crux
- Potent Alloy
- Siphoning Gizmo
Legendary Rarity
- Floaty Bubble
- Nightmare Orb
- Frigid Heart
- Pressurized Storm
- Bloody Charm
The above are all the accessories in Horadric Spells added in Diablo 4 Season 9. I hope you can find the most suitable one for your play style through the detailed introduction of them in this guide, and make the most handy one through continuous combination after the season starts. Once again, these are based on the current S9 PTR introduction and may change later. I wish you a happy game!