Diablo IV Season 4: “Treasures Reborn” Unfolds with Massive Updates & Challenges

May 14, 2024 8:25 AM Author: Gameusd

General Introduction

Diablo IV's fourth season introduces several changes and optimizations centered around enhancing the gaming experience rather than wide introducing new gameplay mechanics. Here are some key points of Season 4:

PTR (Public Test Realm) Launch Timeline: The PTR for Season 4 was officially online from April 3rd to April 10th, used to test upcoming content and adjustments before their implementation.
Season Conclusion & Commencement: Season 3 (the Embodiment Season) concluded on May 15th, paving the way for the immediate start of Season 4.
Game Difficulty Adjustments: The new season sees an adjustment in game difficulty, particularly for World Tiers 3 and 4, where boss health pools have been increased by 100 levels, aiming to elevate the challenge. Additionally, armor mechanics have been tweaked to provide more substantial benefits when players face high-level foes.
Content Focus: Reports indicate that Season 4's content update prioritizes refinements to existing systems and balance rather than introducing brand-new game modes or features, reflecting the developers' ongoing commitment to polishing the game.
Seasonal Systems: Much like previous seasons, Season 4 introduces new questlines, a Battle Pass, legendary items, and class balancing adjustments. These periodic refreshes of content encourage players to explore and craft new character builds.

In summary, Season 4 is primarily geared towards addressing player community feedback by introducing tweaks and optimizations that bolster the game's long-term playability and challenge, while preserving Diablo's traditional seasonal content refresh cycle. The followings are the details.

Notice

The following PTR (Public Test Realm) content represents test server changes and does not guarantee identical implementation on the live server;
It only involves testing of basic game content changes and does not include Season 4 seasonal content;
Due to the PTR introducing details not extensively explained in campfire chats, the following may contain spoilers for those seeking an unspoiled experience.

Current Issues Encountered

The Ranger's dodge function is malfunctioning for unknown reasons. Skills can be used, but the character only slightly moves in place. Restarting the game resolves this issue temporarily;
Localization issues abound across regions, necessitating corrections in the official release;
In the PTR, the Wizard is currently positioned where the Blacksmith usually is (even replacing the Blacksmith vendor). It's unclear if this signals the removal of the Blacksmith NPC or is simply a convenience for testing purposes;
The PTR drops certain monster materials from the live server that have been removed as drops for the new season;
The Reforge Manual mechanism is unfriendly, requiring players to re-craft items each season. If a player acquires a late-game item early without the required manual, they may be unable to upgrade it for an extended period. The latest enhancement system requires filling all five affix slots before upgrading, rendering lower rarity recipes meaningless.

Basic Content Optimizations

Energy Codex

Catalogs all existing powers within the game;
Disassembling higher-level powers directly upgrades the corresponding power in the Codex, but disassembling lower-level or identical powers does not enhance it;
Removes the original power inventory slot;
The introduction of the Energy Codex has led to adjustments in the interface for socketing powers, with many familiar interfaces altered for the new season.

Gem Simplification

Activation conditions have been relaxed, removing various restrictions. For example, the Emerald's effect now simplifies "Increased Critical Hit Damage against Vulnerable enemies" to just "Vulnerable Damage."

Material Consolidation

Various materials are unified under "Dried Herbs," "Iron Ingots," and "Rawhide."
All acquired materials are categorized into these three types;
Potion crafting that previously required multiple material types now involves different ratios of gem dust;
Alchemical Transmutation offers recipes to convert high-level materials from Greater Rifts into one tier lower (materials are classified into three tiers).

Potion Simplification & Enhancement

Season 4 potions are grouped into two tiers and categorized by tabs. New potions have been added with enhanced effects, similar adjustments apply to incense;
However, the PTR doesn't address how to obtain high-tier potions that were previously only available through drops.

Enchantment Optimization

An upper limit on gold expenditure for enchantments has been introduced. As an example, enchanting a level 923 item costs 7,140,769 gold, while enchanting a level 920 item distributed in the PTR costs 1,775,050 gold. The exact calculation formula remains unclear, but the cap is in place.

Bulk Dismantle Function Adjustment

The "Dismantle All" function has been harshly revised. Only locked and collected items are spared; even crafted equipment will be dismantled if not protected. Caution is advised;
Currently, the live server's bulk dismantle function does not affect any Unique, Legendary, or crafted gear at any level. This change seems unreasonable and risks players accidentally dismantling valuable items due to habit.

Equipment Affix Optimization

Many adjustments and simplifications have been made to the in-game affixes, which won't be listed exhaustively here. Further adjustments may occur before Season 4 officially launches. A detailed article on these changes will be updated upon the season's launch.

Legendary Aspects Optimization

Certain Legendary Aspects that dealt fixed damage based solely on character level and specific powers can now benefit from base stats like attack power, though the precise formula is yet to be elucidated.

Personalization Enhancements

A crucial change for Druid players: those who selected the wrong fur color can now change their fur at the inn's wardrobe.

Field of View (FOV) Adjustments

Test servers now default to a larger field of view for players, roughly translating to a 10-20% increase in visible range. Users can select between two settings in the game menu options: "Standard" (mirroring the current live server FOV) and "Extended." Once chosen, the FOV is locked, allowing only two levels of adjustment between the set FOV and a closer inspection view of the character, regardless of mouse wheel scrolling. Specific scenarios like boss fights, cities, and small camps employ their own unique FOV settings, unaffected by the selected option. Notably, players can observe differences in their character's footprint positioning to appreciate the FOV changes.

Revamped Crafting System

Item Drop Changes

In the current PTR setup, Nephalem Level 3 (N3) yields only Sacred Items, while Nephalem Level 4 (N4) drops Ancestral Items exclusively, with drops always matching the highest possible item level based on monster level;
Orange (Legendary) items now feature three affixes, and yellow (Epic) items have two. Even with socketed powers, yellow items cannot exceed two affixes, effectively limiting them to dismantle or selling for gold in Season 4;
Players have reported a significant decrease in the quantity of loot received per dungeon run, roughly a third of what's common currently. If the overall drop rate is increased on the PTR, the live server could see even fewer drops;
Materials from yellow and orange items are now directly included in monster loot, instantly collectible upon touch.

Tempering

There are 262 Tempering recipes in the game;
Recipes come in varying rarities, affecting numerical values;
Recipes are either universal or class-specific, visible in the Energy Codex;
They support diverse affix combinations, from up to six (five elemental damage and one physical) to as few as two;
Tempering is permanent; there's no undoing applied affixes;
Like Runes, recipes are randomly dropped, account-bound, and reusable;
Each category of recipe can only be applied once per item; attempting to reapply the same type prompts a warning about overwriting;
Items have a limited number of Tempering durability uses, displayed similarly to item durability;
Tempered affixes can coexist with innate item affixes.

Masterworking

Each level of Masterworking enhances all affixes by an additional 5%, with every fourth level boosting a random affix by an extra 20%.
Masterworking attempts can fail.
It requires materials from the Pit.
Non-unique items require Tempering first, whereas Unique Items can undergo Masterworking directly.
Both base and Tempered affixes can be strengthened together.
The gold cost escalates with each level of Masterworking.
There's confusion regarding whether Masterworking affects base stats; this might be a bug and will be clarified in Season 4.
Masterworking progress can be reverted at any time, but beware of an instant reset without a confirmation prompt.

Greater Affixes

Some dropped items may randomly possess 1 to 3 Greater Affixes, representing a 1.5x boost over standard affix values;
These are visually distinguished by highlighted prefix slots;
Testing suggests that enchanting items with Greater Affixes converts them to regular affixes, implying that altering these should be avoided unless intentional.

The Pit Overview

Access to The Pit in the test server is currently restricted to specific locations, which might not be final given the quest guidance suggesting entry via the Iron Wolves camp, which is absent near the accessible Pit entrance;
Materials obtained from clearing the first level of The Pit are only sufficient for a single Masterworking upgrade;
Each final boss in The Pit's layers features unique affixes and abilities, distinct from their standard dungeon counterparts, echoing the mechanics of the Pits from Diablo III.

Helltides Modifications

Helltide cycles still conclude with resource resets, now also penalizing death with a 50% Ember loss and resetting the Helltide progress bar;
The new tickets required to summon Helltide bosses does not drop upon death nor resets with Helltide transitions, persisting in the player's inventory;
Whispering Trees events within Helltides transform into event variations exclusive to Helltides, accompanied by new random encounters, offering fresh content to players;
Enemies escalate to level 103 during Helltides, employing various tactics such as teleportation and distant summoning to overwhelm players;
Helltide Prophecy encounters have escalated, frequently summoning hordes of demons or elite monsters instead of just a regular demon;
Dying Prophecy enemies occasionally spawn a unique chest requiring 50 Tide Tokens to unlock, with its contents including blue materials for boss summoning. Three materials summon one boss, enabling cooperative efforts among players who collectively gather the required amount. If you don't want to farm mats by yourself, choosing Gameusd to buy Diablo 4 Items will be a choice;
A new boss and minor events have been introduced during the Tide, alongside direct drops of some boss-summoning materials;
Be cautious of Queen Kerrigan, who can summon swarms of enemies instantly;
Nephalem Level 4 Helltides offer high chances for essential crafting materials, moderate rates for Tier 2 potions, and lower rates for tickets;
While better rewards accompany heightened survival challenges, extended battles and relentless monster spawns can overwhelm less resilient builds, necessitating strategic retreats to safe zones.

Ticket Acquisition Adjustment

Normal enemies within Nightmare Dungeons now have a chance to directly drop ticket materials, although the current drop rates are reportedly unimpressive.

Conclusion

Despite past seasons often failing to live up to their hype, Season 4 promises a transformative experience, marked by the return of iconic features like The Pit and revisions to unpopular mechanics. By catering to player desires, this season is poised to redefine the fun factor in Diablo, making it potentially the most enjoyable yet. Its responsiveness to player feedback signals a commitment to creating engaging content that truly resonates with the community.

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