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Hi, players! Prepare for an exciting new Rogue in the upcoming Season 4 of Diablo 4. Despite it still with the Rapid Fire, it incorporates a unique ring that completely alters its effects, thanks to the addition known as the Scoundrel's Kiss. This brings about significant gameplay differences.
However, when facing bosses, we need the Scoundrel's Kiss unique ring. With a sufficient amount of Diablo 4 Gold, you can seamlessly utilize this build and enjoy a fantastic gaming experience.
The Scoundrel's Kiss offers several benefits: increased critical strike chance, additional ranks to Rapid Fire, and cooldown reduction for imbuement. However, running this unique ring may slow down the game, as it is most beneficial during boss fights. The Rapid Fire shoots exploding arrows that deal with exponentially increased damage, enhancing its effectiveness, especially in terms of AOE damage.
However, when facing bosses, a critical adjustment is needed: achieving a point-blank range. This necessity gave rise to the exploding shotgun build. The altered mechanics mean that the arrows tend to arc towards targets. Consequently, failing to position within the designated area leads to complete misses, resulting in diminished DPS. This is why it's dubbed the Scoundrel's Kiss.
So as far as the skills, we choose the Puncture, so that's just going to deal with the ability to apply vulnerability to the target if our Exploit Glyph wears off. Most of the time, you can kill everything in Diablo 4 within a few seconds. Then we are running the Dark Shroud. This is going to give you extra survivability and give you extra crit or movement speed.
And then we are running Dash. This is going to proc our Cutthroat because we are going to be going back to Close Quarters like in Season 2 because it's just as much better. The Shadow Step also activates our Cutthroat skill for our Close Quarters. In terms of basic skills, if you really want to run Cutthroat, that's totally fine too.
The Caltrops skill is kind of optional. It just allows us to get a quick little damage multiplier onto the enemies, and then it will also apply the Chill effect because we're going to be in melee range. It can be used most of the time if you want to maximize DPS.
If you prefer to run the Precision, that's perfectly acceptable. Your next skill activation occurs after either critting twice or reaching the required stacks, which means it's not always active. So, if your critical hit chance is around 20%, then opting for crit damage would be more beneficial in this scenario.
When it comes to gear, both the Disobedience and Juggernauts are important aspects. However, for lower tier content, running just one of them will suffice. However, in order to reach the new monster level cap, you need to run both, or have high armor.
For the Tempering, you can get a chance for Rapid Fire to double or you get damage to Crowd Control, which is easy to just throw on all of your pieces of gear, and it's going to give you way more value than getting your Precision. As far as the crit goes, you can actually get 100% crit in this Rogue build. So you may want to get crit in your gloves, your amulet, as well as in your rings.
In terms of gloves, we're only using the Aspect of Arrow Storms. Not only are these great for open world content, but they can also do a significant amount of damage in other scenarios. And then we're running the Umbrous Aspect. This will give us free dark shrouds when we crit with our Marksman skills.
Then we're also running the Mangler's Aspect. This will apply a daze to the enemies, and while the enemy is actually dazed, they can get knocked down, and then that's going to give us additional crit. That's something that actually got buffed in Season 3. And then we are also running the Repeating Aspect, so more of these Rapid Fire explosions for our shotgun.
And then as far as the other aspects, we're running the Edgemaster's Aspect in our amulet, just gives us some more damage. We also have the Inner Sight, which got buffed. And then we are running the Accelerating Aspect for some more attack speed.
Finally, as for the paragon board of this build, it's actually very similar to the Flurry Rapid Fire, except we don't scale the Stun Grenades. So, on the starter board, we are going to be getting Ranger, and then we are going to be going up to get Exploit Weakness and Control, and then we're going to be getting the Turf glyph.
And then Tricks of the Trade with Combat, that will give us extra resource. Then, we will have the Cheap Shot, which is physical damage, increases the damage an enemy takes from you. It doesn't change the element, so if you got bonus damage to non-fist, then you could still throw in imbuement if you want to.
In fact, you could throw on poison and get the additional poison imbuement. The reason is that these new Pit bosses, when you start going higher in the tier. So you need to one-shot him before the boss one-shots you.
Blizzard hosted a Diablo 4 Season 3 Midseason campfire discussion on February 29th, featuring Adam Fletcher, Adam Jackson, and Joe Piepiora. They provided a glimpse into the upcoming midseason content release.
Among the updates, we can expect the introduction of the Gauntlet leaderboard system, the return of Vampiric Powers, and various adjustments to classes including buffs and tweaks. Additionally, they elaborated on PTRs and shared insights regarding Season 4. This article serves as a concise overview of the key points discussed in the livestream. Without delay, let's delve into the details.
Commencing with Season 3, the Vampiric Powers are making a comeback. This thematic element constitutes the core of the season's mechanics.
During the questline involving Eris, players get bitten by a vampire, enabling them to acquire Vampiric Powers for character advancement. These powers are leveled up using Potent Blood and can be slotted into specific abilities to gain predefined benefits. However, the handling of these powers differs slightly this time around.
In Season 2, the Malignant Hearts mechanic from Season 1 was reintroduced through a unique ring. In Season 3, it takes the form of a legendary aspect:
Players can extract and place these aspects into any item in their character's inventory. 6 Vampiric Powers are returning:
The developers mentioned that these Vampiric Powers will function similarly to before, with the addition of a "kiss-curse" effect on certain abilities. This means that while they grant bonuses, they also impose minor penalties. For instance, using Metamorphosis will increase the cooldown rating of the evade ability.
Regarding this format, I'd like to share my thoughts. Instead of reintroducing Season 2 mechanics or any seasonal mechanics as aspects, it could have been an opportunity to implement a new player progression system. This could provide additional content to farm or grind for, enhancing character abilities. For example, a talent tree system or a new glyph format applied to the Paragon Board system could have been beneficial. With aspects, there's a risk of them conflicting with other aspects desired for a build, potentially leading to their underutilization.
Transitioning from Vampiric Powers, let's discuss snapshotting, an issue that many players have raised concerns about.
Snapshotting involves exploiting buffs gained from certain abilities while swapping out Diablo 4 Items mid-action to stack buffs and achieve exceptionally high damage output, essentially breaking the game. Blizzard has taken steps to address this by removing snapshotting mechanisms and plans to eliminate them entirely in the future.
To prevent snapshotting in the Gauntlet leaderboard system, Blizzard has implemented a restriction. Once players enter the Gauntlet, they cannot swap out equipped items, selected skills, or Paragon Board allocations. This measure aims to prevent abuse of snapshotting mechanics during Gauntlet runs.
Furthermore, they provided a demonstration of the Gauntlet leaderboard system, featuring three developers playing different classes—a Necromancer, Sorcerer, and Barbarian. Commentary was provided by two content creators known as Annacakelive and Macrobioboi. Each player had an 8-minute timer to accumulate the highest number of points. It was intriguing to observe their approaches and strategies with their respective classes.
Proof of Might was collected by defeating monsters or obtaining keys from mobs to unlock specific chests scattered throughout the dungeon. The layout, mobs, and pylon arrangements remain consistent each week, ensuring a level playing field for all players. However, these aspects change weekly, allowing players to continually attempt and improve their scores. Players can strategically manage their resources, such as pills, which multiply scores or reset monster respawns, to maximize their points.
The Gauntlet leaderboard system is set to a difficulty equivalent to level 70 rather than a level 100 nightmare dungeon. This decision broadens the scope for diverse abilities and builds, as lower-level enemies enable the utilization of less conventional but potentially effective skills. The dynamic nature of the Gauntlet introduces new possibilities and adds freshness to the gameplay experience.
Rewards in the Gauntlet include gear and cosmetics. Players can earn up to four caches per week based on their performance tier—Seal of the Blooded, Seal of the Steadfast, Seal of the Iron-Willed, and Seal of the Worthy. These caches contain gear with item levels of 925 and may include unique items. Additionally, players can earn cosmetic character portraits and, for the top 100, a trophy to adorn their mounts.
Lastly, the Hall of the Ancients showcases the top 10 players in each class category for the week. This serves as a platform for recognition and bragging rights, emphasizing the focus on displaying class proficiency and builds rather than solely farming gear.
Now, let's delve into the class buffs and changes. I won't delve into extensive details. Instead, I'll provide a general overview of the adjustments slated for patch 1.3.3.
Barbarians and Druids will see enhancements to their basic skills, particularly focusing on early-game resource generation. Specifically for Druids, improvements are planned for companions like wolves and Necromancer minions, along with movement speed upgrades for Necromancers.
Sorcerers will witness enhancements to certain paragon nodes, as well as adjustments to abilities like Incinerate and Conjuration. As for Rogues, there's a focus on refining ranged abilities, with changes made to skills such as Heartseeker and Barrage, alongside adjustments to specific aspects.
In addition to class adjustments, significant changes have been made to the Center Shell, which encompasses the entire seasonal mechanic in Season 3.
These adjustments include tweaks and some nerfs, likely implemented to maintain balance ahead of the introduction of the gauntlet leaderboard system. Modifications have been made to various aspects, including Tuning Stones, Poison Support, Bleeding Support, and Burning Support, with even the Governing Stone, like Tempest, receiving adjustments.
This next topic is closely related to class adjustments and enhancements.
The developers sought feedback from the Diablo 4 community regarding the focus on introducing new legendaries and unique items for various builds. Historically, at the onset of each season, every class would receive a new aspect or legendary item, along with a unique item, alongside alterations to abilities, potentially fostering new viable builds.
Now, the community was asked whether they favored continuing this approach. One drawback is that sometimes these additions render certain builds nonviable compared to top-performing ones. The proposed alternative is to concentrate on one or two classes, akin to the approach seen in Diablo 3. This would involve significant buffs to specific skills and abilities, accompanied by the introduction of legendaries or uniques tailored to enhance these builds. This strategy could inject more excitement into the game, providing players with more meaningful choices and fostering a sense of progression.
While specifics regarding the implementation timing were not provided, it's plausible that these changes could be introduced midway through the season. This approach could enhance the game's ongoing appeal, ensuring a steady stream of content throughout each season, rather than waiting until the season's conclusion to introduce new features.
Following the Q&A, the final segment of the campfire discussion centered on Season 4. The developers provided some insight into the direction they intend to take with it.
It appears that substantial changes are in store, reminiscent of Season 2's adjustments to vulnerability, critical damage, and overpower, but on a larger scale. Concerns about potential delays, particularly with the Gauntlet, seem to have been addressed, as everything appears to be progressing smoothly.
Season 4 promises to bring significant positive changes, with PTRs allowing players to preview and test the season before its official release. This serves as a sort of beta test for Season 4, enabling players to provide firsthand feedback and fostering better communication between the community and developers. This announcement has generated considerable anticipation among players.
I'm excited to present to you a Double Swing Twister Barbarian build. This iteration brings a fresh perspective for this Diablo 4 Season 3 - super fast and incredibly powerful. While there's a reduction in cooldown upon killing enemies, it doesn't significantly impact the build's effectiveness since we primarily rely on Double Swing with minimal skill casting.
In this build, there are absolutely no Uber Uniques included. If consider adding one, my choice would probably be a Shako. While a Ring of Starless Skies may seem appealing, Shako is the only option I would consider for this setup. Besides, we need the Tibault's Will. The reason being, it’s a lot harder this season to sustain unstoppable. So before we had Metamorphosis power, which would allow you to just continuously proc Tibault's Will.
One nice thing about this build is that it’s movement speed capped while Berserking, which is absolutely insane. Another little cool thing that you can do with this build as well is just swing at thin air to keep your Berserk buff up. So every time I swing, I get 2 extra seconds, so I can just maintain it. I can keep my damage boost from wrath, and I can also maintain my movement speed as well.
So let’s quickly go over our Diablo 4 Items. First, I really recommend the Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty, this is not necessary but definitely nice to have. I just kind of wanted to illustrate like Fortifiy damage reduction doesn’t actually do anything while you’re using a barrier. For the ring, I choose the Bold Chieftain's Circle, Ring of Unrelenting Fury and Windlasher Chain. They’re all really low item power, and the roles on some of these are excellent.
There’s a lot that can be improved, but the key component is urity. Your main DPS boost is Ramaladni's Magnum Opus, so this is really important. But check carefully as to the stat requirements because you know these are not the best representation for that, you want crit chance where you can get it, and damage while Berserking, and resource regen, and Maximum Fury.
Then as for skills again, you want to go for Furious Double Swing . This is what gives us our basically infinite Fury. We are using Strategic Rallying Cry. Now I know I said like fortified damage reduction doesn’t really apply from behind barrier and it doesn’t. However, we want the damage boost from counteroffensive. So just having this alone, one Rallying Cry will get you to the fortifier requirement in order to allow you to get this damage boost which we want. 1 point again in Charge, this is just for breaking CC. You can use it if you want to move faster.
Healing is very important to this build. And then of course we need Invegrating Fury, more healing but this is just passive. You know this you have to wait for Shouts. This every 4 Double Swing s, and we have insane attack speed, will just be a fat heal, which will keep you sustained forever. Unconstrained, this is a Berserk build.
As for the pet, I didn’t use any of unique stones either. However, if you wanted to use some, you would definitely want to play Genesis on Flash of Adrenaline, and then you’d want to play Evernight on Tempest. It is up to you. And we can get a lot of resource from this, which is quite important for us, and then just damage and DR, which is very nice to have.
Then the last part I just want to talk about is the paragon board. I have to compensate for my lack of resistances on those really low item power rings. There’s some sort of fundamentals that will remain. We’re going to have Blood Rage, lots of damage while Berserking. Then the glyphs we will get is still the Wrath. this is for Fury regen. Ambidextrous powers up all the blue nodes, also increases our damage of dual-wield weapons.
Exploit is our main, if not our only source of vulnerability, but nothing really ever flips over 3 seconds, that’s not a problem. A because it’s a Berserk build and Twister, which is just a really fun thing to use. So we get a nice little 133% multiplicative damage bonus after creating a Tornado or some others, but also it’s just a really cool like gimmick almost. It’s cool to see the Tornadoes go around and kill stuff. They do quite a bit of damage when you max this out, and I really like how it plays.
So other than that, Carnage, lots of attack speed with stacking that Decimator just for Flat Damage. We don’t have Warbringer in the build that you see will quite likely going to have Flawless Technique in it as well because that’s the one thing I would, take these points that are in resistances and I’d go get that legendary node.
Welcome to my guide for Diablo 4 Season 3, where I present an incredible Barbarian Build known as the Death Blow Overkill Barbarian.
To kick things off, it’s crucial to equip the Overkill - an Ancestral unique 2-handed mace for Barbarians. With its perfect stats including all stat strength, overpower damage, and berserking, the damage to berserking is particularly noteworthy. Whether you possess an Overkill and seek a build to maximize its potential or simply have a penchant for the Death Blow skill, this build is worth exploring.
Starting with the Primal Bascinet of Might, prioritize Death Blow ranks and essential stats like total armor, maximum life, cooldown reduction, and employ basic skills for an Arsenal build.
Optimize the Juggernaut's Sovereign Mail chest for maximum health, resistances, and damage reduction.
Utilize Earthstriker Doom Gauntlets for their strength, attack speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Rend ranks, adaptable for core skills like Rend or Double Swing.
Choose Iron Blood Primal Chausses pants for Rend synergy or Protector for barrier utility, adjusting stats for defensive emphasis.
Equip Weapon Master's Doom Treads boots for movement speed and resistances.
Utilize Overkill 2-handed mace with rubies for overpower damage, complemented by Royal Boneblade of Inner Calm for stationary bonuses during key actions. Prioritize all-stat, strength, and relevant damage bonuses on weapons like Edgemaster's Skull and Steel and Demonblade of Encroaching Wrath.
Customize rings for Critical Strike Chance, overpower damage, and resource generation, considering options like Circle of Elements, or Ring of the Relentless Armsmaster based on individual preferences and synergy with companions. Then we have the Ring of Red Furor. This ring is amazing, and we spend 100 Fury by hitting Rend 3 times, which will proc our Encroaching Wrath, and then it will also proc this ring, and we’re guaranteed to have a Critical Strike.
Due to the Critical Strike damage boost from this ring, prioritizing damage amplification seems logical. However, maintaining overpower bonuses via gems for Earthstriker remains essential, especially with the inclusion of Bone Breaker.
In the amulet slot, the Iron Warrior is indispensable for Iron Skin users, boasting exceptional attributes such as strength, damage reduction, cooldown reduction, and 2 ranks to Heavy Handed. While this amulet is nearly perfectly rolled, prioritizing 3 ranks to all Weapon Mastery skills over Heavy Handed would further enhance the effectiveness of Death Blow. So try to get the Weapon Mastery skills and Weapon Expertise. With our Weapon Expertise, we do 2-handed axe, because everything will be vulnerable all the time.
For skill allocation, prioritize placing dual wield on Lunging Strike with 2 points for enhancement. Maximize points in Rend for enhanced effectiveness, then choose between Violent for increased damage or Furious for maintaining Edge Master bonus uptime. Allocate 3 points each in Imposing Presence and Iron Skin for enhancement and tactical use respectively. Include Swiftness for mobility and Aggressive Resistance for defense.
Consider omitting Prolific Fury due to companion effectiveness. Maximize points in Pit Fighter and Death Blow, potentially reaching 18 points with appropriate gear. Enhance Death Blow for boosted boss damage and include Warrior's Death Blow for berserking synergy. Utilize enhanced Steel Grasp for vulnerability and Fighter's for additional berserking. Allocate points in Thick Skin for counter offensive.
Opt for the Trifecta setup, emphasizing Heavy Handed, Brute Force, and Wallop for mace usage and vulnerability exploitation. Maintain Furious Impulse for weapon swapping Fury gain, adaptable depending on companion utility. Lastly, incorporate Wrath of the Berserker, progressing from Prime to Supreme for enhanced performance.
For our key passive, you could take Unconstrained, or you could take Walking Arsenal. The choice is yours. But if you don’t want to worry about weapon swapping, then Unconstrained would also be amazing as well. And with the skills, make sure that your Rend is on your slashing weapon, make sure your Lunging Strike is on dual wield, and make sure your Death Blow is on your Overkill mace.
In the Paragon board, prioritize Exploit glyph on the starting board to ensure constant vulnerability, and consider Bone Breaker for Wrath, maximizing dexterity for critical strike synergy with Ring of Red Furor. Alternatively, opt for Territorial for consistent damage without reliance on crits.
Emphasize Might in the Carnage board to enhance damage during berserking and bolster damage reduction.
In the Decimator board, focus on acquiring strength nodes for increased damage output.
Utilize the Weapon Master glyph in the Weapon Master board or the starter board to optimize physical damage bonuses, ensuring its effectiveness in tandem with frequent Death Blows.
Finally, prioritize Crusher in the Blood Rage board for overpower damage synergy with the main mace damage, emphasizing strength or Willpower allocation.
Then with our construct, I recommend to use the Flash of Adrenaline, Duration Support, Tactical Support with Initiative Support, and then you put Tempest with Resource Support, Safeguard Support, and Fortify Support. The fortifies are up all the time. All these are my favorite for this construct.
Diablo 4 extends far beyond its core storyline, yet these additional layers are only unveiled post-Lilith’s defeat. Blizzard has intricately woven numerous trials into the fabric of Sanctuary’s ongoing existence within the endgame, providing ample opportunities for Wanderers to delve into these quests and further fortify their characters.
Accompanied by the introduction of Vaults, Diablo 4 Season of the Construct beckons players to confront Malphas, a demon who has seized control of the ancient technology known as The Loom. However, adequate preparation is paramount before confronting this adversary, and there’s no superior method to enhance your prowess than by engaging in endgame activities, tackling World Bosses, and scouring for Unique Items.
If you don’t know what to do next after completing the primary campaign in Diablo 4 Season 3, here’s a comprehensive overview of the myriad activities available.
Upon finishing the primary narrative of Diablo 4 Season 3, one of the initial actions available is elevating Sanctuary’s world level.
In the endgame, players gain entry to two additional difficulty tiers:
Adjusting World Tiers presents the chance to confront more formidable adversaries while also reaping rewards of superior quality and rarity, including Sacred & Ancestral items. If you want to easily defeat your opponents, then it is necessary to reasonably allocate some Diablo 4 Gold to your characters and weapons!
Upon reaching World Level 3 in Diablo 4 Season 3, players will observe the emergence of Nightmare Sigils scattered across Sanctuary’s map.
These sigils serve as access points to Nightmare Dungeons, operating akin to keys. However, players lack control over which specific dungeon they unlock.
Consequently, Wanderers must conserve these sigils in their inventory until the corresponding location is revealed, although they can be salvaged once utilized.
To enter a Nightmare Dungeon, players must right-click on a Nightmare Sigil within their inventory, thereby marking the location on the map for easier navigation.
Upon completing these challenges, players will be rewarded with two loot pieces and encounter an altar for Glyph upgrades.
The Paragon Boards in Diablo 4 Season 3 are personalized passive skill trees, offering characters a means to refine their builds with various stats.
As players accrue experience beyond level 50, they’ll earn Paragon Points that can be invested in passive bonuses. It’s important to note that builds are restricted to allocating a maximum of 220 passives.
By utilizing Glyphs, Wanderers can enhance their Paragon Boards, unlocking additional abilities. It’s essential to remember that these boards are tailored to each class and are linked to specific characters.
Upon completing every Act in Diablo 4 Season 3’s main storyline, players gain entry to Helltide areas.
These regions are imbued with the influence of Hell, resulting in stronger enemies and providing an opportunity for players to seek out crystals to unlock special reward caches.
In areas affected by a Helltide, meteors will descend as environmental hazards, elevating the monster level by two above the player’s level. Demons defeated during this event yield Aberrant Cinders, which can be utilized to unlock Tortured Chests scattered throughout the affected region.
Following the Season 3 update, Helltides are now accessible at all times, with only a 5-minute interval between occurrences. Players will encounter these events in World Tier 3: Nightmare difficulty and must confront Helltide Commanders to secure valuable loot.
In Act 5 of the Diablo 4 Season 3 campaign, Wanderers will encounter the Tree of Whisperers, situated in the northeast corner of Hawezar. It stands out unmistakably with its distinctive feature: talking heads suspended from its branches.
Upon completing the main story, players receive a Priority Quest guiding them to interact with the tree, who requests the gathering of Grim Favors obtained through various missions.
It’s important to note that each task yields a different amount of favors:
The primary objective is to accumulate 10 Grim Favors, which can then be exchanged for reward bundles.
The Codex of Power in Diablo 4 Season 3 comprises a compilation of Legendary Aspects that players can imprint onto their Diablo 4 Items at The Occultists. These enhancements are applicable to both Rare & Legendary items.
While the Codex of Power becomes accessible early in the main storyline, acquiring all Aspects may necessitate Wanderers to continue playing even after completing it. This can be achieved by fully exploring every Dungeon within Diablo 4 Season 3's expansive map.
World Bosses are colossal demons that emerge throughout the expanse of Sanctuary's map.
Players may chance upon them randomly, but only after completing the campaign will they begin to receive notifications regarding World Boss appearances.
It's worth noting that this is the sole in-game method of receiving alerts about the impending arrival of these titanic adversaries, although enthusiasts have devised alternative tracking methods.
In Diablo 4, the 3 primary World Bosses are:
Each new season introduces fresh World Bosses for players to confront, presenting an opportunity to test their strength.
Here's a rundown of every World Boss featured during the Diablo 4 Season of the Construct:
Diablo 4 Season 3's Echo of Lilith stands as a Level 100 adversary, epitomizing the ultimate challenge within the game.
This formidable demon manifests in two phases within the Echo of Hatred and is exclusively accessible when playing at World Tier level 4.
Representing a heightened iteration of Lilith, the Echo of Lilith poses a significant escalation in difficulty. According to Joe Piepiora, Diablo 4's Associate Game Director, this encounter is described as a "pinnacle boss encounter."
Piepiora elucidates, "Players who attain level 100 will face an exceedingly challenging ordeal with this boss encounter. The expectation is that you leverage your class, comprehend your build intricately, and have optimized every facet to its fullest potential. Mastery of these elements will be key to potentially overcoming this formidable foe.
Diablo 4 Season 3 debuted Vaults and Nightmare Vaults, presenting players with a fresh variant of Dungeons essential for completing their seasonal journey and confronting the demon Malphas.
As they progress through Diablo 4 Season 3's storyline, players must focus on constructing and enhancing their Seneschal Companions by acquiring Tuning and Governing Stones. These Constructs will fight alongside them to thwart Malphas' allies.
Furthermore, players will encounter Arcane Tremors, localized events demanding confrontation with Constructs to access Obelisks and reap valuable rewards. While traversing Sanctuary, Wanderers will also stumble upon Braziers, a highly praised new PvP mechanic that requires activation to summon Heralds of Malphas and acquire rare materials.
Experience the Lunar Awakening, a time-limited event amplifying Shrines in Diablo 4 Season 3.
Running from February 6th to the 20th, Lunar Shrines grant 50% XP per monster kill, a 30% movement speed boost, and an extra modifier beyond their usual effects. For instance, Lethal Shrines, in their Lunar New Year variant, provide a chance for instant enemy execution alongside critical strikes. Lunar-variant Shrines feature distinctive dragon skins for easy identification.
This guide delves into all Lunar additions and more.
Once the event is active, fast-travel to Ked Bardu and head to the northern section of town. There you'll meet Ying-Yue, who runs the Lunar Night Market, your main event hub for Lunar Awakening.
You can ask her about some interesting lore, check your Ancestral Favor reputation, and claim some sick rewards. There are 10 reputation levels to earn and 6 different Lunar-themed rewards to unlock.
The weapon skins for the event are the Lunar Scepter Wand, the Dragon's Courage Two-Handed Axe and the Moonshot Bow. If you're a fan of markings, there is a Dragon's Tapestry marking to unlock, as well as a Moon's Bounty mount trophy and the Moonborn Stallion mount.
Lunar Shrines are spread throughout Sanctuary, so just play as you normally would. You can find them in the overworld Vaults, Whisper bounties, and dungeons.
Speaking of dungeons, during the event, Nightmare Sigils have a chance to roll an Ancestor's Favor Dungeon Affix. This guarantees extra Shrines can spawn for that dungeon, and you will receive 10% bonus Glyph XP once complete.
Remember, you can only earn Ancestral Favor reputation while the Lunar Shrine effect is active, so make sure to rack up as many kills as you can before the time runs out.
Lunar Awakening Shrines are enhanced versions of regular Shrines, offering bonus XP, increased movement speed, and all the familiar powers along with an additional ability. Here are some examples.
For the Lunar Awakening Event in Diablo 4 Season 3, you must master these 2 tips.
Engage in the Lunar Celebrant local event for a classic monster-defense experience. Completing the Mastery objective triggers a bonus frenzy wave, making it more efficient than regular Shrines.
Earn bonus Glyph XP with Lunar Affix Nightmare Dungeon Sigils. Guaranteed Lunar Affix Nightmare Sigils in reputation reward tiers make the reputation grind self-reinforcing. Optimize efficiency by completing Whisper bounties parallel to events.
In summary, play Diablo 4 Season as you wish, reinforcing your preferred gameplay loop. Efficiently tackle Lunar events and dabble with Shrines for a rewarding experience.
There are some interesting lesser-known nuances with the Shrines in Diablo 4 Season 3.
Explore these lesser-known nuances with Shrines for an enhanced and strategic gameplay experience in Diablo 4 Season 3.
Here are some tips on how you can optimize Shrines and get more rewards.
Slay demons swiftly to align with the pace of conversation.
Personally wait for a good monster density before popping a Shrine for optimal impact.
Miserly Spirits contribute as a bonus to the local event Mastery objective.
The focus is on maximizing player enjoyment through rapid monster shredding.
Stockpiling Nightmare Sigils with Ancestor's Favor Affix is viable for post-event use.
Bonus Glyph XP remains on crafted Nightmare Dungeon Sigils even after the event concludes.
Inspired by the popularity of Gileon's Brew from Midwinter Blight, rewards are designed to persist.
This encourages players to stockpile for future use, ensuring rewards endure beyond the event.
Go ahead and stockpile for doomsday.
Leveling with Druid has never been better. In Diablo 4 Season 3, we managed to combine poison with lightning to create one of the best hybrid builds that lets you level with ease. This build has insane AOE damage, raining lightning from the sky continuously, all the while spreading poison, which infects the entire screen.
Unlike other early-level Druid builds, this one has absolutely no issue with Spirit, as we have 2 skills that instantly give us large chunks of spirit, again and again. There are absolutely no items or RNG aspects that are required for the build. Everything is obtained from the Codex or very early in the seasonal quest line.
If you have zero or low amounts of spirit, the first 2 skills you want to use are Blood Howl and Trample. Blood Howl provides you with 20% Health instantly, and then, thanks to Innate Blood Howl, you also gain a chunk of spirit. Trample is a great movement tool and good for burst damage, but thanks to Savage Trample, it now also provides a large amount of spirit on the cast.
The first attack you want to use in a pack of enemies is Rabies, which spreads poisoning damage to them. This season, we also have the Virulent Aspect, which is unlocked from the very first chapter of the season and will cause your Rabies cooldown to significantly lessen, which means you can use Rabies more often, and that is absolutely huge for that damage boost.
With Envenom, you’ll deal much larger crits against enemies that are poisoned, and thanks to Neurotoxin, any poisoned enemies are slow, which is important because Nature’s Reach, another passive, causes you to deal double the damage bonus against slowed enemies.
Poison Creeper is another ability you want to pop early on, as it immobilizes enemies, meaning Nature’s Reach is active, and thanks to Brutal Poison Creeper, your Critical Strike Chance goes up by a whopping 20%. Now, you can use your Lightning Storm ability, which can cause massive crits.
With the combination of abilities and passive stacking, clearing out large enemy packs will be a breeze. Thanks to Enhanced Blood Howl, once you start killing enormous packs of enemies, Blood Howl’s cooldown will be significantly reduced, and then you should use Blood Howl to constantly get your spirit and health back whenever it’s off cooldown.
If Trample and Blood Howl are on cooldown and you need Spirit, then we can use our Wind Shear basic attack, which is the best basic attack for Druid because it causes enemies to become vulnerable and increases your movement speed, which makes Druid much more efficient at speed leveling.
To summarize, use your spirit generators, then pop Rabies and Poison Creeper whenever off cooldown, then spam Lightning Storm. Then, pop your spirit generators again whenever they’re off cooldown. And if they’re on cooldown, you need to chuck in a few Wind Shears for that spirit.
The same rotation applies to bosses. This build may not have the best single-target boss damage, but because of the constant healing, you’re not going to struggle at all. It’ll just take slightly longer than some of the other classes out there.
So, let’s go over the skill tree in more detail. The priority when you’re leveling is to unlock a new skill on the toolbar rather than upgrading an already existing ability, and some of the earlier passive packs we actually get later on as we’re leveling. So, put one point into Wind Shear, which is our main spirit generator, and then one point into Enhanced Wind Shear and Fierce Wind Shear.
1 point into Lightning Storm, 1 point into Enhanced Lightning Storm, and then 1 point into Primal Lightning Storm, so we can immobilize enemies and take advantage of the several damage boosts. This build provides. You’ll want to max out Lightning Storm to 5 out of 5 ranks pretty quickly, as it’s your main DPS option. Along with unlocking new skills, side by side, unlock Blood Howl, along with Enhanced and Innate Blood Howl as soon as possible, so you can get healing and spirit more efficiently.
Then go for Poison Creeper, alongside Enhanced and Brutal Poison Creeper. Once Lightning Storm is 5 out of 5, put 1 point into Rabies, then go and put 1 point into Trample, which will help with mobility and burst damage. 1 point into Enhanced Trample and Savage Trample so you can then have another ability which generates spirits.
Then go back and get Enhanced and Natural Rabies, which will make the skill much more efficient. Eventually, you’ll want to get Rabies to 5 out of 5. Now, the rest of the skill tree focuses on passives. Put 1 point into Neurotoxin, so you can put 3 points into Envenom, 3 points into Nature’s Reach for more damage against crowd-controlled enemies, 3 points into Defiance for more damage against elites, 3 points into Circle of Life for constant healing whenever you cast Lightning Storm or Wind Shear.
Thanks to Circle of Life, whenever we cast Lightning Storm, we gain back even more healing. So just combined with Blood Howl, you’ll never need to pop a potion. All this healing is great because it means we can use our key passive, Ursine Strength, and deal 25% increased damage whenever we have more than 80% Health, which seems to be nearly all the time, thanks to the constant healing.
Put 3 points into Natural Disaster, one point into Heart of the Wild, so you can put 3 points into Wild Impulses, and 3 points into Abundance. 3 points into Predatory Instinct for more Critical Strike chance, and finally, 1 point into Elemental Exposure and 1 point into Charged Atmosphere, so you can put 3 points into Electric Shock, which can further increase damage against immobilized enemies.
Let’s go over the aspects I recommend while leveling. Every single aspect comes from the codex or seasonal quest line early on, so you aren’t at the mercy of RNG. For offensive aspects, Edgemaster's Aspect is good at increasing damage based on how much spirit you have when you cast Lightning Storm. Aspect of Inner Calm boosts damage for each second you standstill, which is because you’re channeling Lightning Storm and getting constant healing, is very much possible.
Shepherd’s Aspect increases your damage by 6% for each companion. Poison Creeper is a companion, so that does count for that little boost. Nighthowler's Aspect boosts Critical Strike chance whenever you use Blood Howl. For Utility or resource aspects, the Virulent Aspect, as I mentioned before, is very good as it reduces Rabies cooldown as it spreads.
And then, Aspect of the Umbal is another one I’d recommend to maybe put on one of your rings, as it will boost spirit generation quite a bit, as we constantly slow or immobilize enemies with this build, which all counts as crowd control. There are no defensive aspects that are a requirement, but Aspect of Disobedience to boost armor and Aspect of Might for easy damage reduction are beneficial aspects. But trust me, you won’t need these because of the constant healing the build provides.
There’s not much to say for gear. You’re going to be constantly out leveling gear, so keep on replacing it. This especially applies to your weapon, which you want the highest GPS weapon for.
If you’re playing on the seasonal realm, you’ll have the Seneshcal Construct. There are obviously some very strong legendary and unique stones, but these are dropped much later on in the game, so you won’t encounter a lot of them early on while leveling.
Early on, for leveling, I found the Utility Aspects more useful. Reconstruct helps even more with healing and survivability, while Protect gives you a barrier on top to help with survivability. If you don’t have these, then an attacking skill with Poison support can help to poison more enemies and apply slow to them through Neurotoxin. You’ll deal more damage efficiently. Support boosts Critical Strike Chance even more, and Slowing support adds even more slow to the mix.
If you do have Arcing support alongside an attack, you can use Resource support. You can gain back massive amounts of spirit. Unfortunately, I don’t have this combo unlocked, but if you do, by chance, get these stones, do use them, as that will help your spirit generation a lot. Have a play around with the combinations. There are some useful ones, but don’t get caught up too much on this while leveling. Most of the power from this comes from the endgame.
So there you have it, my Poison Lightning Hybrid build for Level 1 to 50. It’s faster, stronger, and just better than all previous Druid leveling builds, and you’ll be level 50 in no time.
Are you ready for Diablo 4 Season 3? This guide provides a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know before diving into the new Diablo 4 season, Season of the Construct, including insights into leveling characters, completing the season quest, and understanding the mechanics of this season.
Let's first explore the new Diablo 4 Seasonal content, featuring the Companion, Arcane Tremors, and Nightmare Vaults, before delving into some leveling tips for returning players or those aiming to reach World Tier 4 swiftly.
The Season of the Construct centers around The Loom, an ancient technology crafted by the founder of the Horadrim and his companion Ayuzhan.
Stolen by the demon Malphas, this loom becomes the focal point of your battle against his minions, the Constructs. The town center under Kehjistan, known as Gatehall, acts as the new seasonal hub area, providing access to the fresh seasonal dungeons, Vaults.
To aid you in the fight against Malphas, you'll have a new seasonal Seneschal Companion, also known as the robot spider pet. Acquired during the Seasonal Quest, the Seneschal is a Construct that you repair to become your own companion.
It's crucial to acquire the Seneschal quickly, as it's a permanent pet capable of dealing damage, crowd control, and even healing you – overall, a valuable ally. The companion levels up with your progression in the game and comes with its own customizable skills.
These skills are equipped through Tuning and Governing Stones, obtained from Arcane Tremors, Vaults, and crafting from Shattered Stones dropped by Constructs at the Jeweler in Gatehall. You have 2 slots for Governing Stones, dictating your Seneschal's abilities, and 6 slots for Tuning Stones to enhance those abilities.
Once you have the Seneschal, your focus shifts to obtaining these stones.
Begin by clearing Arcane Tremors found across Sanctuary. In these events, you must locate Cores from Constructs or Towers, place them in a brazier to summon Malphus’ Heralds. Defeating these constructs has a chance to yield stones and shattered stones. Importantly, when you defeat the Heralds, you earn the seasonal Rare Currency, Pearls of Warding. These function as a form of currency for "gambling" in the new vaults, offering more Governing and Tuning Stones.
After acquiring Pearls of Warding, head to one of the 3 Vaults in Gatehall. Inside the vault, you'll find the "Statue of Zoltun Kulle," allowing you to exchange Pearls of Warding for stacks of Zoltun's Warding. These stacks act as a counter for the numerous traps throughout the vault. Every time you're hit by a trap, you lose one stack, and if you reach 0 stacks by the end of the dungeon, you won't unlock the special Wardwoven chest containing valuable loot and additional Tuning/Governing Stones.
Additionally, you can turn the Vaults into Nightmare Vaults to expedite the process. These vaults feature more traps, tougher enemies, and additional Wardwoven Chests to unlock. Vault Sigils to start Nightmare Vaults drop similarly to normal Nightmare Sigils in World Tier 3 and 4.
So, the basic cycle for the season involves participating in Arcane Tremors, obtaining Pearls, entering a Vault, clearing it without getting hit by traps, enhancing the companion's skills, and repeating.
Upon completing the questline, you gain access to a fourth vault – the Uber Vault. Here, you'll face traps, enemies, and eventually, fight against Uber Malphus, a stationary boss capable of dropping two powerful Unique stones. It's recommended to tackle this challenge at some point during the season.
Now, let's discuss strategies for fast leveling in the new season.
Upon creating a new character for the season, you'll be presented with the option to skip the campaign and choose the World Tier you want to play on. If you've already completed the campaign, skipping it with a new character is the faster method for leveling. Contrary to expectations, opting for World Tier 1 is the best choice for quick leveling.
Choosing World Tier 2 offers a 20% experience and gold boost, but the enemies become more challenging, requiring more time to defeat. This makes it less efficient than selecting World Tier 1, where enemies are easier, and you can clear dungeons more swiftly.
As you progress to the mid and end game, you'll transition to World Tier 3 and World Tier 4 for increased XP.
To help you level up fater in Diablo 4 Season 3, here are some useful tips.
With no updates to experience at the Season of the Construct launch, the quickest way to level your character remains half-repeating the Domhainne Tunnels dungeon in Scosglen. However, alternative methods, including new seasonal activities, are available for leveling.
Upon spawning in, ensure you claim your renown rewards. If you've played in earlier seasons and completed renown for all regions by discovering waypoints, clearing strongholds, finding altars of Lilith, etc., you can claim the bottom rewards for all regions. These include 2 skill points, +1 Potion Capacity, +80 Maximum Obol Capacity, and most importantly, +4 Paragon Points. If you haven't unlocked these, there's no rush to obtain them immediately, but you'll want to secure these rewards later.
Firstly, progress the Seasonal Quest as much as you can until it becomes challenging or you lose interest. This allows you to obtain the Seneschal Construct Companion as soon as possible. Afterward, you can start grinding the Domhainne Tunnels. The strategy involves clearing the first section without releasing any prisoners, teleporting out to Cerrigar, sorting your inventory, resetting the dungeons via your map, and then returning. Repeat this process until around level 50, occasionally incorporating Helltide for essential resources like Forgotten Souls and Fiend Roses to upgrade your gear.
For those who prefer alternatives, Legion Events are an excellent option, spawning frequently and providing substantial XP upon completion. You'll receive an alert on the map before they spawn, and kindling the campfire at the location five minutes before it starts increases your XP gain for the event up to 15%. Engaging with other players in the world to clear the event enhances your XP gain.
Other activities include World Bosses, Whispers, and the new seasonal activities. While World Bosses spawn every 6-8 hours and offer great XP, it's advisable to avoid them in the first week of the new season when players are generally too weak to tackle them effectively.
Grim Favors present diverse quests on the map, including harvesting a zone, clearing a cellar, or the XP-rich option of clearing a Whisper Dungeon. Grim Favors can overlap with World Bosses and new seasonal activities. The new seasonal activities consist of Arcane Tremors found throughout Sanctuary and the Vault dungeons. Grinding Arcane Tremors is recommended for leveling as they provide XP and the new Rare Currency.
Mixing up these activities while clearing Domhainne Tunnels or choosing one based on personal preference is up to you. Remember to clear Helltides occasionally, stock up on elixirs to boost XP gain during activities, and engage in seasonal content. At level 15 (or 25 for necros), complete your Class Quest to unlock a special feature of your class. Later, around the level 50-60 range, attempt the WT3 Capstone Dungeon in Kyovashad to increase your World Tier, leading to leveling beyond 60.
Upon reaching WT3, the most efficient use of your time will come from Nightmare Dungeons or Nightmare Vaults, offering substantial rewards and XP. Nightmare Sigils, required to activate these, can be obtained as random drops from enemies in the game and through crafting at the occultist. To maximize XP gains from Nightmare Dungeons, it's advisable to engage enemies that are 10 levels higher than you, although tackling lower-level ones is acceptable if the higher-level ones prove too challenging initially.
While you can continue participating in the previously mentioned activities, their impact on character progression is likely to be less significant compared to Nightmare Dungeons, which become a crucial element in advancing your character. As you approach level 70, consider attempting the WT4 capstone. Following that, you can continue tackling Nightmare Dungeons and mix in other activities like completing the Seasonal Quest, addressing your renown, or exploring various in-game tasks.
Thus far, we've covered what we believe beginners should focus on at the beginning of this new season.
Looking ahead, an upcoming Gauntlet dungeon is on the horizon—a weekly rotating fixed dungeon where players compete on leaderboards, with top weekly scores earning a permanent spot in the Hall of the Ancients. While specific details about these dungeons are yet to be revealed, if you're up for the challenge, keep an eye out for this dungeon in the weeks or months to come.
What are your thoughts on the season so far? Does it pique your interest?
Did you know that Magic Find is arguably the most popular attribute in Diablo game? Did you know that Magic Find is still present in Diablo 4 even after it’s fully released? Are you interested in learning how this innovative and interesting property became completely useless in Diablo 3 and was eventually removed entirely in Diablo 4?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then hang on. This guide outlines the rise and fall of Magic Find during the evolution of Diablo game.
Magic Find was first introduced in 2000 with the release of Diablo 2, and it remains one of the most important statistics for players, especially after the launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Magic Find is the stat that everyone wants: it increases the drop rate of Magic, Rare, Unique and Set items by a percentage of the original drop rate. So if your character has 50% Magic Find, and a mob or boss has a 1% chance of dropping a Magic item, you actually have a 1.5% chance of getting that item.
In Diablo 2, Magic Find can be obtained not only through equipment but also through runes. It can be used to enhance your gear, gems, can be embedded into items, as well as charms of different sizes, and can be added to your inventory to add stats to your character.
In an interesting twist, you need to give up Magic Find for different character powers: inventory space for Charms, and actual combat stats for Runes, Gems and Items.
Part of Diablo 2’s endgame is balancing the amount of Magic Find you have while maintaining a strong enough character to kill monsters and bosses effectively. Best of all, Magic Find has no upper limit. The roll limits the amount of Magic Find you have only on the item, with a theoretical maximum of just over 1,100%.
As you might imagine, finding more and more Magic Find was, and still is, a big part of Diablo 2. Because it’s really fun to have a stat that actually changes the drop rate in your favor.
The developers have further improved this system by adding new Magic Find sources in the expansion Lord of Destruction.
It’s clear that Magic Find, combined with Rune and Runeword systems, has contributed greatly to Diablo 2’s playability and success so far. As a result, there are still many players playing Diablo 2: Resurrected, especially with the game being updated semi-regularly.
With Diablo 3, the developers took a more conservative approach. But they seem to view balancing the game around Magic Find as more of a hurdle.
Their reasoning is that if players can increase the drop rate so much, then the base drop rate without any Magic Find will be very low, similar to Diablo 2.
We all know where these decisions lead: each Rift Guardian drops a ton of Legendary and Set items, but 99.9% of the loot is worthless and players have a full set of gear after half a day of playing.
Overall, Diablo is becoming a game for casual players.
When looking through several pieces of loot I’ve picked up on exits in D2 in the past, I found that the game gives you so many Legendary and Set items that checking them all one by one feels cumbersome and a waste of time.
This has even forced developers to introduce new rare items, such as Ancient and Primal Ancient Legendaries, that have better or higher rolling stats than the original items.
While I believe Reaper of Souls expansion and subsequent released seasons did improve the overall quality of the base game, it certainly pushed the series further toward casual players and away from the original two games.
The changes to Magic Find are just part of the bigger picture. Magic Find in the original Diablo 3 is very similar to the effect in Diablo 2. However, after many changes, its importance slowly but steadily waned.
Originally, Magic Find percentage was a stat that could be rolled randomly on items, with a hard cap of 300% on Magic Find coming from gear. This hard cap immediately eliminates the exciting balance between Magic Find and character abilities we discussed in Diablo 2.
With the introduction of the original Paragon system, you’ll gain 3% of Magic Find per Paragon level. Unfortunately, this and the vast majority of Magic Find you could get from gear were removed with Reaper of Souls expansion, save for a few special perks on legendary items that are considered largely useless today.
Also, the expansion also imposes a heavy penalty on your existing Magic Find for increasing the drop chance of Rare and Legendary items: only 20% of Magic Find is added to the drop chance of Rare items. For Legendary and Set items, this number is even only 5%.
This means that a hard cap of 300% Magic Find will increase your Rare item drop rate by 60%, while Legendary item drop rates will only increase by 15%. These numbers are obviously a far cry from Diablo 2’s numbers. This makes the incentive to equip the few remaining items with this property essentially non-existent.
In fact, players don’t need to balance their character’s power with the amount of Magic Find they carry. This resulted in Diablo 3 having to introduce several difficulty levels: 16 Torment levels and several Greater Rift levels.
But all levels have increasing chances of dropping more and better loot. This gives players access to hundreds of different game modes with varying difficulties, rather than just a few difficulty levels, and makes it harder for those who choose to carry more Magic Find by making them give up character powers.
As for Diablo 4, not many players know that Magic Find did exist in the game for a short period. Because its impact is even smaller than Diablo 3.
You can’t even get it by installing Magic Find on your gear or through Paragon Board.
The only appearance of Magic Find in Diablo 4 is as an affix on Nightmare Dungeon Sigils.
Nightmare Dungeon is an endgame activity in which players open dungeons using Sigils, who determine the dungeon’s difficulty and certain attributes. These attributes are called affixes, one of which is Magic Find.
No one knows exactly what this affix does, other than a brief description of “You find more items from enemies.” The exact percentage of this bonus and the items it affects were never actually revealed. But some players have reported significant increases in loot, especially when running Nightmare Dungeon with this affix.
Despite this, players have found a way to abuse Magic Find affix by using a trick to keep resetting the same Nightmare Dungeon repeatedly, thus keeping the bonus permanently active.
You may have noticed that I used the past tense when talking about Magic Find in Diablo 4. Because the developer’s response to this abuse was to remove Magic Find affix from any newly dropped Nightmare Sigils. They also later fixed a bug that allowed players to endlessly reset Nightmare Dungeon with the same affix.
So today, despite probably spamming the same Nightmare Dungeon endlessly, Magic Find simply doesn’t exist in the game. All we can do is wonder if it will be added again.
This is the story of the rise and fall of Magic Find in Diablo: from the core game mechanics to the barely noticeable affixes that were removed from the game to prevent misuse. Which implementation of Magic Find is your favorite? See you next time!
Here, we’ll discuss the latest changes to Uber Unique drop rate in Diablo 4 and how it affects the game.
I feel like many of you are probably not fully up to date on every latest change to the game. Since it’s the end of the season, there usually aren’t vast changes at this point.
And Christmas event that just released is boring and uninspired, to say the least. So you have good reason not to listen closely to what’s going on with Diablo 4 right now, at least until they start announcing details about Season 3.
That being said, one recent change to the game that you may have noticed is that the drop rate for Duriel’s Uber Uniques has doubled. That’s what I want to talk about here, because this change has serious implications for both future and past events.
Hardcore Diablo fans should be very aware that doubling things in a game rarely has the desired effect. Before we talk about this change, we also have to talk about Uber Uniques’ system of dropping a boss throughout the game. Because the system itself is highly questionable, to say the least.
Everyone praised the developers for their decision when they announced that Uber Uniques would be more suitable for the average player. Because the drop rates for these items have been so low since the launch of the game that only a handful of players in the world are lucky enough to get them.
Anything is better than this system, so that’s why everyone cheered when Duriel could drop Uber Unique items with about a 2% drop rate.
But little did we know it was another horrible system that players grew to hate over time. In order to fight Duriel and have a 2% chance of receiving one item, players must go through a heartbreaking grind.
The time varies depending on the class you play. But I think it’s safe to say that summoning Duriel at a time requires at least an hour of farming time.
Now, if a player kills Duriel in a group, it can increase the number of summons by 4x. But the problem remains: long hours of soulless grinding with a slim chance of getting really good items.
Trust me, 2% chance is small, especially if you want a specific Uber Unique. You can easily kill between 5 and 800 Duriel without dropping your target Uber Unique. And you can get multiple other unique items that are actually useless to your class.
It filled Reddit with posts, complaining about how many times they ran it without getting Unique drops they wanted. Other types of posts are where players post screenshots of the items they ultimately earned as proof of some kind of achievement.
But is beating a simple, easy-to-kill boss repeatedly really a tremendous accomplishment? Players are frustrated, and rightfully so. Wouldn’t it be better if it could drop Uber Uniques from any mob, but the chance of a drop didn’t limit them to a handful of players in the world?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the addition of Uber Bosses is completely useless. They serve their purpose well by letting players aim to farm regular unique items, such as Tempest Roar and Malignant Rings. But bundling Uber Unique items with Duriel is a huge mistake in my opinion.
Now let’s get back to the present and look at the recent changes to Uber Uniques drop odds. The fact that the developers made such a change, especially in the middle of the season, upset more people.
First, this doesn’t solve the problem of Duriel being a single semi-reliable way to get Uber Uniques. But that’s not the only problem. Let’s see how some player groups react to this change.
Players who have gotten Unique items they wanted despite tedious grinding without buffs may feel betrayed by the developers. Because it takes new players half the time to get the same items.
The second category of players are those who obtained Unique by purchasing Duriel summoning materials using Diablo 4 Gold or even real money. I personally see nothing wrong with using gold to purchase materials. But since duping is available to certain groups, material prices can become very low due to the excessive number of duped items being sold.
So, while buying with gold isn’t inherently a bad thing, duping is questionable. As for paying real money to get summoning materials, I do understand the reasoning: people want to skip dozens or hundreds of hours of grinding to reach Duriel by paying. I understand the motivation, but it’s still bad for the game as this is clearly a case of pay-to-win and will ruin the game in the long run.
So, the target group that should benefit from the double drop chances are players who have never obtained unique items and plan to get them later in the season. However, at the end of the season, the number of these players was not as high as the developers thought.
It’s entirely possible that some players who never got Uber Uniques evaded this chore, and they still have to do it after the change. At least the price of summoning materials is expected to drop due to increased drop rates.
So, overall, the developers made a controversial change to an objectively terrible system. They could have redesigned the entire system, or at least they could have waited until next season to introduce the change.
Regardless, this is yet another in a long line of terrible decisions from Diablo developers. Looking at this trend, they really have to do better to compete with the upcoming Path of Exile 2. What are your thoughts on this topic? Are you planning to take advantage of Uber Uniques? See you next time!
