Diablo 4’s Endgame Nightmare Dungeons Can be Modified in “Really Cool Ways”

Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo 4 had an open beta last weekend for pre-orders, which attracted over one million players. However, impressions are mixed on the Dungeons. There are over 100 Dungeons in the game, and the beta offered access to those in Fractured Peaks.

The common criticism was that they were too big and had the same objectives. Given that Dungeons are part of the endgame, what is the team doing to change things? Speaking to Eurogamer, game director Joe Shely said acknowledged the criticism.

“We have seen it, yeah. There are a few elements there. There are some players who… We added the ability to teleport out of dungeons via the UI, and some players don’t realize that exists. But certainly, there are cases within the dungeon, where you get a key and go somewhere else.

“We don’t want players to be running through an empty dungeon. In cases where you’re going to get a key, and you’re running back through an area, there should be enemies showing up to refresh that. It is a goal of ours that you’re not running through an empty dungeon, basically, ever. It can be okay for very short periods.”

The idea is that while leveling up, players enter with the mindset of completing each dungeon, which is incentivized through the Codex of Power and Renown system. On reaching the endgame, players gain access to Nightmare Dungeons, which are essentially Dungeons modified by sigils “in really cool ways, with buffs and nerfs, and those dramatically modify the dungeon.

“But because the dungeons are designed with some properties to start with, you can get a sigil for a dungeon and have some context for what that means – it’s not just a random name that can be anything.”

Diablo series general manager Rod Fergusson added, “People are seeing dungeons at the baseline level. It’ll be interesting to see the feedback once people experience what it means to go through sigils and get to see now there are more monsters. Now they have a different ability, now you’re being debuffed this way, and they’re being buffed that way. And it’s going to feel like a much different experience.”

Diablo 4 is out on June 6th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Though Dungeons form a big part of the endgame, there are other activities to pursue, like side quests, World Events, World Bosses, Strongholds and more. Stay tuned for details in the meantime.