Diablo 4 Patch Nerfs All Classes, XP Gain, Helltides, and More

Blizzard Entertainment’s latest update for Diablo 4 is now live in preparation for Season of the Malignant. While it adds new Uniques and Legendary Aspects, many borderline pointless, it packs multiple nerfs to almost everything in the game.

Slaying monsters at a level higher than the player now gives only a 1.5 percent bonus XP up to 10 levels, down from 15 percent. Killing enemies two or three levels higher has gone from 20 and 25 percent to three and 15 percent. Enemies in Helltides are now three levels higher instead of 2, and the Tortured Gift of Mysteries chest now costs 250 Aberrant Cinders instead of 175.

On the bright side, interactable objects in Helltides now have a small chance to drop Cinders. Along with specific nerfs to all classes (which you can learn more about in the full patch notes), stats like cooldown reduction, trap kill cooldown reduction, critical strike damage, vulnerable damage, and more have been nerfed.

Check out some of the patch notes below for more details. Season of the Malignant goes live tomorrow, so we’ll see if the new Malignant Hearts pack enough to make up for the nerfs.

Gameplay Updates

General

• Altar of Lilith Unlocks are now account wide.
• Map discovery is now account wide.
• Whispers will no longer reward Sigil Dust.
• Overall loot quality has been significantly improved for Silent Chests.
• The channel time for the Leave Dungeon ability has been increased from 3 to 5 seconds.
• We have generally reduced the tendency for many monsters to move around in combat, so that melee characters don’t have to chase down their enemies as much.
• Added DualSense Edge wireless controller support for PC.
• Renown Value Adjustments:
  – Side Quest Renown reward values increased from 20 to 30.
  – Dungeon Renown reward values increased from 30 to 40

Developer’s Note: This change is retroactive and the additional renown gain will be applied to characters who have already completed side quests and dungeons.

World Tier

• World Tier II has had the following bonuses added:
• Bonus Gold: Increased from 15% to 20%.
• Monsters now drop 15% more items.

Developer’s Note: We like where World Tier II has landed overall but are increasing its reward pace to better align with its difficulty.

• Level scaling inside dungeons and most overworld territories has been adjusted in World Tiers III and IV. Monsters will begin to trail behind the player in Level after a certain point (up to a maximum of 5 Levels behind). This change does not affect World Bosses, Legion Events, Fields of Hatred, Helltide, or Nightmare Dungeons.

Developer’s Note: We want to give players a better sense of their power progression and mastery over the world while still challenging themselves with structured End Game activities.

World Tier III Example:

• If the the player’s Level is below 55, the monster’s Level is 55.
• If the player’s Level is 56-60, the monster’s Level is 55.
• If the player’s Level is 61, the monster’s Level is 56.
• If the player’s Level is 62, the monster’s Level is 57, etc. (from this point the monsters will always be -5 until World Tier III’s max monster Level of 70).

World Tier IV Example:

• If the player’s Level is below 75, the monster’s Level is 75.
• If the player’s Level is 76-80, the monster Level is 75.
• If the player’s Level is 81, the monster’s Level is 76.
• If the player’s Level is 82, the monster’s Level is 77, etc. (from this point the monsters will always be -5).

Experience

Reward experience for completing Whispers in World Tiers III and IV has been significantly increased.

Developer’s Note: We have observed that the experience bonus rewarded for killing higher level monsters escalates too fast when compared to the relative challenge involved. We still want to reward players for taking on this challenge by encouraging them to participate in powerleveling together instead of one player killing enemies while another member of their Party waits at the dungeon’s entrance.

We are adjusting bonus experience rewards for killing monsters that are a higher Level than the player.

Pre-Season of the Malignant bonuses:

• 1 Level higher: +15%.
• 2 Levels higher: +20%.
• 3+ Levels higher: +25%.

Post-Season of the Malignant:

1.5% bonus per Level up to 10 Levels.

• +1 level: +1.5%.
• +2 levels: +3%.
• +10 levels: +15%.

We are also adjusting experience rewards for monster Level offsets for higher World Tiers.

Current World Tier Level offsets

• World Tier II: Up to +3.
• World Tier III: Up to +10.
• World Tier IV: Up to +100.

We are changing this to

• World Tier II: Up to +3 (Unchanged).
• World Tier III: Up to +6.
• World Tier IV: Up to +10.

For Example:

• You are Level 1. Your friends bring you to World Tier IV and leave you at the entrance of a dungeon. They start killing Level 100 monsters.
• Prior to Season of the Malignant, you get:
  – (Level 100 Monster XP) * (1 + 25%)
• After Season of the Malignant, you get:
  – (Level 11 Monster XP) * (1 + 15%)

Helltide

Developer’s Note: We’re looking to increase the danger in Helltide’s risk-reward gameplay by making the monsters a bit more challenging and the Tortured Gift of Mysteries harder to open.

• Helltide monsters are now 3 Levels higher than the player instead of 2.
• The Tortured Gift of Mysteries chest has had its cost increased to 250 Aberrant Cinders from 175.
• All interactable objects in Helltide zones now have a small chance of dropping Aberrant Cinders.

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