Diablo 4 Patch Reduces Spawn Times for Malignant Monsters, Fixes Nightmare Dungeon Exploit

A new patch is available for Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo 4, but it’s not on the same scale as the disastrous pre-Season of the Malignant patch (or its follow-up). Regardless, it makes some good changes, like reducing the time for Malignant Monsters to spawn when a Malignant Heart has activated. It’s gone from five seconds to two.

Also, players are now in the Trade Channel by default, which is interesting since trade has been disabled due to gold exploits and duplication glitches. Another exploit, which allowed for repeating Nightmare Dungeons by promoting other party members to the leader, is also fixed.

Druids using the Aspect of the Metamorphic Stone can also breathe easier. There was an issue causing it to deal no more than 100 percent damage, which is now fixed. Check out the full patch notes below for more details. If you seek a break from Diablo 4, Path of Exile’s next Challenge League, Trial of the Ancestors, starts on August 18th.

1.1.2 Build #43953 (All Platforms) – August 15, 2023

Gameplay Updates

• The wait time for a Malignant Monster to spawn after activating a Malignant Heart in the world has been reduced from 5 to 2 seconds.
• Players are now in the Trade Channel by default. Navigate to the in-game settings to opt-out.

Bug Fixes

Dungeons and Events

• Fixed an issue where Nightmare Dungeons could be repeated by promoting other party members to leader.
• Fixed an issue where the Gathering Legions event could stop progressing even after defeating all nearby enemies.

Druid

• Fixed an issue where Boulders cast with the Aspect of Metamorphic Stone equipped would not deal more than 100% damage.
• Fixed an issue where the Agitated Winds malignant power would trigger when breaking destructible objects.
• Fixed an issue where the Aspect of the Alpha Werewolf companions could float above the ground.

Quests

• Fixed an issue where the Fury Against Fate quest couldn’t be completed.
• Fixed an issue where Iron Skin Elixirs could be obtained indefinitely by repeatedly accepting and abandoning the Desperate Remedies quest.
• Fixed an issue where the Call of the Ancients quest would not progress if the party leader was dead when the boss was defeated.
• Fixed an issue where the Call of the Ancients quest would not progress if Gharl was killed before his dialogue was triggered.
• Fixed an issue where side quests for crafting items could direct the player to the wrong NPC.

User Interface and User Experience

• Fixed an issue where white lines were appearing on the World Map.
• Fixed an issue where the Season Journey menu could malfunction when finishing a chapter.
• Fixed an issue where the notification for the World Boss appearance would malfunction if the player hadn’t unlocked Whispers of the Dead yet.
• Fixed an issue where linking an item in chat wouldn’t display properly in the Battle.net app.
• Fixed an issue where the Holding Back the Flood quest marker would display on Dungeon exits but not on the world map.
• The tooltip for the Caged Heart of Determination had its description updated to clarify that it specifically reduces resource draining effects from enemies.

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where the A Boon in the Tide Season Journey objective could not be completed as expected.
• Fixed an issue where teleporting to a Dungeon entrance could be done while using invincibility-granting skills (Ex: Blood Mist).
• Fixed an issue where some interactable objects—particularly corpses— could not be interacted with.
• Fixed an issue where mount skills were sometimes not available after leaving a city.
• Fixed an issue where the Calculated malignant power would consume the stun effect on non-damaging abilities.
• Fixed an issue where Druids, Necromancers, and Rogues could not gamble for Helms at the Unsavory Oddities vendor in Fields of Hatred towns.
• Fixed an issue where you could not replace an equipped Wrathful Heart with another Wrathful Heart.
• Fixed an issue where the frost effect of the Penitent Greaves didn’t display properly in the final campaign boss arena.
• Fixed an issue where quest items could randomly appear in town.
• Various stability and performance improvements.
• Various other miscellaneous fixes to Shop Cosmetics.
• The Caged Heart of Tal’Rasha and Caged Heart of the Great Feast now match their tooltip and are correctly calculated as multiplicative instead of additive.