05 June 2023 , 10:36
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Despite only being available to players who purchased the Ultimate edition, Diablo 4 is already set to undergo some major tweaks and changes ahead of launch.
Activision Blizzard’s hellish dungeon crawler is nearly here and the studio has released the list of Diablo 4 patch notes for its first post-release update, revealing some major nerfs to characters and abilities in addition to some hotfixes to the server side. Of course, the full release of Diablo 4 doesn’t actually happen on PlayStation, Xbox and PC until tomorrow, so unless you’ve purchased the Diablo 4 Ultimate Edition and are already playing, you’re unlikely to be affected by any of these changes.
All five of Diablo 4’s classes received some sort of change in the update, but some are more affected than others. In an official blog post Activision Blizzard explained that these changes were as a result of “some skills and builds [being] not as effective as we would like” and so the focus is on making certain abilities stronger.
The Necromancer class’ Army of the Dead, for instance, has had its damaged increased from 30% to 40%, while the cooldown on the Rogue’s Twisting Blades has been reduced from .25 to.1 seconds – barely anything.
That said, there are certain classes that have been nerfed in the first set of Diablo 4 patch notes more than others. The Druid’s Pulverise ability is perhaps the best example of this, having its Lucky Hit Chance reduced from 33% to 25%. The Sorcerer received a similar nerf for its Arc Lash ability, but then the cooldown for it has been reduced from .24 to .15 seconds.
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It’s a bit of a mixed bag of sorts depending on which character class in Diablo 4 you elect to play as, but overall Activision Blizzard has been generous in making all five a tad stronger than they were previously. In addition to all these character class changes, the update also provided “Miscellaneous stability and crash fixes” as has become the norm.
Diablo 4 patch notes – Build #42131 (all versions)
Barbarian
Skill Changes
Challenging Shout
- Damage Reduction gained from Skill Ranks reduced from 4% to 2%
Legendary Aspect Changes
Bold Chieftain's Aspect
- Cooldown reduction per Nearby enemy reduced from 2.7-5.4 seconds to 1.0-1.9 seconds.
- Maximum Cooldown reduction from 12 to 6 seconds.
Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind
- Increased Critical Strike Chance per second reduced from 5-10% to 3-8%.
- Maximum Critical Strike Chance bonus reduced from 20-40% to 9-24%.
Item Changes
Gohr's Devastating Grips
- Explosion damage gained from Whirlwind reduced from 50-70% to 16-26%.
- Damage against wreckable objects no longer increases explosion damage.
- Explosion damage is only increased by the first 100 hits of Whirlwind.
Druid
Skill Changes
Pulverize
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- Lucky Hit Chance reduced from 33% to 25%.
Lightning Storm
- Damage increased from 32% to 40%.
Grizzly Rage
- Maximum extended duration from kills reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.
Class Specialization
Obsidian Slam
- Kills required for bonus increased from 10 to 20.
Calm Before the Storm
- Lucky Hit Chance reduced from 15% to 10%.
Passive Changes
Electric Shock
- Damage bonus increased from 5/10/15% to 6/12/18%.
Legendary Aspect Changes
Shockwave Aspect
- Damage reduced from 90-130% to 60-100%.
Crashstone Aspect
- Critical Strike Damage reduced from 40-50% to 30-40%.
Lightning Dancer's Aspect
- Flat damage increased from .5-.6 to .7-.8.
Necromancer
Skill Changes
Blood Lance
- Damage increased from 67.5% to 80%.
Army of the Dead
- Damage increased from 30% to 45%.
- Cooldown reduced from 90 to 70 seconds.
Blood Wave
- Damage increased from 90% to 120%.
Passive Changes
Shadowblight
- Damage increased from 20% to 22%.
Grim Harvest
- Essence gained reduced from 3/6/9 to 2/4/6.
Serration
- Critical Strike Chance reduced from .5/1/1.5% to .3/.6/.9%.
Death's Defence
- Maximum Minion Life lost in a single damage instance reduced from 75/60/45% to 60/45/30%.
Class Specialization
Raise Skeleton
- Skeleton Warrior attack damage increased by 10%.
Golem
- Golem attack damage increased by 10%.
Blood Golem
- Blood Golem Life drain damage increased from 40% to 90%.
- Blood Golem Life drain healing from enemies hit increased from 4% to 5%.
Iron Golem
- Iron Golem slam damage increased from 25% to 175%.
- Iron Golem shockwave damage increased from 30% to 40%.
Necromancer Paragon Board Changes
Hulking Monstrosity
- Golem Life and damage bonus increased from 30% to 40% Life.
Cult Leader
- Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%.
Rogue
Skill Changes
Twisting Blades
- Advanced Twisting Blades Cooldown reduction per enemy hit reduced from .25 to .1 seconds.
- Advanced Twisting Blades maximum Cooldown reduction reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
Rapid Fire
- Damage increased from 24% to 30%.
Dark Shroud
- Damage Reduction per shadow gained from Skill Ranks reduced from .8% to .4%.
Dash
- Enhanced Dash Critical Strike Damage bonus from 20% to 15%.
Caltrops
- Damage increased from 30% to 40%.
Passive Changes
Concussive
- Critical Strike Chance reduced from 5/10/15% to 4/8/12%.
Legendary Affix Changes
Repeating
- Maximum Minion Life lost in a single damage instance reduced from 75/60/45% to 60/45/30%.
Sorcerer
Skill Changes
Arc Lash
- Lucky Hit Chance reduced from 30% to 14%.
- Glinting Arc Lash Cooldown reduction reduced from .25 to .15 seconds.
Teleport
- Shimmering Teleport’s Damage Reduction duration reduced from 5 to 3 seconds.
Legendary Affix Changes
Aspect of Control
- Bonus damage reduced from 30-40% to 25-35%.
General
Miscellaneous Class Changes
Druid Companions and Necromancer Minions
- Maximum damage over time taken per damage instance reduced from 2% to 1% of maximum Life.
Paragon Board Changes
Rare Nodes
- Player Attack Speed nodes reduced by 50%.
Glyphs
- All Glyph Bonus scaling has been reduced by ~34%, except for the following:
- Critical Strike Damage Glyphs’ Bonus reduced by ~66%.
- Vulnerable Glyphs’ Bonus reduced by ~66%.
- Glyphs' Bonus to Rare nodes reduced by ~50%.
- Glyphs' Bonus to Magic nodes reduced by ~40%.
- Glyphs' Bonus to Cold/Fire/Lightning/Non-Physical/Physical nodes reduced by ~62.5%.
Monster Changes
- Significantly reduced the spawn rate of Treasure Goblins within PvP zones.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed the name for the Light Bearer Mount.
- The Go to Shop button from the Wardrobe will now properly open the shop.
- Fixed an issue where if a Sorcerer uses Deep Freeze and is affected by another effect that would freeze them, it caused them to be permanently stunned.
- Miscellaneous stability and crash fixes.
As alluded to earlier, unless you pre-ordered or purchased the Diablo 4 Ultimate Edition all the above changes won't apply to you. With the official Diablo 4 release date being tomorrow for standard edition purchasers, it does mean mean in theory that all five classes will be better balanced.