The fun of a loot-based action RPG disappears when monsters pop in a single hit and the only thing that goes up are the damage numbers. Right now, you can upgrade your gear all you want in Diablo 4, but the majority of the game doesn't really require it.This is a problem in a genre where incremental power gains are the carrot on the stick that keeps you chasing after more loot. I tend to quit playing every Diablo 4 season once I'm at the point where I'm only picking up items with slightly higher numbers. There's nothing to do with that kind of power but see how fast you can clear the new speedrun dungeon for a spot on the leaderboards.Blizzard wants to fix this in the Lord of Hatred expansion when it launches next month, and it's doing so by borrowing an idea from Diablo 3. Currently, Diablo 4 has four torment difficulty tiers, each one raising the health and damage of every monster in the game and improving the loot they drop. In Lord of Hatred, that number is getting expanded to 12—news that was revealed by associate game director Zaven Haroutunian in a recent interview with YouTuber Wudijo and explained to PC Gamer in a separate interview with two designers in January.Wudijo brought up the balance of power gained through a character's items versus their skill tree and how easy it is to get to the point where you're smacking monsters for billions of damage. Haroutunian said while "big numbers feel cool, they feel good for players to get," the game isn't actually asking you to have those big numbers.
