Diablo 4 players are set to receive the final part of a huge update to fix bugs and overpowered characters in the game this evening.
As reported by The Mirror, there have been numerous patches for the role-playing title since it was in early access. Recent updates have tended to focus on smaller issues, although some Hotfix patches have weakened the power of Druids and the Barbarian's Hammer of the Ancients even further. This angered some players, but was put down to a bug and the changes were rectified by developers Activision Blizzard.
Now, focus has turned to a larger patch which was discussed by the game’s developers earlier this month. General manager Rod Fergusson said that the patch is so big that it would likely need two maintenance windows to roll out.
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The upcoming Diablo 4 maintenance schedule is listed on the dedicated support website. As per Fergusson's prediction, two maintenance slots have been listed, with the second starting today at 5.30pm.
Last Sunday, the page stated that the game will be unavailable during these windows, but has since been updated to read, "players may experience interruptions of service including disconnects, but should be able to log back in". Make sure you finish up any business you have in Sanctuary before the following Diablo 4 maintenance windows.
Diablo 4 maintenance – Monday, June 26
Starts: 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm BST
Ends: 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT / 10pm BST
Diablo 4 maintenance – Tuesday, June 27
Starts: 9.30am PDT / 12.30pm EDT / 5.30pm BST
Ends: 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT / 10pm BST
Diablo 4 maintenance: patch notes
Blizzard hasn't explicitly said that the big update is coming this week, but given the timing of the Diablo 4 maintenance, the giant list of hotfixes so far, and what the patch is set to address, it would certainly make sense for this week to be the week. If that's the case, the first proper post-launch Diablo 4 patch will likely go live this evening after 10pm BST.
Based on what was discussed for this update in the Campfire Chat, here's what to expect in terms of early patch notes, but bear in mind we'll get a full and detailed breakdown once it's rolled out. Redditor Chad_RD gave this summary of the discussion:
More XP from Nightmare Dungeons
Ability to teleport to nightmare dungeons
New characters will have map and lilith altars unlocked
Renown earned for statues of Lilith and map exploration will persist between seasons
Map fog of war will be removed
Quests will be reset for seasonal characters, but may be changed in future
Seasonal characters will need to earn Tier III, IV, V renown rewards
Stats or paragon obtained from Lilith statues will remain
Will need to finish renown from waypoints, quests, dungeon completions each season to round out renown and unlock paragon points, the third skill point, and obols
Gem/inventory friction addressed (but season2)
Material cap increases
Resistances in higher WTs made more impactful than now (season2)
Disconnect protection for hardcore
Scaling? item power addresses scaling, focus on item power instead of levels?
Druid barb unique drops will be fixed - uniques of other classes will still occur
LFG tools looked at/workshopped
Additional notes from Q&A portion:
Not planning to add more robust TP to player features
Buffs to many classes/systems, may touch resource generation for some builds
Mob density at floor (baseline), may go up from here (focused on discussing XP factor rather than fun factor)
More options for character customization, some new options for changing current characters (long term timeline)
Completed sidequest tab? improvements to journal and what it tracks
Search functions for stash/dungeons beyond console keywords not planned, but will be evaluated
The standouts worth mentioning are the material cap increase, the class buffs, and disconnect protection. In Diablo 4 Hardcore mode, players' characters are permanently deleted upon death. If there are server troubles or your internet gives us the ghost, it's treated as a player death.
Fans will be hoping that the big update will come after the Diablo 4 maintenance and those 13 plus pages of patch notes will cover the main issues in the game. Blizzard have also received criticism recently for its plans for the Battle Pass and its ‘always online’ mode.
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