Diablo 4 update 1.1 faces controversy
Diablo 4’s update 1.1 faced significant controversy due to significant nerfs to player damage and survivability, prompting concern from players that future updates to the ARPG game would follow the same pattern. In response, Diablo 4 community manager Adam Fletcher says that Blizzard does not intend to repeat this type of patch in the future, and explains the thinking behind the most recent update to the game.
“Player feedback regarding Patch 1.1.0 has been extremely loud and clear,” Fletcher says in a series of tweets. “We at Blizzard understand that reducing player power is never a positive experience and we will look to avoid such nerfs in the future when possible.”
Associate game director Joe Piepiora also comments on the recent patch, acknowledging that reducing player power is not an ideal situation but explaining the reasoning behind the recent changes. “We understand that reducing player power isn’t a positive experience,” Piepiora says in a video update about the changes, “but it’s important to realize that reducing player power can be necessary to maintain balance among different stats.”
Piepiora explains that the recently implemented changes were aimed at slowing down overpowered builds that were quickly clearing content such as Diablo 4’s Apex of Avarice campaign to maintain balance among different stats. Specifically, Piepiora says Blizzard targeted cooldown reduction and vulnerability to prevent them from overshadowing other stats.
“We want to ensure that you’re making decisions about what stat to prioritise based on your playstyle and build, instead of having one or two stats overshadow the rest,” Piepiora says. “We will provide you with further information about our future balance plans in the near future.”
You can watch Piepiora’s comments about the changes in a livestream available to watch here.
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