The Long-Awaited Diablo 4 Balance Patch
Despite the recent decision to delay the next Diablo 4 server slam until May, the Blizzard team has delivered a long-awaited Diablo 4 balance patch. This patch brings significant buffs to almost every class, focusing primarily on the leveling experience rather than endgame builds. Let's take a closer look at these changes and see how impactful they are to the acclaimed RPG game.
Buffing Up the Classes
Most of the changes in patch 1.0.3 aim to enhance the effectiveness of each class' basic and core skills near the top of their skill trees. These buffs will provide a welcome power spike to leveling characters as they acquire their endgame gear. The changes seem to be specifically targeting Diablo 4's first season, which kicks off next month and requires players to level new characters to participate.
For example, Barbarians now have four skills to choose from. While the effectiveness of Wrath of Kashan has been reduced, all of the remaining options will deal increased damage and generate more Fury. This will help Barbarians feel more powerful as they approach the level cap.
Meanwhile, Necromancers can now generate more essence resource from their ranged Bone Splinters attack. This change reduces some of the downtime between costly abilities like Corpse Lance and Walk Among the Dead. Overall, these changes should make the early game feel powerful before acquiring endgame gear, addressing a concern many players had with the release version of the game.
Strengthening the Leveling Phase
The patch notes themselves suggest that Blizzard is aiming to strengthen the leveling phase, with further enhancements expected in the future. The developers state, "These changes are a step towards strengthening the leveling phase, and we'll continue to iterate on these improvements in the future."
While some players will be pleased with the changes, others may feel they aren't enough. Endgame builds in Diablo 4 have seen little alteration, with even renowned player Wudijo noting that "the patch is a little underwhelming" during his Diablo 4 Twitch stream. Wudijo points out that the Rogue class receives a 35% increase to Heartseeker basic skill damage, but this ability is often not crucial to the best Rogue builds, as many players prefer the speed and power of Deadly Arts passives instead.
Despite some players' reservations, the patch notes include quality-of-life improvements, such as a fix to a bug that caused Flaming Fist to not generate any Fury when cast with full Fury. This fix makes Flaming Fist a more viable option for some builds. Blizzard is clearly aware of issues such as Necromancer minion survivability and build parity, and these may be addressed within season 1 or in future updates.
Blizzard has also recently announced that Diablo 4 will be getting its first mount races, along with various other guides and features to enhance the leveling experience.
