Diablo IV Developers Announce Prompt Game Patching Following Player Nerfs

A livestream featuring three directors working on Diablo IV recently discussed their plans to change how patches are rolled out for the game. This comes after a patch, version 1.1.0, unexpectedly weakened players’ builds, leading to backlash from the community. The directors, Joe Piepiora, Joe Shely, and Adam Fletcher, promised that future updates will not be handled in the same manner.

During the livestream, the directors acknowledged the complaints regarding the patch, acknowledging that it significantly reduced player power for certain builds. Fletcher expressed that they understood the negative impact and assured players that they had no intention of repeating such a patch.

As a short-term fix, the team plans to rebalance the game by reducing the difficulty of tier 100 nightmare dungeons, which have been deemed excessively challenging for most classes. The adjustment, set to take place through a hotfix, aims to make the game world more manageable without fully restoring players’ power to previous levels.

The upcoming version 1.1.1 patch will further balance the game by introducing more monsters to nightmare dungeons and Helltide events. This change aims to enhance the gaming experience for higher-level players, allowing them to swiftly overcome enemies. Blizzard will provide more details about this patch in their next Campfire Chat scheduled for July 28th.

Shely emphasized that the team is adopting a different approach to game-balancing updates, particularly those related to reducing player power. They intend to provide compelling alternatives for players to pursue before implementing such changes. Additionally, updates will be introduced predictably, such as at the start of a new season.

To keep players informed, Blizzard will release patch notes a week before each update to explain the upcoming changes.