Diablo 4

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sat Jul 08, 2023 4:28 pm

Jaymann wrote: Sat Jul 08, 2023 4:23 pm How do seasons work? I am sloe rolling my level 30. When Season 1 starts will I still be able to continue?

You can completely ignore the season or take a break and try a new character in the seasons. Seasons always require a new character and add temporary mechanics to change the game up and maybe add new loots. You are free to completely ignore them or swap back and forth between your seasonal and non-seasonal characters.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jul 08, 2023 5:29 pm

But note that you have to have finished the campaign at least once (with any character) to participate.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sat Jul 08, 2023 6:24 pm

Oops, yeah missed that one.

Finally opened up world tier 4 once I figured out I needed to be doing higher nightmare dungeons. I was doing 8s and lamenting how slow it was going. I worked my way up and was about getting a paragon point per dungeon for a while. I still couldn't beat the capstone boss until 69, too much burst damage. Now I am 70 and looking for some loot. I just opened 3 mystery chests and got nothing I'd use. Anyway, figuring out my nightmare problem definitely helped my outlook on the game. I still think It should be easier to get good upgrades!

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sat Jul 08, 2023 11:00 pm

Did the tier 2 capstone and now doing some stuff in tier 3 with my Necromancer. Haven't got to my first Paragon glyph yet tho. I have one yellow glyph and all the rest are blue.

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Hrothgar · Post by **Hrothgar** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 4:51 pm

Hey, I finished the campaign. I'll probably try to do the the capstone dungeon and see what World Tier III looks like.

Is this tweet from the Onion?

https://twitter.com/pcgamer/status/1677 ... 80742?s=20

Spoiler:

Those words don't make sense to me yet.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 4:55 pm

Hrothgar wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 4:51 pm
Is this tweet from the Onion?

It absolutely should be. That sounds like self parody.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Sun Jul 09, 2023 6:46 pm

After spending a few days in world tier 4, I have most of my gear to ancestral. Now I’m mowing down the mobs at a good pace. Im up to doing sigil 29 nightmare dungeons and leveling my important glyphs.

Currently 76. Once I hit lvl 80 I’m going to take a short break until season one. I’ve only played one class (rogue). I’ll likely try a different class for seasons. Though it is tempting to keep playing rogue because gear gets passed down after the season ends. Yes, I love the rogue class. But maybe there’s a better one.

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 3:41 pm

Is it just me, or are people losing their damn minds over nothing? Diablo 3 was much less stable, among other things, and Blizzard turned it around and made it great. This game was pretty darn good out of the box, and although it has gone through some growing pains, it's been no worse than any other Diablo. I know it's partially their own fault for having a race to 100 and such, and even though I'm not a huge fan of the paid seasons and such, it's still a good game.

Anyone else not too emotionally distraught over the patch?

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 4:07 pm

It's tough because everyone is comparing a brand new game to a game that had seen a decade's worth of updates.

That said, I do think Diablo IV was disappointing given its long development time. It already came out feeling like only an incremental upgrade to D3. Put on top of that tons of major issues like resistances not working right, loot drops all jacked up, etc. and it just came off feeling like one of the most unpolished games Blizzard has ever released. I feel like that's where some of the outrage is coming from.

I think Blizzard will absolutely fix it, and one day it will be the game everyone wanted. For me, it's not there yet.

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 4:18 pm

YellowKing wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 4:07 pm It's tough because everyone is comparing a brand new game to a game that had seen a decade's worth of updates.

That said, I do think Diablo IV was disappointing given its long development time. It already came out feeling like only an incremental upgrade to D3. Put on top of that tons of major issues like resistances not working right, loot drops all jacked up, etc. and it just came off feeling like one of the most unpolished games Blizzard has ever released. I feel like that's where some of the outrage is coming from.

I think Blizzard will absolutely fix it, and one day it will be the game everyone wanted. For me, it's not there yet.

I definitely get all that, but I remember D3 was so jacked at launch many people couldn't even load it, the real-money trade market, the non-existant PvP, etc. I just think every launch has had its issues, but people are throwing temper tantrums and uninstalling the game. I get that it might not be what you expect, but nothing ever is.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 5:38 pm

The same thing happens with lots of other big, popular developers and well-loved titles. People forget what D3 was like, just like they forget what the Fallout/Elder Scrolls games were like at release, just like they forget what The Witcher 3 was like, just what they forget No Man's Sky was like (remember when the dev actually went into hiding after the backlash?), just like they will eventually forget what Cyberpunk 2077 was like.

/edit - also, I haven't touched this in weeks. I had no idea that people were going nuts.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:49 pm

While I pretty much sailed through the campaign on Tier 2 and Tier 3 hasn't been too tough with my Minions Necromancer, I find the game more fun trying to play a Melee character with my Druid. I can just spam my spells/minion activations as a Necro, but with my melee Druid, I have to watch the enemy animations for their windups to dodge big attacks, and do some hit and run tactics. Some bosses are REALLY difficult due to local Health-Crushing AOE's tho...

... but I do find it more fun to have to learn the windups for those attacks even if I do get plastered and have to revive. (no, I probably won't try this on Hardcore!

)

I'm still playing around with my Druid, I'm currently running just about all werewolf skills, plus an Earthen Bulwark. I may want to switch that to Rabies and play around with that tho...

I'll probably try a Barbarian in Season 1 to try that Melee character style..

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:58 pm

Pyperkub wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:49 pm While I pretty much sailed through the campaign on Tier 2 and Tier 3 hasn't been too tough with my Minions Necromancer, I find the game more fun trying to play a Melee character with my Druid. I can just spam my spells/minion activations as a Necro, but with my melee Druid, I have to watch the enemy animations for their windups to dodge big attacks, and do some hit and run tactics. Some bosses are REALLY difficult due to local Health-Crushing AOE's tho...

... but I do find it more fun to have to learn the windups for those attacks even if I do get plastered and have to revive. (no, I probably won't try this on Hardcore! )

I'm still playing around with my Druid, I'm currently running just about all werewolf skills, plus an Earthen Bulwark. I may want to switch that to Rabies and play around with that tho...

I'll probably try a Barbarian in Season 1 to try that Melee character style..

Agreed. I have at least one of each character as of now, and I like the varied skills and styles each offers. I even have two rogues and necros so I don't have to bother with respecs,l. If I want to play my minion necro or my melee rogue, I just switch tools.

Not once have I even looked at the patch notes, I just play the game. When it stops being fun (or when BG3 and Starfield come out), I'll stop playing and move on to something else that is fun.

Maybe I'll fire up one of 10 brutes in City of Heroes again for the hundredth time...

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 9:20 pm

Hyena wrote:Is it just me, or are people losing their damn minds over nothing? Diablo 3 was much less stable, among other things, and Blizzard turned it around and made it great. This game was pretty darn good out of the box, and although it has gone through some growing pains, it's been no worse than any other Diablo. I know it's partially their own fault for having a race to 100 and such, and even though I'm not a huge fan of the paid seasons and such, it's still a good game.

Anyone else not too emotionally distraught over the patch?

Same. To be honest, I don't even worry about loot drops

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naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 9:27 pm

Hyena wrote:
YellowKing wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 4:07 pm It's tough because everyone is comparing a brand new game to a game that had seen a decade's worth of updates.

That said, I do think Diablo IV was disappointing given its long development time. It already came out feeling like only an incremental upgrade to D3. Put on top of that tons of major issues like resistances not working right, loot drops all jacked up, etc. and it just came off feeling like one of the most unpolished games Blizzard has ever released. I feel like that's where some of the outrage is coming from.

I think Blizzard will absolutely fix it, and one day it will be the game everyone wanted. For me, it's not there yet.
I definitely get all that, but I remember D3 was so jacked at launch many people couldn't even load it, the real-money trade market, the non-existant PvP, etc. I just think every launch has had its issues, but people are throwing temper tantrums and uninstalling the game. I get that it might not be what you expect, but nothing ever is.

Whatever you do, stay away from D4's subreddit

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Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 10:27 pm

naednek wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 9:27 pm Whatever you do, stay away from any AAA game's subreddit

The above post has been adjusted for public safety reasons.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 8:21 am

YouTube is also filled with clickbait "Why Does Diablo IV Suck???" videos.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 4:40 pm

Keep in mind that this is Blizzard. After 19 years of on-again, off-again World of Warcraft, I've learned to recognize their balancing process.

1 - Problem: Two classes are doing 10% too much damage.
2 - Solution: Nerf those two classes by 40%, and all of the other classes by 30%. Now they're balanced.
3 - Problem: The community is pissed, and players can't finish content because they can't kill the enemies.
4 - Solution: Buff all classes by 20% (and buff two classes by 30% for some reason.)
5 - GOTO 1

They always overcorrect for balance issues, then let the players balance test it for a few weeks, then adjust it to something more reasonable. I'm honestly not sure if it isn't an intentional part of the process.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:50 am

I'm enjoying the seasonal content so far. I don't know if it's the constant chapter goals on the horizon, or if I'm just enjoying the necromancer class more than barbarian. The seasonal 'heart' mechanic isn't particularly compelling, imo. Anyway, played with a college friend and have almost finished the first couple chapters. Was more fun without the depressing/brutal campaign getting in the way.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 6:22 pm

I've tried to get back into D4 after finishing the campaign and simply can't generate any interest at all. Tried a couple new classes (Rogue and Necro) in addition to my lightning Sorc, and came away mostly meh on both.

I know it's a silly complaint, but having to rediscover the entire world map with new toons just feels...tedious.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 6:56 pm

I lost interest long before I finished the campaign (which, of course, makes the season irrelevant.) I'm not sure why - it just didn't seem like a lot of fun, and I didn't feel any real desire to continue. I'll probably let it cook a while before I try to go back.

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 7:25 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 6:56 pm I lost interest long before I finished the campaign (which, of course, makes the season irrelevant.) I'm not sure why - it just didn't seem like a lot of fun, and I didn't feel any real desire to continue. I'll probably let it cook a while before I try to go back.

Same. And with BG3 and Starfield just around the corner, it should be well-done before I come back with any real focus.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 9:56 pm

I've been dabbling with the Seasonal content and I'm having a decent time. It's nice to try a different class that doesn't feel as OP as the Necro (yet). I've got plenty of other games that are stealing more of my focus (and BG3 will take over everything), but as an occasional timewaster, the seasonal stuff has rejuvenated my interest from its previous setting of zero.

[Update] Yeah, it has its hooks back into me. I think the reason I lost interest in the endgame is I have no motivation to grind XP or items "just because." I need a very specific goal, which the Season chapter objectives provide.

It's funny but I'd never run 5 dungeons just to get XP. But tell me I have to run the same 5 dungeons to complete an objective, and I'll run through them with a smile on my face.

Changing the class up has been a big help as well. I'm running a Rogue Twisting Blades build and while I had a rocky start, 20+ levels in I'm now comfortable with the skill rotation and having more fun.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 1:32 pm

Yeah, I'm having fun with the seasonal content too.

Funny thing tho- my seasonal barbarian is at level 37 or so, I **still** don't understand the arsenal system.

I just load up my weapon slots with generally the highest power items, chose an expertise based on whatever item was at the highest level when I hit level 15, and have been riding with my base build of

Lunge
Hammer of the ancients
Leap
Challenging shout
Death blow
Berserker

And expertise in 2 handed mace/hammer, which was about 5, and is now about 10 (I'm guessing hammer + leap is why bludgeon gets most of the exp).

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Sawyer · Post by **Sawyer** » Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:53 pm

Still enjoying this game. What gets me is that this is supposed to be a MMO-lite, but where are the MMO type features. Why can't I see what spell effects are on a boss (DOT, etc)? Even better, where is the combat log? I don't play meta. In fact, I avoid meta purely out of spite. I would love to tweak my builds to the Nth degree rather than follow a build guide, but it really takes a combat log.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 5:23 pm

Well, 3 months later I finally beat the game. Overall it felt meh.

Playing the beta a few times kinda robbed my initial experience.

I felt the cutscenes were pretty bad. I remember each Diablo release they would push the technology much further. It just felt flat and unimpressive.

I played on world 1 for a little half of the game and then jumped to tier 2. Both didn't put up much of a challenge.

The bosses all seemed weak, and offered nothing new.

I had thought I'd play other classes but I'm not so sure now. Starfield is coming and so is Cities Skylines II. I think I'm just going to shelve it and maybe play later.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Sun Aug 20, 2023 1:31 pm

I'll do my overall assessment of the game. Estimating my playtime around 150-200 hours post release. My highest character is around lvl 80 in the eternal non-season realm and lvl 60 in seasons. My mindset of D4 coming in, it will be my go-to game for the next few years.

Campaign: I enjoyed it, but have no interest in doing it again. The story with Lilith was very good. I enjoy stories where the enemy is well defined and worthy. The acts were uneven and some spots towards the end were too long. The beginning story was the highlight.

World 1: Never played. Always started on World 2.

World 2 and 3: Lots of things to focus on. Side quests and strongholds to gain renown points. Conquering dungeons around the map to unlock your codex of powers. Whispers of the tree adventuring is a good way to level up (post patch) and get crafting materials. World 3 adds Helltide, Nightmare dungeons, and unique items. Helltide is an event around the map that gives you another way to level your character and get crafting materials. Nightmare dungeons using Sigils for progressing your character and glyph leveling. I really like the nightmare dungeon concept. World 2 and 3 has a perfect amount of interesting things to do while leveling up and preparing for World 4.

World 4 and endgame: Here lies my main complaint about the game. World 4 is D4's endgame. Root of my compliant, essentially there is nothing new in World 4. No new events, no new gameplay, no new zones, no new monsters, and hardly any new items to discover. A glaring gap in the game. There are only a handful of new 'unique' items to find which maybe 1 or 2 of those would be considered useful in your build. There is a new power tier of existing items called ancestral. There is one endgame boss and a seasonal boss. So in summary, things to do in world 4 is leveling and finding ancestral items while going through the same map, events, dungeons, as you did in World 2 and 3. World 4 must be fleshed out in every category.

Bosses: There are only three distinct bosses in D4. Lilith, the Butcher, and one world boss (that I like). I do love the whole Butcher concept. All other bosses are not memorable like we had in the previous Diablo games.

Character building: My absolutely favorite part of the game and why I am still playing today. Codex of power, Aspects, paragon system, and glyphs are the mechanics to tweak your build. I really enjoy figuring out my own build and there are many different ones for each of the five classes. I did follow a meta guide for one of my characters, but I have more fun doing my own. D4's strength is having many playable builds and it has enough systems to make it engaging throughout level 1-80. 80-100 falls flat with nothing new to do or discover, so I have no interest for those levels.

Overall: My opinion the foundation is in place. Character building, the paragon and glyph system is fun to me. Disappointing, the endgame is not built yet. Blizzard charged full price for an uncomplete endgame. I do trust that they will come through and flesh it out. Hearthstone, a game that I consistently play, is an example of them being committed long-term. They keep pumping out new stuff on a very frequent schedule.

To be specific, here is my list of what needs to be added quickly.

Complete the endgame (World 4) with new quests, new zones, new dungeons, new events, new things to do, and add a ton of new items to find

Add three new classes

New distinct memorable boss fights

Each class needs about 20 new Aspects

Add new paragon boards to make character building even more fun

rittchard · Post by **rittchard** » Thu Aug 24, 2023 1:14 pm

I'm gonna echo everything Torfish said, aside from myself playing in WT1, it sounds like we had very similar impressions playing the game. It started out so well at first but as the excitement wore out, more and more holes became apparent. I still feel like there is a ton of potential moving forward, but it will probably take Blizzard some time to figure out what to do. They may even need some change in leadership to retool some of the things that seem to be bogging them down.

I think the place where the most potential lies is in the overworld. They created a fantastic space with tons of nooks and crannies for exploration, but somehow reduced it to just some land mass that you either run past on your horse or occasionally do a side quest or two to get your whisper stuff done. I really like the idea of the strongholds but it seemed like it was just too limited in scope and became just another thing you had to do over and over for renown or whatever. Events are OK but there needs to be a lot more variety, same with world bosses. Just seems like a lot of wasted potential.

It looks like they are going to tie game improvements to seasons, which I think is a mistake, but obviously it's part of their financial model. I would much rather have a more fleshed out game (more classes, skills, items, activities, etc) before introducing unique seasonal mechanics.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Sep 21, 2023 12:18 pm

In seasonal, I have my Barbarian up to level 60, I'll even say that while World Tier 3, nightmare has some cool stuff, it has been a grind from level 50-60. The tree of whispers, helltides and nightmare dungeons, as well as seasonal quest stuff doesn't last the grind. Mostly I login and run a leveled Nightmare dungeon or 2, or do the helltides or a few whispers (tho the loot from the tree is pretty lame lately)., but after jumping to tier 3, I was getting smooshed by bosses and the helltide early, now I 'm rolling them too easily, save for a couple of bosses with massive attacks which leave you disabled in a pool of poison (eg foul echo of varshan). the paragon boards are pretty cool tho, and are probably one of the reasons I'm blitzing almost everything in my path.

Gear drops which can help are few and far between (it could be that I'm in a gear range that leaves me with poor drops, but with my lvl 700-ish gear, most of my drops are high 500's to mid 600's and get salvaged or sold). I'm also in the range where when a "Unique" item drops, it's lower power than what I have, and is sometimes the same damn "unique" that I have equipped. Apparently you need to be at World tier 4 to get some of the better Uniques.

I did beat the foul echo last night, so I may try the capstone dungeon to tier 4 tonight/tomorrow and test that out finally (my eternal necromancer/druid builds are lower levels, tho my necro did finish the campaign and jump to world tier 3). The one other boss I haven't been able to beat is the Assassin in the Helltide zone (which is rated at level 70-ish, like the foul echo was, I think) - last time I ran into him, he couldn't smoosh me, but I was doing almost zero damage to him, even with all my Barbarian bleed attacks.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 1:28 am

Can anyone tell me what I'm missing by not booting up for season one? I have the battlepass from the deluxe edition, but I just couldn't get into the game at launch.

Does the seasonal story stuff remain?

How "good" are the battlepass cosmetics I'm missing out on?

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 9:11 pm

The seasonal story does not transfer over to Eternal.

Cosmetics are worthless in my opinion.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 9:26 pm

Thanks! Is there much story to speak of, or is just a small set-up for the repetitive seasonal gameplay content?

Sorry for asking a question I'm sure has been asked a million times around the internet, but I'm honestly having trouble finding a clear answer. Google search really isn't what it used to be, and Reddit isn't giving me the info I want.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:10 am

You and me both, brother. I have zero clue as to how the seasonal stuff has ever worked in the Diablo franchise.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:38 am

Thanks for bringing it up, as it gives me an excuse to figure it out how they have it set up in D4 myself.I have only recently been playing again (a little, with the group), but it looks like it hasn't changed much since D3.

~There is a 'Season Journey' that is basically a set of achievements divided into chapters. Chapters 1-4 are easy, and you'll normally fulfill them just by leveling up (through the campaign or otherwise). Later chapters are generally actually challenging things you have to make an effort to do. As you finish each chapter, you unlock a set of rewards (resources, cosmetics, currency, aspects, whatever.) Normally, the best rewards come from the later chapters (in D3, this is where you got some of the rare wings or pets.)

~There is a special mechanic every season. It might be something that changes combat, or a special drop, or whatever that represents a small tweak to gameplay. Sometimes this mechanic only kicks in once you've beaten the campaign, sometimes it's there the whole time.

~In addition (with D4) there is a new system called 'Seasonal Progression'. You earn 'Favor' that you get from... doing anything. And you get a big boost from finishing a Journey chapter. It's basically a second XP bar, but instead of leveling up, you unlock a series of rewards. For free, you gain the reward from every third 'level' (level 2, level 5, level 8, etc.) If you spring for the $10 Battle Pass, you get every reward. But 100% of the the rewards with actual mechanics (resources, etc) tied to them are in the free tier. The paid tiers are just more cosmetics (which includes things like mounts, too.)

~Story, schmory. I haven't finished the campaign yet myself, but it seems like they're continuing with the D3 concept, which is that there is just enough story to explain what's going on - and that's it. You're still playing Diablo 4, just with some gameplay twist added to it.

This season's 'twist' is Malignant Hearts. Malignant Hearts are, basically, special gems for jewelry that are extremely powerful (it's like putting an additional legendary aspect on the item.) You'll find special Malignant enemies (sort of like a special Elite) that drop... Malignant Hearts in one of four colors: Orange (Offensive), Blue (Defensive), Pink (Utility), and Black ( Super.) There a bunch of general Hearts, and a bunch of class-specific Hearts. The stronger the enemy, the more powerful the Heart, and you can scrap Hearts you don't need for other, Random hearts. There are also half a dozen special dungeons built around the mechanic.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:41 am

Thanks! That certainly helps.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:16 pm

I mean season 1 was basically a failure. It added a handful of new skills, one new mechanic (the hearts), and a new mini story. Unfortunately, nothing was added to world tier IV or beyond. Season 2 probably will be a bit better I imagine.

D4's early and mid-game is fun. Feels good. Level 70 - 100 (the meat of the game) is boring. Nothing fun is added in world iv. Very dull. Therefore, the game is dead for streamers and gamers like me that love playing endgame content that 'should be' the pinnacle of the overall game.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:31 pm

90% of the time I get to the endgame (in any game) and get bored halfway through - no more story, tedious grinding, fighting the same thing over and over for a lucky drop, massive difficulty spikes. I've only actually fully completed one season in D3 - there are only so many rifts I can stomach.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:44 am

Season 2 starts today. I’m looking forward to the new changes and end game additions. Seems to be going in a positive direction.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:55 am

I've been holding out on my first full playthrough until it kicks off.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Oct 18, 2023 11:49 am

Did we know this was happening? I feel like I didn't know this was happening.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2344520/Diablo_IV/