Biggest Diablo 4 Update Yet Greatly Increases Endgame XP Rewards

Diablo IV’s latest update is now live on all platforms, and it brings some major improvements to the ARPG’s endgame.

As Blizzard previously promised would happen ahead of Season 1, Diablo IV’s Nightmare dungeons have just gotten a whole lot more rewarding. As detailed in the official patch notes, experience gains from monsters killed in Nightmare dungeons and for completing Nightmare dungeons have greatly increased, making them the new de facto method for leveling up. Better yet, players can now directly teleport to Nightmare dungeons, reducing travel time and making them even more efficient to farm.

But that’s just one way Blizzard is looking to improve Diablo IV’s endgame grind. Nearly every endgame activity, including Whisper bounties and opening Helltide chests, now reward far more experience than before. Roaming bosses in Helltide areas will now drop higher-quality loot, and weekly bonus caches from world bosses will no longer have a level requirement.

Blizzard additionally notes that it is looking at increasing the monster and elite density when it comes to Diablo IV’s endgame content, but that such a change won’t arrive until the launch of Season 1 in mid to late July.

There are major balance changes for each class, too. Whereas previous balance passes looked at bringing down the power levels of some of the game’s most overpowered builds (particularly specific builds for the Barbarian and Druid), these changes are almost universally buffs for abilities and builds across the game’s five classes that maybe aren’t as popular. In particular, Blizzard has looked at improving the damage done by Basic skills, as well as increasing the power of skills the developer feels are “lagging behind their peers.”

More changes will be coming to Diablo IV in the near future. Blizzard has already announced the game’s first season will bring changes to how players uncover the map and unlock renown rewards on additional characters beyond their first. Other changes that will come sometime after the launch of Season 1 include an overhaul of the game’s resistance mechanic and the conversion of gems from items that take up space in player inventories into a currency. The full patch notes for this latest update are below.

1.0.3 Build #42677 (All Platforms) – June 27, 2023

Bug Fixes

Dungeons, Events, and other Activities

• Fixed an issue where players couldn’t engage with the Dead Man’s Dredge dungeon boss.
• Fixed an issue where certain Whispers couldn’t be completed.
• Fixed an issue where the Those Who Call the Storm event wouldn’t register as completed.
• Fixed an issue where the Those Who Call the Storm event would place a permanent de-buff on the player that would gradually drain health.
• Fixed an issue where enemies could spawn behind the Sealed door in the Cultist Refuge dungeon, blocking dungeon progression.
• Fixed an issue where characters could be damaged and killed during the Stronghold completion cutscene. (Not the valiant triumph we planned)
• Fixed an issue where the level 100 Pinnacle Boss would appear again with no health bar if killed during a specific phase.
• Fixed an issue where progression could be blocked in the Cathedral of Light Capstone dungeon in Kyovashad.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash or freeze if players entered the Untamed Thicket dungeon during the Fangs of Corruption quest.

Gameplay Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the Insatiable Fury and Mad Wolf’s Glee items prevented Druids from transforming into the Werebear or Werewolf Forms.
• Fixed an issue where Spider Host enemies would remain upright after exploding and dying.
• Fixed an issue where equipment with socketed Gems couldn’t be mass-salvaged.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to teleport to Cerrigar while in the Cerrigar and Cerrigar Outskirts subregions.
• Fixed an issue where Corpse Tendrils would cause the corpse visual to disappear.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would not zoom out when joining a World Boss encounter.
• Fixed an issue where Barbarian players would get stuck between Bone Walls after using Charge.
• Fixed an issue where Rogue players would remain invisible to other players after using the Concealment Skill in Fields of Hatred.
• Fixed an issue where Airidah’s tornados would cause the player to be stuck in a knockback state if hit by multiple tornados at once.
• Fixed an issue where pressing any button on controller while Dazed would halt all player input.
• Fixed an issue where Caches with World Tier conditions could be brought into higher World Tiers and provide rewards for that world tier.
• Fixed an issue where the Skeleton Warrior upgrade for increasing Thorns damage was not properly applying.
• Fixed an issue where the Burning Instinct power on the Sorcerer Paragon board did not account for Base Critical Damage in its damage calculation.
• Fixed an issue where the player could move in-game during the Leave Game countdown.

Local Co-Op

• Fixed an issue where the second player that closes the Region Progress menu would be locked in the World Map during Local Co-Op play.
• Fixed an issue where some quests would not properly progress for all players in Local Co-Op play.
• Fixed an issue where the preview slot for item upgrades would only display for Player 1 during Local Co-Op play.
• Fixed an issue where buttons in the store would become un-interactable for player 2 during Local Co-Op play.
• Fixed an issue where targeting the same enemy would show different health bars for each player during Local Co-Op Play.
• Fixed an issue where the Spirit Boons menu couldn’t be closed by player 2 if player 1 had it open during Local Co-Op play.
• Fixed an issue where the remaining player would not be able to move on their mount if the other player exited the game during Local Co-Op play.

Quests

• Fixed an issue where the NPC Lacthan could duplicate during multiple quests.
• Fixed an issue where progression of the Malign Devotion quest could become blocked if the player left the cellar as Lakren started to stand up.
• Fixed an issue where players would have their progression in the Apex of Misery quest blocked if they teleported away and back during the Destroy the Risen Remains objective.
• Fixed an issue where the player character would get blocked if they sat on a chair to talk to a NPC during the Demon Ledger quest.
• Fixed an issue where Brol and Mother’s chosen would move oddly during the eavesdropping cutscene if the player was near the broken wall.
• Players may now re-enter the boss area after the Follower has joined them during the Storming the Gates quest.
• Fixed an issue where the Illusion Woods Statue could become un-interactable during the Wayward quest.
• Fixed an issue where the True Potential Rogue Class Quest sometimes couldn’t properly be completed.

UI

• Fixed an issue where Chat could be expanded even when the Chat is not visible.
• Fixed an issue where a party member’s HP bar would appear to be 0 if they left the vicinity of their party while not at full health.
• Fixed an issue where the “GPU not Supported” message would display broken text.
• Fixed an issue where the particles for Druid’s Spirit Boons would persist after closing the associated menu.
• Fixed an issue on Xbox Consoles where the cross-network play notification would display in-game even if cross-network play was disabled.
• Fixed an issue that displayed an empty notification to new players when world bosses appeared.
• Fixed an issue where the Potion Upgrade icon would be missing when playing with a controller.
• Fixed an issue where the Town Portal progress bar would be visible while in menus.
• Fixed an issue on PC where the Tab key would not open the Map if the Materials panel was open.
• Fixed an issue where the Spur ability for mounts would display as “Not yet learned.”
• Fixed an issue where the Linked Item menu would persist on screen when switching between Keyboard & Mouse input and Controller input.
• Fixed an issue where players would receive improper messaging when undoing the deletion of a Hardcore character.
• Fixed an issue where the Interact wheel prompt would appear over vases near the Fate’s Retreat Waypoint.
• Fixed an issue where the Socket button would persist if the player swapped tabs.
• Fixed multiple instances where Pins on the map from either a quest or the player would not function properly.
• Fixed multiple instances across a variety of menus where text wouldn’t display properly.
• Fixed multiple issues with health bars not displaying accurately during PvP activities.
• Various other improvements to the UI experience.
• Various localization fixes.
• Fixed an issue where the Purveyor of Curiosities’ menu would erroneously display item quality on some items (this didn’t affect what item quality was available to gamble for).

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where users couldn’t create a Clan when their language was set to Russian or Spanish.
• Fixed an issue where the Shop would not properly load if the player dies while in Checkout.
• Fixed an issue where multiple cutscenes would not play if the player engaged with them when in a party of 3 or more players on Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
• Fixed an issue where the Randomize Look and Swap Body Type actions in the Shop didn’t function when viewing Cosmetic Armor.
• Fixed an issue where the PlayStation 5 screen reader wouldn’t function properly.
• Fixed an issue where emotes from the Shop would not always function when used with a controller.
• Fixed an issue where the Player character’s eye would display improperly during the Lorath’s cabin cutscene in the Prologue.
• Various stability, performance, and visual improvements across all platforms.
• Fixed an issue where players using laptops with certain dedicated Graphics Cards would not be able to play the game.

Gameplay Adjustments

Experience Rewards

• Significantly increased the experience awarded for completing Nightmare Dungeons.
• Significantly increased the experience gained from killing monsters in Nightmare Dungeons.
• Helltide chests now provide substantially more bonus experience when opened.
• Significantly increased rewarded experience from completing individual Whispers across the board.
• Fixed an issue where no experience was awarded for completing the hold out style event that can occur after finishing dungeon objectives.

General

• The Helltide Roaming bosses will now more consistently drop higher quality loot.
• Players can now teleport to their Nightmare Dungeon directly through the map.
• Weekly bonus caches from world bosses no longer have a level requirement for opening.

Developer’s Note: We are currently working on increasing the monster and elite density of end-game content and plan to introduce this change early in Season 1.

Balance Changes

Developer’s Note: We’re continuing our efforts to make all Class builds feel fun and powerful with another round of balance updates. In particular, we have seen community feedback stating that Basic Skills aren’t impactful enough in combat. These changes will not change the fundamental relationship between Basic Skills and Core Skills, but we hope that they help smooth out the leveling experience while we explore additional ways to strengthen them. We are also increasing the power of some Skills that players feel are lagging behind their peers. As we look forward to future updates, we’re monitoring other heavily discussed topics, such as Minion survivability and build parity. Please keep sending us your feedback, and we’ll see you in Sanctuary!

Barbarian

Skills

Lunging Strike

• Base damage increased from 30% to 33%.
• Fury generated increased from 9 to 10.

Bash

• Fury generated increased from 10 to 11.
• Enhanced Bash’s Fortify increased from 10% to 20%.

Frenzy

• Base damage increased from 20% to 22%.

Flay

• Bleeding base damage increased from 36% to 40%.
• Fury generated increased from 9 to 10.
• Enhanced Flay’s Vulnerable chance increased from 10% to 15%.

Double Swing

• Base damage increased from 36% to 40%.

Kick

• Cooldown reduced from 17 to 13 seconds.
• Base damage dealt to enemies Knocked Back into terrain increased from 54% to 70%.

Charge

• Enhanced Charge’s base damage dealt to enemies Knocked Back into terrain increased from 15% to 30%.

Leap

• Mighty Leap Slow increased from 50% to 70%.

Iron Skin

• Enhanced Iron Skin’s Barrier increased from 10% to 20% of Maximum Life.

Call of the Ancients

• Prime Call of the Ancients Bonus Attack Speed increased from 10% to 20%.

Iron Maelstrom

• Cooldown reduced from 60 to 45 seconds.
• Prime Iron Maelstrom Bonus Critical Strike Chance increased from 10% to 30%.
• Prime Iron Maelstrom Bonus Critical Strike Damage increased from 20% to 40%.

Bounding Slam

• Base damage increased from 75% to 112%.

Legendary Aspects

Developer’s Note: The below includes changes to flat damage Legendary Aspects. These effects scale with Item Power. For example, at 820 Item Power Bul-Kathos’ Earthquake increases from 1747-3404 to 2687-3717 damage.

Bul-Kathos

• Earthquake flat damage increased from .39-.76 to .6-.83.

Earthquake

• Earthquake flat damage increased from .39-.76 to .6-.83.

Dust Devil’s

• Dust Devil flat damage increased from .16-.25 to .22-.32.

Windlasher

• Dust Devil flat damage increased from .16-.25 to .22-.32.

Devilish

• Dust Devil flat damage increased from .20-.36 to .24-.38.

Iron Warrior

• Damage Reduction increased from 10-20% to 15-25%.

Items

Overkill

• Damage increased from 16%-30% to 24-38%.

Hellhammer

• Flat damage increased from .3-.5 to .6-.8.

Druid

Skills

Earthspike

• Base damage increased from 16% to 17%.
• Spirit generated increased from 10 to 11.
• Fierce Earthspike Fortify increased from 4% to 8%.

Wind Shear

• Base damage increased from 17% to 18%.
• Spirit generated increased from 12 to 13.

Claw

• Base damage increased from 20% to 22%.
• Spirit generated increased from 10 to 11.
• Wild Claw Double Attack Chance increased from 10% to 15%.
• Fierce Claw base damage increased from 10% to 15%.

Maul

• Base damage increased from 20% to 22%.
• Spirit generated increased from 14 to 15.
• Enhanced Maul Fortify increased from 2% to 3%.

Lightning Storm

• Enhanced Lightning Storm duration increased from 4 to 6 seconds.
• Primal Lightning Storm’s chance to Immobilize increased from 8% to 12%.

Shred

• Third Attack base damage increased from 60% to 70%.
• Enhanced Shred Healing increased from 1% to 2% of Maximum Life.
• Raging Shred’s base damage increased from 51% to 70%.
• Primal Shred’s Bonus Critical Strike Damage increased from 20% to 30%.

Wolves

• Cooldown reduced from 14 to 11 seconds.
• Ferocious Wolfpack Lucky Hit chance increased from 10% to 40%.

Hurricane

• Base damage increased from 97.5% to 134%.

Rabies

• Base Poisoning damage increased from 53% to 76%.

Cataclysm

• Base damage increased from 52% to 64%.

Lacerate

• Base damage increased from 400% to 460%.

Petrify

• Critical Strike Damage Bonus increased from 25% to 30%.

Pummel

• Base damage increased from 140% to 180%.

Passives

Bestial Rampage

• Attack Speed Bonus increased from 20% to 25%.
• Damage Bonus increased from 20% to 30%.

Nature’s Fury

• Chance to cast a free spell increased from 20% to 30%.

Lupine Ferocity

• Damage Bonus increased from 60% to 70%.

Legendary Aspects

Runeworker’s Conduit

• Flat damage increased from 1 to 1.4.

Mangled

• Chance increased from 20-30% to 30-40%.

Seismic-Shift

• Cooldown decreased from 2.5-1.5 to 2-1 seconds.

Blurred Beast

• Damage increased from 60-90% to 70-100%.

Necromancer

Skills

Reap

• Base damage increased from 12% to 13%.
• Acolyte Reap’s Cooldown between Corpses reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.

Decompose

• Base damage increased from 30% to 33%.
• Base Essence generated per second increased from 7 to 8.
• Corpses formed frequency increased from 2.5 to 2 seconds.

Hemorrhage

• Base damage increased from 25% to 27%.
• Essence generated increased from 8 to 9.

Bone Splinters

• Base damage increased from 8% to 9%.
• Essence generated increased from 6 to 7.

Sever

• Initial base damage increased from 63% to 66%.
• Enhanced Sever’s return base damage increased from 25% to 40%.

Blood Lance

• Supernatural Blood Lance Overpower requirement reduced from 8 to 6 casts.

Bone Prison

• Cooldown reduced from 20 to 18 seconds.
• Dreadful Bone Prison’s Fortify increased from 5% to 8%.

Iron Maiden

• Base damage increased from 10% to 20%.
• Horrid Iron Maiden damage bonus increased from 15% to 20%.

Corpse Tendrils

• Blight Corpse Tendrils chance to spawn a Blood Orb increased from 30% to 35%.

Bone Spikes

• Base damage increased from 80% to 120%.

Raise Skeleton and Golem

• Minions will now always engage targets with a cast Curse.

Passives

Kalan’s Edict

• Damage taken duration requirement reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.

Rathma’s Vigor

• Healthy duration requirement reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.

Spiked Armor

• Thorns increased from .08/.16/.24 to .1/.2/.3.

Legendary Aspects

Bursting Bone

• Flat damage increased from .022-.03 to .045-.06.

Flesh-Rending

• Essence gained increased from 10-20 to 20-40.

Fastblood

• Ultimate Cooldown Reduction increased from .5-1 to 1-1.5 seconds.

Rogue

Skills

Invigorating Strike

• Base damage increased from 23% to 25%.

Blade Shift

• Base damage increased from 15% to 16%.

Heartseeker

• Base damage increased from 22% to 24%.
• Primary Heartseeker damage increased from 30% to 75%.

Forceful Arrow

• Base damage increased from 20% to 22%.

Barrage

• Base damage increased from 20% to 22%.

Caltrops

• Methodical Caltrop’s Chill increased from 20% to 25%.

Smoke Grenade

• Cooldown reduced from 15 to 13 seconds.

Rain of Arrows

• Cooldown reduced from 60 to 55 seconds.
• Prime Rain of Arrows imbuement potency increased from 20% to 30%.

Volley

• Base damage increased from 70% to 105%.

Passives

Close Quarters Combat

• Damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%.

Legendary Aspects

Escape Artist

• Cooldown decreased from 100 to 45 seconds.

Umbrous

• Lucky Hit Chance to gain a Dark Shroud increased from 30-50% to 40-60%.

Items

Eyes in the Dark

• Increased Death Trap Cooldown reduced from 30-15% to 20-15%.

Sorcerer

Skills

Spark

• Base damage increased from 8% to 10%.
• Enhanced Spark damage increased from 5.6% to 7%.
• Flickering Spark chance increased from 3% to 4%.

Frostbolt

• Base damage increased from 35% to 38%.

Firebolt

• Burning damage increased from 40% to 44%.

Charged Bolt

• Base damage increased from 28% to 30%.

Incinerate

• Base damage increased from 49% to 54%.
• Enhanced Incinerate damage increased from 15% to 25%.
• Greater Incinerate Immobilize requirement reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.

Fireball

• Mana cost decreased from 40 to 35.

Frozen Orb

• Initial base damage increased from 32% to 36%.
• Explosion base damage increased from 29% to 34%.
• Greater Frozen Orb chance to apply Vulnerable increased from 25% to 30%.

Blizzard

• Base damage increased from 120% to 130%.

Ice Blades

• Chance to apply Vulnerable increased from 30% to 40%.

Lightning Spear

• Summoned Lightning Spear’s maximum Damage Bonus increased from 100% to 160%.

Crackling Energy

• Base damage increased from 15% to 20%.

Freezing Wake

• Base damage increased from 60% to 110%.

Legendary Aspects

Abundant Energy

• Chance to chain to an additional enemy increased from 20-30% to 30-40%.

Singed Extremities

• Slow amount increased from 25-35% to 40-60%.

Incendiary

• Chance to restore Mana increased from 5-10% to 12-17%.

Snowguard’s

• Damage Reduction increased from 10-15% to 20-25%.

Concentration

• Mana Regeneration increased from 10-20% to 20-30%.

Items

Flamescar

• Flat damage increased from .1-.2 to .2-.3.

Staff of Lam Esen

• Damage Reduction reduced from 40-30% to 35-25%.