Summary
Blizzard revealed the patch notes forDiablo 4Update 2.0.3 a few days early before its launch on October 17. Fans ofDiablo 4have seen an influx of new content and things to do this month as the highly-anticipated expansion Vessel of Hatred finally launched, giving players access to the Spiritborn class, the next story chapter following Neyrelle’s journey, and new end game content to tackle like the Dark Citadel. Alongside the expansion, Diablo 4 also kicked off Season 6, which also brought with it plenty of gameplay-related changes as well.
Prior to its launch, Blizzard positionedDiablo 4’s sixth seasonas another attempt to reinvigorate parts of the game, similar to what season 4 did for loot. Progression was a major feature of Season 6, with Blizzard promoting changes to the leveling and paragon systems, to not only make them faster, but adding in numerous quality of life improvements, such as paragon points now being realm-wide instead of character specific. However, with so many changes and content arriving at the same time, not everything was launched to plan, so Blizzard has continued to update the game with the latest patch proving to be a major one.
The latest update forDiablo 4is a fairly large one, making a variety of changes, updates, and bug fixes for a more stable experience. The patch also makes sweeping balance changes to a number ofDiablo 4’s ultra-rare mythic items, such as the Harlequin Crest. In fact, many of the items have received substantial buffs, like the Unique polearm Shattered Vow, which has had its life stat increased from 444 to a whopping 1,200. Players delving into Kurast Undercity will also find the experience to be more rewarding as this update now guarantees at least 1 legendary item to drop, doubles the amount of gold, and makes it, so random drops will occur more often than previously.
Included alongside of all the bug fixes and gameplay updates, each of the classes also received their own sets of changes and tweaks. Players will likely notice that the Spiritborn’s Evade ability has also been nerfed, with Blizzard fixing an associated bug that allowed players to essentially cancel the casting animation to effectively instant chain these moves one after another. As such,Diablo 4players flocked to this overpowered Spiritborn build, and while Blizzard has a policy of allowing fun builds to remain in place, this one in particular didn’t fit that rule as it negatively impacted others' experiences, hence why a fix was necessary.
Vessel of Hatred gives players more options once they’ve rolled credits on the campaign with two new end game activities to go along with those in the base game. Dark Citadel adds an MMO raid-style element to the game, pushing players to not only group up but to communicate to overcome the many obstacles. However, with the changes to Kurast Undercity in this update, the second endgame activity may become even more popular. ThenewestDiablo 4dungeonis a timed activity that becomes more rewarding the deeper players can go, and now, with rewards buffed even further, it’s likely that more players will be flocking to this activity.
Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred Update 2.0.3 Patch Notes
User Interface and User Experience
Developer’s Note:The Non-Physical Damage stat consists of separately listed stats of all included elements, such as Fire Damage. This stat was also incorrectly listed as a standalone entry and has been removed. Its impact on the individual elements has not changed.
Kurast Undercity
Developer’s Note:These updates aim to improve the overall value of rewards in the Kurast Undercity while reducing unnecessary friction for leveling players.
Season of Hatred Rising
Dark Citadel
Developer’s Note:Soul Bombs are the explosion effects that appear as dark and red circles under the player during the encounter.
Developer’s Note:The intent is to reward individualized loot of the same quality, not identical loot.
Runes
Developer’s Note:Automatic casts from Runes will count as if they were cast by the player. For classes that the skill is not native to, this casts as the base version of the skill. For classes that can learn the skill, apply skills ranks, and upgrades to it, the skill that’s cast with a Rune’s effect will behave as if the player cast the skill themself.
Gameplay
General
Developer’s Note:Players that have already defeated Echo of Lilith this season will be rewarded with a Resplendent Spark soon after logging in once this patch is live.
Sorcerer
Spiritborn
Developer’s Note:Spiritborn’s Evade could be cast more rapidly than normal depending on the input method and speed. It is now normalized to the standard Evade cast rate in all scenarios.
Diablo 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Diablo® IV is the ultimate action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Embark on the campaign solo or with friends, meeting memorable characters through beautifully dark settings and a gripping story, or explore an expansive end game and shared world where players can meet in towns to trade, team up to battle world bosses, or descend into PVP zones to test their skills against other players – no lobbies necessary – with cross-play, cross-progression, and couch co-op on Xbox.This is only the beginning for Diablo® IV, with new events, stories, seasons, rewards, and more looming on the horizon.
