The latest Diablo 2: Resurrected PTR update introduces special endgame Sundered Charms designed to circumnavigate enemy immunity to individual damage types. The charms prevent enemies from being completely immune by reducing any full resistance down to 95%, allowing builds focused on that type to deal with them. This update has proved fairly popular with some fans of the updated take on one of the best RPG games on PC, but other fans are concerned about what the update suggests for the direction of the series ahead of the impending Diablo 4 release date in 2023.
Many upvoted comments responding to the initial update post on the Diablo subreddit express excitement that these Sundered Charms allow all builds to be viable in any situation. Previously, builds such as Cold Sorcerers struggled in some endgame areas due to a high number of enemies with cold immunity, for example. “Finally all builds can be viable to farm anywhere,” reads one popular comment, “I can’t believe it.” Another adds, “Now I can play a spec and build I want for fun instead of having to min/max due to annoying immunities.”
However, some players say that the introduction of Sundered Charms feels like a step towards simplifying builds – that when players can clear any content with just one damage type, it removes some of the complexity from the endgame. Others complain that the charms are much more beneficial to ranged builds than melee users, because they increase damage taken by the player from the associated damage type, meaning that any physical build is forced to take 25% extra physical damage if they want to run the physical charm.
One popular post on the Blizzard forum likens the change to Diablo III, with the initial poster claiming that allowing a single character to farm everything oversimplifies the Diablo 2: Resurrected endgame. Several replies say they worry this change suggests Diablo 4 will also follow a similar path of offering more accessibility to use any build in a given situation. However, other comments note that making all builds viable increases potential build diversity, and that players are free to use any spec they want to rather than being forced into a couple of particularly strong builds.
As always, the debate rages on between fans of older-style Diablo games looking for a more challenging, complex experience and those who prefer Diablo 3’s brand of more approachable, freeform loot farming. It remains to be seen exactly where Diablo 4 will land – the art style certainly seems to address concerns about its predecessor’s overly bright, colourful look, but we’re yet to find out exactly what the endgame will shape up to be.
Diablo 2: Resurrected ladder season two is set to begin on October 6 – time will tell which of these PTR features make it into the final release, and in what form they arrive. In the meantime, Diablo 3 season 27 is currently underway and features a new Sanctified Items system, and a major upcoming patch is set to address Diablo Immortal warbands, one of the crossover game’s most controversial features.