Diablo 4 patch 1.0.4 hotfix 1 and 2 have rolled out to live servers, with a key Necromancer nerf that even players who favor the undead-raising class can be happy with. This Diablo 4 patch changes Blood Lance, temporarily cutting back its effect and that of its strongest legendary aspect dramatically. Fortunately, it’s good news, because while the skill would be core to one of the best Necromancer builds in the entire RPG game, you can’t actually use it right now.
The Blood Lance skill combined with the ‘Hungry Blood’ legendary aspect, which gives the skill a chance to fire another Blood Lance at a nearby enemy every time one strikes an enemy that’s already been hit previously, could cause large packs to trigger the effect non-stop, which would bring the entire server you’re on to a grinding halt.
You can see what this looks like in the video below, courtesy of Marco ‘MacroBioBoi’ C. – or not, as it happens, because with the legendary aspect active the game comes to such a clunking halt that you can’t even see what’s happening. He’s only fighting a small group of enemies inside a dungeon, and it’s already entirely broken.
Thankfully, Blizzard has stepped in. While it typically never feels good to see your favorite of the Diablo 4 classes bonked by the nerf hammer, this is a case where it makes sense. Diablo 4 community manager Adam ‘PezRadar’ Fletcher says, “This is a temporary solution while the team reworks the way the legendary aspect will function, and we expect this change sometime in season one or shortly after.”
The hotfix also returns Diablo 4’s rarest items to the game after they were temporarily disabled when players found an easy way to grab the one-in-a-million drops. You’ll now be able to get the likes of the Diablo 4 Harlequin Crest again, then – although we’d highly recommend you don’t get your hopes up too much.
Diablo 4 patch notes 1.0.4 hotfix 2 – Friday, June 7, 2023
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Uber Unique items had an unintended higher chance to drop from Helltide Chests.
- Developer note: With the above change, we have re-enabled Uber Unique drops in Diablo IV.
- Developer note: In total we have discovered that only 142 accounts obtained an Uber Unique between the launch of 1.0.4 and when we disabled Uber Unique items from the game on the evening of July 6th. We do not plan on removing these items from the accounts.
Gameplay Changes
- Helltide Chests will now have the chance to drop any Unique and not be restricted to specific item slot limitations from any chest.
- Developer Note: With the above change players will now be able to find Unique items from ALL Helltide Chests. Uber Unique items also have a chance to be found in all chests.
Diablo 4 patch notes 1.0.4 hotfix 1 – Friday, June 7, 2023
Class Changes
Necromancer
- Enhanced Blood Lance now pierces up to a maximum of 10 enemies.
- Aspect of Hungry Blood now fires up to a maximum of 3 Blood Lances per cast.
Gameplay Changes
- The first Whisper Cache you acquire will now always grant a Nightmare Sigil.
Bug Fixes
- Further stability improvements.
If you’re looking to level up another class when Diablo 4 season 1 begins, have a look through our pick of the best Diablo 4 endgame builds to see if anything catches your fancy – hopefully, Blood Lance will be back to full capacity by then.