Diablo 4 patch 1.1.0 hotfix 3 has just rolled out to the RPG game, and it’ll make your journey through Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeons smoother than ever. Following its Campfire Chat addressing the response to its nerf-heavy Season 1 patch, the Diablo 4 team at Blizzard releases its first planned hotfix, which makes the most popular endgame content a little smoother to encourage players to tackle higher-level Dungeons.
This latest Diablo 4 patch changes the balancing on Nightmare Dungeons, making them easier to reach the highest tiers. During the recent Season of the Malignant Campfire Chat, associate game director Joe Piepiora talks about the reasoning for this change, which precedes planned increases to monster density as well as an all-new type of Diablo 4 endgame content coming in the future.
Talking about the most popular Diablo 4 builds, Piepiora points to the prevalence of Nightmare Dungeons as the main endgame activity as the reason so many players are focusing on loadouts designed to clear them as efficiently as possible. “The reality is that Nightmare Dungeons are dramatically overtuned from where they need to be, based on the role they fill in the game.
“Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons are excruciatingly difficult for most players, most classes, to get through, such that you really need to lean on very specific setups with access to things like near-instantaneous cooldowns for some skills. That was never really the intent of that content.” While they are designed to help players gain XP and level their Diablo 4 Paragon Glyphs, Piepiora says they don’t fit especially well as an endgame chase activity, unlike the Pinnacle ‘Uber Lilith’ boss fight.
To resolve this, Nightmare Dungeons will be getting a little easier across the board – you can see examples of how this will translate in the full patch notes below, but as an example, the new tier 100 Nightmare Dungeon should feel about as tough as doing a tier 70 one felt previously.
So where does that leave players who love the challenge of pushing into the very hardest content? “We are going to be looking at creating a new endgame content type that is going to be more directly meant to address those sorts of players, and give people more things to chase,” Piepiora concludes.
For now, at least, you should find reaching those highest tiers much more approachable than before. With planned buffs to Sorcerer survivability and Barbarian legendary aspects in the pipeline too, hopefully that means all Diablo 4 classes will be able to work their way to the top of the Nightmare Dungeon tiers without leaning on just one specific build type.
Diablo 4 patch notes 1.1.0 hotfix 3 – Friday July 21, 2023
Gameplay Update
- Implemented a reduction to overall monster power levels in Nightmare dungeons. The new top range for tier 100 will feel like what tier 70 was previously.
- Developer Note: Although these values make it appear that the higher tiers are easier than lower tiers, this is not the case because the monsters also benefit from being significantly higher level than players in higher Nightmare Dungeon tiers.
Examples
- Tier 35: HP reduced by ~2%, Damage reduced by ~1%.
- Tier 50: HP reduced by ~20%, Damage reduced by ~13%.
- Tier 70: HP reduced by ~60%, Damage reduced by ~54%.
- Tier 100: HP reduced by ~82%, Damage reduced by ~79%.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where additional Blood Lances from the Gore Quills aspect could sometimes not deal damage.
- Fixed an issue where the Answers in the Ashes quest could have progression blocked if Varshan was killed before the quest updates to the step to defeat him.
- Fixed an issue where the dungeons Buried Halls and Endless Gates dungeons were not giving players proper rewards upon completion.
Fixed an issue where the Akhan’s Grasp Nightmare Dungeon was not giving players proper rewards upon completion. - Fixed an issue where the Moonrage Malignant Power would cause the Wolves power to be unequipped from the action bar.
- Fixed an issue where the Subterranean Legendary aspect was dealing far less damage than intended.
- Fixed an issue where the Frozen Terror Malignant Power could also fear the player with it equipped.
- Fixed an issue where Malignant Hearts could be duplicated when salvaging them, logging out immediately, and logging back in.
- Fixed an issue where Tier Skips wouldn’t be properly rewarded in certain scenarios.
- Fixed an issue where Whispers sometimes wouldn’t grant experience on completion.
- Further stability improvements.
As you get into Diablo 4 Season 1, make sure not to miss out on the best Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts, because these powerful new trinkets can turn almost any build into something incredibly potent if used correctly.