Diablo 4 players were extremely excited about new content in Patch 1.1 but have been left disappointed by the update that has left the imminent season one in ruins.
Releasing on June 6, Diablo 4 enjoyed a highly-successful launch period that broke company records, although player progression into the endgame led to criticism over a lack of content for high-level players.
The start of season one on July 20 looked set to change that, providing new enemies, a new story to work through, new dungeons to explore, and new gear to collect—but the patch notes ahead of the game’s inaugural season have gone down like a lead balloon.
Significant nerfs to all classes in the game have turned build mechanics on their heads, complicated even more by the reduction to Critical Damage, Vulnerable Damage, Cooldown Reduction, and other core stats.
Players expressed their frustration at the update on social media, with one user describing Patch 1.1 as the “most tone-deaf” they have seen in “15 years of gaming.”
Receiving over 2,000 upvotes, it quickly became clear this is not a minority opinion and commenters shared their thoughts, saying they “should’ve known better,” describing the patch as “utterly pathetic,” and lamenting the update for addressing “problems that no one, in particular, was asking for.”
Another Reddit post, which received a staggering 8,000 upvotes, reminded players “It’s ok to stop playing a video game you’re not enjoying”—which led to a number of players stating they were ready to turn their back from the game entirely.
It’s easy to see the frustration from the players’ point of view, as the vast majority of this patch is going to make the game less fun, and I’m particularly irked about the changes to Helltide that require more Abherrant Cinders to be collected yet seemingly lead to lower drop rates.
The strangest update of them all, however, goes to the increased time it takes to leave a dungeon, increasing to five seconds from three. Why on earth that was needed, I will never know.
