Diablo 4`s Season 9 has received its first significant balance update (Patch 2.3.1), introducing substantial buffs for the Barbarian class and boosting rewards from various in-game activities. These include The Pit, Nightmare Dungeons, and Legion events.
This update builds upon permanent changes made to Nightmare Dungeons in Season 9, such as the introduction of Horadric Strongrooms and new beneficial affixes, by further fine-tuning associated rewards.
Specifically regarding Nightmare Dungeons, the `Horadric Materials Reserve` affix now causes Horadric chests to drop more salvage materials and Forgotten Souls. The `Forgotten Wisdom` affix, which grants bonus XP via motes, has been reworked: XP motes now share experience among party members instead of only benefiting the player who picks them up. The total number of potential motes per dungeon has significantly increased, although their drop frequency is slightly reduced. Each mote also now grants more XP. Notably, motes will no longer appear from monsters summoned by other monsters or within Horadric Strongrooms. For Nightmare Dungeons with the `Equipment Delve` affix, the channel time for interacting with Horadric Artifacts has been reduced and can no longer be interrupted by damage.
Beyond Nightmare Dungeons, completing The Pit at tiers above 70 now yields additional Artificer`s Stones. Legion events completed on Torment difficulty will also award increased salvage materials and Forgotten Souls. Additionally, Arcana, a new seasonal item used to modify Horadric spells, is now automatically collected upon pickup.
Balance Updates
In terms of class balance, the update includes adjustments for every class, with the Barbarian receiving the most substantial improvements across multiple core skills and passives. Other classes also received some notable buffs.
Barbarian
- Battle Trance (Aspect): Lucky Hit Chance and Damage bonus increased.
- Double Swing: Damage increased.
- Hammer of the Ancients: Damage significantly increased.
- Rend: Bleeding damage increased.
- Upheaval: Damage significantly increased.
- Whirlwind: Damage increased.
- Barbed Carapace (Passive): Thorns damage increased.
Druid
- Pulverize: Damage increased.
- Greatstaff of the Crone (Unique): Modified to provide increased damage to Claw and Storm Strike.
Necromancer
- Hulking Monstrosity (Passive): Additional Golem damage sacrifice bonus increased (now 60% from 35%).
Rogue
- Deathmask of Nirmitruq (Unique): Damage bonus increased.
- Breakneck Bandit`s Aspect: Damage increased.
Sorcerer
- Meteor: Impact damage increased.
- Aspect of Frozen Orbit: Frozen Orb damage increased.
- Aspect of Frozen Memories: Avalanche Vulnerable damage bonus increased.
General and Seasonal Changes
- Arcana now picked up automatically.
- Myriad Stone now grants temporary Attack Speed that stacks additively.
- Increased Artificer`s Stones from high-tier Pit completions.
- Increased salvage materials and Forgotten Souls from Torment Legion Events.
- Increased salvage materials and Forgotten Souls from Horadric Chests in specific Nightmare Dungeons.
- Reworked Forgotten Wisdom affix mechanics (XP sharing, mote count, drop locations).
Bug Fixes
The patch also addresses numerous bugs across the game, including issues related to quests, dungeon mechanics (such as specific affixes or monster spawns), gameplay interactions (like teleporting or skill effects), user interface elements, and overall stability and performance. These fixes resolve problems like quest progression blockers, incorrect item properties, UI display errors, and exploit-like behaviors.
In related news, a previous hotfix addressed a Sorcerer infinite-damage bug, and Blizzard has indicated plans to fix frustrating invulnerable-boss mechanics in the future.