Taking down countless demons certainly sounds thrilling, but doing so mere minutes after creating your character in a loot-centric action RPG feels a bit over the top. The journey to power should be measured, with every step forward giving you a sense of accomplishment. Otherwise, the motivation to chase after more loot quickly dissipates. This rapid progression is a key issue that many players have noticed in Diablo 4’s current season. Simply put, it’s too easy.
Blizzard appears to be on the same page, and they’ve decided to mold the upcoming season 8 to amp up the challenge without taking away from the joy of evolving into a demon-slaying powerhouse. In a stream earlier today, Diablo 4’s developers discussed their vision for slowing down the level progression from 1 to 60 while making it feel more rewarding and the endgame stages more challenging.
The launch of Diablo 4’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, brought significant changes to the game’s progression system. Yet, as design director Colin Finer pointed out, players have been blasting through this revamped content far faster than intended. In the most recent season, maxing out a character’s level took less than half the time it did previously. To ensure early game content remains valuable, Blizzard plans on extending the time required to reach level 25.
Additionally, Legendary items, which are the pinnacle of loot, won’t be dropping as frequently on the path to level 60. Blizzard aims to scale up the power of lower-tier items to bridge this gap. Finer expressed hope that these adjustments will make advancing through the levels feel “more rewarding and satisfying.”
The endgame, which is when players really start maximizing their gear and tackling tougher Torment levels, is set to become more challenging as well. Blizzard reports that half of the current season’s players reached the top Torment level in record time—half the time compared to the previous season. Finer clarified the team’s philosophy, emphasizing that they want the toughest Torment tier, specifically Torment 4, to feel aspirational, ideally clearable by only about 10% of players. This season, the difficulty jump between each Torment level will be more pronounced.
Next season, the endgame bosses are getting fiercer too. No longer will players easily sweep through them like piñatas overflowing with loot. Each boss has been redesigned to test even the most meticulously crafted builds. Three new bosses will join the roster, and instead of having inventories cluttered with summoning items, each battle will be free. Defeating them will reward players with a chest requiring a key to open. There’s even a possibility of encountering the mighty new boss, Belial, unannounced.
For those eager to dive into the changes, Blizzard is offering Battle.net PC players a chance to preview these updates during the season 8 PTR, running from March 11 to March 18. The full launch of season 8 is slated for April 29.
