Diablo 4 Season 9’s first major balance update is here, bringing major Barbarian buffs and increased rewards from The Pit, Nightmare dungeons, Legion events, and more.
Season 9 brought permanent changes to Nightmare dungeons in the form of Horadric Strongrooms and new positive dungeon affixes, and update 2.3.1 looks to further fine-tune some of the rewards associated with those updates.
As detailed in the patch notes, when doing a dungeon with the Horadric Materials Reserve affix, Horadric chests will now reward more salvage materials and Forgotten Souls. The Forgotten Wisdom affix, which grants bonus XP, has also been adjusted to make it so XP motes dropped by enemies will now split experience between party members instead of only granting experience to the player who picked it up. Additionally, the maximum number of motes that can spawn in a dungeon has significantly increased, while the frequency has been slightly reduced. Each mote grants more XP as well, though motes will no longer spawn from monsters summoned by other monsters or in Horadric Strongrooms.
Other areas that will now have increased rewards include tiers of The Pit above tier 70, which will now grant additional Artificer’s Stones on completion. Legion events will also reward more salvage materials and Forgotten Souls when completed on Torment difficulties. Arcana, a new seasonal component used to modify Horadric spells, are also now picked up automatically.
As for class balance changes, there are a few buffs for each class, with Barbarian receiving the most adjustments. Barbarian abilities like Hammer of the Ancients, Double Swing, Upheaval, and even Whirlwind are getting some significant buffs. Necromancer, alternatively, received the fewest changes, with only a 25% increase to the golem-damage sacrifice bonus from the Hulking Monstrosity passive.
You can read the full patch notes below. In other Diablo 4 news, a hotfix on July 9 fixed an infinite-damage bug for Sorcerer that was so easy just about anyone could replicate it, thankfully limiting the bug’s impact. Meanwhile, Diablo 4 fans hoping for changes to its annoying invulnerable-boss mechanics hopefully won’t have to wait too long, as Blizzard has confirmed plans to fix them.
Diablo 4 Update 2.3.1 Patch Notes
Vessel of Hatred
Balance Update
Spiritborn
Aspect of Pestilence
- Damage bonus increased from 35-75% to 50-90%.
Payback
- Damage increased from 125% to 150%.
Razor Wings
- Damage increased from 75% to 95%.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Longtooth, The Wretched could pass through the arena entrance fog and get stuck in The Kurast Undercity.
- Fixed an issue where Spiritborn’s Concussive Stomp did not consistently activate Horadric Catalysts.
- Fixed an issue where the Ravenous Necrolyte Cache quest reward couldn’t be opened by a Spiritborn.
Base Game
Balance Updates
Barbarian
Battle Trance
- Lucky Hit Chance increased from 10% to 20%.
- Damage bonus increased from 15%-30% to 30%-60%.
Double Swing
- Damage increased from 66% to 85%.
Hammer of the Ancients
- Damage increased from 110% to 175%.
Rend
- Bleeding damage increased from 120% to 135%.
Upheaval
- Damage increased from 132% to 200%.
Whirlwind
- Damage increased from 52% to 76%.
Barbed Carapace
- Thorns damage increased from 100% to 120%.
Druid
Pulverize
- Damage increased from 150% to 175%.
Greatstaff of the Crone
- Previous: Claw is now also a Storm Skill and also casts Storm Strike at 200-350% normal damage.
- Now: Claw is now also a Storm Skill and also casts Storm Strike. Claw and Strom Strike deal 100-250% increased damage.
Necromancer
Hulking Monstrosity Passive
- Additional Golem damage sacrifice bonus increased from 35% to 60%.
Rogue
Deathmask of Nirmitruq
- Damage bonus increased from 70 to 100%.
Breakneck Bandit’s Aspect
- Damage increased from 25-45% to 35-55%.
Sorcerer
Meteor
- Impact damage increased from 120% to 140%.
Aspect of Frozen Orbit
- Frozen Orb damage increased from 30-50% to 50-70%.
Aspect of Frozen Memories
- Avalanche Vulnerable damage bonus increased from 50-75% to 75-100%.
Season of Sins of the Horadrim
- Arcana will now be picked up automatically.
- Myriad Stone now grants temporary Attack Speed, and stacks additively alongside sources of permanent Attack Speed.
- For Nightmare Dungeons with the Equipment Delve affix, Horadric Artifact channel time has been reduced from 0.75 to 0.25 seconds. Additionally, the channel can no longer be interrupted by damage.
General
- Clearing The Pit now awards additional Artificer’s Stones.
- Tier 70-84: 2-3 Artificer’s Stones
- Tier 85-99: 4-6 Artificer’s Stones
- Tier 100+: 8-9 Artificer’s Stones
- Completion rewards for Legion Events now include more salvage materials and Forgotten Souls in Torment difficulties.
- Horadric Chests in Nightmare Dungeons with the Horadric Materials Reserve affix award more salvage materials and Forgotten Souls.
- The Forgotten Wisdom affix for Nightmare Dungeons has been adjusted.
- Motes will now split experience between party members instead of only granting experience to the party member who picks it up.
- The maximum amount of Motes that can spawn throughout the entire dungeon has been significantly increased, while the frequency of the Experience Motes dropping has been slightly reduced.
- Each Mote now grants more experience.
- Monsters summoned by other monsters no longer drop Motes.
- Motes will no longer drop in Horadric Strongrooms.
Bug Fixes
Season of Sins of the Horadrim
- Fixed an issue where Horadric Gateways could unexpectedly disappear and reappear during the A Wanderer, Into Flames quest.
- Fixed an issue where the Visions of Pain and Beastmaster’s Bane Season Journey objectives and the Truths that Line Within quest did not have requirements consistent with their descriptions.
- Fixed an issue where opening Grand Horadric Caches in Nightmare Dungeons not found in a Escalating Nightmare counted towards progression for the Night Terrors Season Journey objective.
- Fixed an issue where players in a party couldn’t see other Cosmic Anomalies from other players in their party.
- Fixed an issue where Horadric Phials were incorrectly listed as Horadric Wayfinders in multiple locations.
- Fixed an issue where Barbarian’s Iron Maelstrom didn’t consistently trigger Catalysts.
- Fixed an issue where Druid’s Nature’s Fury Key Passive couldn’t trigger from a skill with a Cooldown if a Catalyst was assigned to it.
- Fixed an issue where the Season Journey Objective for clearing Nightmare Dungeons also progressed from clearing normal dungeons.
- Fixed an issue during the Embers Yet Smolder quest where there could be a duplicate Bryona. Easy on the Elixir of Precision next time, hot shot.
- Fixed an issue where duplicate Horadric Tomes could drop in Strongrooms.
- Fixed an issue where the buff to Horadric Knowledge earned from Horadric Strongrooms did not properly function.
- Fixed an issue where duplicate Horadric Gateways could appear after completing a Horadric Strongroom while in a party.
- Fixed an issue where Horadric strongrooms sometimes did not appear when they should.
- Fixed an issue where weapon swapping would halt the spawn of Anomalies.
- Fixed an issue where Elemental Totems, Blood Blisters, Drifting Shades, and Dark Omens from their associated Nightmare Dungeon Affixes could spawn in Horadric Strongrooms.
- Fixed an issue where Strongroom encountered during The Embers Yet Smolder quest could be indefinitely farmed if the player never picked up the Blood Relic.
- Fixed an issue where The Unseeable Demands their Gaze seasonal quest could not be completed if the player left the game after triggering Davish’s dialog.
Nightmare Dungeons
- Fixed an issue where the number of deactivated affixes would reset to 0 when slaying a monster in an Escalating Nightmare.
- Fixed an issue where the Horadric Reward cache awarded from Nightmare Dungeons with the Equipment Delve affix would not award any items.
- Fixed an issue where the Butcher from the Bloody Mess Nightmare Dungeon Affix would not drop any loot.
- Fixed an issue where the Horadric Portal to progress through an Escalating Nightmare would not function if the member of the party who activated the sigil left the party.
- Fixed an issue where the Obducite Mine Escalation Nightmare affix could appear before reaching level 60.
Gameplay
- Fixed an issue where the visual effect for X’Fal’s Corroded Signet was larger than the actual damage radius.
- Fixed an issue where teleporting to a waypoint could fail after failing to teleport to a party member.
- Fixed an issue where the Astaroth fight could reset if the player died during the Astaroth’s death animation.
- Fixed multiple instances where killing objective monsters too quickly in various dungeons could block progression.
- Fixed an issue where Treasure Goblins and the Butcher wouldn’t spawn in the Deserted Underpass. (Turns out they took deserted a bit too literally).
- Fixed an issue where the first upgrade to the Necromancer’s Shadow Mages didn’t grant the proper damage bonus in various situations.
- Fixed an issue where Deathmask of Nirmitruq would drain Life while Inner Sight was active.
- Fixed an issue where the Harbringer of Hatred cache selected from Belial’s Horde dropped Unique items with three base affixes.
- Fixed an issue where end of dungeon rewards could include Infernal Hordes Compasses when Infernal Hordes was not yet accessible.
- Fixed an issue where Hulking Monstrosity paragon node was not getting any benefits from the Sacrificial Aspect.
User Interface and User Experience
- Fixed an issue where the Corrupting Strikes Nightmare Dungeon affix did not use “Corrupting” when referring to Shadow Damage over time.
- Fixed an issue where the Stats and Materials tab could appear blank if it was open while interacting with a Vendor or other NPC.
- Fixed an issue where New Item notifications didn’t clear when equipping a full armor set in the Wardrobe.
- Fixed an issue where your item’s Durability status did not update as expected in the Armory menu.
- Fixed an issue where the Rend size and Death Blow size effects didn’t properly display in the character stats menu.
- Fixed an issue where the Iron Demon armor listed the wrong class when viewed as a Sorcerer or Rogue.
- Fixed an issue where pressing the Sort button while playing on controller in the Horadric Lapidary window would display a blank and non-functional crafting inventory window.
- Fixed an issue where the Aether Counter in Infernal Hordes would not appear if the player entered from a Horadric Strongroom.
- Fixed an issue where the second player in Local co-op could not assign skills to a button via the Skills menu.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where Astaroth’s voice lines were barely audible when beginning his boss fight.
- Various stability, performance, visual, and UI improvements.
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