Diablo 4 may be far more challenging come Season 11, with a slew of updates set to address monster behavior and difficulty.
As detailed by Blizzard, the goal is to have monsters starting with Season 11 more regularly test players’ defenses and force players to interact with them in new ways. Enemy monsters will see changes to make their behavior less predictable, while at the same time making it so each type of monster will have their own clear role and identity in combat. Monsters packs will also group up less, making it more difficult for players to wipe out large groups of multiple packs in a single go.
A big part of the update to monsters will be new affixes, with more than 20 additional affixes for players to deal with. Elites will spawn minions that inherit some of their affixes, and affixes will in general be more powerful, requiring players to deal with them before taking out less-dangerous foes. Blizzard said that overall, monster affixes should overlap less in their design, be more visually clear, and be more engaging.
Those changes, in conjunction with other Season 11 updates like fewer potion charges and item progression changes, should make Diablo 4 overall more challenging than before. But deadlier monsters aren’t the only thing players have to be afraid of. Season 11 is also adding a new world boss, as well as ways to encounter endgame Lesser Evil bosses like Duriel, Andariel, and Belial while doing endgame activities like Helltide, The Pit, and Kurast Undercity. The new world boss, the first added since Diablo 4’s launch over two years ago, will be a familiar face to Diablo 3 players. Azmodan, the Lord of Sin, has a chance to appear as a world boss in the game’s open world but can also be summoned at will using a special altar south of Zarbinzet.
It’s currently unclear if the ability to summon the Lesser Evils is an evergreen mechanic or strictly seasonal one, but defeating bosses in this way will reward Divine Favor, used to level up a seasonal Divine Gifts mechanic and increase players’ Season Rank (a new system for the game’s seasonal server that combines the game’s current Renown and Season Journey systems).
More powerful monsters and the inclusion of Azmodan aren’t the only big changes coming next season, with Diablo 4 Season 11 poised to be the game’s biggest rework yet. Season 11 will additionally overhaul item progression with sweeping changes to Masterworking and Tempering, reintroduce leaderboards, and more. Diablo 4 Season 11 is slated to begin on December 9, with PTR testing for the season beginning October 21. Diablo 4’s second expansion is expected to release in 2026.
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