Diablo IV officially lands on June 6—some players already have early access—and Blizzard has already dropped the first official update for the imminent dungeon-crawling, loot-collecting RPG. There are a number of changes here worth digging into, but the biggest takeaway is simple: Four of the five classes have been nerfed pretty substantially, while the Necromancer only got stronger.
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The patch, available now for all platforms, does many of the usual things you’d expect: addressing game crashes and stability issues, changing the spawn rate of certain monsters (like the money bag-holding treasure goblins, which will now appear less often in PvP areas), and fixing text problems. But the main thing the update does is tweak all five character classes, specifically nerfing four to make them a bit crummier while buffing Necromancer substantially. To the Barbarian, Druid, Rogue, and Sorcerer players out there, y’all are a little weaker now. Ouch.
Whatcha goin’ do when the Diablo IV nerfs come for you?
The Barbarian, for example, has been hit with some of the worst nerfs. A few of its damage-dealing skills, like Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind and Challenging Shout, have had their power reduced. The same story is true of the Druid, which has had its damage-dealing and lucky hit chance abilities similarly reduced. Rogue and Sorcerer players have also been slammed, with many of the Rogue’s cooldown-reducing skills getting nerfed and the Sorcerer’s Teleport ability, a move that turns you into a fast-moving ball of lightning, seeing its damage reduction duration reduced. These are some pretty painful nerfs.
It actually gets kinda worse for Barbs and Sorcs, in particular.. Although the Druid and Rogue saw quite a few nerfs, at least a few of their abilities, the Druid’s Lightning Storm and the Rogue’s Rapid Fire, saw their damage increased. Unfortunately, it’s all bad for Barbarians and Sorcerers, who have had many of their cooldown-reducing skills defanged so that their cooldowns—such as the Barb’s Bold Chieftain’s Aspect and the Sorc’s Arc Lash—will now be longer. By and large, this update makes four of Diablo IV’s five classes pack considerably less of a punch than before.
Read More: Diablo IV’s Best Class Just Got Even Better
All told, the patch notes for the first major update to Blizzard’s loot-grinding RPG are pretty long and filled with all sorts of numbers and percentages. It’s worth reading them in full to understand just how much better—or worse, if we’re being honest—some of the class abilities have become.
Full Diablo IV Patch Notes
Barbarian
- Skill Changes
- Challenging Shout Damage Reduction gained from Skill Ranks reduced from 4% to 2%
- Legendary Aspect Changes
- Bold Chieftain’s Aspect Cooldown reduction per Nearby enemy reduced from 2.7-5.4 seconds to 1.0-1.9 seconds. Maximum Cooldown reduction from 12 to 6 seconds. Aspect of the Dire Whirlwind Increased Critical Strike Chance per second reduced from 5-10% to 3-8%. Maximum Critical Strike Chance bonus reduced from 20-40% to 9-24%.
- Item Changes
- Gohr’s Devastating GripsExplosion damage gained from Whirlwind reduced from 50-70% to 16-26%.Damage against wreckable objects no longer increases explosion damage.Explosion damage is only increased by the first 100 hits of Whirlwind.
Druid
- Skill Changes
- Pulverize Lucky Hit Chance reduced from 33% to 25%. Lightning Storm Damage increased from 32% to 40%. Grizzly Rage Maximum extended duration from kills reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.
- Class Specialization
- Obsidian SlamKills required for bonus increased from 10 to 20.Calm Before the StormLucky Hit Chance reduced from 15% to 10%.
- Passive Changes
- Electric ShockDamage bonus increased from 5/10/15% to 6/12/18%.
- Legendary Aspect Changes
- Shockwave Aspect Damage reduced from 90-130% to 60-100%.Crashstone AspectCritical Strike Damage reduced from 40-50% to 30-40%.Lightning Dancer’s AspectFlat damage increased from .5-.6 to .7-.8.
Necromancer
- Skill Changes
- Blood LanceDamage increased from 67.5% to 80%.Army of the DeadDamage increased from 30% to 45%.Cooldown reduced from 90 to 70 seconds.Blood WaveDamage increased from 90% to 120%.
- Passive Changes
- ShadowblightDamage increased from 20% to 22%.Grim HarvestEssence gained reduced from 3/6/9 to 2/4/6.SerrationCritical Strike Chance reduced from .5/1/1.5% to .3/.6/.9%.Death’s DefenseMaximum Minion Life lost in a single damage instance reduced from 75/60/45% to 60/45/30%.
- Class Specialization
- Raise SkeletonSkeleton Warrior attack damage increased by 10%.GolemGolem attack damage increased by 10%.Blood GolemBlood Golem Life drain damage increased from 40% to 90%.Blood Golem Life drain healing from enemies hit increased from 4% to 5%.Iron GolemIron Golem slam damage increased from 25% to 175%.Iron Golem shockwave damage increased from 30% to 40%.
- Necromancer Paragon Board Changes
- Hulking Monstrosity Golem Life and damage bonus increased from 30% to 40% Life.Cult LeaderDamage bonus increased from 10% to 15%.
Rogue
- Skill Changes
- Twisting Blades Advanced Twisting Blades Cooldown reduction per enemy hit reduced from .25 to .1 seconds. Advanced Twisting Blades maximum Cooldown reduction reduced from 3 to 2 seconds. Rapid Fire Damage increased from 24% to 30%. Dark Shroud Damage Reduction per shadow gained from Skill Ranks reduced from .8% to .4%. Dash Enhanced Dash Critical Strike Damage bonus from 20% to 15%. Caltrops Damage increased from 30% to 40%.
- Passive Changes
- Concussive Critical Strike Chance reduced from 5/10/15% to 4/8/12%.
- Legendary Affix Changes
- Repeating Maximum Minion Life lost in a single damage instance reduced from 75/60/45% to 60/45/30%.
Sorcerer
- Skill Changes
- Arc LashLucky Hit Chance reduced from 30% to 14%.Glinting Arc Lash Cooldown reduction reduced from .25 to .15 seconds.TeleportShimmering Teleport’s Damage Reduction duration reduced from 5 to 3 seconds.
- Legendary Affix Changes
- Aspect of ControlBonus damage reduced from 30-40% to 25-35%.
General
- Miscellaneous Class Changes
- Druid Companions and Necromancer MinionsMaximum damage over time taken per damage instance reduced from 2% to 1% of maximum Life.
- Paragon Board Changes
- Rare NodesPlayer Attack Speed nodes reduced by 50%.GlyphsAll Glyph Bonus scaling has been reduced by ~34%, except for the following:Critical Strike Damage Glyphs’ Bonus reduced by ~66%.Vulnerable Glyphs’ Bonus reduced by ~66%.Glyphs’ Bonus to Rare nodes reduced by ~50%.Glyphs’ Bonus to Magic nodes reduced by ~40%.Glyphs’ Bonus to Cold/Fire/Lightning/Non-Physical/Physical nodes reduced by ~62.5%.
Monster Changes
- Significantly reduced the spawn rate of Treasure Goblins within PvP zones.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed the name for the Light Bearer Mount.
- The Go to Shop button from the Wardrobe will now properly open the shop.
- Fixed an issue where if a Sorcerer uses Deep Freeze and is affected by another effect that would freeze them, it caused them to be permanently stunned.
- Miscellaneous stability and crash fixes.
Stability
- Fixed an issue where players using high-speed NVMe SSDs would experience game freezes upon start-up.
- Various issues that caused crashes have been fixed.
- Fixed an issue where stuttering could occur on higher-end machines (PC)
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where some players couldn’t type their locale’s language during Shop checkout.
