Diablo 4’s Sorcerer and Barbarian classes to be buffed in patch 1.1.1

Blizzard has vowed to “improve the effectiveness and the fun of the Sorcerer and the Barbarian” classes in the next patch for Diablo 4The next release of the film will be on Tuesday, August 8.

Campfire Chat, the latest livestream from the Diablo 4 dev team set out a series of what it hopes will be fan-pleasing changes, following the Diablo community’s intense disappointment in the 1.1.0 patch that just preceded the launch of the game’s first season, Season of the Malignant, on July 20.

The patch attempted to reset Diablo 4’s balance and lay a new foundation for its future as a live service game, but it did so by slowing player progress in a number of ways, and without fixing a number of prominent player complaints around issues like storage space, itemization, and the viability of certain character classes and builds.

The work has begun. Joe Shely, Joe Piepora & Adam Jackson discussed what they expect to see in Patch 1.1.1. The two classes that are considered the weakest in the current game, Barbarian and Sorcerer will be receiving major changes.

Jackson said the the Sorcerer’s much-derided survivability would be improved, and the associated penalties for some of its skills would be eased. He called these “kiss-curse mechanics,” whereby when power is added something else is taken away to balance it. This balancing of the Sorcerer has been taken too far and is holding the class back.

Changes to the Barbarian are focused on making the experience of playing the class feel better and more fluid in the early game, Jackson said, and improving the late game by making the class’s Unique items more attractive and effective.

Beyond these two classes, underpowered builds and Unique items will be improved across the board, although Jackson cautioned that the team will be treading a fine line with Uniques — the goal isn’t that they should be so powerful they’re automatically the best items in the game, but rather that they should interact with builds in interesting and unique ways. To make build-specific abilities and items more flexible, they will also be made available in other situations.

The 1.1.1 update will also include an increase in monster density for Nightmare Dungeons, Helltide and other events. This should help to make up some of the experience loss since the previous patch. Legendary Items will always be dropped by all bosses and treasure goblins higher than level 15 as well.

Also, there will be some major improvements to the quality of life. The cost of respeccing your character will be reduced by a whopping 40%, loosening up the game’s tight rein on experimentation considerably. A new stash tab is available for increased item storage. Horses will be less likely to graze the landscape. be able to break through barriers.

The developers have said that they will be working on future patches to improve the scaling of certain skills and builds (especially Ultimates), and to enhance the Necromancer’s minion build.

Blizzard has said that the full patch notes will be published on Tuesday, August 1. It is likely that community members will voice their opinions at this time.