We sat down with some of the developers behind Diablo 4: Season of the Malignant to get some insight on the newly-released season, while some hot-off-the-press patch notes have been released.
As Diablo 4’s very first season, the Season of the Malignant gets underway, we here at CGMagazine were able to sit in on a Developer Q&A in order to ask a few questions about what players can expect as they start to jump in. Additionally, with the release of the season starting yesterday, we already have a couple of big updates coming to the game right out of the gate to correct a couple of issues that have come up from the fanbase.
When asked about how they wanted to handle Diablo 4’s seasons in comparison with Diablo 3, the team stated they loved the nature of the season journey where “Diablo 3 kind of provided you these set pieces as your levelling up and finishing chapters which helped you get a version of your classes and game set up online a little more quickly.” Madeleine James, a Quest Designer working on Season of the Malignant, also said the team wanted a “more narrative focus” as they tried to expand on the story of Sanctuary.
In terms of working through the current “meta” from season to season, the team wants to “shake up the meta across the board” with every new season, using the example that the player base is currently leaning towards Vulnerable Damage as a part one of the stronger builds currently being used, which is something the team takes into account in order to get players to try new things all the time.
Finally, the addition of pets was brought up, and while the team “couldn’t comment” at this time, they also made sure to note that they “looked forward to talking about it more in the future.”
Diablo 4’s patch 1.1.0b addresses two aspects players have brought up as an issue. First, a level requirement that was introduced for World Tier III and IV has been removed. The second change touches on the new mechanic added for this season, Malignant Hearts, which are partially taking the place of gems, causing concerns for players whose builds rely on the standard-issue gems to be slotted into their equipment. The latest hotfix has made it so that “Malignant Hearts will now always grant armour that directly maps with their item power,” according to the patch notes.
Blizzard will be holding a “campfire chat” live stream at 2 pm EST today to address fan feedback revolving around Diablo 4’s first season for those who have further concerns surrounding the newest season, the Season of the Malignant. You can find it on YouTube or Twitch.
