Diablo 4 patch 1.1.1 notes add buffs to Sorcerers and Barbarians
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Diablo 4’s Aug. 8 patch notes promise a major shift to the meta
After Diablo 4’s massive season 1 patch — which shook the game up a little too much for most players — Blizzard previewed another patch (1.1.1) that would give a boost to the game’s weakest classes. And while the patch itself won’t be out until Aug. 8, Blizzard published the full patch notes on Wednesday, and they include a lot more than buffs for the Barbarian and Sorcerer.
The biggest changes in this patch aren’t actually angled toward a specific class, and instead focus on monster density. Nightmare Dungeons and the Helltide activity will include a significantly increased number of monsters once the patch goes live. While that might sound like a bad thing, or an increase in difficulty, this is actually a major buff to player XP. Most builds in Diablo 4 can mow down large groups of enemies with a single click, and adding more just means that each spell cast nets you more XP and more rewards.
The catch to the increased monster density change, is that it also comes with an increase in boss health. All bosses above level 60 will have a little extra health come Aug. 8. At level 80, that increase is +50%, and at level 150 it’s up to +150%.
Most Nightmare Dungeon bosses go down very quickly in Diablo 4, and have since the game launched in June. As a result, most endgame builds focus on rapidly clearing groups of enemies, rather than burning down one big target. This increase to boss health promises to be one of the biggest shifts in the game’s meta since launch, as players will almost certainly need to shift away from pure area-of-effect builds like the Barbarian’s Whirlwind or the Druid’s Pulverize, which already do abysmal boss damage.
To compensate for their increased difficulty, all boss-tier monsters over level 35 will drop a guaranteed Legendary item. Most Nightmare Dungeons were already rather generous with Legendary drops, but this at least guarantees that players won’t be wasting their time. Treasure Goblins will also drop guaranteed Legendaries now, provided they’re over level 15. And Legion Events will drop a guaranteed Legendary starting at level 35. The latter two changes are particularly great for leveling each season, when Legendaries are a lot harder to come.
As for class changes, the Barbarians and the Sorcerers are still the real winners here, just like Blizzard initially suggested — although probably not enough to knock them out of the bottom two slots this season.
For Barbarians, many skills that generate Fury now generate even more, which is a huge boon for early game. Several of their damage dealing skills like Rupture and Double Swing will also be more powerful once the patch hits.
Sorcerers — which have struggled more than most classes since the game launched — got the most changes. Blizzard rebalanced several of the class’ Paragon nodes, and improved numerous Legendaries. This patch isn’t going to change Sorcerers from being the squishiest of the five classes, but their significant increase in damage should help compensate even more than before.
In addition to these specific callouts, Blizzard made numerous bug fixes and balance changes in this patch. We’ve listed all of the changes below so that you can better theory craft ahead of the patch’s official release on Aug. 8.
Hello wanderer, welcome to Patch 1.1.1!
We’ve made quite a few balance adjustments to Classes. Our goals with this patch are as follows:
We want to improve the effectiveness of Sorcerers and Barbarians while addressing the following for each Class:
Sorcerer
Barbarian
Strengthen builds that aren’t reaching a high power level.
Diversify the use cases for Legendary items and other effects that are overly situational.
Skills
Bash
Flay
Enhanced Frenzy
Lunging Strike
Double Swing
Enhanced Rupture
Enhanced Charge
Mighty Charge
Violent Upheaval
Passives
Aggressive Resistance
Gushing Wounds
Unconstrained
Walking Arsenal
Legendaries
Aspect of Ancestral Force
Death Wish Aspect
Aspect of Unrelenting Fury
Additional functionality:
Aspect of Ancestral Charge
Aspect of Burning Rage
Aspect of Bul-Kathos
Earthquake Aspect
Uniques
Fields of Crimson
Hellhammer
Ramaladni’s Magnum Opus
100,000 Steps
Battle Trance
Skills
Fundamental Invigorating Strike
Primary Forceful Arrow
Enhanced Caltrops
Poison Trap
Supreme Rain of Arrows
Passives
Victimize
Rugged
Siphoning Strikes
Legendaries
Aspect of Elusive Menace
Aspect of Quickening Fog
Uniques
Windforce
Word of Hakan
Skills
Earth Spike
Claw
Storm Strike
Wind Shear
Maul
Wolves
Enhanced Wolf Pack
Brutal Wolf Pack
Ferocious Wolf Pack
Ravens
Brutal Ravens
Rabies
Paragon
Lightning Resilience Rare Node
Legendaries
Aspect of Metamorphic Stone
Aspect of the Alpha
Mangled Aspect
Class Mechanic
Overload
Skills
Flickering Fire Bolt
Enhanced Fireball
Destructive Fireball
Greater Chain Lightning
Destructive Chain Lightning
Passives
Vyr’s Mastery
Esu’s Ferocity
Combustion
Paragon
Searing Heat Legendary Node
Ceaseless Conduit Legendary Node
Territorial Rare Glyph
Warding Rare Glyph
Keeper of Flames Rare Node
Smoldering Embers Rare Node
Guarded Rare Node
Oppressive Rare Node
Legendaries
Serpentine Aspect
Aspect of Conflagration
Aspect of Engulfing Flames
Aspect of Three Curses
Flamewalker’s Aspect
Gravitational Aspect
Aspect of Unbroken Tether
Recharging Aspect
Charged Aspect
Aspect of the Bounding Conduit
New Legendary - Mage-Lord’s Aspect
Aspect of Frozen Orbit
Storm Swell Aspect
Snowveiled Aspect
Additional functionality:
Incendiary Aspect
Snowguard’s Aspect
Aspect of Concentration
Uniques
Gloves of the Illuminator
Skills
Enhanced Bone Spirit
Paragon
Wither Legendary Board
Legendaries
Aspect of Empowering Reaper
Aspect of Exposed Flesh
Aspect of Decay
Aspect of Torment
Hulking Aspect
Uniques
Greaves of the Empty Tomb
Minions
Balrog
Elite Affixes
We are increasing monster density in Nightmare Dungeons and in Helltide.
Developer’s Note: We are making adjustments to the health values of high-level boss monsters.
Developer’s Note: Leave Dungeon ability was being used as another method of easy escape from danger in dungeons, particularly for Hardcore players. However, we recognize that this is outweighed by the downside of the game feeling less responsive. We’ve heard your feedback, and are reversing this change.
Resource Burn
Backstabbers
Empowered Elites (Cold Enchanted)
Caged Heart of Spellbreaking
Temerity
Developer’s Note: The previous tooltip was a bit misleading as it did not consume the entirety of your mana pool. It will consume as much as it can depending on the number rolled on the affix.
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ShareCLASS BALANCE UPDATESBarbarianSkillsPassivesLegendariesUniquesRogueSkillsPassivesLegendariesUniquesDruidSkillsParagonLegendariesClass MechanicSorcererSkillsPassivesParagonLegendariesUniquesNecromancerSkillsParagonLegendariesUniquesMinionsGAMEPLAY UPDATESMonster DensityBosses and EventsDeveloper’s Note: GeneralDeveloper’s Note: Malignant HeartsGeneric Unique ItemsBUG FIXESAccessibilityCooperative PlayDungeonsGameplayBarbarianDruidNecromancerRogueSorcererDeveloper’s Note: GeneralMonstersQuestsSeason of the MalignantShop and Battle PassUIMiscellaneous(required)