The first major balance update for Diablo 4 Season 9 is now live, featuring significant buffs to the Barbarian class and various reward improvements across “Abyssal Pits,” Nightmare Dungeons, and Legion Events.
Season 9 introduces permanent changes to Nightmare Dungeons, including the addition of the “Horadric Chamber” and new positive dungeon affixes. Patch 2.3.1 further tweaks some rewards related to these updates.
Horadric chests in dungeons with the “Horadric Material Reserve” affix now grant more crafting materials and Forgotten Souls. The “Forgotten Wisdom” affix, which provides extra experience, has been adjusted so that experience orbs dropped by enemies are now shared among party members instead of only the looter. The maximum number of experience orbs that can spawn in dungeons has greatly increased, though their spawn rate has slightly decreased. Each orb grants more experience, but summoned monsters no longer drop orbs, and orbs do not spawn inside the Horadric Chamber.
Other reward improvements include additional Artisan Stones for completing Abyssal Pit levels above 70. Legion Events on Torment difficulty now yield more crafting materials and Forgotten Souls. The new season component, Arcane Runes, can now be auto-picked up and are used to modify Horadric spells.
Class balance changes affect all classes to some extent, with the Barbarian receiving the most significant buffs. Skills like “Ancient Hammer,” “Double Swing,” “Seismic Wave,” and “Whirlwind” have all been notably strengthened. The Necromancer sees minimal changes, with only the passive “Colossus” summoning damage sacrifice bonus increased by 25%.
Key patch highlights include:
Minion’s Vessel
- Balance:
- “Plague Aspect” damage bonus increased from 35-75% to 50-90%.
- “Counterattack” damage increased from 125% to 150%.
- “Razor Wings” damage increased from 75% to 95%.
- Fixes:
- Resolved an issue where “Fang, the Fallen” could get stuck passing through the arena entrance fog in Kurast Dungeon.
- Fixed inconsistent triggering of the “Minion’s Vessel” Stomp skill with Horadric Catalyst.
- Fixed quest reward issues for “Greedy Necromancer’s Hideout” not being accessible by Minion’s Vessel.
Base Game
-
Barbarian:
- “Battle Frenzy” lucky hit chance increased from 10% to 20%, damage bonus from 15-30% to 30-60%.
- “Double Swing” damage increased from 66% to 85%.
- “Ancient Hammer” damage increased from 110% to 175%.
- “Rend” bleed damage increased from 120% to 135%.
- “Seismic Wave” damage increased from 132% to 200%.
- “Whirlwind” damage increased from 52% to 76%.
- “Spiked Carapace” thorn damage increased from 100% to 120%.
-
Druid:
- “Smash” damage increased from 150% to 175%.
- “Witch’s Giant Staff” adjusted: Claw Strike is now a Storm skill and casts Storm Strike, with damage increased by 100-250%.
-
Necromancer:
- Passive “Colossus” summoning damage sacrifice bonus increased from 35% to 60%.
-
Rogue:
- “Nirmetruk Death Mask” damage bonus increased from 70% to 100%.
- “Fleetfoot Bandit’s Phase” damage increased from 25-45% to 35-55%.
-
Sorcerer:
- “Meteor” impact damage increased from 120% to 140%.
- “Frozen Track Aspect” frozen track damage increased from 30-50% to 50-70%.
- “Frozen Memory Aspect” avalanche vulnerability damage bonus increased from 50-75% to 75-100%.
Season of Sin
- Arcane Runes can now be auto-picked up.
- “Countless Stone” now grants temporary attack speed bonuses that stack with permanent bonuses.
- In Nightmare Dungeons with the “Equipment Scouting” affix, Horadric artifact channel time reduced from 0.75s to 0.25s and channeling is no longer interrupted by damage.
General Adjustments
- Abyssal Pit completion rewards increased with Artisan Stones:
- Levels 70-84: 2-3 stones
- Levels 85-99: 4-6 stones
- Level 100+: 8-9 stones
- Torment difficulty Legion Events grant more crafting materials and Forgotten Souls.
- Horadric chests in Nightmare Dungeons with the “Horadric Material Reserve” affix grant more crafting materials and Forgotten Souls.
- “Forgotten Wisdom” affix adjustments:
- Experience orbs now shared among party members.
- Maximum orb count greatly increased, spawn rate slightly decreased.
- Each orb grants more experience.
- Summoned monsters no longer drop orbs.
- Orbs do not spawn inside Horadric Chambers.
Fixes and Improvements
- Numerous bug fixes related to quests, dungeon mechanics, UI, and gameplay stability.
- Hotfix on July 9 addressed an infinite damage bug with the Sorcerer class.
- Blizzard plans to fix the frustrating invincible boss mechanics soon.
This summarizes the major updates in Diablo 4 patch 2.3.1 for Season 9.
