Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo 4’s dungeon bosses are getting a huge health increase, but at least Sorcerers and Barbarians will be in a better place to handle them.
Blizzard Entertainment has released patch notes for Diablo 4’s 1.1.1 update, which arrives on August 8 next week. The patch won’t reverse many of the nerfs introduced in the game’s controversial Season 1 patch, but it’s still filled with buffs for Barbarians, Sorcerers and loot drops. Strangely, this patch is also buffing the game’s dungeon bosses too.
We’ve covered all the buffs Diablo 4’s character classes are getting here from Blizzard’s earlier preview of the patch, and not much has changed. Most of the buffs target Barbarians and Sorcerers, two of the game’s weakest classes according to most players. Druids and Rogues are generally dominating the endgame at the moment, but they still get a few buffs thrown their way. The Necromancer has also received a few buffs, though nothing noteworthy enough to change its gameplay significantly.
More changes are coming to the game’s dungeon-grinding loop however, and that will affect players no matter what character class they’re running. For example, remember how frustrating it was to chase after small mobs of enemies spread far apart in dungeons and Helltides? Both Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides will now have increased monster density to allow players more XP and generally more time spent killing things.
There is a catch, however. Bosses across the game will now have more health from Level 80 to 150. Bosses at Level 80 have 50% increased health, and bosses at Level 150 and above have 150% increased health. This is a pretty big change, as players will now have to build their characters around large mobs in Nightmare Dungeons - and then singular targets for the endgame bosses. These bosses are going to be much tankier at higher levels, so you will have to strategise around that.
Blizzard didn’t give a reason for this change, but we can assume that this is to make Nightmare Dungeons more difficult when players get access to powerful endgame builds. There are rewards for beating them, however. Level 35 and higher bosses are guaranteed to drop a Legendary item now. Treasure Goblins also have an increased Legendary item drop chance from Level 6-14, after which a Legendary is guaranteed from Level 15 onwards. Legion Events also guarantee a Legendary from Level 35 onwards.
Other changes in Patch 1.1.1 include bug fixes for class abilities and co-op multiplayer. In case you missed it, here’s a quick rundown of the upcoming class changes: Barbarian abilities that grant Fury now grant even more Fury, and a few more skills have gotten their damage buffed. Sorcerers now have more viable fire and lightning-based builds, with skills like Greater Chain Lightning and Combustion getting buffed up along with a swathe of changes to their Legendary Aspects, skill tree and Paragon boards.
Patch 1.1.1 drops for Diablo 4 on August 8, 2023. Here’s everything you need to know about the game’s first season of content.