Taking down scores of demons sounds thrilling, but doing so just minutes into creating a character in an action RPG that relies on loot feels a bit over the top. The thrill of a game like this comes from the steady climb in power; without that, what’s the point of gathering more loot? This seems to be the root issue with Diablo 4’s latest season—it’s just too easy for many players.
Blizzard has caught on and is tailoring season 8 to ramp up the difficulty, aiming to maintain the joy of turning into a demon-slaying powerhouse without making the game feel overwhelming. In a recent stream, the developers shared their plans to slow down and deepen the level 1 to 60 journey, alongside making the endgame progression more demanding.
The first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, shook up the gameplay, but as Colin Finer, the design director, noted, players are speeding through content at an unexpected pace. This season saw gamers hitting max level in less than half the time it took before. To preserve the early game experience, Blizzard is extending the time needed to hit the first 25 levels.
Additionally, Legendary items, the game’s top loot tier, will become rarer on the road to level 60. To balance this, the usually overlooked lower-tier items will get a power boost to remain relevant and enticing. Finer expressed hopes that this change will make moving through the levels feel more fulfilling and rewarding.
As for the endgame—where players fine-tune their characters and tackle escalating Torment difficulty levels—the challenge is set to increase. This season, half of the players reached the peak difficulty, Torment level, in record time. Finer explained that ideally, only about 10% of players should attain the most challenging level, Torment 4. In the next season, each step up in Torment will bring a significantly tougher challenge.
Expect tougher endgame bosses in the upcoming season. Instead of treating bosses as easy sources of loot, the challenge now demands players to fully optimize their characters. Three fresh bosses will enter the fray, and players will no longer be overwhelmed by summoning items. Each boss encounter is free, rewarding victorious players with chests that require keys to unlock. There’s also a chance to face the formidable new boss, Belial.
Blizzard plans to let Battle.net PC players experiment with these changes in the season 8 public test realm from March 11 to March 18. The full release of season 8 is slated for April 29.
