Diablo IV Announces Progression Changes, New Difficulty System, Rune Words, and More

A few days ago, Blizzard Entertainment detailed the new features coming to Diablo IV with Vessel of Hatred, and today it’s time to learn about the changes that will be applied to the base game with the 2.0 update, which will be available with the next season and the expansion. The public test realm (PTR) for the 2.0 update will open its doors from September 4 to 11. One of the new features that can be tested are rune words, which are, however, an exclusive feature of the expansion.

One of the biggest changes announced affects the progression and functioning of Legendary Points, which will be tied to the realm rather than the character’s level in this update. “This means that all Legendary levels achieved will be shared between all characters on a single realm,” Blizzard said. “To support this change, we’ve made adjustments to leveling, some stats, and monster levels to make numbers and values ​​easier to understand.”

Levels 1-60 will represent the character, allowing them to gain 10 additional skill points. Legendary levels will begin to be reached starting at level 60.

In terms of difficulty levels, Diablo IV will now have four standard difficulties: Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent, which are advanced as you progress to level 60, and Torment difficulties. “On Torment difficulties, progression is tied to the Pit,” Blizzard says. “As you strive to reach higher levels of the Pit, you’ll gain access to more challenging Torment difficulties.” The goal is to give players more control over how they interact with the risks and rewards the game offers.

Continuing with the changes to progression, the progression of glyphs will be significantly changed, and their upgrade is no longer tied to experience. Instead, multiple attempts will be made to increase the level of glyphs by completing Pit levels. The chance to upgrade a glyph depends on the level of the glyph in question and the Pit level completed. Completing a Pit level significantly higher than the current level of a glyph will grant additional upgrade levels for each attempt. Additionally, the maximum level for glyphs will be increased from 21 to 100. Starting at level 45, it is possible to upgrade rare glyphs to legendary.

A new source of power is runewords. In Sanctuary, players will encounter two types of runes: ritual runes and summoning runes. Ritual runes specify actions that must be performed to activate them, while summoning runes grant powerful effects when the activation requirements are met.

“Runes revolve around a resource called Offerings, which Ritual Runes generate when a requirement is met,” Blizzard explains. “Summoning Runes, on the other hand, consume Offerings to activate their effects. The more demanding a requirement is, the more Offerings a Ritual Rune will generate. The Offerings required to activate a Summoning Rune scale with the strength of its effect.” Generating more Offerings than necessary triggers the Overflow mechanic, which briefly enhances the rune’s effects.

Finally, Blizzard has announced that all Diablo IV classes will receive new class and passive abilities, stats will be adjusted to make information more accessible (without affecting character power), sacred items will be removed, and the power of the ancients will be increased.