Diablo 4 Endgame Update and Server Slam Event

The Diablo 4 Endgame Update and Server Slam Event is here with a ton of new information! Joe Shely (Game Director) Joseph Piepiora (Associate Game Director) and Adam Fletcher (Community Lead) took part in a livestream hosted by Rhykker which provided new updates on the endgame and Open Beta learnings! Let's break down all that we learned during the livestream!

Server Slam Playtest Weekend

A special, third Diablo 4 play test weekend has been added for one last taste of Diablo 4 before release!

Dates and Times

• Begins May 12, 12 p.m. (PDT) and concludes May 14, 12 p.m. (PDT).
  • Early Download starts on May 10 at 12 p.m. (PDT).

What classes can I play?

• All five classes can be played!
• Progress from the Open Beta weekends does NOT carry over, fresh...start.

What can I do?

• Go through and complete the Prologue and the entirety of Act 1 (Fractured Peaks).
• Play up to Level 20.
• Fight the Ashava World Boss in groups of 12 starting Saturday, May13 at 9 a.m, and then every 3 hours after until the Server Slam is over!
• Clear out Strongholds throughout the Fractured Peaks.
• Progress does NOT transfer to the released version of the game.

Adjustments from Open Beta?

• All the current specified changes will be implemented in this version of the game.
• Legendary drop rate now reflects what is to be expected at release of the game.

Rewards for playing?

You can earn the same three rewards from the previous Open Beta along with a new Trophy item this weekend:

• Initial Casualty (Title) - Earned by reaching Kyovashad with one character.
• Early Voyager (Title) - Earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
• Beta Wolf Pack (Cosmetic Item) - Earned by reaching Level 20 on one character.
• Cry of Ashava (Mount Trophy) -Earned by defeating Ashava with one Level 20 character. (New for this weekend)

Endgame Update

Paragon

• Four types of nodes: Normal, Magic, Rare and Legendary.
  • Normal Nodes gives +5 of a specific main stat.
  • Magic Nodes give either more of a main stat, or a small amount of a specific affix.
  • Rare Nodes give a set amount of an affix, along with an additional bonus when you meet a main stat threshold.
  • Legendary Nodes unlock a powerful ability or buff to further amplify your build!
• Glyphs get placed in Socket Nodes. They start with an initial bonus, but have an additional unlock based on the amount of main stat within its range. This additional unlock scales with the amount of main stat within the Glyph's range
• You have to plan what Glyphs best fits a given socket per board, and the optimal rotation so as to avoid wasting Paragon points in your pathing.
• Glyphs have to be leveled up in Nightmare Dungeons.
• Glyphs increase their radius when leveled and are affected by allocated nodes in its range.
• There will be a max of 220 Paragon points you can allocate.

Nightmare Dungeons

• Unlocked by getting to Nightmare (World Tier III) difficulty and require a Sigil to open.
• Afflictions and Greater Afflictions present a greater challenge past the base monsters and Dungeon objectives.
• Nightmare Dungeons go up to Tier 100, and monsters can scale well beyond!
• Higher Sigils will have a max death allowance tied to them, increasing the challenge.
• Good for farming Sacred and Ancestral items.
• When successfully completed, you apply experience earned to your Glyphs. This levels them up, making them stronger and unlocks further bonuses.
• Sets of Nightmare Dungeons will be on rotation per season to keep the experience fresh and highlight different types of dungeons and objectives.

Helltide

• Enter the area and kill enemies to collect Cinders.
• Look for and open Caches with your Cinders to get valuable gear.
• Caches allow you to target a particular gear slot. The amount of Cinders required to open them varies.
• Helltide lasts for an hour.
• You lose half your Cinders when you die. They can not be picked up by you or party members - they're gone!
• Different events and Bosses will show up, even The Butcher!
• Specific crafting materials such as Fiend Rose drop in Helltide only!

World Tiers

• In order to increase the difficulty you play at, you MUST complete the required Capstone Dungeon. Successful completion is required to gain access to Nightmare (World Tier III) and Torment (World Tier IV).
• Monsters don't just receive more health and damage as Difficulty increases. Monster AI, projectile hit chance, aiming, and more are buffed to make the experience more lethal.
• Items (sub pre-50) are based on monster level. Sacred items fit the range of 50-70. Ancestral items can be assumed to be 70-100. Sacred and Ancestral items level requirements match your character level when dropped. This can lead to a lower character level item with high value stats, making it great for trading.

Open Beta Learnings

Classes

• Barbarians at low levels need more defense, so a flat 10% Damage Reduction was added.
• Druid improvements were made to help their damage and pets have a more meaningful impact.
• Necromancers minion changes are due to the view point of having a "Corpse Economy". They don't want minions to be a set it and forget it playstyle.
• Necromancer and Druid pet incoming damage was adjusted for certain attacks at times where micromanaging them would be tough. For example, big AoE damage skills.
• Bosses that were more deadly to melee classes were adjusted.
• There are more changes big and small beyond what was shown in the Open Beta Update Blog.

Dungeons

• Added more ambush events to fill up open areas of Dungeons.
• Adjusted Dungeon Layouts to make them more streamlined with regard to objectives.
• When you gather Animus, you'll gain buffs to help you move faster or gain other helpful buffs, including increased resource and more.

Misc.

• Travel skills like Teleport and Leap have been adjusted for Ultrawide screen monitors to have a max distance.
• Removed the option to kill multiple World Bosses per spawn cycle.
• Altars of Lilith will NOT reset from season to season (separate between Hardcore and Softcore). Renown will reset.
• Monster Families have a higher chance to drop a certain item, regardless of class. Skeletons have a higher chance to drop Crossbows, for example.
• No Couch Co-op on PC, no mouse and keyboard on Console.
• Non-Season will not get access to seasonal content but can expect balance changes and changes or the addition of legendary and unique items
• Skill Trees are designed to add Passives, Skills, and playstyles. They aim to add to these in expansion size updates.
• PvP zones are meant for slaughter. Groups can roam around, so player beware. Some balancing measures are in place, but not many. Hardcore PvP death = permanent death!

Join Us!

The Maxroll Diablo 4 Team is growing and will be hacking and slashing the demon hoards when DIablo 4 launches in June! We hope to see you in Sanctuary along with us. To stay up to date on when new guides drop, head over to our Discord and select the D4 role in #roles channel. Lilith beware, we're coming for you!