Diablo 4's first major expansion, Vessel of Hated, arrives in October, adding a new class (the Spiritborn), zone, raid-like dungeons, and story campaign. The expansion is also coming with Diablo 4's massive 2.0 update for Season 6, which Blizzard has outlined in an extended two-plus hour Campfire Chat.
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A lot is coming, with the overall sentiment among the community being that Blizzard is leaning into what makes Diablo 4 fun to play while incorporating and expanding on Diablo 3 and Diablo 2 elements. One of the most prominent examples of Blizzard taking aspects from Diablo 3 and Diablo 2 is how this 2.0 update changes how sockets work.
Runewords for Diablo 2 are finally returning to the franchise, while Diablo 4's Glyph system is changing to be more like Diablo 3 Legendary Gems. With new difficulty tiers, max level and Paragon changes, and more, here's a summary of all the fundamental changes coming with Diablo 4's 2.0 overhaul.
New Max Level of 60
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Diablo 4's max level is changing from 100 to 60, with players no longer getting Paragon points to spend once they hit Level 50. Players will earn new skill points up to Level 60, and from there, Paragon points (up to a hard limit) will be awarded account-wide. It is similar to Diablo 3; however, Paragon points and the Paragon Board system are locked for all characters until they hit Level 60.
New Difficulty Tiers - Four For Leveling, Four For the Endgame
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Difficulty in Diablo 4 is being overhauled, with monster levels no longer tied to various World Tiers of difficulty. Monster levels are being removed from the game. Instead, they will scale to your character level. Changing the difficulty tier will impost debuffs to resistances and armor while boosting monster damage and health.
It will be up to players to choose a more challenging experience for more loot or something more casual. Leveling will have four difficulties: Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent. Once players hit Level 60, they can unlock new difficulty tiers: Torment 1, Torment II, Torment III, and Torment IV. These new difficulties will apply to all activities worldwide so Torment IV Helltides will be far more challenging than Torment I Helltides.
No More Sacred Items, Ancestral Items are the 'Forever Items'
With the changes Blizzard is removing Sacred Items from the game, leaving Legendary and Ancestral Items. Ancestral Items will be a rare drop in the Torment difficulties and will always drop with a 'Greater Affix' - a boosted stat. This change makes much more sense for the new difficulty system.
Pitt, Glyphs, and Nightmare Dungeon Rework
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The Pitt, the Diablo 3-style Greater Rifts of Diablo 4, is getting overhauled to make them more like how they work in Diablo 3. With Diablo 4's 2.0 overhaul for Season 6, The Pitt is changing from the place to earn crafting materials for the item Masterworking system to the place you upgrade Glyphs. With that, Glyphs are becoming more powerful, with the ability to evolve into Legendary Glyphs, with an increased level cap of 100 from the current 25. With this change, Nightmare Dungeons will become the place to obtain Masterworking items, and all enemies will have a chance to drop the rare crafting materials.
Runewords Are Coming
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In Diablo 4's 2.0 update, players can socket two runes on an item to create powerful Runewords. Runes of Ritual specify an action like moving a certain distance or casting a Skill with a Cooldown, while Invocation Runes specify the bonus, which will include new abilities like "Evoke the Barbarian's Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken" and "Gain +3 to all Skills for 5 seconds." Yes, Runewords will give players access to Skills from other Classes.
Each Class is Getting a New Skill and Passive Abilities
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With the increased level cap to 60 and access to new Skill points, each Class in Diablo 4 is getting a new skill and more passive abilities to unlock. The Barbarian is getting a new 'Might Throw' skill that will hurl their weapon, while the Rogue is getting a new 'Dance of Knives' skill that launches knives at nearby enemies while boosting movement speed.
Quality of Life Changes Aplenty
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Diablo 4's 2.0 overhaul is bringing several Quality of Life updates to the game, including new Inventory Tabs for usable items to separate these from socketable items like Gems and Runes. You'll also be able to choose your favorite town and bind it to your Town Portal summon. New social systems are being added, including a Party Finder for players to group up.
This massive blog post details all of these changes, and Blizzard confirms that PC players will be able to test them all in the new PTR, which is set to go live this week.
