Forget everything you know about progression, itemization, and endgames– Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and even Season 6 might as well be an entirely new game in everything but story and user interface. You can thank the huge updates and the overhauls for that. But more importantly, the “stat squish” in Diablo 4 will ensure that you don’t fly too close to the sun this time with its changes. You won’t be dealing millions or billions of damage.
Prior to Season 6 and the Vessel of Hatred, it was a natural expectation to be dishing out 5-30 million damage per second in a rather absurd power fantasy that makes you question why the demons even bother when a figurative beefcake bouncer like you is still around. Diablo 4‘s developers went for a more grounded approach this time by reducing stats and damage numbers to around a tenth of what they usually were before Season 6.
There are good and bad results to this, depending on how you look at it. On the one hand, you’re not a walking god anymore. On the other hand, well, you’re not a walking god anymore. Visual improvements are somewhat debatable here since you can turn off the damage numbers anyway.
A Bold New Horizon for Nephalems
But what really shook up the progression for me and made me feel like I was walking blindly into a new leveling and character-building experience was that I no longer have metrics to abide by. Before the patch, I had a short list when building character: reach at least 20000 HP, 9000+ armor, 20000 attack power, etc.
Now, all of us have to play it by ear– so to speak, when it comes to determining which stats or damage numbers are acceptable thresholds for certain levels of the endgame activities. Paired with the increased difficulty, reshuffled itemization, and new mechanics in place, this might just be the revitalization that Diablo 4 needs following the Loot Reborn changes.
There will of course be a pundit and expert race in the coming weeks or months to see who gets the authoritative say on stat thresholds and guidelines for each class and each build.
And you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be sweats who will still try to break one million or even one billion damage even with the harsh stat squish. For now, do enjoy this fleeting moment– it’s rare for series veterans to feel like a total newbie navigating the depths and the horizon for Diablo 4 as though they’re pioneers. Time to rediscover Sanctuary once more.
