The third week of Season 4 is already upon us, and the ride has been pretty good so far. The overall response to the new gear systems has been very positive, and the number of viewers on Twitch is still quite respectable. Some players who were on standby for the Vessel of Hatred expansion have returned to the game earlier than anticipated due to all the hype associated with Tempering and Masterworking. The addition of Diablo 4 to Xbox Game Pass has also added many new players to the community, some of whom I’ve met by claiming several help request tickets on Discord.
Mind Your Temper
As is always the case for any systems-based ARPG, there has also been a measure of discontent among some of the more advanced players. One of the most common complaints going back to the PTR has to do with “bricking” items as a result of bad luck with Tempering. One Redditor recently put it quite eloquently when he posted, “Bricked 5 weapons on Tempering and rage quit [the game] only to hop back on 10 minutes later and brick 5 more.”
My own experience hasn’t been quite that bad, but I’ve still run into a fair amount of bad luck when Tempering weapons. In fact, it was only just yesterday that I was able to upgrade my wand to iPower 925 with a Greater Affix because I finally managed to Temper one of these weapons without bricking it. Nevertheless, there might be some relief in sight as players gain more experience with this new system. Earlier today, Diablo community icon Rob2628 posted a video titled “How to NOT BRICK YOUR ITEMS!” The video discusses the Pity Mechanic for Tempering, so do check it out and let us know if it helps to improve your results.
Weary of One-Shots
However, bad Tempering RNG isn’t the worst razor plate that’s poking gamers this Season. As more and more players reach the late end game, they’re running into a rude awakening when attempting to clear Neathiron-level Pit tiers. To put it simply, folks are regularly getting one-shotted by Bosses in The Pit at Tier 60+. It’s not because The Pit has one-shot mechanics, per se, but, rather, it’s because the discrepancy between Elite enemy health/damage and Boss health/damage starts to widen significantly at this point. Players are discovering that they can still blast through the first two floors of The Pit without too much difficulty, but the Boss room is at a much higher level altogether.
That, in of itself, wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it were not for the immune shadow minions dealing multiple one-shot attacks. There have been numerous reports of encounters with barrage attack combinations launching every few seconds and consisting of ballistas, trebuchets, poison pools, etc. This becomes a huge challenge when players reach a break point where they are no longer able to stack enough Health to tank even one of these hits. One common suggestion that might actually be helpful would be to have a combat log so players could at least figure out what killed them.
The result is that many players are becoming weary of The Pit for the same reason that they got tired of the Echo of Lilith. The Devs did say, however, that The Pit was going to be like the Abattoir of Zir, and it looks like they delivered on that promise. In that regard, the hard truth, at least for now, is that The Pit simply isn’t meant for everyone, or for all classes or builds. If players want to conquer this challenge, they may need to be willing to do a lot more min-maxing, respec their character to another build, try another class, or just keep practicing the boss battles until they learn how to successfully evade the minion attacks.
Help is Near
As players proceed with working out more effective strategies for successfully running The Pit, it’s worthwhile remembering that we all have access to a great Diablo community. If you’ve hit a wall with your late-game progression, you may want to consider reaching out to other players for support. One good place to look for that is the PureDiablo Discord or Sanctuary – Diablo 4 Community Discord. You’ll find a bunch of top gamers there who will be happy to offer free carries for pretty much whatever you need to get you over the hump. You can always go back again later and return the favor by helping other players.
See You Next Time
The PureDiablo community would like to know your opinion on this topic, so please sound off in the comments section below, or contact me on Twitter. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics here at PureDiablo. In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on the news feed so you’ll have all the up-to-date info you need to get the most out of your game.
If you believe that any of the information shared above is inaccurate in any way, please let us know, along with a reference for the correct information, so we can update this document accordingly.
Gazerrick is a staff writer for PureDiablo who focuses primarily on casual gaming interests and lore for the Diablo community. When not hacking and slashing his way through a new Season, he can be found participating in, and presenting at, various pop culture conventions in southern Arizona. You can follow him on Twitter @Gazerrick9000 for even more of his gaming indulgences. A collection of his creative media is also available at Cactus Palm Perspectives.
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